Geograph - photograph every grid square

Twenty years ago the sea here reached much further inland and groynes were constructed to break the force of the waves. Due to northwards drift of the shingle ness below Kessingland, all the groynes got covered with sand. The rusty remains of two can be found in the middle of the beach (the other one can be seen in the background to the left of the first).

The shingle beach at Kessingland was included as part of a larger Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1989. At that time the northern boundary of the site was drawn to coincide with the limit of the shingle beach. However, due to rapid northwards drifting of the shingle ness, the positions of beach and shoreline have considerably changed within the past 20 years. Old photographs taken in 1984 clearly show a field of groynes on the then northern edge of the site. By 2004 all these groynes had completely disappeared under a sandy foreshore which appears to precede the northwards movement of the shingle ness.