Angle: Coast, Nature and Maritime History

Angle is a peninsula with a wind-swept coastal landscape and traces of seafaring, defence and ecclesiastical history. When choosing your destination, you can find natural features around the bays alongside historic buildings and remnants of the landscape.

Coastal landscape and nature

The Angle peninsula is a wild, windswept landscape of Old Red Sandstone. Storms have shaped the rock into smooth, whale-back ridges. Angle lies in a sheltered valley between East Angle Bay on the Milford Haven Waterway and sandy West Angle Bay at the entrance to this waterway.

There are rock pools on West Angle beach; the bay is a habitat for the rare cushion star. At low tide, Angle Bay provides invertebrates with a habitat for breeding. At the same time, wading birds, divers and other waterfowl find food in the bay. The ebb tide thus connects two distinct ecological roles: breeding and foraging.

Seafaring and historic traces

Visible remains of an old medieval strip-field pattern have been preserved on the headland at Angle. Angle was an important harbour and trading centre in the Middle Ages; at that time, East Angle and West Angle offered sheltered anchorages. Traces of land division in the landscape thus sit alongside evidence of maritime history.

Angle has a long seafaring tradition, reflected, among other things, in its lifeboat station. In 1995, Angle was designated a Conservation Area by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The village is also home to Tower House, a fortified medieval residence. In West Angle, the remains of Angle Brick Works are visible in the form of the brickworks chimney; the brickworks was founded in the 1880s.

Churches and military heritage

St Mary’s in Angle is a medieval church; 50 percent of its fabric dates from a core structure built before the 19th century. The Sailors Chapel in the churchyard of Angle’s parish church is a small, single-aisled, vaulted chapel, probably dating from the 15th or 16th century. It served as a place to receive the bodies of drowned sailors. An inscription above the door states that the chapel was dedicated to St Anthony and founded in 1447 by Edward de Shirburn of Nangle. However, its actual dedication has not been clearly established.

Chapel Bay Fort and Museum is a military fort, museum and café; the site is in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park near Angle. The museum includes equipment and old weapons from the period when the fort was used for military purposes. In the area around Rhoscrowther, Angle St Mary’s is stop no. 5 on the Priors and Pilgrims Heritage Trail.

Coastal paths and getting around

The route information offers different points of reference: the West Angle Bay Circular Walk starts from the West Angle Bay beach car park; the Wales Coast Path leads to a viewpoint overlooking Thorne Island. The island is home to a Victorian fort.

The 366 bus and the Coastal Cruiser are listed as public transport options for Angle. Check current timetables before travelling.

Discover more destinations: Crymych, Cosheston, Begelly, Castlemartin, Stepaside, Ludchurch, Abercastle, Newgale.

For the wider travel overview: Pembrokeshire.