Holbeck hall is on the North East Coast of England, in Yorkshire, not far from Scarborough.

In the Summer of 1993 there was a long dry period followed by heavy rain. The cliffs near Holbeck Hall were made of clay, so became saturated as the water penetrated the clay.

The water acted as a lubricant, so the cliff started to slide along the lines of slippage.

Originally the Hotel was not considered under any danger because it was 60-70m back from the cliff edge.

However, on 3rd June, cracks began to appear in the Hotel Lawn. On the 4th June at 7.30am the garden slipped down to the foreshore on a major landslide. The remainder of the lawn and the hotel conservatory fell in the afternoon.

Over the next three days the entire hotel slowly collapsed under smaller landslides. Any part of the hotel that was till intact was immediately demolished.

In total 1 million tonnes of glacial till slid into the sea.