Lavernock Point

Lavernock Point

Lavernock Point is a headland on the Glamorgan coast, overlooking the Bristol Channel with views across to the Somerset coast.

A line drawn between Lavernock Point and Sand Point, Somerset marks the lower limit of the Severn estuary and the start of the Bristol Channel. Because of the extreme tidal range there are very strong currents or rips close inshore to the point with speeds that exceed 7 knots for several hours at each tide.

Various proposals have been put forward to construct a Severn Barrage for tidal electricity production from Lavernock Point to Brean Down in Somerset and the provision remains under discussion by the various agencies.

Geology

When approaching Lavernock Point from the direction of Penarth, the Blue Anchor Formation forms a prominent cliff beyond which are some new sea defences made from massive blocks of hard, grey Carboniferous Limestone brought in from outside the area. Between here and the Point the Westbury Formation is well exposed in the cliff and foreshore. It contains a thin irregular layer of sandstone rich in the mineral iron pyrites ("fool's gold") and pieces of a bone bed containing bone and teeth of fish and reptiles. Slabs of these can usually be found on the beach.

Westwards from Lavernock Point the Blue Lias is exposed and in the cliffs of St Mary's Well Bay is folded in a gentle syncline; its three divisions (St Mary's Well Bay Formation, Lavernock Shales and Porthkerry Formation) can easily be recognised. At the Point the bedding planes of the limestones contain large groups of the oyster Liostrea. Walking westwards, and therefore onto younger beds, the flattened, coiled shells of the ammonite Psiloceras are quite common.

In June 2015 it was announced that the fossil remans of a new species of dinosaur had been discovered on the beach by brothers Nick and Rob Hanigan. The fossilised skeleton belonged to a dog-sized creature, a theropod dinosaur, and was described as a "cousin of the giant tyrannosaurus rex". It is believed to be the earliest specimen of a Jurassic period dinosaur to have walked the earth.

Lavernock Fort

On the point in the late 1860s Lavernock Fort gun battery was built by the Royal Commission. It was completed in 1870, with three 7" muzzle-loading cannons to protect the channel approaches to Cardiff and Bristol shipyards. Sometime before 1895 the gun battery was reinforced with a fourth cannon, only for all four guns then to be replaced eight years later by two rapid fire six inch (152 mm) former naval guns in 1903.

A two unit searchlight battery was added during the Second World War. The World War II gun emplacements formed part of the Fixed Defences, Severn Scheme and protected the Atlantic shipping convoy de-grouping zone between Cardiff, Barry and Flat Holm. Today the remaining main section of the gun battery has been listed as an Ancient Monument, which includes the gun emplacements, director-rangefinder observation position, crew and officers quarters. The structure is still commemorated through Lavernock Point's main access road being named 'Fort Road'.

Royal Observer Corps

A few yards away from the historic Marconi hut Penarth's only World War II Royal Observer Corps (ROC) Searchlight post stood on the cliff edge with its clear views over the Bristol Channel and the islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm. The Observer Corps site was established by the Air Ministry on part of the original War Department land connected to the Lavernock Gun Battery. The volunteer ROC observers spotted many Nazi German Luftwaffe raids approaching across the channel and activated the air raid warnings in the town.

In early 1962 a protected nuclear fallout shelter (or bunker) was completed at Penarth Clifftop for the ROC (OS Grid Ref: ST 1858 6903), who by the 1960s had switched from above ground aircraft spotting to underground operations with instruments to detect nuclear explosions and warn the public of approaching radioactive fallout in the event of nuclear war. The post members were mobilised later that year and volunteers spent nearly ten days underground during the Cuban Missile Crisis as the government prepared the country for potential outbreak of war.

The Penarth cliff-top nuclear bunker was closed down and abandoned by the ROC in 1975 after repeated destructive break-ins by local vandals, but the concrete entrance hatch and ventilator tower can still be observed next to the cliff walk near Lower Cosmeston farmhouse. The Royal Observer Corps itself was disbanded in December 1995 after the end of the Cold War and as a result of recommendations in the government's Options for Change review of UK defence.

Nature Reserve

Lavernock Point is established as a particularly fine nature reserve where wildlife interest is combined with historical interests in a dramatic and picturesque coastal reserve. The unimproved limestone grassland supports varied and colourful plants such as Dyer's Greenweed, Devil's-bit Scabious, Common spotted orchid and Fleabane. Butterflies have been observed and recorded by the reserve’s warden for over twenty years and more than twenty five separate species have been identified.

Lavernock and the nearby Cosmeston Lakes continue to be an important landing point for migrating birds. Many bird migration routes across the Bristol Channel cross the reserve, and Steep Holm and Flat Holm islands act as staging posts. Bird sightings vary through the year, with visiting summer migrants, seabirds off the coast and resident breeding birds.

The reserve is managed by the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales who state that their aims are:

"To create and maintain the ideal balance between grassland, scrubland and woodland at Lavernock Point Reserve. Grassland is important for wild flowers, nectar-loving insects, and for species that need the warm microclimate that is provided by shorter grass. Scrub provides shelter and berries for birds, and blossom nectar for invertebrates in spring. Woodland provides shelter for birds, and ideal habitat for other invertebrates such as the Speckled Wood butterfly. Without our work, the grassland would succeed to scrub and there would probably only be half an acre or so of grassland at the south end where salt spray and wind would suppress the growth of scrub. Management work was always done by hand, but we are progressively using more machinery as the grassland area has grown. Ideally we would like to introduce grazing livestock to some areas as this creates the ideal conditions for most species".

Outside links

• Location map: 51°24’23"N, 3°10’12"W