Thatcher Rock is Middle Devonian Limestone, which is exactly the same kind of stone as Berry Head in Brixham. Located 300 yards from the shore of Meadfoot Beach. The rock is 43 metres high. On the rock there is a beach, but the beach is 25 ft above today’s sea level. This is because of an Ice Age over 2 million years ago. This area of coast is also particularly exciting when it comes to finding fossils, together with extinct corals. The best place to see these is on the foreshore at Hope’s Nose when the tide is low.

• The official reason as to why it’s called Thatcher Rock is because if you look at the Rock from a right angle there is a small outcrop that looks like a Thatcher working on the roof of a Devon Cottage.

Thatcher Point, just along from Hope’s Nose, has hundreds of layers of limestone that can be clearly seen which were formed over millions of years.

Perhaps the most exciting discovery along these cliffs came in Victorian times, when gold was found. Collectors used heavy duty cutting equipment to remove samples of the gold veins which were worth large sums of money to mineral dealers. However, the gold in this area was very fragile and crammed into narrow fissures, so mining it was never a viable proposition. Which is why some of the gold remains in place.

• Fishing.
• Picnic.
• Spot the array of flora and birdlife.
• Take in the sea views.
• Thatcher Cove
• Walk along the South West Coast Path.

There are no facilities in the area, so you’ll want a picnic.

• Please take your rubbish back to the bins near the roadside