Between 1897 and 1902, 1,600 tonnes of pebbles were extracted daily from the bank facing the village of Hallsands in southern Devon for use in Plymouth shipyards. This dredging operation reduced the beach by 2 to 4 meters in height, removing the natural barrier that protected the village from storm surges. The pebble bank, which once cushioned waves before they reached the village, was a vital defense against the sea. A contractor obtained a license from the Board of Trade to dredge the area, and local sources suggest the operation was overseen by Sir John Jackson, who was involved in Royal Navy projects. The scale of the dredging can be understood by considering that 1,600 tonnes per day is equivalent to about sixty 25-ton semi-trailer loads, seven days a week. Villagers protested because the pebble bank had been their natural defense, but the dredging continued despite their concerns. By 1900, the beach had already lost between 2.1 and 3.7 meters in height, altering the daily lives of local fishermen who had previously relied on the pebbles to haul their boats ashore. Although the license was revoked in 1902, it was too late to prevent the village’s decline. Population figures illustrate the impact of the changes. In 1891, Hallsands had 37 houses and 159 inhabitants. By 1906, only 25 houses and 93 people remained. Nearly half the population had left in fifteen years, and these departures were followed by a series of damaging storms in 1903 and 1904. A temporary protective wall was built, but it could not replace the lost pebble bank. Researchers from the CITiZAN project, which studies the coastal heritage of Britain, note that the history is complex, as the dredging coincided with a period of intense storms linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation, an atmospheric pressure pattern that influenced weather in the region. On January 26, 1917, a powerful storm destroyed the village, which had been left vulnerable without its natural defenses. Only one house remained intact after 15 years of decline. The villagers had tried to prepare, hauling their boats onto the street and seeking shelter for children in a neighboring house, but storm-force winds and exceptionally high tides overwhelmed the village. By midnight, four houses had disappeared, and none remained intact. The high tide on January 28 broke the remaining protective walls, leaving the village practically destroyed. Only one house was still habitable. The residents fought for seven years to obtain compensation for their losses, eventually receiving 6,000 pounds in damages. For families who had lost homes, boats, and their way of life, the sum came after more than a generation of fishing without a beach. Today, the ruins of Hallsands remain clinging to the cliff above the bay. The local newspaper, the Kingsbridge Gazette, captured the tragedy in a famous sentence: the beach had gone to Devonport, and the houses to the sea.