The Terrestrial Maritime Zone

Abstract

The Magnificent Maritime communities around the coasts of Britain have a certain affinity with those of croplands, in as much as they are physically unstable and include some Late-glacial survivors that used to live inland. Godwin¹⁹² says: ‘Of species present generally in the Late-glacial landscape, several, such as Armeria maritima, Silene maritima, Cochlearia officinalis and Plantago maritima, now grow in the sub-alpine mountain vegetation or in maritime habitats of sea-cliffs, dunes or salt-marshes.’ This is of course not just an inference, since actual remains of the plants have been found in early deposits. All four of these species are abundant and often dominant ones. Some animals, including the sand-dune snails Succinea oblonga and Catinella arenaria, have a similar history.⁴⁷¹ The total length of coastline in England and Wales (including the larger islands but not the Isle of Man) has recently been estimated by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, under the supervision of Dr E. C. Willatts, by courtesy of whom I am able to quote from the results here. By taking the coastline measured along High Water Mark of ordinary tides on one-inch to the mile Ordnance Survey maps, and using a convention about where to stop in estuaries or long inlets of the sea (e.g. the lowest bridging or ferry point), they determined a round total of 2748 miles. This confirms the earlier estimate by Dr Willatts published by Steers⁴⁸⁰ in 1944, of 2750 miles.