My final post covering my recent visit to Whiteford Sands concerns the following curious feature.

11319 - Curious Feature at Whiteford Sands
11318 - Curious Feature at Whiteford Sands

Upon first glance this looks just like any other clay deposit peeking through the sands towards Whiteford Point. However, this feature is almost perfectly circular measuring some eight foot in diameter with a lower centre. Indeed it looks as if the clay has been constructed into a wall to form a shallow pool within its confines. Without excavation I cannot tell how deep the sand is within the hollow or even what shape the clay takes underneath.

The mystery here is what is this strange feature? I can’t even decided if it is natural or man made. There are apparently glacial deposits underlying Whiteford Point so could this have formed from a rock swirling around in these deposits causing a circular depression as can frequently be seen along the edges of rivers? On the other hand could this be some sort of ancient fishing trap designed to leave fish stranded in the pool as the tide retreats? Either way I haven’t a clue and have spent a good few hours on the internet trying to find evidence of similar features to no avail. Of course this could just have formed through a coincidence of natural processes and my imagination has been running wild. Whatever the background this is yet another example of the brilliant things that you can discover when exploring the great outdoors.

Do you have any theories about what this could be? If so please leave a comment below as I’d love to hear them.


5 Comments

Paul Yeoman · October 15, 2012 at 9:34 pm

I must admit, I love the questions you pose! There is something of a mystery here, but sadly, it will probably be lost in the (no pun intended) sands of time.

Love reading your work.

Hougenai · March 10, 2018 at 1:05 pm

Could it be a bomb crater? I have seen smaller examples on Drigg shore where mines were detonated in situ. While the depressions are less than half the size the general morphology is the same ie a continuous ring of ejected material that forms an apparent bank.
Have you tried contacting citizen.org.uk They'll be interested in your records and may well be able to provide identification.

    Adam Tilt · March 10, 2018 at 1:14 pm

    Now that's a very interesting suggestion and fits well with this area's previous use as a bombing range.

Hougenai · March 10, 2018 at 1:17 pm

ps that is Citizan.org.uk not the auto corrected version

Jo · October 16, 2018 at 8:07 pm

I's a layer of ancient peat.

Leave a Reply