Start Bay is a sub-bay of the nautical definition of

Lyme Bay Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel off the south coast of England. The south western counties of Devon and Dorset front onto the bay. The exact definitions of the bay vary. The eastern boundary is usually taken to be Portland Bill on the ...

in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

in south-east

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, England. The southernmost of three substantial Devon bays facing east it is between the Mew Stone which sits east of the

River Dart The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth. Name Most hydronyms in England derive from the Brythonic language (from which the river's subsequent names ultimately derive fr ...

's estuary and Start Point near the southernmost point of the county, Prawle Point. Along it, from south to north, are

Hallsands Hallsands is a village and beach in south Devon, England, in a precarious position between cliffs and the sea, between Beesands to the north and Start Point to the south. History The early history of Hallsands is unknown, but a chapel has exi ...

Beesands Beesands is a small settlement located midway between Hallsands and Torcross on the coast of Start Bay in South Devon, England. It is best known as a tourist destination, but is still a fishing village that concentrates mainly on crab and lobs ...

Torcross Torcross is a village in the South Hams district of south Devon in England. It stands at grid reference at the southern end of Slapton Sands, a narrow strip of land and shingle beach which separates the freshwater lake of Slapton Ley from ...

Slapton Sands Slapton is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon, England. It is located near the A379 road between Kingsbridge and Dartmouth, and lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The nearby be ...

, Strete, Blackpool Sands and Stoke Fleming. The South West Coast Path is above much of the bay. Its north end is south of Dartmouth; its middle is east of

Kingsbridge Kingsbridge is a market town and tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population at the ab ...

. The 4-gun

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

cutter was stationed here as a patrol vessel from 1763 to 1771. A division of the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

used Slapton Sands to rehearse the Normandy landings in 1944, but was attacked by German vessels.

References

{{Reflist English Channel Bays of Devon Operation Overlord

See also

References