U is for Undercliff
When visiting CW writer Philip Thomas described the undercliffs of Dorset and east Devon as “a geological fallout zone smothered by feral woodland”, he nailed it. An undercliff is a terrace formed by a slumping or collapsing cliff, and the coastline is positively shivering. The sea desires it, and all too often, it gets it. The result is the undercliff – a world of mangled trees and enormous ferns, often likened to a rainforest.
The Undercliffs between Axmouth and Lyme Regis form the largest active landslide system in northwest Europe; in one incident alone – the Great Slip of 1839 – some eight million tons of rock slumped into the sea. These orphaned landscapes promptly develop their own ecosystems and even microclimates, and they are extraordinary places to walk, full of ruptured rifts and swallowed structures. Little surprise that today they are designated as a National Nature Reserve and a haven for botanists, geologists and marine biologists.
Also notable are the undercliffs at White Nothe, further east between Weymouth and Lulworth Cove: so continuously imperilled by movement that they are washed in pink on OS maps, indicating that their coastal access is likely to go through an enforced ‘rollback’ at some point. Undercliffs, then: a very, very moveable feast.
WALK HERE: Download The Undercliffs at www.lfto.com/cwroutes