Sand Bay - Kewstoke and the Headland

Roy Davenport

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Three miles from Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, brings you to the village of Kewstoke, overlooking Sand Bay with the promontory of Sand Point and the Bristol Channel to the north. Sand Bay provides a natural beach for the many visitors to the caravan parks and the Holiday Centre, 'Sand Bay Holiday Village'. The local shops, public houses, restaurants and cafes, together with two hotels, provide amenities for residents and tourist alike.

The history of Kewstoke is linked with that of Woodspring Priory on the slopes of Middle Hope. The priory, owned by the Landmark Trust, was founded in 1210 by William de Courtenay, a grandson of Reginald Fitz Urse, one of the murderers of Thomas a Becket. It was in Kewstoke Church, on the north-facing slope of Worlebury Hill, that the reliquary was found in a wall in 1849. A stone on which was carved an effigy was found to have a hollow cavity at the back, in which there were the remains of a wooden vessel. It was believed to have belonged to the priory and said to contain a layer of dark substance considered to be blood from the murdered archbishop. This artefact is held in the Somerset County Museum at Taunton.

Sand Point, extension of the Mendip Hills made of limestone, juts into the Bristol Channel. There is plenty of space, great views across the Bristol Channel to Wales and up the channel to the Severn bridges and lots of wildlife and archaeological interest to explore.

England - South West England - Somerset - Countryside