Birling Gap
| Birling Gap | |
| Sussex | |
|---|---|
Jul2001.jpg) Birling Gap | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TV554959 |
| Location: | 50°44’33"N, -0°12’5"E |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | BN20 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Wealden |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Lewes |
Birling Gap is a coastal hamlet within the parish of East Dean, sitting in a narrow gap in the cliffs of the South Downs, two miles west of Beachy Head. It is situated on the Seven Sisters, and is owned by the National Trust.
Coastal erosion has already removed some of the row of coastguard cottages built in 1878, but those that remain are still inhabited.[1]
The hamlet and its beach have a café, shop and visitor centre run by National Trust, and a metal staircase leading down to the enclosed pebble beach and the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs. In time, the houses are likely to be demolished due to the severe coastal erosion. If walkers are cut off at high tide, they can climb the ladder, which is replaced often, to Birling Gap.
Noted artist Jean Cooke lived in two cottages at Birling Gap. She painted seascapes there and died in 2008 while looking at the sea.[2][3]
In August 2017 hundreds of people suffered ill-effects after a suspected chemical poisoning incident.[4]
Geography
The main rock type at Birling Gap is chalk. Other rock types outcropping here include flint, loess and soil. The coastline is part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest 'Seaford to Beachy Head', which falls within the parish. The site is of biological and geological interest.[5]
There is also extensive evidence and visible earthworks here for an Iron Age hillfort on the site – although nearly half of it has already been lost to the sea. Information boards at the site show how it would have originally looked; however, even more will be lost due to the geological nature of these chalk cliffs.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Birling Gap) |
References
- ↑ "BBC News – SCI/TECH – Crumbling cliffs highlight coastal crisis". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/833296.stm.
- ↑ "Jean Cooke: Painter of wit and subtlety". The Independent (independent.co.uk). 11 August 2008. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jean-cooke-painter-of-wit-and-subtlety-890262.html.
- ↑ Vann, Philip (28 August 2008). "Jean Cooke, obituary". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/aug/29/art.
- ↑ Farmer, Ben (28 August 2017). "Beachy Head chemical haze mystery deepens as police say gas not from France". Daily Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/27/birling-gap-beauty-spot-evacuated-chlorine-gas-leak-causes-breathing/.
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Seaford to Beachy Head