CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Weston Bay

bay in Somerset, England

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 25, 2025
Entity authorityQ7989401
Source-derived summary

Weston Bay is an inlet of the Bristol Channel in North Somerset, England.

It lies between Brean Down, which is now owned by the National Trust, is rich in wildlife, history and archaeology, and has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest to the south, and Worlebury Hill to the north. Quarrying took place at various places on Worlebury Hill from the late 18th century until the town quarry was abandoned in 1953. Weston Woods, which cover a large part of the hill top, were awarded a Planting Places Award in a scheme run by Sustainability South West to celebrate "brilliant examples of urban greenspaces" on 6 March 2008.

Much of the bay forms the seafront for Weston-super-Mare. Two piers stick out into the bay. The grade II* listed Birnbeck Pier was designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867. The early 20th century Grand Pier, is supported by 600 iron piles, and is 400 metres (1,300 ft) long. It has been damaged by fire on two occasions, once in 1930 and again in 2008.

Owing to the large rise and fall of the tides in the Bristol Channel, the low tide mark is about a mile from the seafront.

Editorial summary

“Weston Bay” enters the record as bay in Somerset, England. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Weston, Somerset and England can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1953, 2008, 1867, 1930—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Weston, Somerset and England.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Weston Bay” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Weston, Somerset and England provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7989401. Authority coordinates are 51.333, -3.000. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1953, 2008, 1867 and 1930.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Weston Bay”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Weston Bay primary sources, Weston Bay archive and Weston research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Weston Bay”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Weston Bay” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.