In Babbacombe Bay the beach consists principally of the débris from a large limestone quarry. The general trend of the drift along the shore is in a westerly direction. In strong easterly gales the material is drifted from Babbacombe to Oddicombe in large quantities, and the Babbacombe beach becomes denuded.

On the south side of Babbacombe Bay there is a stretch of sands, but about the middle of the bay the westerly direction of the coast changes to nearly north, and at this point a small projection of greenstone juts out through the Devonian slate, and many blocks of stone from this rock are strewn about on the beach. Rolled fragments of this greenstone and slate drift northwards, and are to be found in abundance on the Oddicombe beach.

About a third of a mile beyond Oddicombe Sands is an indent in the sandstone cliff known as Pettitor Cove, which is divided off from the main beach by some large isolated rocks, having a distinct beach of its own composed chiefly of limestone, none of the greenstone or slate from Oddicombe travelling round the point between the two beaches.

About the centre of the bay is the estuary of the river Teign, the mouth of which is encumbered by a shifting bank of sand. Extending out from the north side of the estuary in a southerly direction is a bank of shingle known as the Den, and beyond which is a bank of fine shingle and sand. On the opposite side a bank known as the Pole Sands extends out from the Ness, a projecting point of red sandstone. This sandbank constitutes the bar. The shingle and sandbank at the point on the north side forms a protection to the harbour, and a groyne has been erected to assist in its preservation. Considerable complaints have from time to time been made as to the removal of material from this bank. At an inquiry held by the Board of Trade in 1898, at the request of the Harbour Commissioners, to inquire into this matter with a view to having the removal stopped, it was stated that as much as 15,000 to 16,000 tons had been removed in one year for the making of concrete and other purposes.

The supply of sand and shingle along this part of the coast comes from the sandstone cliffs to the north of the estuary, the drift here being southerly.

Five miles further on is the estuary of the river Exe, which

is 11⁄2 miles wide, but the opening to the bay is restricted to about half a mile by a projecting spit of sand. The drift across the mouth of the estuary is in the opposite direction to that of the Teign, the sands extending from the cliffs at Langstone Point across the river in a northerly direction, forming a spit 13 miles long, known as the Warren, beyond which is the Pole Sand, which is covered at high tide.

The Warren consists of blown sand, and is from 20 to 30 feet high, and is covered with bent grass, and forms a natural breakwater for the harbour.

The cause of the drift across the estuaries of these two rivers, which are only 6 miles apart, being in opposite directions, is probably due to the different positions they occupy in the bay. The up-channel flood current, setting past the projection at Hopes Nose, has a tendency to strike the coast to the north of the Teign, part eddying round and being deflected south by the Clerk rocks, and the inshore current running towards the Teign causing the drift to move in the same direction. On the other hand, the other branch tends to set along the shore north of the Clerk rocks, and causes the northerly drift of material across the mouth of the Exe. The south-west winds, which bring the highest tides and heaviest seas, also have more effect in driving material across the Exe than across the Teign, this part of the coast lying under the shelter of the cliffs at the south end of the bay.

The cliffs from the river Exe to Budleigh Salterton, a distance of about 3 miles, consist of the New Red Sandstone, and attain an elevation of 250 feet at the western end near Straight Point, dropping down to the valley of the river Otter, the water from which finds its way to the shore through a bed of shingle which extends across its mouth; and then rising again at Otterton Point, which forms a headland, in front of which a ledge of rocks extends seaward and is covered at half tide.

These cliffs are capped by a bed of pebbles, about one-third of which are flints and the remainder quartzite; and these pebbles extend up the banks of the Exe to Topsham, and up the river Otter to Fairmile. The shingle on the beach at Littleham, on the east end of the bay, is mainly composed of pebbles derived from these beds.

The beach at Budleigh Salterton has a distinct character of its own, the shingle being different to any other found between Start Point and Portland Bill. For about 1 miles the stones

consist chiefly of quartzite, and there are some pebbles having blood-red spots; a few pebbles of jasper are also found, the source of which has been traced to some gravel beds on the Alesbere Hills, 6 miles to the north, whence they have been transported down the river Otter.

These quartzite pebbles vary in size from small stones to boulders weighing from 10 to 12 lbs., and are known as Budleigh "popples," and have been used for generations for building purposes, and for paving the streets and repairing the roads. The larger boulders are round, the smaller pebbles being flattened ovals free from angularity. They are derived from a large bed of pebbles 100 feet thick, rising up from the beach and resting on the red marl capped by sand and gravel.

The drift of the shingle is easterly, but its progress is stopped at the headland at Otterton Point, which, with the projecting ledge of rocks, forms a natural groyne, and prevents the material passing on to the next bay.

Otterton Point to Beer Head.-The next bay, lying between Otterton Point and Beer Head, has two distinct beaches. The shingle on the east side of the point is of an entirely different character to that at Budleigh Salterton, none of the quartzite pebbles finding their way round the point.

The cliffs in this bay consist, on the west, of the New Red Sandstone, and east of Sidmouth of red marl. The whole of this line of cliffs, which are from 50 to 100 feet high, is being eroded by the sea, and the gravel beds which cap them, when they fall, afford a supply of shingle to the beach.

Between Otterton and the projection of the Chit rocks at the west of Sidmouth the beach consists principally of sand, but there is some shingle derived from the gravel beds above referred to.

The drift along the beach is from south-west to north-east, and a considerable bank of shingle collects behind the headland at the Chit Rocks. These rocks extend some distance seaward, and are only bared at about half tide, thus forming a natural groyne, beyond which the shingle does not drift.

Sidmouth lies in a gap in the cliffs in the valley through which the river Sid finds its way to the sea. The beach in front of the town is shingle, the width between high and low water spring tides being about 35 yards, beyond which is a flat sandy beach uncovered in places at L.W.S.T. The shingle consists

of flints and chert, and varies in size from inch to 4 inches in diameter. About half a century ago (1847) there was considerable denudation of the beach; ten years later the shingle was heaped up as high as the esplanade wall, the bank extending out thence to H.W.S.T. Owing to a long prevalence of south-west gales, it then decreased until 1873, when the beach became so cleared from the east side of the town to the Chit Rocks, that the red sandstone rock was bare and the sea-wall undermined. Since then it has been accumulating, and in 1899 was nearly level with the top of the sea-wall. The quantity of the beach depends on the direction of the wind. South-west gales tend to denudation. During south-east and off-shore winds and calm weather the beach grows up. The supply appears to be derived principally from the chert and flints of the gravel beds capping the red marl cliffs between Sidmouth and Branscombe, falls from which on to the shore frequently occur. The direction of the drift is westerly. It is stopped by a projection of the sandstone cliffs and the ledge of projecting rock west of Sidmouth already referred to, and also by a stone groyne which runs out at right angles to the sea-wall at its western termination. Beyond this groyne the bank of shingle is only one-third the width that it is on the eastern side.

The mouth of the river Sid has been completely blocked by a shingle-bank, the water in dry weather percolating through the stones, and in heavy floods breaking out an opening.

Seventy years ago (1830), for the purpose of preventing the erosion of the esplanade, which then was only a roadway on the top of the earthen bank, groynes were placed at right angles to the shore.

They were carried to the commencement of the sand, a distance of 33 yards from the esplanade, and spaced about 70 yards apart, their height being 5 feet at the upper end and 3 feet at the lower; the piles were 7 to 8 inches square and 4 feet apart, and boarded on both sides with 2-inch elm planks.

The effect of these groynes was that the shingle became heaped up on the windward side, leaving the beach bare on the lee side, the shingle shifting from one end of the bay to the other according as the wind blew from south-west or south-east. In heavy on-shore gales the shingle was drawn out from the bays to the lower part of the beach, and the Esplanade left unprotected. After a few years' wear and tear these groynes became dilapidated, and were finally destroyed by the sea.

In 1838 a sea-wall was built along the whole of the frontage of the town, a distance of 613 yards, at a cost of £2500.

Beer Head and Seaton.-Beer Head, which attains a height of 400 feet, and forms the easterly horn of this bay, is the most westerly chalk cliff on the South Coast. It extends in a northerly direction for about a mile to Seaton.

The chalk rests on a layer of yellow chert from 6 to 9 inches in thickness, and contains a large quantity of flints. There is a considerable collection of shingle at the foot of the cliffs, the mound being 50 yards wide and from 3 to 4 feet above H.W.S.T., and forms a protection for the cliff from the action of the sea. The cliff is, however, wasting, large masses of chalk lying on the beach, which have been detached owing to the action of rain and frost.

The shingle consists of flint and chert derived from the cliff, the pebbles varying in size from inch to 6 inches in diameter, the average size being from 2 to 3 inches.

From Beer Head the shingle drifts for about a mile in a northerly direction, and thence easterly for 13 miles, and has accumulated in a bank extending across the low ground of the valley, diverting the river Axe from its direct course to the sea for a distance of 300 yards, when it finds an outlet under the foot of the cliffs which commence to the east of Seaton. This shingle bank is about 12 yards wide at the top, and slopes seaward at an inclination of 2 to 1 in its normal condition, to mean high water, and then 6 to 1. The pebbles consist principally of yellow chert and flint of different colours, brown predominating, and there are a few limestone and pink quartzite and jasper. The size varies from 1 to 12 inches, the average being about an inch. At the eastern end there are a few pebbles from 6 to 9 inches diameter. Axmouth. Beyond the river Axe for about 1 miles the coast is bordered by chalk cliffs containing flints. The waste of the cliffs is aided by the fall of the chalk due to the washing away of the greensand on which it rests. Beyond the chalk the cliffs are of lias clay and shale, capped by a bed of greensand, through which the water finds its way and causes the cliff to slip in large masses on to the beach.

At Downlands, 2 miles east of the river Axe, a very extensive landslip occurred about 60 years ago. The cliffs at this part of the coast consist of an upper stratum of chalk containing flints, resting on a bed of sandstone and chert, below which is a bed of