By Laura Forsyth For Mailonline
12 April 2018
A village is rising by nearly one inch every year and experts can’t explain it
Willand in Devon near the M5 has streets lined with thatched roof houses
Experts can only say the cause is ‘deep underground’ and described it as ‘weird’
You may have heard of property prices rising each year – but what about the buildings themselves?
This is exactly what is happening to a quaint village, which is rising by 2cm every year – and experts have no idea why.
Willand in Devon lies just off the M5, and has streets lined with thatched roof houses, one pub, a village hall and a football club.
Willand in Devon has streets lined with thatched roof houses, one pub, a village hall and a football club
Researchers have no idea why the area is rising, other than that the cause is ‘deep underground’
But now the village is the cause of much head-scratching in the geological world, as a 2km wide area is rising by 2cm every year.
Despite the drastic situation experts have no idea why, other than that the cause is ‘deep underground’, and have described the problem as ‘weird’.
Dr Andy Sowater told the BBC: ‘Probably the weirdest example we’ve come across is the 2cm per year uplift at a place called Willand in Devon.
‘It’s a small place on the M5 motorway.
‘We’ve spoken to the Environment Agency and the British Geological Survey, and right now we can’t explain it.
‘We don’t know why it’s going up.’
The situation was noticed after a new map was created which monitors land surface across the UK.
It was created from more than 2,000 radar images acquired by the European Union’s Sentinel-1 satellites.
The map reveals areas of subsidence and uplift, some of which, like those above old mine workings, could be hazardous.
But Willand remains a mystery that even the boffins behind the map don’t understand.
Geomatic Ventures Limited, a company which grew out of the University of Nottingham, says the cause of the Willand Uplift is ‘unknown’.
The strange discovery was made after a new map was created from more than 2,000 radar images acquired by the European Union’s Sentinel-1 satellites
The map reveals areas of subsidence and uplift, some of which could be hazardous
Geomatic Ventures Limited, a company which grew out of the University of Nottingham, says the cause of the Willand Uplift is ‘unknown’
A spokesman said: ‘This almost 2km-wide area of significant uplift has been detected by this survey, and in several independent satellite acquisitions.
‘It affects a section of the M5 and also a major railway line.
‘Although we have yet to identify the cause, the fact that vegetated and urban classes are rising in unison suggests it lies deep underground.’
Boffins have spoken to the Environment Agency and the British Geological Survey, and still can’t explain it
No one knows what is going on in the village but the fact that vegetated and urban classes are rising in unison suggests it lies deep underground
The rising ground affects a section of the M5 and also a major railway line
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