Jncc coastal Directories Project Region 11 The Western Approaches

3.2.5  Acknowledgements
Assistance with sources was kindly provided by the Species
Conservation Branch, JNCC.
3.2.6  Further sources of information
A.  References cited
Dargie, T.C.D.  1990.  Isles of Scilly dune vegetation survey 1990.
Nature Conservancy Council, CSD Reports, No. 1,179.  
Dargie, T.C.D.  1992.  Historical extent, potential threat, and control of
sea buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides L. at Merthyr Mawr
Warren, South Wales.  Cardiff, Countryside Council for Wales.
(Unpublished report.)
Dargie, T.C.D.  1993.  Sand dune vegetation survey of Great Britain.
Part 2 - Scotland.  Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation
Committee.  
Dargie, T.C.D.  1995.  Sand dune vegetation survey of Great Britain.
Part 3 - Wales.  Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation
Committee.  
Doody, J.P.  1989.  Conservation and development of the coastal
dunes in Great Britain.  In: Perspectives in coastal dune
management, ed. by F. van der Meulen, P.D. Jungerius & J. Visser,
53-67.  The Hague, SPB Academic Publishing.
Radley, G.P.  1994.  Sand dune vegetation survey of Great Britain.  Part 1
- England.  Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation
Committee.  
Rodwell, J.S., ed.  1991a.  British plant communities.  Volume 1:
woodlands and scrub.  Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Rodwell, J.S., ed.  1991b.  British plant communities.  Volume 2: mires
and heaths.  Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Rodwell, J.S., ed.  1992.  British plant communities.  Volume 3:
grasslands and montane vegetation.  Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press.
Rodwell, J.S., ed.  1995.  British plant communities.  Volume 4: aquatic
communities, swamps and tall herb fens. Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press.
Rodwell, J.S., ed.  In prep.  British plant communities.  Volume 5:
maritime and weed communities. Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press.  
B.  Further reading
Further details of coastal habitat sites, including sand dunes, are
available on the Coastal & marine UKDMAP datasets module
disseminated by JNCC Coastal Conservation Branch, Peterborough.
Barne, J., Davidson, N.C., Hill, T.O., & Jones, M.  1994.  Coastal &
marine UKDMAP datasets: a user manual.  Peterborough, Joint
Nature Conservation Committee.
British Oceanographic Data Centre.  1992.  United Kingdom digital
marine atlas.  User guide.  Version 2.0.  Birkenhead, Natural
Environment Research Council, British Oceanographic Data
Centre.
Brooks, A., & Agate, E.  1986.  Sand dunes: a practical conservation
handbook.  Wallingford, British Trust for Conservation
Volunteers.
Davidson, N.C., Laffoley, D.d’A., Doody, J.P., Way, L.S., Gordon, J.,
Key, R., Drake, C.M., Pienkowski, M.W., Mitchell, R.M., & Duff,
K.L.  1991.  Nature conservation and estuaries in Great Britain.
Peterborough, Nature Conservancy Council.  
Doody, J.P., ed.  1985.  Sand dunes and their management.
Peterborough, Nature Conservancy Council.  (Focus on nature
conservation, No. 13.)  
Doody, J.P., ed.  1991.  Sand dune inventory of Europe.  Peterborough,
Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Fletcher, A., Coppins, B.J., Gilbert, O.L., James, P.W., & Lambley,
P.W.  1984.  Survey and assessment of lowland heathland lichen
habitats.  Nature Conservancy Council, CSD Report, No. 522.  
Nature Conservancy Council.  1990.  On course conservation:
managing golf’s natural heritage.  Peterborough, Nature
Conservancy Council.
Radley, G.P., & Woolven, S.C.  1990.  A sand dune bibliography.
Peterborough, Nature Conservancy Council.  (Contract
Surveys, No. 122.)  
Ranwell, D.S.  1972.  Ecology of salt marshes and sand dunes.  London,
Chapman and Hall.  
Ranwell, D.S., & Boar, R.  1986.  Coast dune management guide.
Huntingdon, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. 
Williams, A.T., & Randerson, P.F.  1989.  Nexus: ecology, recreation
and management of a dune system in South Wales.  In:
Perspectives in coastal dune management, ed. by F. van der
Meulen, P.D. Jungerius & J. Visser, 217-227.  The Hague, SPB
Academic Publishing.  
C.  Contact names and addresses
Type of information
Contact address and telephone no.
Sand dune flora, fauna,
*Maritime Team Leader,
habitat information, site
English Nature, Peterborough,
management - England
tel: [phone]
Sand dune flora, fauna,
*Coastal Ecologist, CCW HQ,
habitat information, site
Bangor, tel: [phone]
management - Wales
Advice on national and
*Coastal Conservation Branch,
international policy and
JNCC, Peterborough,
dune conservation
tel: [phone]
Invertebrate data
*Invertebrate Site Register, Species
Conservation Branch, JNCC,
Peterborough, tel: [phone]
*Starred contact addresses are given in full in the Appendix.
Region 11  Chapter 3  Terrestrial coastal habitats
48

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3.3.1  Introduction
Shingle means sediments larger than sand but smaller than
boulders: that is, between 2-200 mm in diameter.  Where the
coast features shingle, it is often mixed with large amounts
of sand, or else sand dunes (see 
section 3.2
) have developed
on it.  Shingle sites include both simple fringing beaches and
also more complex structures where the shingle is vegetated
yet not buried by more than 20 cm of sand (e.g. at Braunton
Burrows).  Shingle plant communities around Britain are
distinctive (Sneddon & Randall 1993a), with some
communities being widespread and others limited to a
particular region or substrate. 
This region contains only a small amount of the British
shingle resource, but four sites (the Isles of Scilly, Porlock,
Bridgwater and East Aberthaw) extend to over 10 ha.
Indeed, the largest quantities of shingle in the south-west
occur on the Isles of Scilly, where a series of bars, raised
beaches and shingle spreads occur throughout several of the
islands.  Pure shingle is uncommon in western Britain:
Scilly, Appledore and Porthkerry are important in this
respect.  Much of the shingle in this region occurs in very
high energy environments and suffers considerable storm
movement.
The region as a whole has a wide representation of
shingle vegetation communities.  Several sites in the region
are significant in having representative western and south-
western communities.  According to Sneddon (1992), the
Isles of Scilly shingle structures rate very highly in Britain
based on floristics, size and lack of disturbance.  The sites at
Bridgwater Bay and East Aberthaw are significant for
showing the saline influence of adjacent saltmarsh on
shingle vegetation, and Loe Bar and some of the Scilly bars
are good examples of the influence of sand matrix on the
shingle flora.  At the Western Rocks shingle on Scilly the
presence of birds and seals has influenced the nature of the
vegetation.  
3.3  Vegetated shingle structures and shorelines
49
3.3  Vegetated shingle structures and shorelines
Dr R.E. Randall
Nash Point
Barry
Porthkerry
East
Aberthaw
Bridgwater Bay
Watchet
Minehead
Porlock
Appledore
Westward Ho!
Fal Estuary
(Swanpool)
Loe
Bar
Penzance
Isles of Scilly
5°W
Shingle structures
Fringing beach
Region 10
Region 12
Map 3.3.1
Vegetated shingle structures and fringing shingle
beaches.  Source: Sneddon & Randall (1993a).
Table 3.3.1  
Area of vegetated shingle structures in Region 11
Area (ha)
Cornwall
0
Isles of Scilly
10.0
North Devon
0
Somerset
53.3
Avon
0
Gloucestershire
0
Gwent
0
Mid Glamorgan
0
South Glamorgan
12.3
Region 11
75.6
West Coast
656.8
England
4,353.1
Wales
103.4
Great Britain
5,129.1
% West Coast total in region
11.5
% England total in region (English counties only)
1.7
% GB total in region
1.5
Source: Sneddon & Randall (1994), JNCC Coastal Database
3.3.2  Important locations and species
The major shingle sites in the region are shown on 
Map
3.3.1
.  Surveyed shingle sites are listed in
Table 3.3.2
and
fringing shingle beaches in 
Table 3.3.3
.  
Much of the coastline of Cornwall and north Devon is
cliffed, and shingle is only present at the few sites where
deposition can occur (Steers 1964).  Shingle is present in the
Fal Estuary at Swanpool (Dorey et al. 1973).  A series of bars,
raised beaches and shingle spreads are present on several of
the Isles of Scilly, and a flint shingle bar encloses Loe Pool
just west of the Lizard; Milner (1922) suggests that these
sediments (along with flints on Scilly) may have come from
the north-east, carried by a river that once traversed the
St. Erth channel.  A fringing beach of sandy shingle occurs
on the west side of Mount’s Bay along the back of the beach
near Penzance.  
Between Croyde and Westward Ho! in Barnstaple Bay,
sand dunes and shingle occur in the Taw-Torridge Estuary.
At Westward Ho! (Stuart & Hookway 1954) and along the
more sheltered pebble ridge at Appledore (Parkinson 1980)
the shingle is mobile.  In contrast, much of the south coast of
the Bristol Channel from Porlock to the mouth of the Parrett
is bordered by shingle being carried eastward from Liassic
rock outcrops (Kidson 1960).  The major formations are at
Porlock and Steart in Bridgwater Bay, with significant
fringing beaches at Minehead and Watchet.  In South
Glamorgan, on the north shore of the Bristol Channel, there
are further coarse shingle spreads and some sand, which has
travelled from the west from Liassic and Carboniferous
limestone outcrops and been deposited at Barry, Porthkerry
pebble ridge, East Aberthaw and Nash Point.  
A common pioneer vegetation community on shingle
sites in the region is dominated by sea beet Beta vulgaris
subsp. maritimum with red fescue Festuca rubra and sea
mayweed Tripleurospermum maritimum.  In some locations
curled dock Rumex crispus and sea kale Crambe maritima are
important species in this assemblage, and on the Isles of
Scilly the nationally rare shore dock Rumex rupestris occurs.
An unusual southern variant includes bittersweet Solanum

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