In past ages, the bay used to be regularly visited by sailing vessels up to 700 tons. These were able to anchor here up until around the 1850's, after which the sand of the Burry Estuary silted the bay too heavily to afford their traffic.
The sands here can shift quite drastically with the tides, especially after a gale. At low tides, especially after such conditions as just mentioned, many a rewarding find had been discovered by walking this stretch of beach - more especially in the past, perhaps, but historians and archeologists all insist that this area still has a lot of treasure to disclose to the lucky beachcomber. Not so long ago, the handle of a 17th Century sword was discovered, protruding from the sands like King Arthur's Excalibur itself. The handle had become separated from the blade itself but, remarkably, this also was found, and by the same man, a few days later whilst patrolling the same stretch of bay.
At the northern end of the bay, set high amongst the cliff, lays the twin entrance of Spritsail Tor Cave . Discovered in 1839 whilst quarrying the rock here, remains of Ice-Age animals and two fragments of worked bone suggest that the cave was occupied by Palaeolithic man. Further animal and human bones were also uncovered here, along with fragments of pottery, detailing how the cave later came to be used as for domestic and funerary use during the Roman occupation of the area.
The southern end of the bay gives access, at low tide only to a series of small coves, the largest of which is Broad Pool Bay.
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