Gronant dunes

link_to_welsh_translationlink_to_french_translation

Gronant dunes, near Prestatyn

These sand dunes, stretching from Prestatyn to Point of Ayr, are arguably the most substantial and intact area of dunes on the North Wales coast. Elsewhere, centuries of industrialisation, tourism and other human activities have diminished or eradicated the dunes which once lined the coast.

The Gronant dunes support rare plants including sea holly, sea spurge and pyramidal orchid. Rare animals include the brown hare, skylark, mining bee and sandhill rustic moth. The natterjack toad has been reintroduced, and from 2003 to 2006 young sand lizards were released at Gronant dunes. Sand lizards, which are broader and bigger than common lizards, were indigenous to the dunes of the North Wales coast but were wiped out by the impact of human activity on their habitats.

At the eastern end of Gronant dunes lies a shingle spit where little tern, ringed plover and other birds nest. This is one of the Britain’s most productive little tern colonies, comprising more than 6% of the British population. It is the only place in Wales where the species breeds. Denbighshire County Council has managed the colony since 2005, protecting these shy birds from interference. If you’d like to see the birds during the nesting season (spring to late summer), please do not walk to the shingle spit but use the purpose-built viewing platform, which is just a short walk off the Wales Coast Path.

The dunes and beach here have long been popular for leisure activities. In 1888 two brothers who lived locally came here to play. The elder, Thomas Davies, aged 6, removed his clothes to bathe in a “gutter” on the beach, where he drowned. His brother eventually took the clothes home and told his father that Tommy was bathing “and wouldn’t come out of the water”. The boy was buried in Llanasa churchyard in the same grave as his great uncle and great-great uncle – who had also drowned. They were among the 13 crew members who died when the Point of Ayr lifeboat capsized during a rescue attempt in January 1857.

View Location Map

Website of the Little Tern Project

Wales Coastal Path Label Navigation anticlockwise buttonNavigation clockwise button
National Cycle Network Label Navigation previous buttonNavigation next button