Structural geology of Little Haven and The Settlands

The cliffs from Little Haven to Broad Haven (and northward) display a spectacular range of geological structures, folding, faulting and thrusting, mainly in the Lower Coal Measures. The relatively weak mudstone and shale-dominated sequences show much incompetent deformation: tight, thrusted and overturned folds, in contrast to the thicker, stronger, sandstones which have formed relatively open and concentric folds.

This is a closer view of the small anticline at the southern end of The Settlands. This open, concentric fold is comprised mostly of strong, competent sandstones in the core, overlain by dark shaly beds. The sandsones may possibly be correlated with the sandstones in the large and well-developed Fox Hole anticline situated immediately to the south (right), althought there is a significant fault between the two features and the correlation is by no means certain.