The Victorian Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 Plan of the Torcross area shows that the road, known today as the A379, existed in the same position.

A few differences appear. The Start Bay Inn was known then as Fishermen's Arms, and there was a Coastguard Station nearby.
The Torcross Hotel was in the same location as it is today. There was also a similar pattern of buildings to the North of the Hotel as can be seen today. The Hotel was built upon the local bedrock of Meadfoot Slate. The buildings to the North were, and are today, built upon the shingle ridge. The wide alleyway in front of the Hotel was probably the route of the drainage channel, today a pipe, taking excess freshwater from the Ley out to sea. The road itself seems to follow the present day route, meandering to the top of the Shingle Ridge just North of the Fishermen's Arms. What is unknown is the type of surface it possessed at the time of the Survey. Many roads in Devon, and indeed most of England, had a dressing of hardcore in the late 19th Century. Tarmacadam did not become ubiqitous until well into the 20th Century.
What is abundantly clear from the Plan is that the beach volume was considerably greater in 1885, when the Survey was made, than it is today. This is verified by many dated photographs, available in local publications, and today on internet sites.
Beach sediments are the most effective form of coastal protection, because they absorb wave energy. This doesn't appear to be recognised by engineers who place concrete and steel piling at the top of beaches, only to cause reflection of wave energy which transfers beach sediment seaward during Winter storms.
As for the A379 road there is now a splendid opportunity for archaeologists and geologists to use modern methods of dating and mineral analysis to establish a scientific record of the many layers of hardcore, and latterly tarmac, that have been laid along the road.
Study the photos below:

Many layers of hardcore were laid before tarmac. Prior to motor vehicles, horses and carts would have used the road. Choice of material for the road surface needed to support the narrow wheels of carts and stagecoaches. Beach shingle alone would have been a difficult surface for horses and carts to negotiate.
An important conclusion from these photos is that the road itself forms a rigid strip 5 metres wide by about 0.7 metres deep that stretches for nearly 4 km. That rigidity is hindering the ability of the shingle ridge to respond to the natural process of migrating, millimetre by millimetre each year, in an onshore direction. A process which has been ongoing for several thousand years. That's how the shingle ridge, barrier beach, shingle bar, select your own descriptor, reached the location it is in today. All landscapes are dynamic, coastal landscapes, particularly shingle ridges are much more mobile than most.
The stiffness on top of Slapton Shingle Ridge is a contributary factor to the loss of beach shingle volume between the High and Low Water Marks.

It might be of value to decision makers involved in the environmental management of coastlines to be bundled into a coach and taken on an educational visit to Abbotsbury Car Park, adjacent Chesil Beach, or Bank, choose your own descriptor. A short climb from the car park up to the summit of the shingle ridge would allow them to see what a natural feature looks like. Chesil Bank has no road along its summit. As such it can respond well to storm dynamics. It will be seen that Chesil Bank is a much higher feature than Slapton Shingle Ridge.