Protected sectors

What's the story here?

Thorness Bay is a long, open bay with a sand-and-pebble beach backed by low, broken cliffs, forestry, and rolling farmland. It lies between the offshore ledges of Salt Mead Ledges and Gurnard Head. Inshore, a low valley floor connects to its cliffs, rising up into the rolling farmlands of Calbourne.




Thorness Bay has a ledge that extends up to 800 metres from its shoreline, with less than a metre over it, and then it steps down abruptly to 18 metres. Consequently, it is not great and is more the domain of a shallow-draft vessel.




The best anchoring for deeper-draft vessels is found west of the bay itself, where the eastern end of Burnt Wood comes down to shore. Here, about 600 metres offshore and 300 metres inside the seasonal spherical buoy, there is a 150-metre-wide contour with depths ranging from 1.5 metres to 2.6 metres LAT.

How to get in?

Thorness Bay presents as a long, open bay on the north-west coast of the Isle of Wight, stretching about two miles between Salt Mead Ledge to the west and Gurnard Head to the east. The shoreline is characterised by a sand-and-pebble beach backed by low, broken cliffs, with a low-lying inland valley floor that rises into rolling farmland. The bay is bordered by woodland and farmland, giving it a rural and undeveloped appearance from the water. Refer to Western Approaches to the Solent for appropriate navigational guidance.




Vessels approaching from the west should keep outside or close inside the Salt Mead starboard hand buoy Fl(3)G 10s. This buoy marks the drying Salt Mead ledge that extends 500 metres offshore and is inclined towards Cowes. The outer end of the ledge terminates about midway between the buoy and the shore, and its foot is at the western end of the Burnt Wood tree plantation, where it reaches the beach. It is principally a concern for those cutting inshore to the anchorage or making the best of an adverse tide.



Vessels approaching from the east should keep outside the green starboard hand Gurnard Ledge Light-buoy. This is moored 200 metres to the northwest of the Gurnard Ledge, which dries in parts at LAT.




Stay well off Gurnard Head as the drying Quarry Ledge, or Baxter's Ledge as it is called locally, extends out 250 metres from its foot. An orange ball, Baxters, is laid off the ledge's western end during the summer season.

Locate the seasonal spherical racing buoy, Fl. Y.4s that provides a conspicuous mark for the anchoring position.




From the initial fix, set on the 10-metre contour, start sounding in a south-eastward direction for about 100 metres. A wooden post on the shore, amid a bank of rocks forming a rocky ledge, makes a good mark to steer toward. This post is on the edge of the LAT drying area and marked on the charts as a sewer outfall, but it is now disused.




Anchor according to draft, with the 2-meter area located approximately midway between the spherical racing buoy and the outfall post. Shallower-draft vessels will find 1.1 metres CD, 300 metres west-by-northwest of the post.



There is good holding in clay once the anchor has been well dug in. Land on the beach by tender.

Why visit here?

Thorness Bay derives its name from thorn and ness, the former meaning 'thorny bush' and ness meaning 'headland' or 'promontory'; 'thorny headland'. Fronted by a beach, this small, low-lying valley is largely undeveloped and little disturbed, but steeped in geological and historic interest.








Thorness Bay has also been recognised as highly archaeologically rich, with post-alignments, hurdles, and other wooden structures radiocarbon-dated to the late Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, and post-medieval periods. The intertidal zone of Thorness Bay has been a treasure trove for historians seeking evidence of early human habitation. Numerous flint and stone implements from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods have been discovered here, along with further concentrations around Saltmead and Gurnard Cliffs. Roman material, including pottery and building material, has been recovered from the eroding cliffs, and what is believed to be a Roman pottery kiln was found at Burnt Wood along with a Bronze Age cremation. Two sites with midden deposits, ancient refuse dumps of Roman and Medieval dates, have been recorded, one of which contains medieval pottery shards.




One historic feature remains visible on the beach today at low tide. This is the remains of the World War II Solo pipe manifold that ran across the seabed from Lepe to Thorness Bay. It was used to supply the Isle of Wight with fuel, and later, when the Allied forces landed in Normandy, PLUTO (Pipeline Under The Ocean) ran under the English Channel to carry fuel to the French coast and beyond.




The bay is now part of the designated Heritage Coast and lies within the Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The site was designated a Special Scientific Interest in 1966 for its biological and geological features. Thorness Bay is an essential component of the Solent estuarine system and an internationally important site for overwintering wildfowl and waders. Its shores and marshes also provide substantial feeding and roosting grounds for significant numbers of waterfowl. So much so that it has also been proposed for designation under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance as a Special Protection Area for the Conservation of Wild Birds.




Today, the bay experienced by visiting boaters will resemble a quiet pastoral valley. Despite having Thorness Bay Caravan Park, one of the island's major holiday camps, above in the forest, it retains a peaceful, remote character. This is mainly because the vehicle is accessible only through the holiday park. Public access is via a single footpath leading to the beach, or people find their way from the Coastal Path that skirts the bay. The beach never gets overwhelmed by visitors, and those who come are primarily walkers, anglers, and a scattering of beachgoers who bring a little interest, colour, and noise. Still, the general feeling is one of agriculture and a peaceful woodland backwater.




From a boating perspective, this is not the best anchorage by any means. The limestone ledges fronting the bay push anchoring vessels out three-quarters of a mile from the beach. This leaves a vessel severely tide rode in the Solent tidal streams, so it needs to be a settled time for an overnight stay. Likewise, Thorness Bay's beach is not particularly appealing. It features a line of sand, probably ten metres wide, beneath which it slowly fades into shingle, then rocks, at low tide. Although the inshore area consists of rolling farmland, the Fawley Oil Refinery industrial complex is prominent in the views across the Solent to the mainland.




However, this is the first beach available for a vessel with a berth in the Southampton Waters area. It is also well sheltered from the prevailing winds, and there is plenty of boating action in the western Solent to watch. Once ashore, the disadvantageous ledge provides a shallow, safe bathing area that is several degrees warmer on a sunny day and forms a lagoon along the shore at high tide, making it ideal for a family boat. Moreover, young, or indeed not so young, palaeobotanists can land on the tiny private beaches found at the foot of Burnt Wood to discover Thorness Bay's marls, which are full of unique fossilised specimens from the Tertiary period.

What facilities are available?

There are no facilities in Thorness Bay. All facilities may be found in Cowes, three miles eastward.

Useful Local Contacts
 
Newtown Harbour Master +44 1983 531424 | Newtown Creek Site | Lymington +44 1590 672014| Beaulieu +44 1590 616200 | Cowes +44 1983 293952 | Hamble +44 1489 576387 | Yarmouth +44 1983 760321 | Keyhaven River Warden | VHF Channel: 37 (M1 or P1) | +44 1590 645695

Any security concerns?

Never an issue known to have occurred to a vessel anchored of this remote location.

With thanks to:

Michael Harpur Sailing Yacht Whistler.