Heritage Coast
The Heritage Coast is a stretch of coast in England and Wales , the status of which has been awarded by the national and local authorities in coordination. These areas are protected due to their natural beauty, their flora and fauna or their cultural importance. The purpose of their designation is to preserve these properties and make them accessible to the public. In England, Natural England (previously the Countryside Agency ) and in Wales Natural Resources Wales (the successor organization to the Countryside Council for Wales ) are responsible.
Designated coast
1.057 km of the English coast and 495 km of the Welsh coast are designated accordingly. In both cases this corresponds to about a third of the total length of the coast.
Unlike National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), designation as a Heritage Coast is not mandatory, but can only be made in consultation with the local authorities and the landowners. However, the majority of the coastline lies in areas that are already otherwise protected, such as national parks, AONBs and the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site . Such overlaps are shown in the table below. The designations as nature reserves, such as SSSI , Special Area of Conservation along the Heritage Coast sections are too numerous to list here.
South Wales , Devon and Cornwall have more Heritage Coasts than other regions. Over 50% of the coast between Cardiff and St Davids , between 55% and 60% of the Cornish coast and 60-65% of the Devon coast are protected in this way. In contrast, in North West England only St Bees Head is a Heritage Coast stretch of coast. In the south-east of the Channel coast there are only a few corresponding sections.
The first section to be established was Beachy Head, with its famous white cliffs.
List of Heritage Coasts
The sections are listed clockwise from Northumberland:
The coastal stretches are listed clockwise from the southeast:
| Heritage Coast name | Unitary authority |
length | Further protection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glam organ | Vale of Glamorgan , Bridgend | 21.7 km | |
| Gower | Swansea | 55 km | Gower AONB |
| South Pembrokeshire | Pembrokeshire | 66.0 km | National Park |
| Marloes and Dale | Pembrokeshire | 43.3 km | National Park |
| St Brides Bay | Pembrokeshire | 8.0 km | National Park |
| St Davids Peninsula | Pembrokeshire | 82.0 km | National Park |
| Dinas Head | Pembrokeshire | 17.7 km | National Park |
| St Dogmaels and Moylgrove | Pembrokeshire | 22.5 km | National Park |
| Ceredigion | Ceredigion | 33.8 km | |
| Llŷn | Gwynedd | 88.3 km | Llŷn AONB |
| Aberffraw Bay | Anglesey | 7.7 km | Ynys Mon / Isle of Anglesey AONB |
| Holyhead Mountain | Anglesey | 12.9 km | Ynys Mon / Isle of Anglesey AONB |
| North Anglesey | Anglesey | 28.6 km | Ynys Mon / Isle of Anglesey AONB |
| Great Orme | Conwy | 7.1 km |
Individual evidence
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Length of the Heritage Coast in Cornwall ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Length of the Hartland (Devon) Heritage Coast ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Heritage Coasts , Countryside Council for Wales