Slapton, Devon
| Slapton | |
|---|---|
 Church tower | |
  Slapton Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 434 (2011 census) |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Slaptonis a village andcivil parishin theSouth Hamsdistrict ofDevon,England. It is located near theA379 roadbetweenKingsbridgeandDartmouth,and lies within theSouth Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty(AONB). The nearby beach isSlapton Sands;despite its name, it is not a sandy beach but ashingleone.
In 1901 the population of the civil parish was 527,[1]decreasing to 473 in 2001,[2]and decreasing further to 434 at the 2011 census.[3]The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes ofBlackawton,Strete,StokenhamandEast Allington.[4]
History[edit]
Slapton was recorded in theDomesday Bookof 1086 asSladone.[5]The Collegiate Chantry of St Mary was founded in 1372 or 1373 by Sir Guy de Brian.[6]The Tower Inn and West tower remain and the tower has been designated byEnglish Heritageas a grade Ilisted building.[7]The Church of St James dates from the late 13th or early 14th century, and is also grade I listed.[8]
The nearby beach is a coastalbar(see below), known as Slapton Sands. AfterLalla Rookh,atea clipper,was wrecked atPrawle Pointin March 1873, some of her cargo of tea andtobacco,[10]heaped up to 11 feet (3.4 m) high in places, as well as pieces of wreckage, were washed up on Slapton Sands.[11]The beach itself is not sand, but consists of small smooth pebbles ranging in size from ¼ inch to several inches.
In 1944, duringWorld War II,it was part of the site ofExercise Tiger,a rehearsal for theInvasion of Normandywhich was attacked by GermanE-Boatsand also saw a large number offriendly firedeaths. AnM4A1 Sherman tankthat was sunk in this action has been recovered and now stands on the road behind the beach at nearbyTorcross.[12]A stone memorial presented by theUnited States Armyto the residents ofSouth Hamsalso commemorates those who participated in the practice area for the Invasion of Normandy.[13]The monument is accompanied by two flag poles either side.[14]Part ofExercise Fabiustook place a week after Exercise Tiger on Slapton Sands.
Geography and environmental importance[edit]
Behind Slapton Sands isSlapton Ley,a nature reserve and example of serial orecological succession— the process whereby open water becomesreed bedand eventually, as silt andleaf litterbuilds up, woodland. The beach itself is abar:the material that makes up the beach was pushed up by therising sea levelsduring theFlandriantransgressionafter the last glacial period (from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago). A similar process formedChesil Beach.[15]
Beaches formed like this are reworked by coastal processes now but are not supplied by enough material to recreate them, should material be removed. This had terrible consequences nearby atHallsandswhere most of the beach was removed as building material forDevonportdockyards, leaving the village exposed to storms. It was struck by a storm in 1917 and most of the village was washed away, although no villagers were killed.[16]
Further north, the beach is known as Strete Gate and at the northernmost end is Pilchard Cove. The southern end of the beach is known as Torcross Sands. A length of beach about 100 metres (110 yd) south of Pilchard Cove is regularly used bynaturists.[17][a]
Climate[edit]
| Climate data for Slapton (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.5 (49.1) |
9.6 (49.3) |
11.0 (51.8) |
13.2 (55.8) |
15.9 (60.6) |
18.8 (65.8) |
20.8 (69.4) |
20.8 (69.4) |
18.6 (65.5) |
15.5 (59.9) |
12.3 (54.1) |
10.2 (50.4) |
14.7 (58.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 4.0 (39.2) |
3.7 (38.7) |
4.8 (40.6) |
5.8 (42.4) |
8.4 (47.1) |
10.9 (51.6) |
12.7 (54.9) |
13.0 (55.4) |
11.5 (52.7) |
9.4 (48.9) |
6.4 (43.5) |
4.6 (40.3) |
8.0 (46.4) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 129.6 (5.10) |
97.6 (3.84) |
85.1 (3.35) |
73.5 (2.89) |
59.7 (2.35) |
67.4 (2.65) |
64.6 (2.54) |
78.2 (3.08) |
70.1 (2.76) |
120.2 (4.73) |
129.6 (5.10) |
141.1 (5.56) |
1,117.2 (43.98) |
| Average rainy days(≥ 1 mm) | 15.0 | 12.4 | 11.9 | 10.4 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 8.7 | 9.8 | 9.7 | 13.8 | 15.3 | 15.6 | 141.1 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 56.3 | 88.0 | 122.5 | 178.9 | 211.9 | 215.5 | 209.1 | 191.8 | 151.2 | 103.5 | 71.9 | 48.5 | 1,649.7 |
| Source:Met Office[18] | |||||||||||||
See also[edit]
Notes and references[edit]
- ^Location of Slapton nudist beach50°18′08″N3°37′59″W/ 50.302110°N 3.632976°W
- ^Harris, Helen (2004).A Handbook of Devon Parishes.Tiverton: Halsgrove. p. 163.ISBN1-84114-314-6.
- ^"Slapton Parish Headcounts 2001".neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk.1 January 2007.Retrieved15 July2016.
- ^"Parish population 2011".Retrieved6 April2015.
- ^"Map of Devon Parishes"(PDF).Devon County Council.Retrieved27 July2015.
- ^"Slapton, Devon Folio: 102r Great Domesday Book Domesday".The National Archives.1086.Retrieved15 July2016.
- ^"Tower Inn".Archived fromthe originalon 29 June 2007.Retrieved10 August2007.
- ^Historic England."Tower of Collegiate Chantry of St Mary (1317950)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved10 August2007.
- ^Historic England."Church of St James (1164002)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved10 August2007.
- ^Robinson, A."Finds record for: PUBLIC-285337".The Portable Antiquities Scheme.Retrieved27 August2022.
- ^Clarkson, Steve (June 2016)."Start Point Project"(PDF).Retrieved28 January2021.
This Start Point project documents the research carried out by the teamon the inshore shipwrecks on the South Devon coast. It covers the area betweenStart Pointand Prawle Point
- ^Harper, C.G. (2019).The South Devon Coast.Good Press. p. 165.Retrieved28 January2021.
- ^"Slapton Sands Tank - Submerged".www.submerged.co.uk.Retrieved24 July2022.
- ^Easymalc (2 July 2022)."Slapton Sands and Exercise Tiger".Easymalc's Wanderings.Retrieved24 July2022.
- ^"Site Details".www.uswarmemorials.org.Retrieved24 July2022.
- ^"Hallsands".South Devon AONB.Retrieved18 August2015.
- ^"Hallsands".South Devon AONB.Retrieved18 August2015.
- ^"Devon, Cornwall and Somerset's coastline lost millions of tonnes of sand after winter storms".Western Morning News.22 September 2014.Retrieved15 July2016.
- ^"Slapton (Devon) UK climate averages - Met Office".Met Office.Retrieved4 July2024.
External links[edit]
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