Danger Point facts for kids
Danger Point is a special place on the south coast of England, in an area called Devon. It's a tall cliff that sticks out into the sea. This spot is about 18 kilometers (11 miles) southeast of the city of Exeter. It's also about 7 kilometers (4 miles) east of Exmouth. You can find Danger Point between the towns of Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth.
Contents
What is Danger Point?
Danger Point is a dramatic cliff face. It gets its name because it can be quite risky to explore the coastline here. The cliffs are very steep and there are no easy ways to get down to the beach from the land. This makes it a wild and untouched part of the coast.
Rocks and Ancient Times
The cliffs at Danger Point are made of two main types of rock. These are called the "Pebble Beds" and the "Otter Sandstone Formation." If you look closely at the cliff face, you can see that both layers of rock tilt towards the east.
The sandstones that make up the cliffs at Danger Point sit on top of the Pebble Beds. Both of these rocks are a strong red color. This red color tells us something amazing! It means they formed in a hot, dry desert. This was about 225 million years ago, during a time called the Triassic Period. Imagine a desert in England!
Why is it Dangerous?
Walking along the coast near Danger Point can be tricky. There are many viewpoints from the coastal path, but you can't safely get to the shore below. The cliffs are very tall and steep. No rivers or streams cut through them to create easy paths down.
If you want to study this coast up close, you usually need a boat. It is sometimes possible to walk along the beach from the mouth of the Otter river to Ladram Bay. But you can only do this when the tide is very, very low. The beach is also covered with huge boulders. Many of these rocks are slippery because of green algae growing on them.
The shape of the coast here has many curves and headlands (points of land sticking out). This means you could easily get trapped by the rising tide. Even a small change in sea level or strong winds can be dangerous. Danger Point itself is the most risky spot, which is why it has such a fitting name! There are four other headlands nearby that also make walking along the shore very risky.
Untouched Nature
Because it's so hard to reach, the nature along this part of the coast is almost completely untouched. It's like a natural outdoor museum! You can find many sea snails here, some of them are unusually large. There are also types of red algae that are quite rare in other parts of the south coast.
Ancient Fossils
Finding fossils from the Triassic period is very rare. Usually, only small pieces are found. But the sandstones at Danger Point have given us some amazing discoveries! For example, a fossil of a "Beaked Lizard" called a Rhynchosaur was found here. This shows how special the rocks at Danger Point truly are.
