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What's the story here?

Priory Bay is a small east-facing bay on the northeast coast of the Isle of Wight. It lies ¾ of a mile southward of the village of Seaview, on Nettlestone Point, between Horestone Point and Nodes Point, situated 600 metres to the south. The pretty bay is backed by a coastal slope, rising to around 40 metres, covered by 2.94 hectares of Priory Woods owned by the National Trust. Beneath the woods, the private Priory Bay has a straight sandy coastline that curves slightly eastward, terminating at Nodes Point.




Priory Bay is one of the most beautiful, unspoilt sandy beaches on the Isle of Wight and is private. While there are no facilities on the beach, it is sheltered from the prevailing south-westerly wind, which makes it highly attractive. Visitors can only access it by footpaths from Horestone Point via the south end of Seagrove Bay or from Nodes Point in the north via St Helens. The beach is a firm favourite among boaters, meaning it can become exceedingly busy during sunny summer holidays and weekends. Yet, you could have the beach entirely to yourself during the week.




The bay gradually shelves to the shore and dries from a ⅓ to ½ a mile from the foot of trees. The 2-metre contour is located a ½ mile out from the shore. This pushes vessels of any draft well out from the shore, making it comfortable only in settled offshore conditions of Force 3 or less. By contrast, vessels that can take to the hard will find it an excellent location. The beach is a broad stretch of predominantly flat, hard sand that is excellent to dry out on.




Local small boat visitors make use of a long, thin, shallow pool of water that is sometimes retained close to the beach at low tide by a sandbank called 'Gull Bank'.

How to get in?

The Eastern Approaches to The Solent and the run-up to Southampton Water guides the approaches to the Eastern Solent, the eastern side of the Isle of Wight, and the northeastern coastline, through to the guide for Cowes and the River Medina . This also provides a tide timer and sailing directions for exiting all berths along the River Medina.




Prior Bay's position is made unmistakable by St. Helens Fort, which stands out ½ miles from the bay's southern boundary, Nodes Point. The sea fort was constructed between 1867 and 1880 as part of the Palmerston defences of Portsmouth.




The initial fix is the position of the Yellow Seasonal Race Buoy, Fl. Y 4s, close west of the Saint Helen's Patch and about a mile from shore. Work in westward and anchor off according to draft. Keep watch for the odd lobster pot that may be encountered around this area.




Anchor according to draft anywhere off Priory Bay or dry out closer inshore. Holding is good in hard compacted sand once the anchor ploughs its way in.



The deep-water commercial shipping Nab Channel lies 2½ miles east of the anchorage. Serving as the eastern approach to the Solent, a key maritime route for vessels heading to major ports such as Portsmouth and Southampton, it experiences heavy traffic. Therefore, be prepared for the occasional long-frequency wash that may come rolling in unexpectedly.




Land on the beach by tender.

Why visit here?

Priory Bay takes its name from the ancient Priory of St. Helen's, which was founded after the Norman Conquest by French Benedictine monks. The priory was dedicated to St. Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, from which the village of St. Helen's, overlooking Bembridge Harbour close south, subsequently took its name. It is believed the priory once stood in a field behind the current location of the Priory Bay Hotel, though nothing remains of it today. It is possible that the priory was connected to St. Helen's Old Church, now the seamark to the south overlooking the approaches to Bembridge Harbour. However, no archaeological remains have yet been discovered to support this. The oldest parts of the current Priory Bay Hotel date back to the late medieval period.




Though Priory Bay today is a secluded, unspoiled woodland, its history of inhabitation runs very deep, possibly even deeper than that of humanity itself. The cliff and Priory Wood strata are made of Pleistocene gravels overlying Eocene Bembridge Marls that are of special scientific interest. The Pleistocene geological epoch spanned the world's most recent period of repeated glaciations. During this time, glaciers covered much of Britain but did not come as far south as the Isle of Wight. This period, however, had intervening milder periods that caused major changes in sea levels. During cold phases, sea levels fell, and mainland Britain, the Isle of Wight and the Continent were at times attached. During milder phases, the sea rose, and the Island was separated from the mainland. These events are captured in the gravel of the cliffs of Priory Bay. Moreover, there is a very interesting technical overlap between the end of the Pleistocene age and that of the archaeologist Palaeolithic age, and they are very much bridged in the woods and cliffs of Priory Bay.




In 1886, hand tools were discovered on the beach of Priory Bay in the early Palaeolithic or Old Stone Age. On closer examination, the source of the tools was eventually traced back to gravels eroded from the cliff-top. When these cliff gravels were explored, numerous further flint hand axes, flakes and artefacts derived from them were found. Although similar material has been found elsewhere in the area, the Priory Bay finds were by far the most prolific Palaeolithic site on the island. The bay's intriguing findings were dated to the Hoxnian Stage of the Pleistocene Period, between 424,000 to 374,000 years ago, making this the Isle of Wight's oldest known archaeological site. While our ancestors have been around for about six million years, modern humans only evolved about 200,000 years ago. As such, these stone tools clearly predate our period, which would indicate their users were Neanderthals. Investigations continue as the erosion of the bay gravel exposes new finds to this day.




Today, the beautiful beach is privately held by the Priory Bay Hotel, but in reality, it is anything but a private beach on a sunny summer's weekend. Perfectly sheltered from the UK's prevailing south-westerly breeze and less than a thirty-minute cruise from Portsmouth Harbour, it is a magnet for family boaters along with scramblers who come in over Horestone Point from Seagrove Bay. On such days, it is a peaceful hive for families to enjoy the wonderful secluded wood-fringed paradise. Yet, during the week, it is sandy, unspoilt and peaceful.




From a boating point of view, unless a vessel can take to the hard, Priory Bay is far from a perfect anchorage. What it has is one of the Isle of Wight's most picturesque, tranquil and delightful beaches. In this context, it has it all: a sheltered beach making a dinghy landing of buckets, spades, and barbecues, etc. very easy, and lovely soft white sands under its treeline that provide perfect afternoon shade, relatively shallow waters that make it ideal for swimming or children's splashing about and a wonderful selection of rock pools for children to explore around Horestone Point.




Those who just want to sit back and relax will have great views from the Spinnaker tower in Portsmouth round and offshore to 'No Man's Land', 'Horse Sand' and 'St Helens' forts and then onward south to Bembridge Lifeboat station. This is as good as it gets in England when it comes to a family beach anchorage.

What facilities are available?

There are no facilities in Priory Bay apart from the hotel above the beach.

Any security concerns?

Never an issue known to have occurred to a vessel anchored off Priory Bay.

With thanks to:

Martyn Squibb, Bosum Wotton Creek Sailing Club.