St David's Head () 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, Jo ...

in the

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Pembrokeshire Coast National Park () is a National Parks of England and Wales, national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales. It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of the three National parks of Wales, the others ...

, southwest

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, which marks the divide between the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

and the

Celtic Sea The Celtic Sea is the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of Ireland bounded to the north by St George's Channel, Saint George's Channel; other limits include the Bristol Channel, the English Channel, and the Bay of Biscay, as wel ...

. It is noted for its wildflowers and wildlife, and for the remains of ancient human settlement. The headland and its immediate

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...

are owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

, and are accessible to the public by foot via the

Pembrokeshire Coast Path The Pembrokeshire Coast Path (), often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a long-distance walking route, mostly at cliff-top level, with a total ...

. The westernmost point of mainland Wales, Pen Dal-aderyn, is located just to the south of St David's Head.

Geography

St David's Head is situated about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of the

cathedral city City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the the Crown, monarch of the United Kingdom to specific centres of population, which might or might not meet the generally accepted definition of city, cities. , there are List of cities in the Un ...

St David's St Davids or St David's (, , "Saint David, David's Welsh toponymy, house”) is a St David's Cathedral, cathedral City status in the United Kingdom, city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun, Pembrokeshire, River Alun and is ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

. This headland marks the narrowest point of

St George's Channel St George's Channel (, ) is a sea channel connecting the Irish Sea to the north and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It separates Wexford on the southeastern corner of Ireland from St Davids in on the southwestern tip of Wales. Origin of nam ...

, the southern limit of

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay () is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geography Cardigan Bay ha ...

and the

in Wales, and the northern boundary of the

. There are views to the south of Whitesands Bay, Ramsey Sound (separating

Ramsey Island Ramsey Island ( Welsh: ''Ynys Dewi'') is an island about off St David's Head in Pembrokeshire on the northern side of St Brides Bay, in southwest Wales, in the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close. It is in area. Ramsey means (i ...

) and

St Brides Bay St Brides Bay () is a bay in western Pembrokeshire, West Wales. Either Skomer Island or the mainland extremity of Wooltack Point at the western end of the Marloes Peninsula marks the southern limit of the bay whilst its northern limit is mar ...

; to the west, of the Bishops and Clerks rocks; and to the east, of the slopes of the large rocky outcrop known as Carn Llidi.

Ecology

The headland is abundant in wildflowers and wildlife and the waters around it provide a rich habitat for fish,

grey seal The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or "earless seals". The only species classified in the genus ''Halichoerus'', it is found on both shores of the Nort ...

s and

porpoises Porpoises () are small dolphin-like cetaceans classified under the family Phocoenidae. Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals and belugas than to the true dolphins. There are eight extant speci ...

. A variety of

seabirds Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envi ...

and

peregrine falcons The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underpa ...

are also to be seen.

History

There are a number of ancient monuments showing signs of early occupation, including an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

cliff fort, prehistoric settlements, a prehistoric defensive wall, signs of various

neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

field system The study of field systems (collections of fields) in landscape history is concerned with the size, shape and orientation of a number of fields. These are often adjacent, but may be separated by a later feature. Field systems by region Czech Repub ...

s and

Coetan Arthur Coetan Arthur dolmen, also known as Arthur's Quoit is the remains of a Neolithic burial chamber (also known as a quoit). It dates from around 3000 BCE. The site, situated on the hillside close to St Davids Head in Pembrokeshire, Wales, is the ...

(Arthur’s Quoit)

burial chamber A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could ...

. Described in a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

survey of the known world in 140 AD (

Ptolemy's Geography The ''Geography'' (, , "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, compiling the geographical knowledge of the 2nd-century Roman Empire. Originally wri ...

) as the 'Promontory of the Eight Perils' (Οκταπιταρον Ακρον - Oktapitaron Akron - in Ptolemy's original Greek). ''

Tarleton Tarleton is a village and civil parish in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is situated approximately north-east of Liverpool and south-west of Preston. The parish includes the village of Mere Brow and the hamlets of ...

'', a slaver of 400 tons burthen, foundered on 28 November 1788 off St David's Head on her fourth slaving voyage from Liverpool to Africa. Her crew was saved. In 1793, Sir Richard Colt Hoare said in his "Journal of a Tour of South Wales": Retrieved on 2008-01-07

"No place could ever be more suited to retirement, contemplation or Druidical mysteries, surrounded by inaccessible rock and open to a wide expanse of ocean. Nothing seems wanting but the thick impenetrable groves of oaks which have been thought concomitant to places of Druidical worship and which, from the exposed nature of this situation, would never, I think, have existed here even in former days."

References

External links

National Trust page
*{{oscoor gbx, SM720277
Photos of St Davids Head on geograph.org.uk
Cardigan Bay Headlands of Pembrokeshire