North-West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment
 |
 |
 |
Between August 2007 and September 2009 ARS Ltd carried out a desk based rapid coastal zone assessment of the North West Coast on behalf of English Heritage. The project aimed to assess the threat posed to heritage assets on the North West coast by rising sea level and the coastal erosion that happens as a result. The North West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment, or NWRCZA, is one of a series of projects initiated by English Heritage around the coasts of England. The assessment was undertaken throughout with reference to Defra's Shoreline Management Plans, or SMPs. The area that was assessed extends from the Anglo-Welsh border in the Dee Estuary to the Anglo-Scottish border in the Solway Firth.
The NWRCZA study area consists of nearly 900km of coastline between the Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT) and 1km inland from Mean High Water Springs (MHWS). The review of the coastline and the decision on which areas merit the most attention was based on two different data sets. The first consists of the Historic Environment Records (HERs). These are maintained by or for Local Authorities across the country and include information about historic buildings and sites for that particular area. For the NWRCZA project the HERs that were consulted were Cheshire Archaeology Planning Advisory Service, Merseyside Archaeological Service, Lancashire County Council, Cumbria County Council and the Lake District National Park Authority. The second data set consists of the aerial photograph coverage of the study area from which all archaeological features visible have been mapped to the standards of English Heritage’s National Mapping Programme.
The project was able to identify the most 'at-risk' sites and to predict the effect that continued sea-level rise would have on them in the future. However, it also highlighted sites that are at an increased risk from the current mitigation strategy that has been proposed. For example, many 'at-risk' sites in Cumbria have been deemed as not requiring any further intervention, although continued erosion will surely destroy them. The assessment also established that many sites are so poorly understood that making an evaluation of the threat to them was made very difficult.
The range of archaeological sites in the North-West region date from the Palaeolithic period through to the World Wars. War defences are particularly common along the coastline and the numbers of piers, shipyards and the Liverpool Docks reflect industrial expansion that happened in the mid 18th century and into the Industrial Revolution. The NWRCZA has identified thirty-nine important sites, dating from the prehistoric period through to the Second World War, that are at risk and it is hoped that future strategies can be implemented to avoid more damage being done to these important heritage assets.
PDF versions of the NWRCZA report: