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building is often open to visitors if the weather is fine. 45-minute tours are run throughout the day. The building is currently closed to visitors due to Covid-19. Check the website (
startpointdevon.co.uk) for details. The tower is 28 metres high, 62 metres above the sea at high water. Its white light flashes 3 times every 15 seconds and can be seen for 25 nautical miles. Its fog signal sounds once every 60 seconds.
2. Leaving the lighthouse, retrace your steps up the track for about a quarter of a mile, to the Coast Path fingerpost. Looking out over Start Bay from here it is very easy to see why the sea has played such a major role in the history of this area. No more than a mile to the north, the original village of Hallsands is sometimes known as ‘The Village that Fell into the Sea’ after it did just that. The protective shingle barrier along the coastline was substantially depleted towards the end of the nineteenth century, when it was dredged to provide the sand and gravel needed to extend the naval docks at Keyham, on the far side of Plymouth.
In 1903 severe gales swept away many of the houses, and the village was evacuated in 1917 when further storms undermined the remaining houses. At the far end of the bay, near the River Dart, the same thing had happened to the fishing village of Strete Undercliffe a couple of
centuries earlier, probably in the Great Storm of 1703.
For many generations, the sea had provided a livelihood for villagers along the length of the bay. Although the only commercial fishing that happens here nowadays is for lobsters and crabs, apart from a small amount of line fishing for local restaurants, in the past it was a much bigger industry here. At the end of the 19th-century, before the general decline in stocks of fish, there were dozens of fishing boats working here, catching eel and cod as well as the crabs and lobsters.
The bay was also a key location for smugglers and pirates, and in their earliest days the settlements were built a mile or two inland, and a network of ancient green lanes still links many of them to the shoreline. As life became safer along the coast so people began to build houses closer to the sea, which was so important to their way of life.
The line of breakers, or ‘white horses’, about a mile offshore are caused by Skerries Bank. This bank of sand and rock is no more than six feet below the surface at the lowest tide and in calm conditions, it is a popular spot for small boat fishing. As the tide rises, however, the incoming water
is channelled between Skerries Bank and the shore and in rough weather, the speed of the riptide makes for treacherous waters (hence the need for a separate marker on the lighthouse).
3. This time take the path to the left, travelling over the rocky spine of the headland. The next section of the path is rough underfoot and runs close to the cliff edge in places, so take care, supervising children and dogs. Turn northwards with the Coast Path at the point to walk to Great Mattiscombe Sand. Steep steps lead down to the beach, and a track heads uphill inland.
4. Leaving the beach, take this inland track, following it uphill above the stream, to return to the car park at the start of the walk.
Great Mattiscombe was once known as ‘More Rope Bay’. According to local legend, a ship was lured to shore by wreckers looking for plunder, and less villainous residents attempted to rescue its unfortunate crew by lowering a rope down the cliffs to the rocks where they were stranded. In vain, the survivors called for more rope. There are a number of rocky outcrops visible on the beach at Great Mattiscombe at low tide, and
© Nick Shepherd
© Philip Halling licensed for reuse CCL
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