Caerfai Bay
 Caerfai Bay | |
  Caerfai Bay Location withinPembrokeshire | |
| OS grid reference | SM 7606 2430 |
|---|---|
| Principal area | |
| Preserved county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HAVERFORDWEST |
| Postcode district | SA62 |
| Police | Dyfed-Powys |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
Caerfai Bayis a rocky cove on the north coast ofSt Brides BaynearSt DavidsinPembrokeshire,West Wales.It is enclosed by steep varicoloured cliffs and has a sandy beach at low tide accessed by pathway and steps. The beach is situated in thePembrokeshire Coast National Parkand on thePembrokeshire Coast Path.There is free parking above the beach withpicnic benchesand views of the islands ofPenpleidiau,SkomerandSkokholm.[1]
Location
[edit]
Caerfai beach is only 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) from centre of the cathedral city ofSt Davids.Along the coast to the west is theChapel of St Non(51°52′20″N5°16′08″W/ 51.8722°N 5.2688°W) which is the most westerly in Wales. On the eastern headland are ramparts of theIron Agefort ofCastell Penpleidiauand Caer Bwdy is next bay to the east.[2][3]Excavations byDigVenturesin 2021 was the first ever recorded on the site.
Commercial activity
[edit]Caerfai Bay Caravan and Tent Park which started in the 1930s is open between March and November and has static hire, touring and camping pitches which overlook Caerfai Bay.[4]Caerfai Farm is 140 acres (0.57 km2) producingorganic milk,cheeses and potatoes using sustainable energy sources, includingsolar,geothermal,wind andbiomassenergy.[5]The farm also has a seasonal shop and a campsite.[6]
Geology
[edit]Both western and eastern cliff sections display distinctive red, purple and greenishmudstone,siltstoneandsandstoneformations representing parts of the Caerfai and Porth-y-rhaw geologicalGroupsof Lower to MiddleCambrianage.[7]The southern tip of the eastern Penpleidiau headland and its small islets are composed ofdolerite,anIntrusiveigneous rock. The intrusion is in sharpsill-like contact with bakedfossiliferousMiddle Cambrian (Drumian) mudstones from within the lower part of the Menevia Formation.Trilobitefossils found within the Menevia Formation at Penpleudiau includePtychagnostus(s. l.)barrandei(Hicks),Condylopygecf.rex(Barrande),Peronopsisscutaliscf.exarata(Grönwall),Tomagnostus brantevikensisWeidner and Nielsen,[8]T.cf.perrugatus(Grönwall),Mawddachiteshicksii(Salter),Paradoxides(s. l.)illingilake,Parasolenopleura?elegans(Illing), andHolocephalites incerta(Illing), which enable correlation with Illing's (1916)Paradoxides hicksiifauna in the Abbey Shale Formation ofNuneaton,Warwickshire,England[9]and with theTomagnostus fissusBiozoneof Scandinavianbiostratigraphicterminology (Reeset al.,op. cit.). There are disused quarries below the car park and atCaer Bwdy Baywhich provided the purple sandstone used in the original construction ofSt Davids Cathedraland for its more recent stonework renovation during the 1980s.[2][10] Distinctive purple-coloured sandstone of the Caer Bwdy Bay Formation (Reeset al.,op cit.p. 53) was also used in the construction of the stepped mount supporting the medieval stone cross in the centre of St David's at Cross Square [Grid referenceSM 75340 25323].
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Caerfai Bay".Archived fromthe originalon 7 August 2009.Retrieved4 August2009.
- ^ab"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 18 May 2016.Retrieved19 October2019.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^Hare, Alistair."Caer Bwdy Bay".Wales Beach Guide.
- ^"Caerfai Bay Caravan & Tent Park, St Davids, Pembrokeshire – Beautiful camping and caravanning holidays in St Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales".
- ^Gossmann, Dieter (May 2007)."Caerfai Bay".Guardian.London.Retrieved4 August2009.
- ^"Caerfai Farm".Retrieved4 August2009.
- ^Rees, A. J., Thomas, A. T., Lewis, M. Hughes, H. E., Turner, P. (2014). The Cambrian of SW Wales: Towards a United Avalonian Stratigraphy.Geological Society, London, Memoirs.42:1 – 31.https://doi.org/10.1144%2FM42.1
- ^Weidner, T. & Nielsen, A. T. 2016.Tomagnostus brantevikensisn. sp. (Trilobita) from the middle Cambrian of Scania, Sweden.Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark64,111 - 116.https://2dgf.dk/xpdf/Bull64-111-116.pdf
- ^Illing, V. C. 1916. The paradoxidian fauna of a part of the Stockingford Shales.Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London,71[for 1915], 386 – 450.
- ^"St Davids Cathedral: The Cathedral".www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk.