Porthleven Cliffs East SSSI, Cornwall
Coastal cliffs, exposure site, coastal defences.
Porthleven Cliffs East SSSI, Cornwall, is important for its structural and igneous geology. The rocks consist mainly of Devonian sediments, which have been intruded by basaltic sills when the sediments were still wet and unconsolidated. Subsequently, the rocks have undergone folding and intense deformation during the Variscan Orogeny. The structures in the rocks are important for understanding the geological history of the region.
In the late 1980s, the District Council proposal for construction of coastal defences, to protect cliff-top property, met with objections from English Nature (now Natural England), because a significant part of the interest would be under threat. A compromise was reached in 1993, when the council agreed to adopt a more strategic approach to coastline management throughout the area. This case had an important influence on the decision to implement shoreline management plans nationally in the mid-1990s.
Therefore, although much of the important exposure at Porthleven is currently obscured, the case had an important influence on the development of a more holistic approach to coastline management throughout the country.
