Peak Hill and the coast from Sidmouth to Beer, c1880, Sidmouth

Watercolour drawing of Peak Hill and the coast from Sidmouth to Beer, c1880, Sidmouth

Peak Hill now forms part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. The unknown artist of this watercolour has painted a view of the coastline from Sidmouth towards Salcombe Regis, looking out over what are now Connaught Gardens and Jacob's Ladder. The picture was probably painted in about 1880. The path to the beach was destroyed by a cliff fall in 1870 and access to it was restored by the construction of a long wooden ladder, from which the site took its name. The ladder can be clearly seen in this painting. It was never popular and was replaced in 1899 by a set of steps very similar to those in use today.

The house in the centre of the painting was constructed by Emmanuel Lousada, owner of Peak House, in about 1820. Originally called Cliff Cottage, it was renamed Sea View in the late nineteenth century and remained in private ownership until 1930. It was demolished soon afterwards when Sidmouth Urban District Council purchased the property and set about the remodelling of Connaught Gardens.

The cliffs between Sidmouth and Salcombe Regis are the subject of heavy and continuous erosion and the coastline here is constantly changing. Paintings of the coast such as this one, even allowing for artistic licence, have an important role to play in coastal conservation. Not only do they provide the landscape historian with a picture of the coastline as it used to be, but they can provide the geologist and conservationist with a timeline that can be used to construct an overview of the rate and pattern of coastal erosion in an area.

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