Additional information
Terrain
- Green lanes, fields and coast path, rocky in places; several stiles
Landscape
- Coastal farmland, rocky coves and level raised beaches
Dog friendliness
- Keep on lead in fields
Parking
- Around green in East Prawle
Toilets en route
- By green in East Prawle
About the walk
It seems to take forever to get to East Prawle. The first signpost for the village, seen not far from Chillington, between Stokenham and Kingsbridge in the South Hams, tells you that it’s only 4 miles (6.4km) away, and from then on you seem to be constantly turning left or right, along miles of... typical banked, flower-filled Devon lanes, and never really getting very far. But then suddenly you’re there – by the little green in the middle of the village, with its wonderfully remote yet open feeling. It’s completely unspoilt, and very popular with Devon people who want a simple camping holiday without leaving the county. A week under canvas in good weather at Prawle and it’s hard to leave. Prawle Point, just below the village, is the most southerly point in Devon. The easiest way to get there is by car, but it’s far more satisfying to submit to the sleepy atmosphere and wander down the lanes and along the coast, past some of the most beautiful – and relatively undiscovered – coves in Devon. The lookout at Prawle Point is today manned on a voluntary basis to keep an eye on this particularly busy part of the coast. Originally a coastguard station, with a 270-degree field of vision, it was used by Lloyds of London to report the arrival of ships from across the Atlantic. In use as a naval signal service station from 1937 to 1940, it shut down as a permanent coastguard station in 1994. Prawle Point means ‘lookout hill’ in Old English, so this practice could date back to Saxon times. Prawle Point is home to a great variety of birds and, due to its southerly position, is visited by a wealth of early and rare varieties on spring and autumn migrations. Birders can usually see herring gulls, cormorants, shags, common terns and gannets (and – if lucky – sea mammals such as dolphin and porpoise, as well as grey seals). The rare and localised cirl bunting is also a resident here – there were only 80 pairs in the country in 1989, but successful conservation measures have lead to a considerable increase in numbers. The volcanic rocks of the coast here are some of Devon’s oldest, dating back over 400 million years. Pressure from the earth’s movements split the strata and realigned them into parallel bands. The pounding sea then created the split, angular rocks evident today. The raised beach below East Prawle, a distinctive platform 15ft (4.5m) above the present beach, was formed during the last two million years in times of warmer weather conditions and higher sea levels, which altered coastal erosion patterns.
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Devon
Devon sums up all that is best about the British landscape, with its magnificent coastlines, two historic cities, the world-famous Dartmoor National Park and south Devon’s glorious English Riviera. A fashionable and much-loved holiday destination, hiking and cycling in the National Parks is extremely popular among visitors, with a great choice of off-road routes.
