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The Isle of Wight Undercliff

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Landscapes and Landforms of England and Wales

Part of the book series: World Geomorphological Landscapes ((WGLC))

Abstract

The Isle of Wight Undercliff is a unique coastal landscape. Formed by deep-seated mass movement, the origins of the Undercliff can be traced back through the Holocene and Late Quaternary, when sea level and climatic conditions were very different than today. The spectacular landscape of stepped terraces with open sea views, coupled with a warm humid micro-climate, became popular in Victorian times, a period of rapid development of Ventnor and other villages located within the Undercliff. The occupation and development of the Undercliff has exposed development and infrastructure to repeated damage from incipient ground displacement. Occasional more rapid ground movement and landslide events have occurred leading to the evacuation of residents, severe damage and abandonment of affected areas. This chapter gives an account of the landscape and landforms of the Isle of Wight Undercliff as observed from Victorian times to the present day. It presents new work to construct a three-dimensional model of the underlying geology which has a profound influence on the various landslide ground models that form the Undercliff. The sustainability of development and continued occupation of the Undercliff gives rise to many challenges and risks that requires effective management of land instability to mitigate the potential economic losses, which are anticipated to increase in future due to climate change and rising sea level.

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Acknowledgements

I am most grateful to Professor Robin McInnes for his assistance with the section on landscape art and engravings in the Undercliff. One of my first consultancy assignments was to map the geomorphology of the Ventnor Undercliff, and Robin, who was Assistant Engineer at South Wight Borough Council at the time, and lives locally, has provided support to my work in the Undercliff for some 30 years now, for which I am greatly indebted.

I would also like to acknowledge Professor Denys Brunsden for his support and scientific contributions to the DoE pilot study in the late 1980s, and subsequent deep ground investigations and consultancy in the Undercliff. I am deeply indebted to Denys for the opportunities and inspirational guidance he has given throughout my career, thank you.

This work is also indebted to the scientific contributions of Professor Eddie Bromhead and the late Professor John Hutchinson, which formed the basis of their keynote paper ‘Isle of Wight Landslides’ presented at the International Conference on Instability, Planning and Management (Hutchinson and Bromhead, 2002). I am grateful to Eddie for information and discussion about the St Lawrence Syncline and the findings revealed by the new 3D geological model.

I would also like to thank colleagues at Geomorphological Services Ltd., Rendel Palmer and Tritton, High Point Rendel, Halcrow Group Ltd. (now Jacobs), and the Isle of Wight Council for their contributions and assistance with this work over many years. Ross Fitzgerald and Claire Czarnomski are gratefully acknowledged for their work developing the 3D geological model and illustrations of the Undercliff presented herein.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jacobs UK Limited, Birmingham, UK

    Roger Moore

  2. Applied Geomorphology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

    Roger Moore

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  1. Roger Moore
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Correspondence to Roger Moore .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford University, Oxford, UK

    Andrew Goudie

  2. Institute of Geography and Regional Development, University of Wrocław, Wroclaw, Poland

    Piotr Migoń

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Moore, R. (2020). The Isle of Wight Undercliff. In: Goudie, A., Migoń, P. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of England and Wales. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38957-4_8

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