Bridgwater Bay - Geography

Geography

The Bay occupies the sweeping arc of coastline between the wave-cut platform of Jurassic Blue Lias at the northern tip of the Quantock Hills and the cliffs of Carboniferous Dolomites and Limestone at Brean Down which project into the Severn Estuary and provide some degree of protection from the erosive tidal currents. Strong prevailing westerly winds have thrown up sand dunes at Berrow and a shingle ridge and Steart. On the beach near Stogursey are the remains of a submerged forest dated to 2500 B.C. - 6500 BC.

Brean Down is a promontory marking the eastern end of the bay. Made of carboniferous limestone, it is a continuation of the Mendip Hills, and two further continuations are the small islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm. It is owned by the National Trust, and is rich in wildlife, history and archaeology, as well as being a Site of Special Scientific Interest in its own right. There are steep cliffs and, at its seaward point, a Brean Down Fort built in 1865 and then re-armed in the Second World War. There is evidence of an Iron Age hill fort and prehistoric barrows and field systems, and a pagan shrine at dating from pre-Roman times which was re-established as a Romano-Celtic style temple in the mid-4th century and probably succeeded by a small late-4th century Christian oratory. In 1897, following wireless transmissions from Lavernock Point in Wales and Flat Holm, Guglielmo Marconi moved his equipment to Brean Down and set a new distance record for wireless transmission.

At low tide large parts of the bay become mud flats, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) wide, due to the tidal range of 15 metres (49 ft), second only to Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada. The intertidal mud flats are, as a result, potentially dangerous and it is not uncommon for the emergency services to mount rescue operations. Following the death of Lelaina Hall off Berrow in 2002, a local fund raising campaign succeeded in purchasing a Swedish-built BBV6 rescue hovercraft. The hovercraft is operated by BARB in Burnham-on-Sea. Much of the coastline within the western part of the reserve is accessible via a waymarked public footpath, and the South West Coast Path begins at Minehead at the western end of the bay.

Hinkley Point is a headland extending into Bridgwater Bay 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Burnham-on-Sea, close to the mouth of the River Parrett. The landscape of Hinkley Point is dominated by two nuclear power stations: Hinkley Point A - Magnox (now closed) and Hinkley Point B - AGR. A third, twin-unit European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) reactor is planned, and will become Hinkley Point C.

Man made sea defenses include a sea wall at Burnham-on-Sea and a 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) section south from Brean Down. There is also an isolated fossil aeolian sand dune belt fronted by a salt marsh deliberately planted in 1928. There are some concerns that the proposed Severn Barrage could leave some sites high and dry, and others permanently under water. The Steart Peninsula has flooded many times during the last millennium. The most severe recent floods occurred in 1981. By 1997, a combination of coastal erosion, sea level rise and wave action had made some of the defences distinctly fragile and at risk from failure. As a result in 2002 The Environment Agency produced the Stolford to Combwich Coastal Defence Strategy Study to examine options for the future.

The foreshore at Watchet, which lies at the mouth of the Washford River, and on the edge of Exmoor National Park, is rocky, but has a small harbour. The cliffs between Watchet and Blue Anchor show a distinct pale, greenish blue colour, resulting from the coloured alabaster found there. The name "Watchet" or "Watchet Blue" was used in the 16th century to denote this colour.

East Quantoxhead used to have a small harbour which brought in limestone for local limekilns and exported alabaster. It is thought that it was also used for smuggling.

At Kilve are the remains of a red brick retort, built in 1924, when it was discovered that the shale found in the cliffs was rich in oil. The beach is part of the Blue Anchor to Lilstock Coast SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). Along this coast the cliffs are layered with compressed strata of oil-bearing shale and blue, yellow and brown lias embedded with fossils. In 1924 Dr Forbes-Leslie founded the Shaline Company to exploit them. This retort house is thought to be the first structure erected here for the conversion of shale to oil but the company was unable to raise sufficient capital and this is now all that remains of the anticipated Somerset oil boom.