5. Caerhays

Caerhays, or Porthluney, Beach is on the south coast situated between St Austell Bay and the Fal Estuary.

This south facing beach is gently sloping with fine-medium grained sand with a fairly even mix of quartz, lithic and shell fragments. There is a patch of cobbles at the top of the beach at the eastern side.

On the east side the Caerhays Stream is channelled against the cliff face. There are some signs of coastal erosion in the cliffs.

At the western edge a historic stone wall merges with the natural cliff with a WW2 emplacement behind. Eastwards from there the stone wall is replaced by wooden railway sleepers in front of the main car park.

Further east there is some sand dune. The active face is in a poor condition and the top is vegetated with scrub. Behind these dunes the east side is sandy with scrub and the west is a compacted sand surface car parking area.

Behind the beach and dunes is the historic park and grounds of Caerhays Castle.

Walkover report and photos of 03 December 2021

DW05_Carhays_2021-12-03.pdf

Issues
Dune erosion, impacts on local tourism assets
Potential Actions
Develop better understanding of magnitude of future coastal change and dune migration.
Community Groups
None yet identified
Key Stakeholders

Caerhays Castle Estate.
CCMA potential
Unlikely

Shoreline Management Plan
SMP Management Area: MA09
SMP Policy Unit: PU9.3
SMP Policies:
  • Present - No Active Intervention
  • Transition - No Active Intervention
  • Target - No Active Intervention
Link to SMP Chapter 4 assessment for Management Area 09

A link to the Caerhays page on the 'Let's Talk Cornwall' website will appear here in due course.