Barafundle Bay () is a remote, slightly curved, east-facing sandy beach, near Stackpole Quay in

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It is part of the

Stackpole Estate The Stackpole Estate ( cy, Ystad Ystagbwll) is located between the villages of Stackpole ( cy, Ystagbwll) and Bosherston ( cy, Llanfihangel-clogwyn-gofan) in Pembrokeshire, Wales, within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It is situated withi ...

, managed by

The National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. The beach was once owned by the Cawdor family of Stackpole Court. On the northern approach to the beach are steps and a wall, which were built by the owners to ease their access to what was then their private beach.

Location and access

There is no road access to the beach. The nearest car park is at Stackpole Quay, costing six pounds per day between March and October and free to park after 5:30 p.m. Access to the beach is via the

Pembrokeshire Coast Path The Pembrokeshire Coast Path ( cy, Llwybr Arfordir Sir Benfro), often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a long-distance walking route, mostly at ...

, either from Stackpole Quay or from

Broad Haven South Broad Haven South is a beach located southeast of Bosherston on the edge of the Stackpole Estate in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Broad Haven South is known for Church Rock, which protrudes from the water around 150 yards from the shore. Popular wi ...

. The walk from Stackpole Quay is and from Broad Haven South. Both approaches are unsuitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs because of the uneven terrain and sand.

Geology

Barafundle Bay is set between cliffs to the north and south. It marks the end of the

carboniferous limestone Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian Epoch of the Carboniferous Period. These rocks formed between 363 and ...

cliffs of the Castlemartin Peninsula to the southwest and the beginning of the

old red sandstone The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also exte ...

of the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

era at Stackpole Quay to the northeast.

Awards

In 2004 Barafundle Bay was included in a list of the Top 12 beaches in the world. ''The Good Holiday Guide'' also called it "the best beach in Britain". In 2006 the magazine '' Country Life'' called it the best place in the United Kingdom for a picnic. In 2019 it received both the Seaside and the Green Coast awards in the Wales Coast Awards.

Filming location

Barafundle Bay was the location for some scenes in the film ''

Third Star ''Third Star'' is a 2010 British drama film directed by Hattie Dalton and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, JJ Feild, Tom Burke, Adam Robertson, and Hugh Bonneville.Reynolds, Simon (2011)Trailer: Benedict Cumberbatch's 'Third Star', Digital Spy, ...

'', shot in October 2009.

References

External links

Stackpole information
- National Trust website {{Authority control Beaches of Pembrokeshire Bays of Pembrokeshire