St Brides Bay () is a bay in western

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

, West Wales. Either Skomer Island or the mainland extremity of Wooltack Point at the western end of the Marloes Peninsula marks the southern limit of the bay whilst its northern limit is marked by Ramsey Island off St David's Head. The mouth of the bay is about wide and extends some eastwards from this line.

Geology

The northern and southern shores of the bay are mainly rocky in nature, backed by cliffs up to high. Its eastern shore comprises a series of large and small sandy beaches between rocky sections. The geological exposures around the bay reveal great complexity with considerable folding and faulting of the

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...

. The cliffs of its southern shore are formed from

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

s of

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

and

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

age together with a suite of both intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks, some of which are

Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

in age. Those in the north comprise a series of Precambrian and

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

age rocks of both

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock formed by the cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or deposited at Earth's surface. Sedime ...

and igneous origin. In contrast, the eastern shore is formed from the more readily eroded rocks of

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

age. These are largely the sandstones and mudstones of the Coal Measures but include a small section of shales and sandstones assigned to the Millstone Grit Series. Contorted coal seams within the Coal Measures were once worked though the

Pembrokeshire Coalfield The Pembrokeshire Coalfield in West Wales is one of the smallest Great Britain, British coalfields, but continuously worked from the 14th to 20th centuries. The main coalfield extends across south Pembrokeshire from Saundersfoot on Carmarthen Bay w ...

was never of major economic importance.

Designations

The coast surrounding it forms a part of the

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Pembrokeshire Coast National Park () is a National Parks of England and Wales, national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales. It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of the three National parks of Wales, the others ...

which was designated in 1951 in recognition of the outstanding quality of its landscape. Much of the coastline is also defined as heritage coast. The whole of St Bride's Bay along with adjoining areas of sea around the Pembrokeshire Coast is protected under European environmental law as a

special area of conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

(or 'SAC'). Parts of the coast are additionally defined as special protection areas (or 'SPAs'). There are also three or four sites of special scientific interest (or 'SSSIs') around its perimeter.Countryside Council for Wales 2008, ''Internationally protected areas in Wales'' (poster)

Villages and amenities

The bay's coast is dotted with small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

s including St Brides, Martin's Haven, Little Haven, Broad Haven, Nolton Haven, Newgale and Solva, whilst Britain's smallest city,

St David's St Davids or St David's (, , "Saint David, David's Welsh toponymy, house”) is a St David's Cathedral, cathedral City status in the United Kingdom, city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun, Pembrokeshire, River Alun and is ...

lies nearby. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path follows its entire coastline. It is well known among residents and tourists for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

. Image:St Davids from Cloisters Pembrokeshire.JPG, New cloisters, St. David's Image:Solva Colours.JPG, Colourful cottages in Solva Image:Clock Tower Marloes Pem.JPG, Clock tower, Marloes Image:Fishing Sunset Little Haven Sunset.JPG, Fishing at sunset, Little Haven Image:St Bride's Inn Little Haven Pem.JPG, St. Bride's Inn, Little Haven Image:Seal St Davids Pembrokeshire.JPG, Seal at St. David's, Pembrokeshire

References

External links

Photographs of St Brides Bay and surrounding area on Geograph
{{Coord, 51.81, -5.23, type:waterbody_region:GB_dim:50000, display=title Bays of Pembrokeshire