The Holderness coast is a 61 km long stretch of low glacial drift cliffs 3m to 35m in height. They sweep in a smooth S shape from just south of Bridlington in the north to Spurn Point in the south. This smooth shape is only broken where sea defences have reduced erosion at the protected point and increaced it southwards. Contemporary evidence of rapid erosion is abundant. Military pillboxes built in 1940-41 lie at the cliff foot, roads end pricipitously at the cliff edge and the local press regularly covers stories of properties falling into the sea.
Historical evidence is also abundant.
Erosion has been rapid from at least the Roman era and dozens of villages and towns now lost to the sea are recorded. The coastline of Holderness is eroding at around 2m per year. The erosion occurs mainly during storms and tidal surges and a loss of 6m was recorded over two days at Barmston in October 1967. Erosion increaces as one moves southward. The cliffs are made up of loosly consolidated glacial till but there is no relationship between rates of erosion and type of till, nor with the height of the cliff.