Porlock Bay

This article is about The bay on the Bristol Channel, Somerset, England. For the bay in Paua New Guinea, see Porlock Bay, Papua New Guinea.

Porlock Bay looking from Porlock Hill towards Hurlstone Point.

Porlock Bay is on the Bristol Channel, between Hurlstone Point and Porlock Weir in Somerset, England.

The coastline includes shingle ridges, salt marshes and a submerged forest. In 1052 the Saxon king, Harold, landed at Porlock Bay from Ireland, and burnt the town before marching on London.^[1]

Much of the coastline is under the care of the National Trust, and the coastline forms part of the South West Coast Path.

Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh

Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh
Site of Special Scientific Interest

Location within Somerset
Area of Search	Somerset
Grid reference	SS880479
Coordinates	51°13′09″N 3°36′18″W / 51.21928°N 3.60508°W / 51.21928; -3.60508Coordinates: 51°13′09″N 3°36′18″W / 51.21928°N 3.60508°W / 51.21928; -3.60508
Interest	Biological
Area	186.3 hectares (1.863 km²; 0.719 sq mi)
Notification	1990 (1990)
Natural England website

Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh (grid reference SS880479) is a 186.3 hectare (460.4 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on Porlock Bay, notified in 1990.

This site is notified for its nationally important active coastal geomorphological features. It is also nationally important for the salt marsh and coastal vegetated shingle habitats which occur here.^[2]

At Bossington a shingle beach, through which flows the River Horner, rising sea levels in the 1990s caused the creation of salt marshes and lagoons developed in the area behind the boulder bank.^[3]

Geomorphological

This site comprises a shingle ridge and associated saltmarsh hinterland extending for a distance of approximately 4 kilometres along the west Somerset coast, immediately north of Porlock village. The type of geomorphological development seen at Porlock has been noted for coastal shingle systems elsewhere (e.g. west coast of Newfoundland, Canada). Although other UK systems probably developed and are developing in a similar manner, Porlock provides the only fully documented example of a nationally important coastal geomorphological system which has undergone catastrophic failure and subsequent evolution following sediment inhibition and a great storm in October 1996 which caused the single ridge to be breached allowing the marsh to be inundated with salt water at New Works (the drainage facilities for the previous managed fresh water marsh). This storm created a brand new tidal lagoon, which since that storm is rapidly developing with creeks forming and land that was recently farmed pasture now tidal salt marsh.^[2]

Biological

A large part of this site is lower saltmarsh dominated by common glasswort (Salicornia europaea andannual) and sea-blite (Suaeda maritima). Also found here is the nationally scarce Babington’s leek (Allium ampeloprasum ssp. babingtonii). The site is visited regularly by grey heron (Ardea cinerea), little egret (Egretta garzetta) and shelduck (Tadorna tadorna). Small winter flocks of lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), curlew (Numenius arquata), and teal (Anas crecca) occur on the site as a whole. The site is also visited by a very wide range of migratory species.^[2]

In 2013 an Oyster farm was created with the first harvest being taken in 2016.^[4]

Submerged forest

At low tide the remains of a submerged forest can be seen on Porlock Beach. The area was several miles inland until the sea level in the Bristol Channel rose about 7,000 to 8,000 years ago.^[5]

References

↑ "Exmoor - Minehead & Porlock". History Tourist.com. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
1 2 3 "Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh" (PDF). English Nature. Retrieved 2006-08-19.
↑ "Shifting shores in the South West" (PDF). National Trust. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
↑ "Porlock Bay oysters harvested for first time in 100 years". BBC. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
↑ "Geological features". Exmoor National Park. Retrieved 21 March 2011.

External links

English Nature Guidance for the Management of Coastal Vegetated Shingle Annex 01: Porlock

Biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset

Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)

Aller and Beer Woods Aller Hill Asham Wood Axbridge Hill and Fry's Hill Babcary Meadows Barle Valley Barrington Hill Meadows Berrow Dunes Black Down and Sampford Commons Brean Down Bridgwater Bay Briggins Moor Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors Chancellor's Farm Cheddar Complex Cheddar Reservoir Cheddar Wood Cleeve Hill Cogley Wood Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill Curry and Hay Moors Deadman Draycott Sleights Dunster Park and Heathlands East Polden Grasslands Ebbor Gorge Edford Woods and Meadows Exmoor Coastal Heaths Fivehead Woods and Meadow Freshmoor Friar's Oven Ge-mare Farm Fields Great Breach and Copley Woods Grove Farm Hardington Moor Hestercombe House Holme Moor & Clean Moor King's Sedgemoor Kingdown and Middledown Kingweston Meadows Lang's Farm Langford Heathfield Langmead and Weston Level Long Lye Long Lye Meadow Longleat Woods Millwater Moorlinch Nettlecombe Park North Brewham Meadows North Curry Meadow North Exmoor North Moor Old Iron Works, Mells Perch Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh Postlebury Wood Priddy Pools Prior's Park & Adcombe Wood Quantock Hills Quants Ringdown River Barle Rodney Stoke Roebuck Meadows Ruttersleigh Severn Estuary Shapwick Heath Sharpham Moor Plot South Exmoor Southey and Gotleigh Moors Southlake Moor Sparkford Wood St. Dunstan's Well Catchment Stowell Meadow Street Heath Tealham and Tadham Moors Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands Twinhills Woods and Meadows Vallis Vale Walton and Ivythorn Hills West Moor West Sedgemoor Westhay Heath Westhay Moor Wet Moor Whitevine Meadows Windsor Hill Marsh Wookey Hole Woolhayes Farm

Neighbouring areas Avon Devon Dorset Wiltshire

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