Ancient Forest Remains at Whiteford

Not a lot of people seem to know that the remains of old trees are slowly emerging from the glacial and post glacial deposits at Whiteford Sands as the surface layers of the beach have been eroding in recent decades – or at least I have been unable to find any published reference to their gradual exposure in this location. In fact, last winter (2012/2013) produced significant changes to the appearance of the beach towards the Point, with massive quantities of sand being stripped away and redeposited elsewhere. Subsequently, many new examples of old wood were revealed on the shore.

I believe that these boughs and trunks could be further remains of woodland that was inundated and buried in sediment following the last period of glaciation in Gower. Better known examples are the tree stumps of the submerged woodland at Broughton Bay, which is the next bay along the Loughor Estuary in the direction of the Bristol Channel. The whole area is known to have been covered in woodland about 10,000 years ago.