About Fairlight Cove

Fairlight Cove village sits on 50m high cliffs running between Hastings and Cliff End in East Sussex, England. The shoreline is part of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the cliffs are designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest for their great geological and biological importance.

Location of Rockmead Road and the landslide

The coastal cliffs between Goldbury Point and Cliff End are divided into three main sections by two major reverse faults. The Haddock’s Reversed Fault is approximately 150m east of Seagull Cottage on the eastern edge of Fairlight Cove. The Fairlight Cove Reversed Fault intersects the cliffs where Cliff Way footpath meets the cliff. The cliffs are composed of the Lower Cretaceous Middle Ashdown Beds, comprising an alternating series of sandstones, siltstones, claystones and clay.

These cliffs are undefended except for a 0.5 km length below Sea Road which is protected by a rock bund constructed in 1990 to prevent further undercutting of the cliff along this length. These defence works were constructed in 1990 following concern in the mid-1980’s over the increasing rate of erosion of the cliffs between Haddock’s Fault and Fairlight Cove Fault (the area just below Sea Road). Rother District Council constructed the rock bund parallel to the coast to reduce rates of erosion whilst still maintaining important geological exposures. Post-construction monitoring surveys of the rock bund defences confirm that they are offering adequate protection to this length of the cliff and are performing to their design standard. Overall, the cliffs immediately behind the bund have remained fairly stable since 1990, with typically only slow rates of erosion evident.

From old maps and records dating back to 1873, the erosion of the 50m high cliffs in the Channel Way and Rockmead Road areas of Fairlight Cove (i.e. to the west of the Fairlight Cove Revered Fault) has been relatively modest. However, during the past seven years there has been a dramatic increase in cliff loss from a position about 400m to the west of the rock bund running for approximately 320m running along the majority of the frontage of Rockmead Road, Fairlight. This has led to the demolition of five houses and evacuation of others. The amount of erosion over this period is such that the cliff edge is approaching the estimated position for the year 2053 under the “Do Nothing” scenario contained in the Beachy Head to Rye Harbour coastal defence strategy published in 2003.

The exact cause of the cliff failure is unknown but the general opinion is that it is likely to be related to both cliff toe erosion and elevated ground water. It is suggested that the collapse is by processes of mass flow and failure of large sections of the cliff, leaving behind a scarp in the cliff with a number of terraces on the slumped mass. Over time these terraces are degraded by further mud flow processes. The slump continues to slip as the toe of the mass is eroded and by landward failure of the rear scarp. It is relevant that groundwater levels in the cliffs are likely to have increased by heavy rainfall during the wet winters of 1999, 2000 and 2001.