Beer
Beer Beach sits below the picturesque Devon village of Beer, forming part of the 95-mile Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. The name 'Beer' comes from the Old English translation of 'grove', rather than any connection with the beverage.
Visitors will usually find a small fleet of attractively coloured fishing boats parked by the water’s edge. In late afternoon it can be fun to watch the fishing boats bringing in their catches of fish, lobsters and crabs.
Although there are not particularly strong currents, the shingle beach steeply descends into deeper water meaning that you’ll quickly find yourself out of your depth. Whilst this may be ideal for confident swimmers there is no lifeguard cover here so care should be taken.
Overflow locations
The map below shows the locations of the storm overflows that have the potential to impact water quality at this bathing water.
The map shows whether or not a storm overflow is currently active, the time and duration of the last spill at that location, and our investment commitments that are specific to that overflow.
Beer storm overflow map
Water quality sample results
The graphs below show the significant reduction in harmful bacteria in the Environment Agency’s (EA) water samples since the 1990s. E. coli and Intestinal Enterococci exist in all open water - they are found in human and animal poo, and get into the water via sewage spills, road drainage, agricultural livestock, or wildlife and birds. The EA uses the levels of these bacteria to decide whether to award this beach bathing water status.
2025-2030 investment programme
We are assessing data collected from the catchment area to look at how best to improve the performance of the current sewerage system.
The 2025-2030 investment programme is currently being scoped out. If you’re a community group or part of a local network and would like to have your say see ‘Your Beach, Your Say, Our Investment’.
4 year overflow spill information
The data shown in the table below is the reported annual total spill number for each overflow which has been identified by the EA and/or is within 1km of hydrological continuity of this bathing water.
The assignment of an overflow to the bathing water does not always mean an impact will occur, it can be dependent on a number of factors such as tidal state and weather conditions. Sometimes it has been allocated just for investigation purposes and has no impact at all.
All data collected goes through vigorous quality assurance processes before being included in the counts. Sometimes debris can trigger false spills to be recorded, resulting in potentially higher than actual spill numbers.
Number of spills
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolphin Road Car Park pumping station overflow Outlet 1, Beer | 39 | 21 | 29 | 18 |
| Sea Hill pumping station overflow, Beer | 24 | 19 | 28 | 32 |
The beach profiles were created in line with information provided by our partners, Environment Agency, RNLI, Keep Britain Tidy, MCS - Beach Guide and British Beaches.