Fowey ria and the drowned coastline of Cornwall

Abstract

The sea perhaps has a greater effect on the scenery of the south-west peninsula than on any other part of England, on account of the great indentation of the coastline. Long fingers of sea push a considerable distance inland, providing harbours with sheltered waters as at Falmouth, Dartmouth and Fowey. These inlets are flooded river valleys, to which the name ‘ria’ is given. Although rias are best developed on the southern shore of the south-west peninsula, they also occur in the north. Thus, the Severn Estuary is in part a great ria, and the Taw-Torridge Estuary at Barnstaple seems to have eroded a channel down to about 46 m below present sea level.