| Slapton | |
|---|---|
 Church tower | |
  Slapton Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 434 (2011 census) |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| 50°18′N3°39′W / 50.300°N 3.650°W /50.300; -3.650 | |
Slapton is a village andcivil parish in theSouth Hams district ofDevon, England. It is located near theA379 road betweenKingsbridge andDartmouth, and lies within theSouth Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The nearby beach isSlapton Sands; despite its name, it is not a sandy beach but ashingle one.
In 1901 the population of the civil parish was 527,[1] decreasing to 473 in 2001,[2] and decreasing further to 434 at the 2011 census.[3] The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes ofBlackawton,Strete,Stokenham andEast Allington.[4]
Slapton was recorded in theDomesday Book of 1086 asSladone.[5] The Collegiate Chantry of St Mary was founded in 1372 or 1373 by Sir Guy de Brian.[6] The Tower Inn and West tower remain and the tower has been designated byEnglish Heritage as a grade Ilisted building.[7] The Church of St James dates from the late 13th or early 14th century, and is also grade I listed.[8]
The nearby beach is a coastalbar (see below), known as Slapton Sands. AfterLalla Rookh, atea clipper, was wrecked atPrawle Point in March 1873, some of her cargo of tea andtobacco,[9] heaped up to 11 feet (3.4 m) high in places, as well as pieces of wreckage, were washed up on Slapton Sands.[10] The beach itself is not sand, but consists of small smooth pebbles ranging in size from ¼ inch to several inches.
In 1944, duringWorld War II, it was part of the site ofExercise Tiger, a rehearsal for theInvasion of Normandy which was attacked by GermanE-Boats and also saw a large number offriendly fire deaths. AnM4A1 Sherman tank that was sunk in this action has been recovered and now stands on the road behind the beach at nearbyTorcross.[11] A stone memorial presented by theUnited States Army to the residents ofSouth Hams also commemorates those who participated in the practice area for the Invasion of Normandy.[12] The monument is accompanied by two flag poles either side.[13] Part ofExercise Fabius took place a week after Exercise Tiger on Slapton Sands.
Behind Slapton Sands isSlapton Ley, a nature reserve and example of serial orecological succession — the process whereby open water becomesreed bed and eventually, as silt andleaf litter builds up, woodland. The beach itself is abar: the material that makes up the beach was pushed up by therising sea levels during theFlandriantransgression after the last glacial period (from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago). A similar process formedChesil Beach.[14]
Beaches formed like this are reworked by coastal processes now but are not supplied by enough material to recreate them, should material be removed. This had terrible consequences nearby atHallsands where most of the beach was removed as building material forDevonport dockyards, leaving the village exposed to storms. It was struck by a storm in 1917 and most of the village was washed away, although no villagers were killed.[14]
Further north, the beach is known as Strete Gate and at the northernmost end is Pilchard Cove. The southern end of the beach is known as Torcross Sands. A length of beach about 100 metres (110 yd) south of Pilchard Cove is regularly used bynaturists.[15][a]
| Climate data for Slapton (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 14.6 (58.3) | 16.2 (61.2) | 19.5 (67.1) | 22.2 (72.0) | 24.1 (75.4) | 30.5 (86.9) | 28.2 (82.8) | 28.8 (83.8) | 25.0 (77.0) | 23.4 (74.1) | 17.7 (63.9) | 15.7 (60.3) | 30.5 (86.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.5 (49.1) | 9.6 (49.3) | 11.0 (51.8) | 13.2 (55.8) | 16.0 (60.8) | 18.8 (65.8) | 20.9 (69.6) | 20.8 (69.4) | 18.7 (65.7) | 15.6 (60.1) | 12.4 (54.3) | 10.2 (50.4) | 14.8 (58.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 6.8 (44.2) | 6.7 (44.1) | 8.0 (46.4) | 9.6 (49.3) | 12.2 (54.0) | 14.9 (58.8) | 16.8 (62.2) | 16.9 (62.4) | 15.1 (59.2) | 12.5 (54.5) | 9.4 (48.9) | 7.4 (45.3) | 11.4 (52.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 4.0 (39.2) | 3.8 (38.8) | 4.9 (40.8) | 5.9 (42.6) | 8.4 (47.1) | 10.9 (51.6) | 12.8 (55.0) | 13.0 (55.4) | 11.6 (52.9) | 9.4 (48.9) | 6.5 (43.7) | 4.6 (40.3) | 8.0 (46.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −8.0 (17.6) | −6.8 (19.8) | −6.5 (20.3) | −2.5 (27.5) | −0.1 (31.8) | 2.5 (36.5) | 6.2 (43.2) | 6.0 (42.8) | 3.9 (39.0) | −0.3 (31.5) | −2.7 (27.1) | −6.4 (20.5) | −8.0 (17.6) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 129.6 (5.10) | 97.6 (3.84) | 85.1 (3.35) | 73.6 (2.90) | 59.8 (2.35) | 67.4 (2.65) | 64.7 (2.55) | 78.3 (3.08) | 70.2 (2.76) | 120.2 (4.73) | 129.6 (5.10) | 141.1 (5.56) | 1,117.2 (43.98) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 15.0 | 12.4 | 12.0 | 10.4 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 8.7 | 9.9 | 9.7 | 13.8 | 15.3 | 15.7 | 141.2 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 56.3 | 88.1 | 122.5 | 178.9 | 212.0 | 215.6 | 209.2 | 191.8 | 151.3 | 103.6 | 72.0 | 48.6 | 1,649.8 |
| Source 1:Met Office[16] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Starlings Roost Weather[17] | |||||||||||||
![A gold quarter noble coin of Edward III, dating from c. 1363 – c. 1369, found in Slapton in 2015[18]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMedieval_Coin%2c_Quarter_Noble_of_Edward_III_(FindID_716757).jpg)
This Start Point project documents the research carried out by the teamon the inshore shipwrecks on the South Devon coast. It covers the area betweenStart Point and Prawle Point
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