Photo: Dave Kelly (CC BY-SA 2.0)The small shingle cove near St Ann's Head where Henry Tudor landed in 1485 on his way to Bosworth — history, not sunbathing.
Mill Bay is a narrow, steep-sided cove on the seaward side of the Dale peninsula, reached only on foot from the Coast Path between Dale and St Ann's Head. It's shingle and rock with very little sand, hemmed in by cliffs, and it is not a beach in the bucket-and-spade sense at all. People walk here for what happened.
On 7 August 1485, Henry Tudor came ashore in this cove with a few thousand men after exile in Brittany, having chosen a landing place quiet enough to avoid detection. Three weeks later he was king, after Bosworth. There's an interpretation panel on the path above and, standing in the cove, the choice makes obvious sense — it's hidden from the waterway and from the village, and steep enough that nobody was going to see them from the land side.
For the visit itself: about half an hour's walk from Dale along the peninsula, a scrambly path down, no facilities of any kind, and a bay that's mostly covered at high tide. Swimming is unguarded and the tidal streams around the mouth of the waterway are powerful — this is not a swimming spot. Do it as part of the Dale peninsula circuit, taking in the Coast Path to St Ann's Head lighthouse and the wartime remains on the headland, then back across to Westdale and down into the village for something to eat.
The nearest pubs, cafés and restaurants, closest first. Walking times are rough estimates on lane and cliff path — check opening hours before you rely on one.
Dale, SA62 3RB
Three-hundred-year-old pub on Dale's sea wall at the mouth of the Haven — lobster from pots in the bay, Bluestone ales and its own amber beer, and the last pub standing of a village that once had fifteen.
1.7km away · about 25 min walk
1.8km away · about 25 min walk
Nearest forecast point: The Haven
dry for the next few hours, around 13°C, gusting to 26 mph — hold on to the windbreak.
01:00
13°
Fair
W 26 mph
02:00
12°
Clear
W 26 mph
03:00
12°
Clear
NW 25 mph
04:00
12°
Clear
NW 24 mph
05:00
12°
Clear
NW 24 mph
06:00
12°
Fair
NW 23 mph
07:00
12°
Clear
NW 23 mph
08:00
12°
Clear
NW 24 mph
Forecast from MET Norway, used under CC BY 4.0. It's a forecast for the nearest of six points across the county, not for this exact spot — on a coast this shaped, one headland can be in sun and the next in rain.
The light goes gold from about 17:57, and this beach faces the sunset.
Calculated for these coordinates, accurate to a minute or so. A cliff or a headland to your west will take the sun sooner than this suggests.
Dale Roads · about 1 miles away
High water
06:37
Sat 10 Oct · 7.0m
Low water
12:49
Sat 10 Oct · 0.6m
High water
18:54
Sat 10 Oct · 7.2m
Low water
01:11
Sun 11 Oct · 0.6m
Predicted times from the UK Hydrographic Office. Wind and pressure shift real water levels, and the tide at a specific cove can run earlier or later than its port. Never plan a tidal crossing on this alone.
OpenStreetMap
One car park within a mile of the sand, 1 of them free. The nearest is about 1.5km (0.9 miles) away — roughly a 25-minute walk if you park there and carry everything in.
Unnamed car park (National Trust)
Free · National Trust
Distances are straight-line from the beach, so the walk is usually longer — and on this coast it is often downhill on the way there. Charges and space counts come from OpenStreetMap contributors and can go out of date; we don’t print prices, because the map records whether a car park charges, not how much. In July and August the popular ones fill by mid-morning.
No reviews yet — been to Mill Bay? Tell people what it was actually like.
Dogs welcome all year — no seasonal restriction under Pembrokeshire County Council's summer beach bans. Leads near the grazed clifftops on the approach.
The nearest car park we map is Car park, about 1.5km (0.9 miles) away (free).
We don't have public toilets mapped within a mile of Mill Bay. Assume there are none and plan around it.
Answers are generated from what we actually hold in our database and refreshed as it changes. Opening hours, dog rules and prices move — check with the venue before you travel.
Hand-picked places to stay within a mile or so, nearest first. Our picks are data-driven — we haven’t stayed — and we earn a commission when you book through a partner link. How that works.
Dale · Sleeps 6 · 3 beds
Bookable via holidaycottages.co.uk
Dale · Sleeps 2 · 1 bed
Bookable via holidaycottages.co.uk
Dale · Sleeps 5 · 3 beds
Bookable via cottages.com