Located in a narrow rocky inlet off Crickmail Down are the remain of a limestone retaining wall, situated above the mean high-water mark, and crossing the full width of the inlet. The wall is partially collapsed and stands 1.5 metres high and is around 0.5 metres thick. Behind the wall is a narrow level platform, some 2 metres wide, beyond which a very steep grassy slope leads up onto Crickmail Down. In front of the wall are rock and boulders down to the sea, and adjacent to it on the east side of the inlet, attached to the smoother quarried rock face, there is evidence of short sections of walling, possibly to support additional structures/machinery.
This is likely to be a quay, though it is not show on historic Ordnance Survey mapping, nor on the Tithe. It may simply have served the adjacent quarry, though historic mapping shows field systems and additional quarries across Crickmail Down, so it may have served the wider area.
The quay was first noted and recorded during CHERISH project fieldwork. It can be seen on a 3D model from UAV photogrammetry of the adjacent Crickmail Down Promontory Fort (NPRN 422726) available on Sketchfab here https://skfb.ly/owuM9 :
Louise Barker, CHERICH (RCAHMW), February 2024.
CHERISH (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) was an EU-funded Wales-Ireland project (2017-2023) led by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, in partnership with the Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland, Aberystwyth University: Department of Geography and Earth Sciences and Geological Survey, Ireland. https://cherishproject.eu/en/