Managing Coastal Change: Use of the Defra Coastal Change Fund in North Norfolk

Introduction

Historical Perspective

Britain has been an island for many thousands of years. As a result, the British people have

developed a close relationship with the sea and the coast. Historically the focus of this

relationship has been for trade and food. Hence towns and villages developed where there

was access to the coast and a safe haven for boats. The more viable havens developed into

larger ports and they, and the towns that supported them, often expanded on to reclaimed

land.

In the last 200 years our relationship with the sea and the coast has changed. Though large

ports still exist, the most significant change has been to regard the coast as a place to retreat