Crag Walk

Crag Walk will be an educational public access and viewing platform along the beach in front of the southern end of the Naze cliffs. This project is essential to preserve a section of the Naze public open space, the SSSI Naze cliffs and the grade 2* listed Naze Tower from the coastal erosion.

• Action is required ASAP as the rate of erosion is approximately 2metres every year and the Naze Tower now only stands 60 metres (2008) from the cliff edge. The platform will be 100m long with a large deposit of rocks at the end to stop outflanking. Due to the SSSI rating of the cliffs Natural England will currently only agree to this size structure. Tendring District Council designed Crag Walk in agreement with Natural England.

• Crag Walk will incorporate interpretation and educational aids that will enhance appreciation and awareness of the site’s unique internationally renowned heritage, geology and ecology.

• The Crag Walk Project will cost £1 million + VAT, the NPS are constantly Fundraising, so far they have raised £210,000 towards Crag Walk.

Crag Walk : Construction Details

The construction is a 100metre long retaining wall that will support a 4m wide public access platform. It will have the capacity to carry construction vehicles, necessary to build the platform without using and potentially damaging the fossil bearing London Clay foreshore that is part of the Naze Cliffs SSSI (a requirement of Natural England).

This will also enable the platform to be extended in the future by TDC should the sea outflank it as the cliff line recedes.

Draft aerial plan of Crag Walk - Courtesy of TDC

Positioned up to 4m from the base of the cliff the 22m wide construction comprises of a base foundation slab forming the toe of the structure keyed into the beach; retaining a 4m deep, 13m high revetment formed from 5 - 9 ton natural rocks that provides the foundations for the public access platform.

This design can absorb wave energy and allow incoming tidal water to percolate through the structure and present a sustainable, low maintenance structure of natural materials that will reduce erosion by the sea to a minimum. A large placement of rocks at the far end of the wall will protect the platform from outflanking.

Draft cross section plan of Crag Walk - Courtesy of TDC

The public access and viewing platform will be a walkway with safety barriers on each side, which will support five interpretation boards that will display the principle aspects of interest concerning the Naze and contextualise the 55 million years of landscape evolution the site has experienced.

The Crag Walk will be accessible high and low tide and signposted from the Naze car park by the existing steps that are currently used to reach the Naze beach.

Fossilised shark teeth found at the Naze - Courtesy of Naze Tower

The construction will allow the cliff material to stabilise behind the structure, over the years the cliff will naturally return to a less vertical angle which will provide a natural solution to the drainage issue at this site.

The geological strata of the Naze Cliffs SSSI will be maintained and exposed through manual clearance of excessive undergrowth on the cliff face, as required by Natural England. This will also allow a level of environmental management with potential to enhance the biodiversity of the site.

Eventual Naze Cliff angle behind the Crag Walk - Courtesy of TDC