The Folkestone Warren landslides and the East Cliff Roman Villa
The Folkestone Warren landslides and the East Cliff Roman Villa
ABSTRACT
The Roman Villa on Folkestones East Cliff overlooks East Wear Bay and the Folkestone Warren landslide complex, with both the villa and the railway which crosses the Warren at risk from coastal erosion, a process that restarted somewhere between 6 and 7 ka b.p. as sea levels in the English Channel recovered from a low level during the last major glacial period. Part of the villa has been lost to erosion, but the main part of the Warren landslide system and the railway have been protected by sea walls and other works, some of which are in progress at the present time. Sadly, no such works are contemplated to protect the villa site. This paper provides a summary of the history of investigations in both the landslide system and the villa complex, and, taking into account information on how the coast has eroded during the past two centuries, permitting speculation on how the coast might have appeared when the villa was in use.
Keywords: Roman villa, coast erosion, landslide
Keith Parfitt; E. N. Bromhead
4th International Symposium on the Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites
Geohazards and Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment for Cultural Heritage
https://doi.org/10.53243/tc301-2026-14