The Naze

Erosion and prehistory through the night lens.

The Naze is an area of significant geological importance on the South Essex coast, close to the Suffolk border.The word ‘Naze’derives from the Old English ‘Ness’, meaning ‘headland’. The area is a small peninsular almost entirely surrounded be the sea.

Coastal erosion in the area is changing the headland’s outline at a startling rate. Naze Tower was built in around 1720, it's purpose being to guide vessels safely through the Goldmer Gap. It now teeters at the top of a rapidly receding cliff. It will fall into the sea in the next few decades, joining World War Two pillboxes, steel pipes, fences and other coastal structures that litter the beach at the base of the cliff.

A line of trees clutch the edge of this erosion, their salt-bleached root systems gradually revealed, leaving them nothing more to cling on to. Behind them, thousands of acres of arable farmland patiently await their fate.

Recent storm surges and high winds are accelerating the coastline's retreat from the sea. The erosion reveals a cross section of prehistory; a bed of London Clay underlies a fragile layer of more recently deposited ‘Red Crag’ sand, rich in the remains of life from the fifty million years that have preceded us. Despite the intense geological movement, being on the beach here, especially at night, The Naze feels like a tranquil place, where nothing is in a hurry. You stand with your back to the sea, observing fifty million years of Earth's life. It is a glimpse into a world in which we cannot possibly imagine participating.