Is Our History Crumbling Away?

Archaeologists and historians are using aerial photos - more than 12,000 of them - to keep track of Britain's crumbling coastline.

An aerial photo is one taken from the air, usually from a plane.

Britain is an island, and every time the waves crash onto the beaches and against the cliffs, a tiny bit more is worn away.

Over millions of years, the shape of countries with coastlines changes. This is what's happening to Britain very, very slowly.

© Drew Pollard

This is an aerial photo of Kilnsea on the coast of Lincolnshire, taken in 1946.

Kilnsea was an important 'gun battery', a place where big guns were placed as a coastal defence. It was used in WW1 and WW2 to stop enemy warships from shelling the city of Hull.

Here's Kilnsea again, but this photo was taken in 2002.

Can you see how the shape of the coastline has changed, where the land has crumbled and fallen into the sea? It looks as if big chunks have been bitten off the land.

© National Monument Record

This recent photo of the chalk cliffs at Flamborough Head shows clearly where they're crumbling too.

One of the difficult things about this erosion is that important historical sites and evidence are being gradually washed away.

© National Monument Record

So - archaeolgists in the north of England are using aerial photos to create a record of interesting historical sites at risk of being lost to the North Sea.

We already know that the area they're looking at contains Bronze Age burial mounds, Roman signal stations, medieval enclosures and military installations. And who knows what's there but so far undiscovered?

This pattern in the sand that looks rather like a leaf is actually a shipwreck, off the coast of Cleethorpes. The ship hasn't been identified yet.

© National Monument Record

Also off the coast near Cleethorpes is this fishtrap, which is thought to be medieval.

Can you see the outlines of the trap appearing through the wet sand?

© National Monument Record

The project team from Humber Archaeology and English Heritage scan the best images onto a computer.

They then use sharp eyes, special computer software and archaeological knowledge to make digital maps of the landscape. Clever eh?

Sadly, we can't stop the sea washing away at beaches and cliffs, but at least these photographs and maps will give us a record for the future, which will help us remember and learn about the history and changing shape of our coastline.