Sand Point and Middle Hope

Coordinates: 51°23′23″N 2°58′08″W / 51.3898°N 2.969°W / 51.3898; -2.969
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Middle Hope
Notification
1952 (1952)
Natural England website

Sand Point in

Second Severn Crossing and the Severn Bridge
.

Some sources treat Sand Point as the lower limit of the Severn Estuary and its boundary with the Bristol Channel, although definitions of these areas vary and are often ambiguous.[1] The Living Levels Partnership use a definition that draws a line between Sand Point and Lavernock Point in South Wales.[2]

Middle Hope is a sequence of

National Trust
and is a popular place for walking.

Geology

The cliffs and rocky beach at Middle Hope

At Middle Hope a sequence of carboniferous limestone is exposed, which includes thick volcanic tuffs and lavas, demonstrating Tournaisian carbonate sections.[3] The site contains a Pleistocene-aged fossil cliff and shore platform.[4][5][6] These features have led to the designation of Middle Hope as a regionally important geological site (RIGS).[7]

The raised beach of wave-cut platforms has been created by changes in sea level of the Bristol Channel since the Quaternary period.[8][9][10] The arrangement of volcanic and sedimentary rocks, including the Black Rock Limestone, illustrates the events of 350 million years ago.[11][12] The strata have been tilted and compressed during the variscan orogeny.[7]

Flora

Among scarce plants found on Sand Point are smallflower buttercup,[13] and honewort.[14] The range of soils at the site support various flora and fauna. The calcareous grassland is dominated by Festuca species and Dactylis glomerata, while the scrub towards the west of the site is dominated by hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), while that to the east consists of common gorse (Ulex europaeus) and bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg).[4] Less common plants include the cheddar pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus) and Somerset hair grass (Koeleria vallesiana).[15]

History

The triangulation station and site of the bowl barrow and disc barrow

Evidence of early human occupation is provided by a bowl barrow and disc barrow from the late Neolithic or Bronze Age that have been identified on the higher ground. The bowl barrow is 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter and approximately 0.5 metres (1 ft 8 in) high. Slightly west of the bowl barrow is a disc barrow surrounded by a bank and ditch which enclose an area about 8 metres (26 ft) across. These are situated at the highest point where the Ordnance Survey have constructed a triangulation station.[16]

A

Norman Conquest.[17] The site is known as Castle Mound or Castle Batch and can be seen as a 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) high mound which is approximately 30 metres (98 ft) in diameter and marked by a ditch on the landward eastern edge.[18] The mound was damaged by the construction of a building during World War II. The medieval date for the construction is in doubt with some sources suggesting that the mound may have been a watchtower constructed in the 16th century.[19][20][21] The walls of the sheep fold were built by prisoners from the Napoleonic Wars.[20] Hope Cove on the northern coast had a reputation for smuggling as it was "well away from the men of HM Customs and Excise".[22]

dissolved in 1536 and then owned by local noblemen and leased to local farmers.[26] In 1969 the priory was taken over by the Landmark Trust who spent 20 years on restoration work, and since the 1990s have rented out the farmhouse as holiday accommodation.[27] The surviving buildings include the priory church, which was a 15th-century replacement for the earlier 13th century structure, infirmary, barn and 16th century prior's lodging which was converted into a farmhouse. The whole site was arranged around a central cloister from which only the east wall and west wall of the chapter house remain, the sacristy, refectory, chapter house, lady chapel and parlour having been demolished.[28][29][30]

Because of the biological and geological interest the site was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1952.[4] In 1968 the priory and adjoining land of Middle Hope was purchased by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty as part of Project Neptune.[31][32]

During World War II weapons were tested at Sand Point,

QinetiQ as an explosives and shock test facility.[34]

References

  1. ^ "Across the waters Implementation of the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act and devolved marine legislation: cross-border case studies" (PDF). December 2009. There is no defined boundary between the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel. The Welsh 'Mor Hafren' or 'The Severn Sea' includes the relatively enclosed waters to the line of the proposed barrage extending from Brean Down via Steep Holm and Flat Holm to Lavernock Point.
  2. ^ "The Severn Estuary". Living Levels.
  3. ^ Prudden, Hugh. "Somerset Geology — A Good Rock Guide" (PDF). University of Bath. Bath Geological Society. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Middle Hope" (PDF). SSSI citation sheet. English Nature. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
  5. doi:10.1016/S0016-7878(89)80068-9
    .
  6. ^ "North Somerset Landscape Character Assessment" (PDF). North Somerset Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  7. ^ a b "RIGS of the Month — March Middle Hope, Kewstoke, Somerset". Avon RIGS group. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Severn Estuary". Severn Boating. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  9. ^ "North Somerset Landscape Character Assessment" (PDF). North Somerset Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  10. ^ "Somerset". Natural England. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Middle Hope, Kewstoke, Somerset". Avon RIGS Group. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  12. ^ "OGU fieldtrip to Middle Hope". University of Bristol. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  13. ISBN 978-1874357186
    .
  14. ISBN 978-1874357186
    .
  15. ^ "2012 Newsletter Issue No.13" (PDF). Somerset Rare Plants Group. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  16. ^ Historic England. "Bowl barrow and disc barrow 600 m NNW of Sandpoint Farm (1008115)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  17. ^ Historic England. "Motte and bailey castle 650 m NNW of Sandpoint Farm (1008114)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  18. ^ Historic England. "Monument No. 192646". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  19. ^ "Castle Mound ( Castle Batch), Sand Point and Middle Hope". Archaeology Data Service. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  20. ^ a b "Sand Point & Middlehope, Somerset" (PDF). National Trust. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  21. ^ a b "Sand Point and Middle Hope". National Trust. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  22. ISBN 978-0750961639
    .
  23. ^ Historic England. "Woodspring Priory and associated fishponds and field system (1012722)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  24. ^ "Local History". Kewstoke Village. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  25. ISBN 978-0901571878
    .
  26. ISBN 978-0271028682
    .
  27. ^ "Woodspring Priory — Restoration". Landmark Trust. Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  28. ^ Historic England. "East Cloister Wall (1302945)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  29. ^ Historic England. "West Wall of Chapter House Range (1320653)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  30. ^ Historic England. "Infirmary (1156326)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  31. ^ Tomalin, David John; Crook, Christopher (2007). Woodspring Priory. The Landmark Trust.
  32. ^ Longman, Tim (16 March 2010). "Archaeological Watching Brief at Woodspring Priory" (PDF). Archaeology Data Services. Bristol and Region Archaeological Services. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  33. ISBN 978-1445632148
    .
  34. ^ Historic England. "St Thomas Head Weapons Testing Site (1460835)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 31 August 2015.
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