East Cliff, Lyme Regis: The Challenges of Coastal Protection and Slope Stabilisation of an Historic Town and Community within a World Heritage and Special Area of Conservation Site

The Lyme Regis Phase IV East Cliff scheme completed in 2015 is one of the largest and most complex coast protection schemes attempted in the UK. Thirty years in planning, the ground engineering, environmental, community and financial challenges of the scheme provide an exemplar that will be followed by the industry for decades to come (Watson 2015).

The historic coastal town of Lyme Regis is situated in one of the most unstable geological settings in the UK and has suffered severely from the effects of coastal erosion and landsliding. Over the years, landslide activity and cliff retreat has damaged or destroyed many properties throughout the town together with roads, land and infrastructure. In the absence of engineering intervention the future for the town was bleak, with existing coast protection structures reaching the end of their useful life and landslide activity increasing in response to climate change and a higher frequency of wet winters over the last two decades.