Marloes Sands
Marloes, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA62 3BH
Category: Places to visit, Pembrokeshire
If you like swimming, surfing or beach combing on a relatively uncrowded beach, Marloes Sands is a great destination. A broad and curved sandy beach, it’s got some pretty unusual geological features boasting stunning cliffs layered with red sandstone and grey shale. A dramatic feature of the beach and the best way to appreciate the unique rock formations is the Three Chimneys, three vertical lines of hard Silurian sandstone and mudstone. There used to be four chimneys, but the fourth crumbled in a severe storm of 1954. At the western end of Marloes Sands is Gateholm Island, accessible at mid-tide and a fantastic place to camp wild. It’s a site of great archaeological importance and is thought to have been an ancient monastic settlement. Pottery, pieces of jewellery and over 130 Iron Age hut circles have been found here over the last few years.