every size, and an
island-group lies off each of the more prominent headlands from Land's
End northward. The formation of the coast varies from low, shifting
banks of shingle or sand to majestic cliffs, and its character in
different localities has been foreshadowed in the previous consideration
of the hill-systems and lowlands. Thus in the north-east the coast is
generally of no great elevation, but the foothills of the Cheviot and
Pennine systems approach it closely. On the Yorkshire coast the
Cleveland Hills and the high moors are cut off on the seaward side in
magnificent cliffs, which reach the greatest elevation of sea-cliffs on
the English coast (666 ft.). The Yorkshire Wolds similarly terminate
seaward in the noble promontory of Flamborough Head. From this point as
far south as the North Foreland of Kent the coast, like the land, is
almost wholly low, though there are slight cliffs at some points, as
along the coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk, on which the sea constantly
encroaches. On the south coast a succession of cliffs and low shores may
be correlated with the main physical features of the land. Thus in
succession there are the famous white cliffs about Dover, terminating
the North Downs, the low coast of Romney Marsh, projecting seaward in
Dungeness, the cliffs above Hastings, terminating an offshoot of the
Forest Ridges, the low shore between Hastings and Eastbourne, to which
succeeds the lofty Beachy Head, terminating the South Downs. A flat
coast follows as far as Selsey Bill and Spithead, but the south coast
of the Isle of Wight shows a succession of splendid cliffs. The shallow
inlet of Poole Bay is followed by the eminence of St Alban's Head, and
thereafter, right round the south-western promontory of England, the
cliff-bound coast, with its bays and inlets closely beset with hills,
predominates over the low shore-line, exhibits a remarkable series of
different forms, and provides the finest scenery of its kind in England.
The shores of the Severn estuary are low, but the Welsh coast, sharing
the general character of the land, is more or less elevated throughout,
though none of the higher mountain-masses directly approaches the sea.
Low shores correspond to the plains of Cheshire, Lancashire and the
Solway, while the intervening coast is of no great elevation, as only
the foothills of the Lake District approach it with a gradual slope.

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