Cottage left teetering on the brink of 400ft drop after Jurassic Coast cliff fall

A house has been left teetering on the brink of a 400ft drop following a massive cliff fall along the Jurassic Coast. The thatched cottage is now just 40ft away from the edge of the unstable Sidmouth cliffs in Devon.

It follows the collapse last weekend of a huge portion of the cliff at Jacob’s Ladder Beach between Sidmouth and Ladram Bay, where tons of debris came crashing down, prompting the local authority to close the popular South West Coast Path for safety reasons.

The initial fall in turn caused a smaller fall of rock directly below the thatched property, bringing it perilously close to the edge of the 400ft drop. Drone footage of the sandstone cliffs, which date back 185 million years, showed the magnitude of the landslip – and the risk it poses to both homeowners and members of the public venturing onto the beach.

“Following a cliff fall at Jacob’s Ladder Beach in Sidmouth, we’d like to remind visitors to keep their distance from cliffs along the East Devon coastline,” East Devon District Council warned in a social media post. It continued: “Cliff falls are a natural and unpredictable occurrence along the East Devon coast.

“This is because the rock from which the cliffs are formed is soft, and therefore prone to rock falls, and landslides, which can happen at any time.”

Following a similar collapse at the same location last year, coastal scientist Vicky Walkley had warned that cliff falls were “very difficult” to predict, and could be contributed to by both heavy rainfall and warm sunshine. There was another cliff collapse in Sidmouth in August 2022 which came after hot weather cracked the earth.

In March 2020, large chunks of the Sidmouth cliffs gave way in two separate collapses, sending rocks and sand tumbling down to the beach, just yards away from where people stood.

As well as East Devon District Council reminding visitors to “stay well clear” of the cliffs when walking on the beach, the coastguard has advised that beach users put a distance equivalent to the height of the cliff between themselves and the cliff base.