Combe Martin & Hele Bay Sea Glass Guide

Silver Mines, Smugglers and Two of North Devon’s Quietest Beaches

Combe Martin and nearby Hele Bay are both worth hunting for sea glass, with the best ground around Hele Bay’s shingle and rock pools, the rocky margins towards Blythes Cove and the pebble-and-crevice terrain at Newberry Beach. Green, brown and white are the most common finds, with blue, aqua, amber and turquoise appearing occasionally and cobalt blue, black and lavender among the rarer colours reported. The open sandy centre of Combe Martin is less useful than the rocky and pebble sections at either end.

Where to hunt: Hele Bay shingle & rock pools → Blythes Cove margins → Newberry Beach pebbles & crevices → Combe Martin rock-pool edges

• Rating: Good Beach
• Terrain: Tricky
• Level: Intermediate
• Dog-friendly: Seasonal – Combe Martin main beach bans dogs from 1 May to 30 September. Newberry Beach (the better glass beach) has no dog restrictions year-round. Hele Bay has no dog restrictions year-round.
• Location: Combe Martin and Hele Bay, North Devon
• Sat Nav: EX34 0DN (Kiln Car Park, Combe Martin) or EX34 9QZ (Hele Bay car park)
• Common colours: Green, brown, white
• Rare colours: Cobalt Blue, Black, Lavender

Today at Combe Martin

Check below for your latest ShoreSense score and tide times. Scroll down for your full 7-day guide.

Best For

• Two-beach hunting trips
• Rock pool and cave hunting
• Smuggling and mining history
• Quiet beaches
• Year-round dog access at Hele Bay and Newberry

Why Combe Martin and Hele Bay – the North Devon pairing most hunters walk straight past

This is a two-beach guide covering a four-mile stretch of North Devon coast that sits in the gap between Ilfracombe and the Exmoor coast, and gets a fraction of the footfall of either.

That’s partly because neither beach is on the main tourist circuit, and partly because the dramatic scenery, Great Hangman looming above Combe Martin at over a thousand feet, the highest sea cliff in England, tends to draw walkers rather than beachcombers. Their loss.

Combe Martin is one of the most historically layered villages on the Devon coast. Records for silver-lead mining in Combe Martin date back to at least 1292, and for over six centuries, Combe Martin’s silver-lead ore contributed significantly to the local and national economy.

The silver from these mines funded medieval military campaigns. The cove that sits below the village has been receiving the waste of that industrial activity, plus centuries of coastal trade, smuggling, fishing and shipbuilding, for longer than most English harbours have existed.

Hele Bay, the next cove west towards Ilfracombe, is quieter still: a pebble and rock pool foreshore with smugglers’ caves set into the cliff, and no dog restrictions at any time of year. Hillsborough, the 135-metre promontory between Hele Bay and Ilfracombe, carried an Iron Age hillfort and was probably the local centre for trade, so this has been a landing point for longer than there are records for.

Done together, Hele Bay and Combe Martin make a good day out: two quiet coves, rock pools at both ends, a cliff path between them if you’ve the legs for it, and some of the best industrial history on the North Devon coast to explain what you’re picking up.

What you’ll find here

Colours commonly found: Green, brown, white

Occasional finds: Blue, Aqua, Amber, Turquoise

Rare finds: Cobalt Blue, Black, Lavender

Bonus: Sea pottery, Victorian ceramic shards, smooth Devon slate pebbles, rock pool life at both beaches

Find something special? Use our sea glass scanner, GlassLore, to find out rarity, value and history; then you can share to our finds gallery and, more importantly, earn points to climb our hunters leaderboard – are you ready to compete?

When to go

As the tide falls, start at Hele Bay and work the shingle patches and rock-pool margins before moving towards Blythes Cove as more rocky ground opens. Then continue to Newberry Beach, where the pebble foreshore, cliff-base crevices and rougher pockets are the main areas to search. Finish with the rock-pool and sand-to-pebble transition zones on Combe Martin main beach if time and tide allow.

Bigger lows expose considerably more ground at both beaches, but the Bristol Channel tide returns quickly, so keep a generous safety margin. Use today’s ShoreSense Best Window to choose when to arrive, then follow this Hele Bay → Blythes Cove → Newberry → Combe Martin progression once you’re there.

The dog restriction on Combe Martin main beach makes winter the natural hunting season anyway. From October through April, the whole stretch is yours, the storms are producing, and the coast path between the two beaches on a clear morning with the Exmoor cliffs behind you is one of the better short walks in Devon.

Today’s ShoreSense Score & Best Hunting Window

Both Combe Martin and Hele Bay sit on the North Devon coast facing northwest into the Bristol Channel, with a tidal range of around 7 metres on a spring tide generous enough to expose a wide foreshore at low water, but with fast-moving tides that demand attention. The northwest-facing aspect means westerly and northwesterly winds push onshore here, freshening the strandlines and sorting the shingle after a blow.

The widget below uses Ilfracombe tide data (UKHO station), the nearest standard port for this section of coast, to show today’s ShoreSense Score, tide curve and best hunting window. Plan to arrive at Hele Bay around two hours before low water and work east toward Combe Martin, timing your arrival at Newberry Beach for the lowest point of the tide

Compare your Beaches on our Hot Beaches page, updated daily with the best beaches for today, the next seven days, as well as the movers and shakers.

Where to look – two beaches in sequence

Hele Bay is the western starting point, a small sand and pebble cove tucked between Hillsborough headland and the cliffs to the east, about a mile from Ilfracombe on the A399. The part-sand, part-shingle beach is popular with families and has good rock pools. The sea glass hunting concentrates in the shingle patches above the sand line and in the rock pools at the eastern end of the beach toward Blythes Cove.

At very low tide, the rocks around Blythes Cove expose additional ground worth working. The smugglers’ caves named Samson’s Hole, Joe Moon’s Hole and Tom Norman’s Hole are set into the cliff, worth poking into at low water, where glass can accumulate on the cave floors.

The coast path east to Combe Martin – the South West Coast Path connects the two beaches, climbing over the headland east of Hele Bay with wide views across the Bristol Channel toward Wales. It’s roughly four miles and takes around two hours at a walking pace, with some steep and uneven sections. It’s one of the more rewarding stretches of the North Devon path, but it isn’t a quick hop between beaches. If you’re hunting both on one tide, drive between them instead and save the walk for a day of its own.

Newberry Beach, Combe Martin -this is the productive end of the Combe Martin visit. Newberry is a small pebble cove immediately east of the main Combe Martin beach, accessed via steps from the car park area. It has no dog restrictions year-round, no seasonal ban, and consistently better glass-trapping terrain than the main beach.

Newberry Beach is a pebble beach with no dog restrictions. Work the shingle thoroughly and check the rocky crevices at the base of the cliff; pieces accumulate in the gaps and sit undisturbed between tides.

Combe Martin main beach – worth a look on the way back, regardless of season. The rock pool margins at both ends of the beach are the productive zones. The caves and inlets along the cliff base hold glass at low water. Sandy at low tide, but don’t ignore the transition zones between sand and pebble.

Key Tip:

Treat Hele Bay and Newberry Beach as a single hunting trip. Search the shingle and rock pools at Hele Bay first, then make the short journey to Newberry Beach, where the pebble terrain consistently traps more glass than the main Combe Martin beach.

Difficulty Level – Intermediate

• Multiple hunting zones are spread across two locations
• The best areas are exposed around lower tides
• Rocky sections and cave approaches require careful footing
• Coast path links involve uneven terrain and gradients
• Success comes from targeting rock pools, caves and pebble beaches rather than open sand

Hunting Style – The Cove Explorer

This stretch of coast rewards hunters who enjoy exploring hidden corners. Search the shingle patches and rock pools at Hele Bay, investigate the cave margins around Blythes Cove at low tide, then move on to Newberry Beach, where pebbles, cliff-base crevices and sheltered coves create natural traps for glass.

Beach Personality

Hele Bay and Combe Martin feel like a coastal treasure hunt spread across a series of coves. Smugglers’ caves, rocky inlets, pebble beaches and dramatic North Devon scenery create an atmosphere of exploration at every turn. This is not a beach for standing still. The best finds come from moving between coves, peering into rock pools and following the coastline wherever the tide allows.

Dog friendly?

Nuanced, so read the details before you go.

Hele Bay – dogs welcome year-round, with no restrictions.

Newberry Beach – dogs welcome year-round, with no restrictions. This is the better glass beach of the two Combe Martin options, so your dog can come whenever you do.

Combe Martin main beach – dogs are banned between 1 May and 30 September. Outside those months, it’s fully open.

The practical upshot: from October to April the whole stretch is yours. From May to September, stick to Newberry Beach and Hele Bay, both unrestricted and both better for glass anyway. The coast path between them is dog-friendly year-round.

Check our Yappy Places listing for Combe Martin and Ilfracombe for dog-friendly pubs and cafés in both villages. Combe Martin has five pubs along its famously long high street; take your pick on the way back.

Practical information

Parking: In Combe Martin, Kiln car park (EX34 0DN) is the main option, run by Combe Martin Parish Council, pay and display with public toilets. Charges run in two seasons, 15 March to 31 October and 1 November to 14 March, so check the board. If you’d rather not pay, Hollands Park car park in the village is free, with a seven-day maximum stay and no return within six hours. For Hele Bay, there’s a car park a few minutes from the beach; check the postcode and current charges before travelling.

If doing the full walk from Hele Bay to Combe Martin, park at one end and either walk back or arrange a short car shuttle – the two villages are around four miles apart by road.

Toilets: Public toilets at Kiln Car Park, Combe Martin. Facilities available near Hele Bay car park.

Food and drink: Combe Martin has multiple cafés, pubs and ice cream parlours along the high street. The Redwood Café is close to the beach end of the village. Hele Bay has a café near the beach. Ilfracombe, a mile west of Hele Bay, has a full range of options if you want a longer post-hunt stop.

Getting there without a car: Bus services connect Ilfracombe and Combe Martin; check First Devon & Cornwall for current timetables. Ilfracombe is the nearest hub with good connections from Barnstaple, which is served by rail from Exeter.

Accessibility: Combe Martin main beach has level access from the car park via a slope. Newberry Beach has steps down. Hele Bay has a short slipway suitable for wheelchairs. The coast path between the two beaches is an uneven cliff path, not suitable for wheelchairs.

What to bring

• Wellies or sturdy shoes – both foreshores are rocky and slippery, and the coast path between them is rough underfoot
• A bag or tin for finds – glass at both beaches tends to be well-tumbled and compact
• A hand rake for working the Newberry Beach shingle and Hele Bay’s pebble patches
• Layers and a windproof jacket – this coast faces the Bristol Channel directly and is exposed in all but the calmest conditions
• A tide table or app – the tidal range here is significant, and the foreshore shrinks fast on the flood
• Binoculars – larger vessels pass through the Bristol Channel regularly, and the view from the coast path toward Wales is exceptional on a clear day

The history behind the glass

Combe Martin’s history starts underground. Records for silver-lead mining here date back to at least 1292, and from the late 13th century, the Combe Martin Mines were among the principal sources of silver and coinage in England and Wales.

Historic mines like Knap Down and Fay’s Mine produced silver that helped fund English military campaigns, including the Hundred Years’ War in the 14th century. The silver was real, the mines were extensive, and the smelting works, ore processing and constant movement of people and provisions all fed waste into the cove below.

The coastal trade layered more history on top. A local 19th-century steam sawmill built vessels up to 100 tons on the River Umber. Combe Martin’s sheltered cove supported coal vessels, fishing smacks, and pilot cutters. Coal was shipped in from Wales across the Bristol Channel. Lime was quarried locally and exported. A steam saw-mill and shipyard operated from 1837 to 1843 on Borough Road, launching vessels via spring tides.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, North Devon, particularly around Combe Martin, was a hotbed of smuggling. High taxes on imported goods like tea, spirits and tobacco fuelled it, and organised groups of free-traders navigated the Bristol Channel. Smuggled spirits came in glass bottles.

The caves at Hele Bay and Combe Martin were used as storage points. When cargoes were lost, chased, or jettisoned, the bottles went into the water.

J.M.W. Turner sketched Combe Martin’s lime kilns and harbour scenes in 1811, now held in the Tate collection. The village he drew was already centuries old as a trading port. Mining declined through the 19th century, coastal trade gave way to the railway, and the village eventually settled into tourism. But the cove below still holds what six centuries of industry, fishing, smuggling and coastal trade put into it.

Hele Bay adds its own layer. Way back in the Iron Age, Hillsborough was an important hillfort, the local centre for trade. The caves in the cliff at Hele Bay carry the names of known smugglers. The quarry on the Hillsborough headland was used as a waste-sorting station between 1880 and 1886. The history here is quieter than Combe Martin’s but no less real.

From beach to jewellery

Found something worth keeping on the Combe Martin shingle? At Mermaid Tears, every piece starts exactly where you’re standing, hand-hunted from UK beaches and handmade into something lasting. Browse the collection.

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Disclaimer: Tide times, dog restrictions, parking charges and beach conditions change regularly. Always verify before visiting. Dog restriction dates on Combe Martin main beach are reviewed annually- check with Devon County Council and North Devon District Council before visiting with a dog. The coast path between Hele Bay and Combe Martin involves cliff walking and should not be attempted in poor visibility or high winds. Always check tide times before visiting either beach.

Last updated: September 2026
Dog rules checked: September 2026 – North Devon Council

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Frequently asked questions

Which is better for sea glass – Hele Bay or Combe Martin? They’re different in character. Hele Bay is slightly smaller and quieter, with good shingle and rock pool margins, including the smugglers’ caves at the cliff base. Combe Martin’s Newberry Beach, the pebble cove east of the main beach, is consistently the more productive stop, with better glass-trapping terrain than the sandy main beach. Together, they make a thorough half-day hunt.

Can I walk between Hele Bay and Combe Martin? Yes, on the South West Coast Path over the headland east of Hele Bay. It’s about four miles and takes roughly two hours, with steep and uneven cliff sections. It’s a superb walk on a clear day, but if you’re hunting both beaches around one low tide, it’s quicker to drive between them.

Are dogs allowed at both beaches? Hele Bay and Newberry Beach (Combe Martin) are dog-friendly all year round. The main Combe Martin beach bans dogs between 1 May and 30 September. If you’re visiting in summer, head straight to Newberry Beach and Hele Bay – both unrestricted and both better for glass anyway.

What is the best time of year to visit? October to April – the dog restrictions lift on the main beach, storms are more frequent, and the beaches are empty. Post-storm conditions after westerly or northwesterly weather are ideal at both locations.

Is the Combe Martin silver mining history visible? Yes – the old mine workings on Bowhay Lane are preserved and occasionally open to visitors via the Combe Martin Silver Mines Society. The Combe Martin Museum on Cross Street tells the full story of the mining and maritime history. Worth combining with the beach visit.

How do I get to Newberry Beach? Park at Kiln Car Park (EX34 0DN) in Combe Martin and walk east along the foreshore past the main beach. Newberry Beach is accessible via steps just around the headland to the east. It’s a short walk from the car park and is signposted locally.

More Devon Beaches

Check out our Full Devon Sea Glass Guide for all the best places or our interactive map to find more beaches; you can even filter by colour.