Morte Point is a peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

 on the North West coast of Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, belonging to the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

. To the east is the village of Mortehoe

Mortehoe

thumb|right|250px|Mortehoe, Devon - the main street, looking southMortehoe is a village on the north coast of Devon near Woolacombe, sited on the hilly land behind Morte Point. A nearby village is Lee Bay....

 and to the south is the seaside resort of Woolacombe

Woolacombe

Woolacombe is a seaside resort on the coast of North Devon, England, which lies at the mouth of a valley . The beach, which has Blue Flag and Premier Seaside Beach awards for its cleanliness, water quality and facilities, is long, sandy, gently sloping and faces the Atlantic Ocean near the...

.

In the summer season, tractor and trailer rides are operated from the Mortehoe Heritage Centre onto the point for visitors to view the seals that live on the northern side.

History

Morte Point (literally meaning death-point) is notorious for being the site of many shipwrecks. Five ships were wrecked in the winter of 1852 alone; Bull Point Lighthouse

Bull Point Lighthouse

Bull Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Bull Point, about one mile north of the village of Mortehoe, on the northern coast of Devon, England. The original lighthouse was constructed in 1879 after a group of local "clergy, ship-owners, merchants and landowners" appealed to Trinity House for one...

 was built just 2 km north east of the point. One shipwreck, a ship carrying a cargo of live pigs, gave a small cove to the south of the point the name of Grunta Beach (most of the pigs survived; one is supposed to have lived wild on seaweed

Seaweed

Seaweed is a loose, colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthic marine algae. The term includes some members of the red, brown and green algae...

 for a year). The Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Royal National Lifeboat Institution

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....

 built a lifeboat

Lifeboat (rescue)

A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...

 station at Morte Bay in 1871, although the crews always came from the station at Ilfracombe

Ilfracombe Lifeboat Station

Ilfracombe Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution search and rescue operations at Ilfracombe, Devon in the United Kingdom. The first lifeboat was stationed in the town in 1828 and the present station was opened in 1996. For 29 years a second boat was operated from...

on a carriage when the boat was needed. It proved difficult to launch into strong winds blowing onto its west-facing beach and so the station was closed in May 1900.

External links

• Morte - official site at National Trust