Wingletang Down (St Agnes)

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Coordinates: 49°53′17″N 6°20′28″W / 49.888°N 6.341°W / 49.888; -6.341
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wingletang Down, St Agnes
Notification
1971 (1971)
Natural England website

Wingletang Down is a

Heritage Coast and the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is the only site in Great Britain and Ireland for the small fern, least adder's–tongue (Ophioglossum lusitanicum).[1] As of 11 September 2009 the SSSI was considered to be in ″unconditional recovering″ condition because European gorse (Ulex europaeus) and bramble (Rubus fruticosus) are at unacceptable levels.[2]

History

Forty–three Bronze Age cairns have been recorded, some of which have granite kerbstones and others are linked by hedge walls. A cairn usually indicates a burial site.[3]

On the west side of St Warna's Cove is a stone–lined well that is reputed to be of great antiquity, and close to where the saint is supposed to have come ashore in a coracle after a journey from Ireland. The name Warna is unknown anywhere else as a Celtic saint, and may be the name of a Celtic water goddess. In the past pins were dropped into the well as an offering to encourage storms to drive ships ashore. Wrecks were a vital resource for coastal communities. Ceramic beads from the 17th-century wreck of a Venetian ship can be found on the beach at Beady Pool on Wingletang Bay.[4][5]

Geology

The underlying rock is

podzolic soils on the higher land where there are many weathered outcrops. At the southernmost tip is Horse Point which is almost separated from the rest of St Agnes by a narrow neck of blown sand between two bays; Wingletang Bay and Porth Askin. Along the coast to the west towards St Warna Cove are boulder beaches.[4]

Wildlife and ecology

Wingletang Down is 71 acres (28.9 ha) of

Charadrius hiaticula) nested.[1] The nationally scarce (but common on all the inhabited islands) early meadow grass (Poa infirma) grows in the short maritime grass west of Porth Askin.[8]

The wind pruned maritime heath, on the higher part of the site is dominated by western gorse (

Oryctolagus cuniculus), some of the colonies are in danger of being smothered by competitive vegetation such as bracken (Pteridium aquilinum), European gorse and bramble.[4] Outside of the Isles of Scilly the nearest colony is in Guernsey where it was discovered in 1854.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Wingletang Down (St Agnes)" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  2. ^ Webber, Julie. "Nature on the Map". Natural England. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  3. ^ Thorgrim. "Wingletang Down – Cairn in England in Scilly Isles". The Megalithic Portal. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-00-220151-3
    .
  5. ISBN 978-1-904645-34-4
    .
  6. ^ "Isles of Scilly". Plantlife. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  7. ^ Hicks Michael; Hale John (1998). Lepidoptera of St Agnes, Isles of Scilly: a systematic list and analysis of the species recorded on St Agnes, 1992–1997. Privately published.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-1-901685-01-5
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 0-7153-5465-5
    .
  10. ISBN 978-0-521-58658-0
    .

External links
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