Shore platforms and mass movement phenomena are important elements in the coastal scenery of the British Isles. Both features are particularly well developed along the English Channel coast. Where mass movement is of major importance it tends to inhibit the exposure of shore platforms. Under certain conditions it may temporarily protect the platform from further erosion. The factors which encourage the formation of shore platform and mass movement differ. Mass movement appears to be a secondary process, and does not seem to participate directly in either the primary formation of the shore platform or in its subsequent evolution.