Coverack to Porthoustock

Coordinates: 50°02′05″N 5°04′37″W / 50.0347°N 5.0769°W / 50.0347; -5.0769
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Coverack to Porthoustock
Notification
1951 (1951)
Natural England website

Coverack to Porthoustock is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Cornwall, England, UK, noted for both its biological and geological characteristics. The site contains four ICUN Red List plant species.

Geography

The 173.5-hectare (429-acre) site, notified in 1951, is situated on the south Cornish coast, within

Lizard Peninsula. It starts at the village of Coverack in the south, following the shores of the English Channel to the hamlet of Porthoustock in the north.[1][2]

The

Wildlife and ecology

The coastline contains four

History

On a raised beach between Pedn-myin (penn, head and meyn stone) and Lowland Point are the 2nd-century, Romano-British Trebarveth saltworks (grid reference SW79651933). Gabbro is the predominant rock here and weathers to a rough clay. Sea water was boiled in two rectangular, stone ovens within an oval building, The residue salt was packed into pots made from the gabbro clay, and course, red pottery sherds (briquetage) can be found in the nearby cliff. Some of the sherds still have potters' fingermarks on them. The ovens measure 150 cm by 40 cm and if packed with vessels 15 cm high, the oven would hold 50 lt of sea water. With the water containing 3% salt by weight, each operation would produce 1½ kg of salt. The saltworks are within a field system and some of the remaining walls stand up to 1 m high.[4][5][6]

References

  1. ^ "Coverack to Porthoustock map". Natural England. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  2. ^
  3. ^ a b "Coverack to Porthoustock" (PDF). Natural England. 1993. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  4. ^ Bates & Scolding 2000, pp. 24–28
  5. ^ Historic England & 1004319
  6. ^ Peacock, D P S (1969). "A Romano-British Salt-working Site at Trebarveth, St Keverne". Cornish Archaeology. 8: 47–65.

Sources