Blue Anchor is a seaside village close to Carhampton in the county of Somerset, UK overlooking the Bristol Channel.

• The beach is shingle and sand with a shallow slope and a very large tidal range.
• It can be up to half a kilometre to the sea at low tide.
• The coloured alabaster found in the cliffs gave rise to the name of the colour “Watchet Blue”.
• The cliffs contain Upper and Middle Rhaetian aged rocks with a thin Triassic bone bed overlying Jurassic deposits.
• The stretch of coast between Blue Anchor and Lilstock is a 742.8 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
• The Pill River and Carhampton Stream cross the beach.

•  Strong currents
•  Strong winds
•  Tidal cut-off

A house called the Blue Anchor, probably an Inn stood ‘on the strand’ beside the coast road from Watchet to Minehead by 1678.” This was not the modern, and now closed, Blue Anchor Inn, but more likely an Inn that stood in what is now the camping field near this building and next to the road. In the right conditions the foundations of this vanished Inn can be seen as parch marks in the grass and is shown on maps of the 1830s.

There are only a few places so you’ll likely pay a premium. It may be cheaper to look in the surrounding villages Williton, Watchet, Old Cleeve or Washford.

Access to the beach at Blue Anchor is easy. Park along the seafront and walk down to the beach by means of the concrete slipway.

Blue Anchor, Minehead TA24 6JS. Car would be the easiest way to get here. There is plenty of free parking along the length of the sea road.

• Bus, Service No. 28 – firstgroup.com.
• Car, accessed from the B3191, which runs between Watchet and Minehead.
• Train, Blue Anchor is on the West Somerset Railway, a largely steam-operated heritage railway that links Bishops Lydeard, near Taunton, with Minehead. west-somerset-railway.co.uk.

• There is plenty of free parking along the length of the sea road.
• Blue Anchor Beach is dog friendly and allows dogs all year.
• On a good day and tides permitting, you can walk from Watchet to Blue Anchor and back. However, the tide can reach very high up the beach at some points and you can be completely cut off. So be careful and make sure you allow plenty of time to get back if you choose this route.
• Beware of the wet sand and mud turning to quick sand. In Feb 2020 a women was stuck in the mud, with her 5 year old daughter in her arms and they had to be rescued. The woman was up to her waist in mud and up to her chest in water. She had been out walking her collie dog, who had safely made it to shore.
• Nearest accident and emergency Lutterell Way, Minehead, TA24 6DF. 01643 701701.
• Beach Type: Sand & shingle
• Take your rubbish home, don’t try and cram more stuff into an already overflowing beach bin.
• Tip: £25 off your first Airbnb trip of £55 or more click here.