Sand Point

Nearest town:
Weston-Super-Mare (5km S)
OS reference:
ST327660
OS sheets:
171, 182
Latitude:
51° 23' 18.61 N
Longitude:
2° 58' 2.31 W
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Images

Image of Sand Point (Round Barrow(s)) by thesweetcheat

The top of the much-reduced bowl barrow.

Image credit: A. Brookes (31.3.2019)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 2, 2019
Image of Sand Point (Round Barrow(s)) by thesweetcheat

Approaching the barrows from the east. The disc barrow is theoretically in the foreground, but there’s nothing to be seen.

Image credit: A. Brookes (31.3.2019)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jun 2, 2019

Articles

Sand Point

C
CARL Jun 16, 2010

Visited last summer after a day on the beach in Weston Super Mare. The site is easy to get to and had a large car park with plenty of people about – including a very welcome ice cream van on a hot day. Whilst the others sat and ate their ice creams I followed the path right out into the headland. The views along the coast each side were lovely. However, I can’t say I spotted anything which looked much like a barrow! Don’t let that put you off because the walk alone on a nice summers day makes the effort wothwhile.

Sand Point

Rhiannon
Rhiannon Aug 4, 2003

Sand Point is rather like Brean Down, and sticks out into the Severn Estuary just north of Weston super Mare. If you are equipped with a decent map you will easily be able to avoid paying 70p on the toll road, not to mention avoid going through the seething heart of Weston. But anyway, by the time you’ve driven out along Sand Bay all this will be long behind you and you can park in the surprisingly free NT carpark right at the end.

We walked out along the salt marsh and finally had to make a perilous scramble up the cliff to the top of the point, which was bedecked in various limestone grassland plants like the weird carline thistle. It was as peaceful as could be with the distant sound of the lapping waves, and the sun beating down on our heads. It really was very quiet and I felt remote from things (especially the throngs in Weston – it is incredible that two such dissimilar places could be so near to each other). The rocks are all jagged, though there are easily negotiated paths (assuming the sun hasn’t got to you too much) and plenty of grassy places to sit. The end of the point is about a kilometre out, but as usual most people don’t get quite this far away from their cars (or the icecream van, and who can blame them).

Returning along the top we saw some strange bumps in the ground – there turns out to be a bowl barrow here (this is where the os trig point is) and slightly to the east, the remains of a disc barrow. Disc barrows are pretty unusual; there are only a couple of hundred in the country, most in Wessex, so perhaps this would have been one of the most westerly examples? It’s been suggested that they’re usually burials of important women (though it’s not proven).

Whatever, don’t get too excited because there’s not exactly a lot to see of the barrows. In fact if anything you may get confused by the nearby earthworks of a more recent motte and bailey castle. But it’s a lovely place on a sunny day. And if you’re into birdwatching apparently unusual migrants are often spotted from here.

Sites within 20km of Sand Point

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