The island of Great Britain is shrinking.
Every year several feet of land is washed away by the pounding waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
Every few decades a village is lost.
Overall,more than a quarterof the British coastline experiences erosion at rates higher than 4 inches per year.
The view looking down on the village of Hallsands in Devon.
Quite a famous example of human-caused erosion is the now abandoned coastal village of Hallsands in south Devon.
By early 1917, only one house remained.
It was abruptHallsands disappeared during the course of a single stormy night.
It was a secure location.
But that was to change three years later.
It was decided that the shingles would be extracted from Start Bay, just north of Hallsands.
The effect of the operation was felt on the village of Hallsands almost immediately.
Hallsands before it was swept away to the sea.
In these five years, 660,000 tons of material had been carried away.
Hallsands suffered a few casualties.
Their public house, calledLondon Inn, lost the kitchen, a bedroom and the cellars.
A couple of families were relocated, and population fell to 93 and then to 79 in 1906.
But the worst was yet to come.
The gale wind drove huge waves up the non-existent beach and crashed into the houses at roof height.
Miraculously, all 79 villagers survived and scrambled to safety.
The following day, the sun rose up to a devastating sight.
Many houses were gone.
The seawall had held otherwise many more would have disappeared, and many lives would have been lost.
An inquiry was held but the reports were never made public.
The Board of Trade denied responsibility but eventually agreed topay 6,000to the villagers as compensation.
Photo credit:Matt Buck/Flickr
