Clevedon, England, United Kingdom
Clevedon Marine Lake
A 15,000-square-metre seawater lake built in 1929 on the Bristol Channel shore and topped up when big spring tides spill over its wall, so it holds water at every state of the tide. Most swimmers enter by the steps at the wooded end and swim along the sea wall, where it is deepest. It is free and unsupervised; stay out while the lake is overtopping.
Photo: Ant Basterfield · CC BY-SA 2.0
Latest reading · SwimScore 73/100 (Good swim) for a typical swimmer: air 17°C, wind 12 km/h, UV 0. Updated .
Know before you go
- Best conditions
- Calm weather away from overtopping tides; the deepest water (over 2 m) is along the sea wall towards the Wains Hill end.
- Getting in
- Open access all year with no booking; use is free, with a suggested £2 donation per visit to the volunteer charity MARLENS. Unsupervised, so you swim at your own risk. No dogs, no diving, no powered craft, hydrofoils or windsurfing.
- Parking & transport
- Pay-and-display car park at Salthouse Fields (BS21 7TR); limited free street parking on Old Church Road and Elton Road.
- Lifeguards
- None; the lake is unsupervised.
- Water quality
- Not a designated bathing water (the nearby Clevedon Beach designation covers the open shore, not the lake). MARLENS publishes laboratory water-quality test results on its website.
- Season
- Year-round; winter swimming is popular, with water as cold as about 3°C.
- Who swims here
- Run and maintained by MARLENS (Marine Lake Enthusiasts), a volunteer charity with a Friends scheme; Clevedon Sailing Club and Clevedon Canoe Club also use the lake.
- Watch for
- Overtopping on spring tides of about 12.6 m or more, or lower in storms; keep well clear of the sea wall
- Poor visibility and shallow edges (about two-thirds under five feet); diving is prohibited
- Cold water shock in winter: water typically ranges from about 3°C to 19°C
- Novice sailing sessions from April to September; swimmers keep to the island end behind the rope
- Facilities
- Cold-water shower on the community boat store on the upper promenade · Public toilets (20p) behind the café/arcade at the east end · No changing rooms at the lake · Café nearby · Depth maps posted around the lake
Sources: clevedonmarinelake.org.uk, clevedonmarinelake.org.uk, en.wikipedia.org, assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
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Details
- Location
- Clevedon, England, United Kingdom
- Type
- pool
- Coordinates
- 51.4359, -2.8687