Brean Down is a limestone headland reaching 1.5 miles into the Bristol Channel near Weston-super-Mare, rising to 97 metres with views to south Wales and over the Somerset Levels. Used since around 10,000 BC, it holds the remains of a Roman temple on its south side, and the Palmerston fort at the tip, built in the 1860s against a French invasion that never came and used again in the Second World War, is now a ruin to explore. Dogs on leads are welcome throughout, with a beach, cafe and toilets at the bottom. Reviewers single out the views and the abandoned military buildings. One tip from regular visitors: the steps to the top are a hard climb; the old military road is a longer but gentler route to the fort. The Trust warns that the cliffs are extremely steep and low-tide mud is dangerous, and asks members to register their card at the machine or on the JustPark app so parking is free.
