Green Bridge of Wales
Interesting facts
- In Welsh the arch is called Pont Werdd Cymru, a direct translation of its English name.
- Close by stand the Elegug Stacks, two detached limestone pillars where razorbills and guillemots nest each spring.
- From 1961 to 1996 the surrounding Castlemartin range was used by West German tank units under a NATO agreement.
- Castlemartin is one of only two armoured-vehicle ranges in the UK with live firing, and the only one normally used for firing into the sea.
- More than fifty separate faults along this short stretch of coast have been hollowed out into aligned caves, blowholes and narrow chasms.
- According to legend, nearby Huntsman's Leap is named after a rider who jumped the chasm while fleeing the devil, then died of shock on looking back.
- The arch stands in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, established in 1952 and covering most of the county's coastline.
Why it is worth it
The Green Bridge of Wales is a single span of limestone standing clear of the cliffs on the south coast of Pembrokeshire, with the sea running through beneath it and a cap of turf on its back. Roughly 24 metres high and with an opening more than 20 metres wide, it has been called perhaps the most spectacular natural arch in the United Kingdom, and its silhouette is a familiar image in tourist literature and geography textbooks alike.
The arch is carved from Carboniferous Limestone, a thick formation laced with bands of chert that builds this whole stretch of coast. Storm waves armed with pebbles and sand, together with the slow chemical dissolving of the rock, attack the cliff wherever it is weakest, along folds and small faults. Here the sea worked on both flanks of a narrow headland, hollowing out caves from either side until they broke through to one another. The outer pier of the bridge rests on a pedestal of harder rock, which has so far held it up. The process is not finished: in October 2017 Storm Ophelia stripped a considerable amount of rock from the structure, a reminder that arches on this coast are temporary forms that eventually give way and leave isolated stacks behind.
The bridge belongs to a remarkable group of limestone features along the Castlemartin coast, together with the nearby Elegug Stacks and the narrow cleft of Huntsman's Leap further east. The land behind it lies within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park but also forms part of the Castlemartin Training Area, an army range established for tank training in 1938. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path brings walkers to viewpoints above the arch.
Getting there
The Green Bridge lies on the coast about 9 km southwest of Pembroke, which has a railway station on the line to Pembroke Dock. The larger town of Carmarthen is about 55 km away. The nearest airport by a practical route is Cardiff Airport (CWL), about 117 km away in a straight line; Cornwall Airport Newquay is closer on the map but lies across the Bristol Channel.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Green Bridge of Wales is a natural arch formed from Carboniferous Limestone within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is located in the Castlemartin Training Area, but access for the public is normally available.
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