The Nature of Somerset’s Coast

Somerset’s coast runs from the River Avon just north of Portishead south and west for 103 kilometres (64 miles), to the remote beach at Glenthorn on the Devon border. These 103 kilometres encompass a remarkably diverse landscape, with dramatic cliffs, shingle banks, saltmarsh and sand dunes, and huge sandflats and mudflats exposed at low tide.

Of the four major estuaries used by wintering birds in the South West the Severn has by far the largest number with up to 100,000 birds present most winters, with Somerset’s coast hosting a large proportion of them. The coast here also has a dazzling array of marine life in lower shore rockpools, a huge diversity of invertebrate life in its sand dunes and saltmarshes, plus a wonderful flora on the cliff tops and grassy headlands. All are covered and richly illustrated with colour photographs throughout i as well as chapters on the landscape, habitats, geology and fossils.