Porlock Weir

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 51.219619
longitude= -3.629152
official_name= Porlock Weir
population =
shire_district= West Somerset
shire_county = Somerset
region= South West England
constituency_westminster= Bridgwater
post_town= MINEHEAD
postcode_district = TA24
postcode_area= TA
dial_code= 01643
os_grid_reference= SS863479
static_

static_image_caption=Porlock Weir at high tide

Porlock Weir lies about 1.5 miles west of Porlock, Somerset, England and is a small settlement which has grown up around the harbour. It is a popular visitor attraction.

Many cottages around the area are very old including the Gibraltar Cottages which date from the 17th century and have been designated by English Heritage as a grade II listed building. [cite web | title=Gibraltar Cottages| work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=265583 | accessdate=2008-02-20]

Like most ports in West Somerset, the small harbour is tidal but has a small home-based flotilla of yachts and is visited by many more in spring and summer. The port has existed for over 1,000 years. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle reports that in 1052 Harold Godwinsson came from Ireland with nine ships and plundered the area and even before that in 86 AD it was visited by Danes. In the 18th and 19th centuries coal from south Wales was the main cargo and in World War II pit props cut in local forests were exported the other way.cite book |title=Somerset Harbours |last=Farr |first=Grahame |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1954 |publisher=Christopher Johnson |location=London |isbn= |pages=154 ]

On 12 January 1899, during a storm, the Lynmouth lifeboat was launched but because of the ferocity of the storm could not put out to sea, and was hauled by men and horses over Countisbury and Porlock hills to Porlock Weir where the water in the bay was less rough.cite book |title=Curiosities of Somerset |last=Leete-Hodge |first=Lornie |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1985 |publisher=Bossiney Books |location=Bodmin |isbn=0906456983 |pages=45 ]

It is a good spot for walking with the South West Coast Path and other trails linking through to Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh (good for birding) and Culbone - the smallest complete parish church in England.

Submerged forest

From the end of the last glacial period, about 10,000 years ago, the melting of ice caps has caused the sea level in the Bristol Channel to rise about convert|40|m|ft|0. It has been at roughly its present level for the last 2,000 years but is still rising very slowly.

Between 7,000 and 8,000 years ago the area that is now Porlock Beach was more than five miles inland. It was a flat, low lying area and the climate was warm and wet. The area was thickly wooded and Mesolithic people lived by hunting and fishing. They probably hunted wild cattle, the bones of which have been found here. The stumps of trees were preserved in the marshy conditions in which they grew and have today been revealed as the sea has risen to erode them. At low tide can be seen tree trunks, a thin layer of peaty soil and a large amount of grey clay soil which is now inhabited by sea shells known as piddocks.

References

External links

* [http://www.somerset3d.co.uk/logos%20&%20pictures/town%20&%20village%20pages/porlockweir.htm Photos of Porlock Weir in 3d (Anaglyphs)]