Sand Fence Dune

Sand Fence Dune is an original illustration set in North Sea Dune Coast. It lies in mid-latitudes, where the climate is oceanic — mild, wet through the year.

A low porous fence of brushwood runs along a beach with sand piled up on its sheltered side. On the windward side the lower slats have been scoured clear. A fresh elongated ridge of sand is forming parallel to the fence, and sparse marram grass is beginning to take hold.

Why does a sand fence work without blocking the sand?

The fence is not a barrier — it is a brake. Porous enough to let wind through but slow it down, it makes the air drop its sand load on the far side, and a young dune builds there deliberately. This is coastal defence by accretion rather than by wall. It works only where onshore wind is dependable and the sand supply constant, on a cool sea with a wide tidal beach.

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