St David's Head ( cy, Penmaen Dewi) is a headland in the

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Pembrokeshire Coast National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro) is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales. It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of three national parks in Wales, the others ...

, southwest

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, which marks the divide between the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

and the

Celtic Sea The Celtic Sea ; cy, Y Môr Celtaidd ; kw, An Mor Keltek ; br, Ar Mor Keltiek ; french: La mer Celtique is the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of Ireland bounded to the east by Saint George's Channel; other limits includ ...

. It is noted for its wildflowers and wildlife, and for the remains of ancient human settlement. The headland and its immediate

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

are owned 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 ...

, and are accessible to the public by foot 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 a ...

. The westernmost point of mainland Wales,

Pen Dal-aderyn Pen Dal-aderyn is the westernmost point of mainland Wales. It is in Pembrokeshire, west of St Davids. It means 'Bird-catching Head' in Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Britto ...

, is located just to the south of St David's Head.

Geography

St David's Head is situated about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of the

cathedral city Cathedral city is a city status in the United Kingdom. Cathedral city may also refer to: * Cathedral City, California, a city in Southern California, United States * Cathedral City Cheddar, a brand of Cheddar cheese * Cathedral City High Scho ...

St David's St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, , "David's house”) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, W ...

in Pembrokeshire. This headland marks the narrowest point of St George's Channel, the southern limit of

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay ( cy, Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geo ...

and the

in Wales, and the northern boundary of the

. There are views to the south of

Whitesands Bay Whitesands Bay ( cy, Porth Mawr) is a Blue Flag beach situated on the St David's peninsula in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Wales. Whitesand Bay, on some maps, located west of St. Davids and south of St Davids Head, has been described ...

, Ramsey Sound (separating

Ramsey Island Ramsey Island (Welsh: ''Ynys Dewi'') is an island about off St David's Head in Pembrokeshire on the northern side of St Brides Bay, in southwest Wales, in the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close. It is in area. Ramsey means (in Old ...

) and St Brides Bay; to the west, of the

Bishops and Clerks The Bishops and Clerks are a group of rocks and islets, approximately west of Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Origins of the name There was a local tradition that the name arose from the sixteenth century wreck of a fleet of merchant ship ...

rocks; and to the east, of the slopes of the large rocky outcrop known as

Carn Llidi Carn Llidi is a hill east of St David's Head in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Carn Llidi and its surrounding area is part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The rocky hill stands in a prominent and isolated position dominating Whitesands Bay. ...

Ecology

The headland is abundant in wildflowers and wildlife and the waters around it provide a rich habitat for fish,

grey seal The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. In Latin Halichoerus grypus means "hook-nosed sea pig". It is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or " ...

s and porpoises. A variety of

seabirds Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envi ...

and

peregrine falcons The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, ...

are also to be seen.

History

There are a number of ancient monuments showing signs of early occupation, including, 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 mostl ...

cliff fort, prehistoric settlements, a prehistoric defensive wall, signs of various

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

field system The study of field systems (collections of fields) in landscape history is concerned with the size, shape and orientation of a number of fields. These are often adjacent, but may be separated by a later feature. Field systems by region Czech Republ ...

s and Coetan Arthur (Arthur’s Quoit)

burial chamber A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could ...

. Described in a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

survey of the known world in 140 AD (

Ptolemy's Geography The ''Geography'' ( grc-gre, Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, com ...

) as the 'Promontory of the Eight Perils' (Οκταπιταρον Ακρον - Oktapitaron Akron - in Ptolemy's original Greek). ''

Tarleton Tarleton is a village and civil parish in the borough of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. It situated in the Lancashire mosslands approximately 10 miles north east of Southport, approximately 10 miles south west of Preston, approximately ...

'', a slaver of 400 tons burthen, foundered on 28 November 1788 off St David's Head on her fourth slaving voyage from Liverpool to Africa. Her crew was saved. In 1793 Sir Richard Colt Hoare said in his "Journal of a Tour of South Wales": Retrieved on 2008-01-07

"No place could ever be more suited to retirement, contemplation or Druidical mysteries, surrounded by inaccessible rock and open to a wide expanse of ocean. Nothing seems wanting but the thick impenetrable groves of oaks which have been thought concomitant to places of Druidical worship and which, from the exposed nature of this situation, would never, I think, have existed here even in former days."

References

External links

National Trust page
*{{oscoor gbx, SM720277
Photos of St Davids Head on geograph.org.uk
Cardigan Bay Headlands of Pembrokeshire