Jncc coastal Directories Project Region 11 The Western Approaches

Region 11  Chapter 3  Terrestrial coastal habitats
46
Table 3.2.3  
Sand dune sites in Region 11
Site
Name
Grid ref.
Area
Dune type 
Conservation status
no.
(ha)
a
Cornwall
1
Kennack Sands
SW737166
7
Bay
2
Church and Poldhu Coves, Gunwalloe
SW662202
55
Bay
3
Marazion
SW499309
1
Bay
4
Whitesand Bay
SW360270
26
Bay
5
Wingleton Down
SV884075
4
Bay
SSSI
6
Burnt Island 
SV878086
7
Bay
SSSI
7
Porth Conger 
SV887084
3
Bay
SSSI
8
Porth Hellick Pool
SV923108
5
Bay
SSSI
9
Porth Loo and Portmelon 
SV908114
3
Bay
10
Pelistry Bay 
SV928119
7
Bay
11
Bar Point, St. Mary’s
SV916128
7
Ness/foreland
12
Samson Flats
SV872131
35
Bay, climbing
SSSI
13
Appletree Banks 
SV893137
39
Bay
SSSI
14
Rushy Bay Dunes 
SV876145
12
Bay
SSSI
15
Popplestone Banks 
SV875152
<1
Bay
SSSI
16
East Bryher Coast
SV880154
<1
Bay
17
Pentle Bay, Isles of Scilly
SV901146
17
Bay
18
Old Grimsby
SV894155
6
Bay
19
Gimble Porth 
SV888159
4
Bay
20
Norwethel
SV896164
<1
Bay
SSSI
21
St. Helen’s South Coast
SV901168
<1
Bay
SSSI
22
Tean
SV906166
30
Bay
SSSI
23
Lower Town Dunes 
SV917160
8
Bay
24
Great Bay Dunes 
SV924172
13
Bay, climbing
SSSI
25
Higher Town Dunes 
SV934153
6
Bay
26
Eastern Isles, including Little Arthur
SV938142
5
Bay
SSSI
27
Lelant
SW544383
9
Hindshore
28
Gwithian to Mexico Towans
SW573395
282
Hindshore, climbing
SSSI, AONB, CWT
29
Godrevy Towans
SW584417
43
Hindshore, climbing
30
Porthtowan Dunes
SW692481
<1
Bay
31
Penhale Sands
SW769567
508
Hindshore, climbing
SSSI
32
Holywell Dunes
SW767593
56
Bay, climbing
SSSI
33
Crantock Dunes
SW785609
20
Bay
NT
34
Fistral Dunes
SW799618
40
Bay
35
Constantine Bay
SW860747
15
Bay, climbing
36
Padstow Bay, Rock Dunes
SW926767
89
Bay
SSSI, SPA, HC
Devon
37
Northam Burrows
SS445305
53
Spit
38
Instow Sands
SS479316
26
Bay
39
Braunton Burrows
SS454352
597
Hindshore/spit
SSSI, AONB, BR
40
Croyde Bay
SS437392
11
Bay
41
Woolacombe Bay Rock Dunes
SS454425
26
Climbing
Somerset
42
Berrow Dunes
ST293544
160
Bay
SSSI, Ramsar site
Avon
43
Weston Dunes
ST315599
3
Bay
SSSI
44
Sand Bay
ST331655
3
Bay
SSSI
Mid Glamorgan
45
Merthyr Mawr
SS860786
369
Hindshore, climbing
HC, SSSI
46
Kenfig Dunes
SS788815
621
Hindshore
SSSI, NNR
Source: Dargie (1993, 1995), Radley (1994).  Key: 
a
all figures have been rounded to the nearest whole hectare; AONB = Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty; CWT = County Wildlife Trust reserve; HC = Heritage Coast; NNR = National Nature Reserve; SPA = Special Protection
Area; SSSI = Site of Special Scientific Interest; BR = Biosphere Reserve.  Note: site no. refers to 
Map 3.2.1
.
Braunton Burrows) develop at the mouths of estuaries and
depend strongly on river sediment for their sand supply.
Bay dunes (e.g. Whitesand Bay) are the most common type
of dune site in the region and develop on sand trapped
within the shelter of rock headlands.  Climbing dunes 
(e.g. Gwithian to Mexico Towans, Woolacombe Bay, Merthyr
Mawr) occur when sand is blown up on to terrain inland of
the main dune system, in some cases covering large areas of
steep cliff.  The sand often forms only a thin veneer and the
vegetation reflects a strong influence from the underlying
geology.  The larger dune systems in the region develop a
fresh (or, rarely, brackish) watertable, which influences the

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vegetation of depressions, forming a distinctive type of
wetland termed dune slack.  This habitat is common on
hindshore dunes but is rare or absent from other dune
types.  Permanent open water is a rare dune habitat, present
at Kenfig Pool.
Ninety National Vegetation Classification communities
are recorded for all English and Welsh dunes, with a total of
156 types for communities and sub-communities combined,
not all of them exclusive to dunes.  Kenfig is particularly
notable in having the largest areas in Wales of two rare dune
slack communities (SD13 creeping willow Salix repens - moss
Bryum pseudotriquetrum slack and SD14 creeping willow
Salix repens - moss Campylium stellatum slack), with
Braunton Burrows having the largest areas of the SD14 type
in England.  
In Great Britain, four nationally rare and thirteen
nationally scarce higher plants are found mainly or
exclusively on dunes.  Of the nationally rare dune plants,
water germander Teucrium scordium is present in the region
(see also 
Tables 5.2.2
, 
5.2.3
and
5.2.4
).  Variegated horsetail
Equisetum variegatum, Portland spurge Euphorbia portlandica,
sea buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides and dune fescue Vulpia
fasciculata are nationally scarce dune plants found in the
region.  Nationally rare and scarce species more typical of
other habitats also occur on dunes in the region, including
shore dock Rumex rupestris, dwarf pansy Viola kitaibeliana,
sea stock Matthiola sinuata, wild leek Allium ampeloprasum
var. ampeloprasum, balm-leaved figwort Scrophularia
scorodonia, fen orchid Liparis loeselii subsp. ovata, early
meadow-grass Poa infirma, orange bird’s-foot Ornithopus
pinnatus, sharp rush Juncus acutus, ivy broomrape Orobanche
hederae and sea-heath Frankenia laevis.  Rare and scarce
bryophytes (e.g. Southbya nigrella, Petalophyllum ralfsii,
Pleurochaete squarrosa) and lichens (e.g. Fulgensia fulgens,
Toninia caeruleonigricans) also occur.  Most dune site reports
contain details of some of the notable species present.
Many sites have long lists of recorded invertebrates,
with many notable and rare (Red Data Book) species.
Outstanding dune locations in the JNCC’s Invertebrate Site
Register include Braunton Burrows, Merthyr Mawr, Kenfig,
Berrow, Penhale Dunes, Kennack Sands and Gwithian to
Mexico Towans (see also 
section 5.3
).  
3.2.3  Human activities
In general, sand dunes are among the least heavily modified
of terrestrial habitats.  However, the inner edge of many
sand dune sites in the region has been strongly affected by a
variety of human impacts, sometimes leading to habitat loss
(Doody 1989) or conversion to other, common, vegetation
types.  Residential and recreational development has
encroached on many sites because of their high recreational
amenity value.  Damage from recreational use is controlled
by the provision of car parking space and hardened paths
and boardwalks to reduce path erosion.  Many sites show
the effects of heavy visitor pressure, with small areas of
trampling erosion present in the majority of sites and severe,
widespread trampling damage at Whitesand Bay,
Porthtowan and Penhale Dunes.  Moderate to severe vehicle
damage is recorded for Gunwalloe and Porthtowan Dunes.
Nine sites are recorded as having golf courses on part of
their area, with associated modification of dune habitats.
Leisure activities and leisure-related development such as
caravan and camp sites are also common on the edge of
many sites.  Military use is present on a few sand dune sites
but the total area of impact and damage is slight.  Dunes at
Bar Point (St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly) have been proposed as
a landfill site (Dargie 1990). 
Many sites are covered by one or more conservation
designations or forms of planning control (
Table 3.2.3
)
(Dargie 1993, 1995; Radley 1994).  Conservation is a major
aim in these and other locations, and positive conservation
management is common.  Natural succession to creeping
willow scrub in slacks and to rank grassland and scrub on
dry dunes is a considerable problem, reducing the extent of
bare sand and open young slacks.  Several sites have
required scrub removal, notably of sea buckthorn Hippophae
rhamnoides, which has been eradicated from Braunton
Burrows but threatens to replace much open dune habitat at
Merthyr Mawr (Dargie 1992).  Grazing is a traditional form
of management which has been re-introduced to several
sites, or has been replaced by mowing for small areas of flat
dune.  Most sites still support rabbit populations, which are
important in maintaining high species diversity in fixed
dune grassland.  Most sites adjacent to population centres
and fronting low-lying land have some form of coastal
protection against erosion, but many large sites remain
unprotected and hence reflect the natural balance between
erosion and accretion at the outer dune edge.  Coastal
erosion is not a serious problem at most sites although
locally it may be a serious issue.  There is evidence from
surveys within the last decade of a recent net loss of habitat
for the region (Radley 1994).  
3.2.4  Information sources used
All areas of vegetated sand dune in the region have been
surveyed in recent years using the National Vegetation
Classification (Rodwell 1991a, b, 1992, 1995, in prep.).  This
work was part of the sand dune survey of Great Britain
initiated by the Nature Conservancy Council in 1987 and
continued after 1991 by the JNCC on behalf of country
conservation agencies.  NVC surveys use a reliable,
consistent methodology yielding very detailed information
(Rodwell in prep.).  The vegetation is mapped and
described, and information on coastal erosion and accretion,
atypical vegetation and adjoining land use is also recorded.
The data represent a sound baseline for future dune
vegetation studies and both strategic and local management
of the dune resource.  Individual site reports and national
reports for England (Radley 1994) and Wales (Dargie 1995)
are available from the JNCC.  Most data discussed here are
derived from the national reports.  
Survey of dunes in Scotland is still in progress; the lack
of full survey data for Scotland prevents calculation of
precise figures on the extent of the sand dune resource for
either the West Coast or Great Britain.  An estimate of dune
habitats for Scotland is used here, based on a sample set of
sites (Dargie 1993), to allow some form of British context to
be made.  
There are no detailed ecological studies on animal
populations of the dunes in the region, but the invertebrate
fauna is well studied.  Details are recorded on the JNCC’s
Invertebrate Site Register.  
3.2  Sand dunes
47

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