Jncc coastal Directories Project Region 11 The Western Approaches

dunes, which have been blown against and over cliffs at
Mexico Towans, Gwithian Towans, Godrevy Towans and
Penhale Sands.  Sedimentary rocks dominate cliffs in north
Devon and Somerset, with considerable lengths exceeding
100 m in height, rising to 157 m at Embury Beacon, south of
Hartland Point.  The entire coast of Lundy Island is cliffed,
most to a height in excess of 100 m.  Sheltered stepped cliffs
in north Devon around Clovelly are notable for mature
woodland.  The cliffed coastline of Exmoor has perhaps the
finest examples of hogsback cliff in Britain, with a low active
cliffline at the base topped by steep convex slopes rising to
300 m height, probably representing fossil cliffs developed
during periods of higher sea level.  High cliffs are rare east
of Exmoor and are restricted to the Carboniferous limestone
headlands of Brean Down and Middle Hope and the island
of Steep Holm.
Of the twelve National Vegetation Classification (NVC)
maritime cliff vegetation communities in the UK (Rodwell
in prep.), ten are recorded from England, the remaining two
being confined to Scotland.  Although no detailed map
information is available for cliff habitats in the region, except
at the Lizard and Cape Cornwall, a zonation is recognised
on the hard limestone cliffs of southern Britain (Mitchley &
Malloch 1991), ranging from high spray and exposure
conditions (NVC communities MC1 rock samphire Crithmum
maritimum - rock sea-spurrey Spergularia rupicola rock-
crevice, MC4 wild cabbage Brassica oleracea cliff ledge, MC8
red fescue Festuca rubra - thrift Armeria maritima maritime
grassland) to more sheltered cliff-top conditions (MC11 red
fescue Festuca rubra - wild carrot Daucus carota maritime
grassland and CG2 sheep’s-fescue Festuca ovina - meadow
oat-grass Avenula pratensis calcicolous grassland, which is
probably common on Carboniferous limestone cliff-tops).
In Great Britain nine nationally rare and four nationally
scarce species or subspecies of higher plant are found
mainly or exclusively on cliffs.  Most are restricted to the
south and west of Britain, and six such nationally rare cliff
species (wild asparagus Asparagus officinalis subsp.
prostratus, goldilocks aster Aster linosyris, white rock-rose
Helianthemum apenninum, Somerset hair-grass Koeleria
vallesiana, peony Paeonia mascula (an old introduction),
Lundy cabbage Coincya wrightii) and three nationally scarce
species (maidenhair fern Adiantum capillus-veneris, thyme
broomrape Orobanche alba and yellow vetch Vicia lutea) are
present in Region 11.  
Other nationally rare and scarce species more typical of
other habitats also occur on cliffs, and several such
nationally rare non-cliff species are present in the region:
hairy greenweed Genista pilosa, fringed rupturewort
Herniaria ciliolata, smaller tree-mallow Lavatera cretica,
slender bird’s-foot-trefoil Lotus angustissimus, sea stock
Matthiola sinuata, orange bird’s-foot Ornithopus pinnatus,
four-leaved allseed Polycarpon tetraphyllum, shore dock
Rumex rupestris and honewort Trinia glauca.  Nationally
scarce non-cliff species present on cliffs in the region are
Babington’s leek Allium ampeloprasum var. babingtonii, wild
cabbage Brassica oleracea, golden samphire Inula crithmoides,
hairy bird’s-foot-trefoil Lotus subbiflorus, spring sandwort
Minuartia verna, curved hard-grass Parapholis incurva,
bulbous meadow-grass Poa bulbosa, early meadow-grass
P. infirma, autumnal squill Scilla autumnalis, western clover
Trifolium occidentale and suffocated clover Trifolium
suffocatum.  This large assemblage of rare and scarce species
makes this region the most significant in Britain for notable
species on cliffs.  
Maritime heath is a nationally important feature of cliff-
top habitat and is present on the more acidic rocks in Devon
and Cornwall and on limestone at Brean Down in Somerset.
The lichen flora of such heath at Castle Down to Kettle Point
(Isles of Scilly), the Lizard (Cornwall) and Brean Down is
rated of national importance, with lichens of regional
interest at Hartland Point (Devon) (Fletcher et al. 1984).  
Two cliff sites, the Isles of Scilly and the Severn Estuary,
have important seabird colonies (Stroud et al. 1990), and
smaller seabird populations occur on cliffs elsewhere in the
region.  No systematic survey of invertebrates in cliff and
cliff-top habitats has been carried out, but these
environments have a rich habitat diversity and thus support
large numbers of species (Mitchley & Malloch 1991).  Several
cliffs in the region have excellent or good invertebrate lists,
with some notable and rare (Red Data Book) species; the
Lizard, Lundy, Kynance Cove, Steeple Point to Black Church,
Boscastle to Widemouth, Godrevy Point to St. Agnes Head,
Steeple Point to Marsland Moor, Sennen Cove, West Exmoor
Region 11  Chapter 3  Terrestrial coastal habitats
42
Table 3.1.2  
Lengths (km)
a
of cliff types
Vertical >20 m high
Vertical <20 m high
Non-vertical >20 m high
Non-vertical <20 m high
Length
% of total
Length
% of total
Length
% of total
Length
% of total
(km)
length in
(km)
length in
(km)
length in
(km)
length in
Region 11
Region 11
Region 11
Region 11
Isles of Scilly
0
0
1
4
1
1
27
69
Cornwall
93
57
3
12
101
55
3
8
Devon
30
19
1
4
60
33
5
13
Somerset
10
6
2
8
16
9
1
3
Avon
5
3
11
44
4
2
1
3
Gloucestershire
2
1
1
4
1
1
4
12
Mid Glamorgan
5
3
4
16
-
-
-
-
South Glamorgan
18
11
3
12
-
-
-
-
Region 11
162
100
25
100
182
100
39
100
England
320
43
49
38
629
29
167
23
Wales
329
4
46
14
110
-
39
-
West Coast*
725
22
439
6
813
22
284
14
Great Britain*
1,325
12
818
3
1,371
13
545
7
Source: JNCC Coastal Resources Database (cliff height and angle categories).  Key: *excluding the Isle of Man; 
a
all figures have been
rounded to the nearest whole km/ha/% point; - = <0.5 km/<0.5%.

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