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Summary

Settlement at South Hallsands was destroyed during a storm in 1917 as a result of coastal dredging of gravel and sand for the extension of the Royal Navy dockyard at Keyham, Plymouth.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX83NW/27
• Tide Project: 11/09/2020

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• SETTLEMENT (Unknown date)

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

The 1904--06 Ordnance Survey map show 30 plus buildings which include fisherman cottages, the London Inn and a Post Office.

Gover, J. E. B. + Mawer, A. + Stenton, F. M., 1931, The Place-Names of Devon: Part One, 333 (Monograph). SDV1312.

Hallsands was first documented in 1541.

Larn, R., 1974, Devon Shipwrecks (Monograph). SDV741.

South Hallsands village was abandoned following a very bad storm and tide during World War One. Now almost totally demolished by the sea.

Maritime Archaeology Trust, 2018, Maritime Archaeology Trust: Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War, 2014-2018 (Website). SDV363802.

Hallsands village, located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the South Devon coast at Start Bay, about I mile north of Start Point, was until the last few years of the 19th century associated with fishing. From 1897 for the next 20 years, it suffered hardship, with its community progressively losing their means of fishing, culminating in losing their houses and belongings to the sea. This was brought about by removal of vast quantities of sand and shingle which had protected the precarious community for many, many decades. The result was that most inhabitants were forced to abandon their houses before they collapsed, but today the village has international renown within the Coastal Engineering fraternity, an example of the effect of coastal dredging when processes are not fully understood.

The Admiralty decided in 1895 that the Royal Navy dockyard at Keyham, Plymouth should be extended to accommodate the increasing size of modern warships. By 1907, Keyham, itself renamed as North Yard and now part of HMNB Devonport, had expanded greatly, requiring vast quantities of sand and gravel for its construction. Sir John Jackson, an established contractor for large scale civil engineering works including docks and harbours won the contract, and turned to a 1,100m stretch of coast off Hallsands for the materials needed, having secured a licence from the Board of Trade for removal of sand, shingle and gravel from below the low water mark in a designated area, without the villagers’ knowledge. The licence contained a clause that if the operation should damage the foreshore defences of the adjacent land, then the licence would be cancelled. Dredging started in April 1897, initially with a bucket-ladder dredger, later replaced by two suction-pump dredgers discharging into 1,100-ton capacity hopper barges for transport to Devonport. Soon afterwards, Sir John Jackson obtained a similar licence from the Office of Woods that permitted the removal of sand and shingle from the foreshore between high and low water marks, again without the knowledge of the villagers. A clause in this agreement stated that the work should be done in such a way that the land above the high-water mark should not be exposed to the encroachment of the sea.

By the end of May 1897, the removal of shingle at an average of 1,600 tons per day had altered the shape and angle of the beach, so much so that the low water mark moved until it was actually further inland than the old high-water mark. A Board of Trade Inquiry[4] was held on 10 June 1897 with reference to a complaint against the dredging made by the local MP, Mr F.B. Midmay, on behalf of the fishermen and villagers who feared that the dredging might destabilise the beach and thereby threaten the village. The inquiry[5] found that the activity was not likely to pose a significant threat to the village, so dredging continued, as the licence was not withdrawn, but Sir John Jackson undertook to pay the fishermen of Hallsands £125 a year while the dredging continued, together with a Christmas gratuity of £20. The payments were intended to compensate for the interference with fishing, not for any damage to the shoreline.

Cracks started to appear in houses at the south end of the village and the sea wall was undermined. Following another Board of Trade inspection, Jackson was ordered to provide new concrete footings to the sea wall and a concrete slipway for the boats, to compensate for the lack of beach.

There followed more damage to the sea walls which were built to protect the houses, and to the houses themselves. After much campaigning and protesting[6] by the villagers and their supporters, on 8 January 1902, the licence[7] to dredge was revoked. After nearly 5 years of dredging, around 650,000 tonnes of shingle were removed from the beach. In the years that followed, especially 1903, some houses suffered further damage, including the London Inn, which lost the kitchen, a bedroom and the cellars.

A new stronger sea wall was put in place in 1906 to protect the remaining 25 cottages and their 93 inhabitants. Although these numbers fell to 79, the sea wall contributed to the villagers’ feeling of security but this was shattered in a violent storm[9] which started on 26 January 1917.

On 25 September 1917, The Board of Trade held an enquiry[10][11] at Hallsands, on the order of the Devon Sea Fisheries Committee, on behalf of the inhabitants of Hallsands, for compensation in respect to the damage recently sustained by the village from the sea. The Committee urged that compensation should be made to the sufferers out of national funds, and adequate protection afforded, but it would be impossible to construct the houses where they once were. A civil engineer, R Handsford Worth, conducted extensive survey of the coastline with respect to the dredging, and his work was often quoted at this and other Public Inquiries of the day for Hallsands.

During the dredging and after, a civil engineer, R Handsford Worth, conducted extensive survey of the coastline with respect to the dredging, and his work was often quoted at Public Inquiries of the day. Hallsands has become internationally one of the world’s best known coastal erosion sites due to the circumstances of the loss of the village, and is an exemplar of the effect of coastal dredging when processes are not fully understood.

It should be noted that the storm of 1917 was particularly destructive due to the gale direction, north easterly, and the offshore Skerries Bank during north easterly winds was of primary importance creating wave energy impacting on Hallsands stretch of coast.

Ordnance Survey, 2020, MasterMap 2020 (Cartographic). SDV363413.

Map shows remains of buildings still present.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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