The Mixon Rock, a reef of hard shelly Alveolina limestone 2km to the south of Selsey Bill near Chichester (known locally as Chi), protects the Bill itself from the worst effects of wave action. It contains the tests (shells) of the Eocene foram Quinqueloculina, whose spokeswoman is justifiably proud of her part in saving Sussex from the sea:
I’m Quinqueloculina,
A tiny Eocener.
My tests are choc-a-bloc
In Selsey’s Mixon Rock.
At Pevensey and Chi,
Romans built their walls up high,
Gaining strength by building wide,
Stuffed with Mixon Rock inside.
Now it came, that Roman core,
From a reef not far offshore;
So my part in its construction
Saved poor Selsey from destruction!