Symonds Yat (part of the Wye Valley SSSI)
Location and Access Information
Grid Reference: SO 563160
Symonds Yat is a well known viewpoint over the gorge of the River Wye. It can be accessed from the A40 at Monmouth by taking the A4136 towards Gloucester. At the junction with the B4228 turn left and follow the signposts to Symonds Yat Rock. A geological trail runs from the viewpoint.
Information on this can be obtained by from: www.earthheritagetrust.org
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View the site map on Nature on the Map.
Geological Interest
The spectacular gorge of the River Wye in the south-east of Herefordshire provides excellent, if somewhat inaccessible, exposures of Carboniferous Limestone and Old Red Sandstone. The structure of the gorge is also of great geological interest, and it has been suggested that the dramatic downcutting of the river was caused by huge volumes of water issuing from a lake that formed from meltwater at the end of the last glacial, some 15,000 years ago.
The geological trail for the Symonds Yat section of the Wye Gorge starts at the viewpoint at Symonds Yat Rock. It describes the landscape and explains the processes that created the area. The trail then takes you down the geological succession (Carboniferous Limestone) towards Huntsham Bridge, over the river terraces and floodplain of the River Wye.
Archaeological finds from King Arthur's Cave, Madawg Shelter and Merlin's Cave can be seen at Cheltenham Museum; Bristol City Museum; Gloucester Museum and the Natural History Museum, London.
