Nash Point ( cy, Trwyn yr As) is a
headland
A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...
and beach in the
Monknash Coast of the
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...
in south
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 ...
, about a mile from
Marcross. It is a popular location for
ramblers
The Ramblers is the trading name of the Ramblers Association, Great Britain's leading walking charity. The Ramblers is also a membership organisation with around 100,000 members and a network of volunteers who maintain and protect the path ...
and hiking along the cliffs to
Llantwit Major beach. The lighthouse meadow is a
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
, containing rare plants such as the
tuberous thistle
Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growin ...
, and other wildlife such as
chough
There are two species of passerine birds commonly called chough ( ) that constitute the genus ''Pyrrhocorax'' of the Corvidae (crow) family of birds. These are the red-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), and the Alpine chough (or yellow- ...
s can be seen.
![Nash Point Lighthouse - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Nash_Point_Lighthouse_-_geograph.org.uk_-_58926.jpg)
Parts of the section of the
Glamorgan Heritage Coast where the lighthouse stands consists of "cliffs of
Lias
Lias may refer to:
Geology
* Lias Formation, a geologic formation in France
*Lias Group, a lithostratigraphic unit in western Europe
* Early Jurassic, an epoch
People
* Godfrey Lias, British author
* Mohd Shamsudin Lias (born 1953), Malaysian ...
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
interbedded with softer erodible material" and has been identified as potentially at risk from erosion and flooding. Many
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s, including
ammonite
Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...
s and
gryphaea
''Gryphaea'', one of the genera known as devil's toenails, is a genus of extinct oysters, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Gryphaeidae.
These fossils range from the Triassic period to the middle Paleogene period, but are mostly restric ...
are to be found there. Marcross Brook passes through the cliffs and an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
hillfort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
, usually called Nash Point Camp, stands on the north side of the brook, although its remains have been largely eroded by the sea.
Round barrow
A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...
s are also to be found nearby. A study of the rocks shows that they exemplify "a 12,000 year old sequence of
tufa, scree and slope deposits containing abundant fossil snails", while the Nash Bank offshore is formed by "Jurassic mudstones overlain by bands of sand and
gravel".
Nash Point Lighthouse
The Nash Point Lighthouse is a
Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, dating from 1831 to 1832. There are two lights, a high light and a low light, located at a distance of around 300 metres from one another.
The leading light was removed during the 1920s because of the shifting location of the Nash sandbank.
The lighthouse was designed by
James Walker, the chief engineer for
Trinity House
"Three In One"
, formation =
, founding_location = Deptford, London, England
, status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity
, purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons
, he ...
. Its construction is said to have been spurred by the wreck of ''The Frolic'' on the Nash Sands in March 1831,
which resulted in over 50 deaths, including that of Lt-Col N McLeod. The ship was on its way from Bristol to Haverfordwest. First lit in 1832, the lighthouse was electrified in 1968. Nash Point Lighthouse became the last manned lighthouse in Wales, and was automated in 1998.
Shipwreck
In 1962, the empty tanker ''BP Driver'' (formerly the ''BP Explorer'', which had been rebuilt following a disaster in the River Severn) was pushed on the rocks and was abandoned by its crew of five, all of whom survived. Despite the assistance given by the lighthouse, the ship's captain was unable to bring her in safely to land. At low tide, remains of the wreck can be found about 200m north of the beach access by the light house.
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Wales
This is a list of lighthouses in Wales. The list runs anticlockwise from north-east to south-east Wales.
__TOC__
Active lighthouses
In this table, the 'focal height' is the height of the light above water level whilst 'nmi' signifies nautical ...
References
External links
Information and photosTrinity House
{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q15717627
Headlands of the Vale of Glamorgan