Babbacombe Cliffs
Also within
Devon County King Charles Way - Kingswear to Lyme Regis National TrailSouth West Coast Path National Trail
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SX925660 | — | Unfavourable Declining | 4.87 | 2023-01-17 |
| SX927655 | — | Favourable | 6.85 | 2012-03-12 |
| SX927656 | — | Favourable | 1.1 | 2021-11-10 |
Climate exposure
This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.
Coastal habitats are exposed to sea-level rise and storm erosion. Where hard sea defences sit behind them, there's nowhere landward to retreat to — a squeeze that keeps compressing the habitat no matter how well it's managed.
Geology & landscape
Geological Feature: Fissure · Geological Period: Devonian, Permian · Rock Type: Limestone
Landscape processes: Coastal, Fluvial
Description
Babbacombe Cliffs SSSI Description In the northern part of the site, the Oddicombe Breccias of Permian age are faulted against the Devonian limestones of Petit Tor. The breccias are poorly sorted sediments and are arranged in crude sheet-like spreads of sediment (in fining-upwards units), which were-deposited by ephemeral floods. The shape and arrangement of particles in some finer units indicates fluvial transport towards the east. The site also includes a cavity and fissure system cut into the limestone and filled by Permian sandstones and siltstones. Devonian rocks in the southern part of the site include the type section of the Babbacombe Shales, which have yielded a rich goniatite fauna of early Frasnian age. The cliff section is inverted; it displays interesting structural features and the best accessible section through the richly fossiliferous Barton Limestone. This section is of great interest in demonstrating the marked facies change from a high-energy reef environment of the Barton Limestone to deeper water conditions represented by the Babbacombe Shales.