Middle Hope is a 84.1 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on Sand Point

Sand Point, Somerset

Sand Point in Somerset is the peninsula stretching out from Middle Hope, which lies to the north of the village of Kewstoke, and the stretch of coastline called Sand Bay. It is owned by the National Trust and is a popular place for walking...

 north of the town of Weston-super-Mare

Weston-super-Mare

Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...

, North Somerset

North Somerset

North Somerset is a unitary authority in England. Its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare....

, notified in 1952.

Geology

At Middle Hope a sequence of Carboniferous

Carboniferous

The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...

 Limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

, and includes limestones, thick volcanic tufts and lavas are exposed, affording some of the finest Tournaisian

Tournaisian

The Tournaisian is in the ICS geologic timescale the lowest stage or oldest age of the Mississippian, the oldest subsystem of the Carboniferous. The Tournaisian age lasted from 359.2 ± 2.5 Ma to 345.3 ± 2.1 Ma...

 carbonate sections in South West England. The site contains a Pleistocene

Pleistocene

The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....

 aged fossil cliff and shore platform.

Biological

The range of soils at the site support various flora and fauna. The calcareous grassland is dominated by Festuca species and Dactylis glomerata

Dactylis glomerata

Dactylis glomerata, Cock's-foot and orchard grass, is a common species of grass in the genus Dactylis, native throughout most of Europe, temperate Asia, and northern Africa.-Distribution:...

, while the scrub towards the west of the site is dominated by Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and Blackthorn

Blackthorn

Prunus spinosa is a species of Prunus native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is also locally naturalised in New Zealand and eastern North America....

 (Prunus spinosa), while that to the east consists of Common Gorse

Common Gorse

Ulex europaeus, gorse, common gorse, furze or whin is an evergreen shrub in the family Fabaceae, native to western Europe from the northerly point of the United Kingdom south to Portugal, and from the westerly point of the Republic of Ireland east to Galicia in Poland and Ukraine.-Description:It...

 (Ulex europaeus) and Bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg).