ABSTRACT
Great Britain is not a country noted for the severity of its landslide hazard. With the exception of actively eroding cliffs, the relatively subdued inland topography, particularly in the southern half of the country, is not generally associated with large-scale active mass movements. Even the more mountainous parts of England, Wales and Scotland have been eroded by ice sheets and valley glaciers and tend to often have quite smooth terrain that are not obviously dissected by massive landslide scars. However, investigations sponsored by the UK Government indicated that within the British landscape in the region of 9,000 landslides have been observed and recorded. Detailed studies of selected areas have suggested that this figure may underestimate the actual number of landslides in the landscape by nearly two orders of magnitude. Despite the relatively low landslide hazard, research into mass movement occurrence and processes is extensive. For the 9th ICFL some of the best known and studied landslides in Southern Britain were visited. These included: the Ventnor Undercliff landslide on the Isle of Wight; the landslides along the South Dorset coast, such as Black Ven and the Isle of Portland; the South Wales Coalfield landslides; and the Cotswold Hills around Bath. In this paper an overview is provided of the geomorphological and geological controls on the development of the landslides in these areas.
