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ABPmer
Quayside Suite
Medina Chambers
Town Quay
Southampton
SO14 2AQ
2007
Unmanaged realignment
United Kingdom
Erme River, Devon
-3.9279
50.3332
24 Hectares
In December 2007, extreme high tides occurred in the estuary as a southwesterly storm surge coincided with sustained rainfall. The swollen river caused a breach in the wall on the eastern side of the estuary.
There had been two previous failures of the sea wall but, following a third and final breach, the landowner entered an Environmental Stewardship agreement with Natural England. This land management agreement supported the maintenance of the site as intertidal habitat.
The site now has (as of July 2018) a full mix of transitional coastal habitats from bare sand at the breach through areas mud and marsh in the middle shore up to grassland in the upper reaches of the site.
There are also areas which are (or at least have been) used for commercial Samphire collecting (see references below).
The site does suffer (visually at least) by being a bit of a trap for floating debris from the Erme Estuary (see photos).
ABPmer
Quayside Suite
Medina Chambers
Town Quay
Southampton
SO14 2AQ