Sharkham Point is a

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Joh ...

located close to the

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

fishing town of

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish, the smallest and southernmost of the three main population centres (the others being Paignton and Torquay) on the coast of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. Commercial fish ...

. It overlooks St. Mary's Bay and is a short walk away from

Berry Head Berry Head is a coastal headland that forms the southern boundary of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Lying to the east of the town of Brixham, it is a national nature reserve and a local nature reserve. Berry Head To Sharkham Point is a Site of Sp ...

Country Park. This stretch was originally the Coastguard Walk along which the coastguards regularly patrolled. At St. Mary's Bay the path begins to rise and fall over the soft, middle Devonian shales which have eroded to form what was once called "Mudstone Bay". On the beach below you can find many

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

. Sharkham Point was once the site of extensive iron workings and old adits can still be found, dating from the period 1790 to 1930. However many remains were covered when Sharkham Point was used as the

town tip. The site is now managed as a nature conservation area, and there are fine views from it of the Heritage coastline.

External links

Heritage CoastsSouth Devon — Area of Outstanding Beauty
{{coord, 50.3817, -3.4979, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Devon Headlands of Devon Geology of Devon Brixham