The Jurassic Coast

Mudeford Spit

Barton On Sea

Hengistbury Headland

Old Harry Rocks

Lulworth Cove

The entrance to the cove is narrow where the waves have cut through weaknesses in the resistant limestone. Then the cove widens where the softer clays have been more easily eroded by destructive waves. At the back of the cove is a band of more resistant chalk, so erosion is a slower process here.

Lulworth Cove is situated on the south coast of England, on a concordant coastline.

Old Harry rocks is connected to Swanage which an example of a headland and a bay. The area surrounding is made up of bands of soft and hard

Old Harry Rocks are located on the headland between Swanage and Studland Bay. The headland is made out of chalk, a hard rock. The headland sticks out into the sea, so it is more vulnerable to high-energy destructive waves. This caused the formation of Old Harry, a stack. Over time Old Harry will collapse to form a stump.


Old Harry Rocks is an example of caves, stacks and stumps

These cliffs are likely to collapse because...

Barton-on-Sea is located in Christchurch Bay in Hampshire.
​Christchurch Bay has long been affected by coastal erosion and cliff collapse, a number of buildings and a café have been lost to the sea.

The direction of the prevailing winds are South West

Rock type is sandstone

Located in Dorset in the South of England

The Mudeford spit is two hours long

It is a small fishing village in Christchurch Borough.

Located in the South of England

Buildings on the cliff top have increased weight on the cliffs, making them more vulnerable to collapse and interfering with drainage.

The arrangement of rocks (permeable sands on top of permeable clay) causes water to 'pond up' within the cliffs, increasing their weight. This increases the pore water pressure within the cliffs, and encourages collapse.

This stretch of coastline faces the direct force of the prevailing south-westerly winds. With a long fetch, the waves approaching Barton-on-Sea are powerful and can achieve a large amount of erosion - up to 2m a year in places!

The rocks are weak sands and clays, which are easily eroded by the sea and have little strength to resist collapse.

The spit found in Hengistbury is called Mudeford

Number of tourists is 1.5 million

Spits are formed where the prevailing wind blows at an angle to the coastline, resulting in longshore drift.