Nash Point Beach

At low tide an expanse of smooth flat limestone bedrock is revealed at Nash Point. Dotted with rock pools of all sizes, this a fantastic place for looking for marine life. Please note that at high tide the sea comes right up to the cliffs.

But Nash Point is an even better spot for finding fossils. There is a constant supply provided by the ever-eroding cliffs that back the beach. These tall, stratified cliff face clearly shows a geological history in layers of shale, limestone and conglomerate. The oldest layers are at the base, dating back 300 million years and rich in aquatic fossils.

Set above the beach is Nash Point Lighthouse. This stretch of the Glamorgan coast was notorious for shipwrecks with literally hundreds of ships having gone down here over the centuries. Things came to a head in 1831 when the steamer ‘Frolic’ was wrecked here with the loss of 78 lives. Within a year the lighthouse had been built.

The clifftop meadows around the lighthouse are also an SSSI and home to rare flora and fauna including the endangered tuberous thistle and choughs.