Slapton, Devon
Encyclopedia
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is located near the A379 road
A379 road
The A379 is a road in the English county of Devon. It links points on the edges of that county's two principal cities, Exeter and Plymouth, by an indirect and largely coastal route....
between Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge is a market town and popular tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of about 5,800. It is situated at the northern end of the Kingsbridge Estuary, which is a textbook example of a ria and extends to the sea six miles south of the town.-History:The...
and Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
, and lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
The South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers 337 square kilometres, including much of the South Hams area of Devon and the rugged coastline from Jennycliff to Elberry Cove near Brixham. The purpose of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is to preserve and enhance the beauty of...
(AONB). In 2001 the population of the civil parish of Slapton was 473. Slapton was recorded in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as Sladone.
History
The Collegiate Chantry of St Mary was founded in 1372 or 1373 by Sir Guy de Brian. The Tower Inn and West tower remain and the tower has been designated by English HeritageEnglish Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a grade I listed building. The Church of St James dates from the late 13th or early 14th century, and is also grade I listed.
The nearby beach, known as Slapton Sands, was in 1944 part of the site of the ill-fated Exercise Tiger
Exercise Tiger
Exercise Tiger, or Operation Tiger, were the code names for a full-scale rehearsal in 1944 for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. During the exercise, an Allied convoy was attacked, resulting in the deaths of 946 American servicemen....
. A Sherman tank
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease...
that was sunk in this action has been recovered and now stands on the road behind the beach at nearby Torcross
Torcross
Torcross is a village in the South Hams district of Devon in England. It stands at grid reference at the southern end of Slapton Sands, a narrow strip of land and shingle beach which separates the freshwater lake of Slapton Ley from Start Bay and carries the A379 coastal road north to Dartmouth.-...
. Part of Exercise Fabius
Fabius, 1944
Exercise Fabius was a formal exercise for Operation Neptune. The exercise was planned to start on 2 May 1944, but bad weather delayed it to the next day.It consisted of six separate exercises:...
took place a week after Exercise Tiger on Slapton Sands. The beach itself is not sand, but consists of small smooth pebbles ranging in size from ¼ inch to several inches.
Geography and environmental importance
Behind Slapton Sands is Slapton LeySlapton Ley
Slapton Ley is a lagoon on the south coast of Devon, England, separated from Start Bay by a shingle beach, known as Slapton Sands.It is the largest natural freshwater lake in South West England....
, a nature reserve and good example of serial or ecological succession
Ecological succession
Ecological succession, is the phenomenon or process by which a community progressively transforms itself until a stable community is formed. It is a fundamental concept in ecology, and refers to more or less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological community...
— the process whereby open water becomes reed bed
Reed bed
Reed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions andestuaries. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reed colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground...
and eventually, as silt and leaf litter
Plant litter
Plant litter, leaf litter or tree litter is dead plant material, such as leaves, bark, needles, and twigs, that has fallen to the ground. Litter provides habitat for small animals, fungi, and plants, and the material may be used to construct nests. As litter decomposes, nutrients are released to...
builds up, woodland. The beach itself is a good example of a bar
Bar (landform)
A shoal, sandbar , or gravelbar is a somewhat linear landform within or extending into a body of water, typically composed of sand, silt or small pebbles. A spit or sandspit is a type of shoal...
: the material that makes up the beach was pushed up by the rising sea levels during the Flandrian transgression
Transgression (geology)
A marine transgression is a geologic event during which sea level rises relative to the land and the shoreline moves toward higher ground, resulting in flooding. Transgressions can be caused either by the land sinking or the ocean basins filling with water...
after the last glacial period (from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago). A similar process formed Chesil Beach
Chesil Beach
Chesil Beach, sometimes called Chesil Bank, in Dorset, southern England is one of three major shingle structures in Britain. Its toponym is derived from the Old English ceosel or cisel, meaning "gravel" or "shingle"....
. 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 at Hallsands where most of the beach was removed as building material for Devonport
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
dockyards, 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.
Further north, the beach is known as Strete Sands and at the northernmost end is Pilchard Cove which is regarded by some as one of the most attractive nudist beaches in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The southern end of the beach is known as Torcross Sands.