The Bendricks

Dinosaur footprints.

The Bendricks is a stretch of coastline and an important paleontological site in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales along the north coast of the Bristol Channel between Barry and Sully . Dinosaur tracks make the coastline a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

geography

The protruding rock is on the outer coast of the industrial port of Barry between the east breakwater at the entrance to the Barry Docks on the west end and Hayes Point on the east end. The underlying rock consists mainly of limestone from the Carboniferous Age . The place is also known as Bendrick Rock . The rock that pushes into the sea from the land is covered with water during the highest spring tides , while it is at least partially visible during normal tides. The rock types are mainly mudstones (mudstones), siltstones (siltstones) and conglomerates (Mercia Mudstone Marginal Facies), which were formed by deposits on the banks of a muddy shallow sea during the Early and Late Triassic .

The artificial estuary of the Cadoxton River , which was laid when the Barry Docks were built by the Barry Railway Company since 1884, now flows into the Bristol Channel at this point. Inland from the Bendricks are the HMS Cambria barracks and the former Sully Hospital

Dinosaur tracks

The Bendricks is known by the discovery of dinosaur footprints, some of them backed up and at the National Museum Cardiff (National Museum and Galleries of Wales) in Cardiff were brought. The BBC covered these footprints and the geology of the Bendricks in a documentary series. The outcrop can be accessed on foot via a path that runs along the security fence of HMS Cambria Barracks at Hayes Point, or east from Hayes Road via the coastal path from the public passage at the Vale of Glamorgan Recycling Center .

Some of the prints are difficult to see. Shortly after the flood, many are still filled with water, so that it is easier to spot them.

A small street in a housing estate was named Bendrick Road after the site .