Findon Shore

Findon Shore is located immediately below the modern facility that houses the company Survival Craft who supply and repair life saving craft for the oil industry. Previously this was a research station for fish and sea-life and has hosted many other small companies before Survival Craft moved here in the 1990’s. 

At Findon Shore you will see one unused and lonely boat pulled up the bank of the shore, never to be used again. There was until recently, a second working boat that was used by a single fisherman to work some lobster creels but that has since been sold and the fisherman has since retired from the sea to seek his fortune in alternative employment.

In recent years, work was done to improve the shore, much of the slipway is now concreted and a small wall or breakwater has been built to protect any boats from the incoming swell. However no one sails from this small creek today and access to the shore appears to be private because the gate at the top of the cliff path leading down into the shore is padlocked and it doesn’t appear to have been opened for a long time. The path itself seems to be in a state of disrepair, with sections having slid down the slope and it seems a lot safer to get access directly to the shore from the sea if at all possible.

Directly above and to the south of Findon Shore is the site of St. Ternans Chapel, an ancient place of worship and a burial ground, however any signs of this disappeared long ago when a local farmer, Robert Walker, removed the foundations back in the 1800’s. There is also a field situated to the north of the site known as 'Chapel Bank'.  

On a bank near the top of Findon Shore is a medicinal well called 'St. Ternan's' or 'the May Well’. In 1961 this well was found to be a few feet down a steep grass-covered bank and was noted as being “a large bowl-shaped hollow in the centre of which a round well which was hewn out of natural rock. The water in the well appeared to be stagnant and the well was almost obscured by long grass”. Unfortunately I’ve been unable to find this today and because archaeology and digging for things are not amongst my favourite pastimes I’ll let someone else try to rediscover and pinpoint this ancient well.