Southerndown Coast

Cliffs on the Glamorgan Heritage Coast south of Dunraven Park.
Southerndown Coast

Southerndown Coast is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in St Brides Major community, in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It forms part of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, bordered by the Monknash Coast to the southeast. The nearby villages are Southerndown and Ogmore-by-Sea. The SSSI extends over 5 kilometres (3 miles) of south-west facing coastline, with rocky limestone cliffs, broad beaches and deeply fissured wave-cut platforms.[1]

Southerndown Coast SSSI

The 153 hectares (380 acres) stretch of shore, cliff, cliff-top, and several short, steep valleys, are designated an SSSI both for its geology and botanic value.[2] The cliffs expose the local geological strata. Carboniferous Limestone from upwards of 300 million years ago lies at the present sea level. By the Triassic period, 200 million years ago, these rocks were already tilted and eroded.[2] A new deposition phase created more sedimentary rocks, including a red Triassic conglomerate, and a creamy white Jurassic limestone known as Sutton Stone, a freestone much sought-after for carved stonework, and so widely quarried where it occurs.[1] The SSSI is in two parts. The northern section is the wave-cut platform alongside Ogmore-by-Sea. The southern section, with a short gap, covers both the intertidal areas and the cliffs and grassy cliff-tops of Dunraven Bay, Trwyn y Witch headland and the valleys and shoreline of Cwm Mawr and Cwm Bach.[2] The whole length of the SSSI is traversed by the South Wales section of the Wales Coast Path.[3]

Geology

Geological SSSIs are selected to protect sites that display one or more definitive geological features. Three geological features are noted for this site as being of particular significance:–

Places to look for these different geological features include:-

Botany

The cliff-top grassland is species-rich, with a range of different plant communities. Where the limestone is at the surface, calcareous wildflowers are abundant, notably quaking grass, rock-rose and wild thyme. Other localities have neutral, deeper soil and cowslips, dog-violets and bird's foot trefoil are common. Nearer the sea, salt spray gives a maritime grassland community, including red fescue, sea carrot and buck's-horn plantain.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Howe, S.R. (March 1996). "Geological Walks in Wales: Ogmore-by-Sea" (PDF). www.swga.org.uk. South Wales Geologists' Association. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 www.ccgc.gov.uk sssi sites: southerndown coast accessed 5 November 2013
  3. ↑ Wales Coast Path: South Wales Coast and Severn Estuary Accessed 10 November 2013
  4. 1 2 link to Southerndown Coast SSSI citation sheet, first cited, 1965. Countryside Council for Wales. Accessed 7 November 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 The Unofficial Ogmore-by-Sea Geological Website Accessed 5 November 2013

Coordinates: 51°27′29″N 3°38′02″W / 51.458°N 3.634°W / 51.458; -3.634 (Southerndown Coast)

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