A Heritage Coast is a strip of coastline designated by the Countryside Agency in England and the Countryside Council for Wales in Wales as having notable natural beauty or scientific significance. 1,027 km of the English coastline and 500 km of the Welsh coastline, in both cases approximately one-third of the total length, have been designated as Heritage Coast. These coastlines are managed to conserve their natural beauty and improve accessibility for visitors.

Unlike National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), the Heritage Coast designation is non-statutory, and designations can only be made with the agreement of local authorities and land owners, however the majority of Heritage Coast falls within National Parks, AONBs or the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

The first Heritage Coast was Beachy Head with its famous white cliffs.

Full list of Heritage Coasts

• Dover-Folkestone
• East Devon
• Exmoor
• Flamborough Headland
• Godrevy-Portreath
• Gribbin Head-Polperro, also part of South Devon AONB
• Hamstead , Isle of Wight
• Hartland (Cornwall only)
• Hartland (Devon)
• Isles of Scilly
• Lundy
• North Devon
• North Norfolk
• North Northumberland
• North Yorkshire and Cleveland
• Pentire Point - Widemouth
• Penwith
• Purbeck
• Rame Head
• St Agnes
• St. Bees Head
• South Devon
• South Foreland
• Spurn
• Suffolk
• Sussex Downs
• Tennyson, Isle of Wight
• The Lizard
• The Roseland
• Trevose Head
• West Dorset

External links

• Countryside Agency Heritage Coasts site
• Countryside Council for Wales Heritage Coasts site