SWCP – Geology & Tracks

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Basemap:
Geology:
Tracks:
Legend / Key
Exmoor Devonian
North Devon Variscan slates
North Cornwall Bude & Crackington Fms
Cornish Granites granites & mineral veins
Lizard ophiolite
South Devon limestone & red beds
Jurassic Coast schematic rectangle
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Timeline

Geological timeline along the South West Coast Path

Devonian (419–359 Ma)

ExmoorNorth Devon

Tropical seas & deltas lay down sandstones, slates & limestones. Walk it at Great Hangman, Ilfracombe, Morte Point, Torbay headlands.

Carboniferous (359–299 Ma)

Bude FmCrackington Fm

Deep-water sandstones & shales later folded into dramatic chevrons — Millook Haven, Crackington Haven, Bude cliffs.

Variscan Orogeny (~300 Ma)

Culm Coast

Continental collision crumples Devonian–Carboniferous strata — Hartland Quay, Millook.

Permian & intrusions

Cornish GranitesDawlish Reds

Granite batholiths & mineral veins; desert red beds around Dawlish/Teignmouth; St Agnes, Botallack–Levant.

Triassic–Jurassic–Cretaceous (252–66 Ma)

Jurassic Coast

Fossil-rich strata from Sidmouth to Old Harry Rocks — Sidmouth reds, Lyme Regis fossils, Durdle Door & Lulworth.

Ophiolite (The Lizard)

Serpentine & Gabbro

Slice of ancient ocean crust — Kynance Cove, Lizard Point.

Quaternary & today (2.6 Ma–present)

Raised beachesDunes

Sea-level swings, coastal erosion and dunes — Braunton Burrows, Perran Sands.