Eling is situated on the south coast of England, near the head of the River Test that is entered from the head of Southampton Water. It is a natural tidal creek close to a sizable town that offers moderate draft vessels, which can take to the ground, the option of drying out alongside its friendly sailing club pontoon.

Situated in an enclosed drying pocket miles from the sea, Eling Creek provides complete protection. Approaches are straightforward but heavily reliant on tide height, draft, and daylight.

Eling Creek dries extensively, so timing your arrival for high tide or near high water is essential. Draft is limited, and shallow banks make careful navigation critical.

Keyfacts for Eling

Position and approaches

Haven position

50° 54.672' N, 001° 28.900' W

This is the head of the Eling Sailing Club visitor pontoon.

What is the initial fix?

This is the position of the Eling Eastern Cardinal buoy that exhibits a light Q(3)10s.

What are the key points of the approach?

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What's the story here?

Totton and Eling is a town and civil parish on the eastern edge of the New Forest and the River Test, close to the city of Southampton but outside of the city boundary. The two villages are separated by Eling Creek, which is accessed from the western side of the River Test close to its head. Eling Sailing Club is situated at the head of Eling Creek, and its clubhouse is the village's landmark tide mill. Eling Creek dries and is only suitable for moderate draft vessels that can come in at high water for a short stay or those that can take to the mud overnight.




The creek dries at low tide along many banks but retains reasonable depth near the channel at high water springs (LWN) and less so at low water springs (LWS). The creek dries at low tide along many banks but retains reasonable depth near the channel at high water springs (LWN) and less so at low water springs (LWS). A vessel of about 10 metres (32 ft.) and 1.2 metres (4 ft.) draft is about the upper end of what the club can accommodate. A tide of 3.5 metres or more will provide sufficient depth for a vessel carrying 1.2 metres to reach the visitor pontoons. Only attempt near high tide if your vessel draws more than 1.5m (5ft).




Eling Tide Mill Harbour has a small pontoon, owned by Eling Sailing Club, which welcomes visiting boats and also offers laid moorings on mudflats in the creek. The club charges a flat fee of [2025] £5 for up to 4 hours during the day or an overnight stay £10. It is advisable, though not necessary, to make contact in advance to ensure a berth is available. Enquiries can be made to the clubhouse via
info@elingsc.org.uk

How to get in?

Coastal guidance waypoints and pilotage for the run-up to the River Itchen, along with river guidance, are available in the Western Approaches or the Eastern Approaches to the Solent and Southampton. Vessels approaching Dock Head should encounter no local hazards if they follow the clear marks of the Solent and Southampton Water, ideally staying close to the inner navigable waters within them and maintaining reasonable soundings to avoid commercial shipping.




Yachts navigating the six-mile stretch of Southampton Water should keep a listening watch for Southampton Vessel Traffic Services (VTS), available via Ch. 12/16 [Southampton VTS], +44 (0)23 8060 8208 (24/7/365). Yield priority to commercial vessels, particularly near the docks. A speed limit of 6 knots is enforced north of a line connecting Hythe Pier and Weston Shelf.




Break off from the above Solent guides and pass Dock Head to starboard, where the rivers Test and Itchen meet. Continue up the River Test by passing Dock Head to starboard. The River Test is dredged to 13.2 metres as far as the turning circle just north of Marchwood Yacht Club and 12.6 metres as far as the swinging ground at the top end of the container berths, one mile further. Beyond this point, the river shoals rapidly and dries up to the Eling Channel that leads to Eling.




Navigate upriver past the cruise liner docks and ferry terminals, keeping a close eye on commercial ship and ferry traffic, as this area is busy with large vessels manoeuvring in the Western Dock area. Watch for red can buoys marking the port side of the deepwater channel.




Continue north-westward past Marchwood Yacht Club pontoon for just under a mile to the 'Eling east cardinal buoy'. The approaches to the 'Eling east cardinal buoy' have a minimum maintained depth of 12.6 metres of water, but it shallows immediately afterwards.




The initial fix is the position of the Eastern Cardinal buoy Eling. From here, the general location of Eling basin is made conspicuous by the stacks of containers situated on Eling Wharf more than a ½ west-northwestward. Pass close south of the cardinal and steer a course of 290° T, west-northwest, for 400 metres to the entrance to the Eling Channel. The Eling Channel, which leads to the creek, dries 250 metres southeast of its entrance.

The Eling Channel entrance is clearly indicated by red, at first, and then green beacons with topmarks. The area to the southwest of the approach to Eling Channel has several small-craft moorings, in 0.3 metres of water or less, belonging to Eling Sailing Club. Inside the entrance to Eling Channel, the channel is indicated by large and prominent starboard marks that should be passed no more than 2 metres to their starboard side.

Overhead power cables cross the channel 500 metres from the entrance and 200 metres before the basin opens. With a safe vertical clearance of 26 metres, they pose no issue to a leisure vessel heading for the club pontoon. After passing beneath the power lines, the basin will open to port.




The basin will appear open at its north-eastern end, then broaden with local moorings near its head, where the Tide Mill can be clearly seen in its western corner. A bank extends from the south-eastern shoreline, making it essential to approach very close to the north-west side of the basin. Pass no more than 3 metres from the face of Eling Wharf, then maintain a distance of 2 metres off the slipway, which opens to starboard after the quay, and the ends of the vessels moored from bow to stern along the quay.




The final approach to the Tide Mill and pontoon is marked by three posts with a red cap and a tidal gauge on the outermost one, which should be passed to port.




The visitor berths are immediately in front of the Tide Mill, on the port side. Vessels that only intend to make a lunch stop may also use the unloading berth on the starboard side alongside the road.

Why visit here?

Eling got its name from an early form of the Anglo-Saxon word Edlingas as it appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name is thought to mean "the place or settlement of Edla's people" or "the people of Edla." This follows the common Anglo-Saxon naming pattern where -ingas indicates a group linked to a particular leader or ancestor. Therefore, "Eling" derives from a personal or tribal name—Edla or a similar version—combined with the Old English suffix -ingas, meaning "people of" or "descendants of." The shortening from its original Edlingas or "Edling(e)" to the modern "Eling" was typical of Old English place names, with the -ingas or -ing ending simplified as the language evolved, especially as Norman scribes, Middle English speakers, and later generations streamlined pronunciations and spellings.




Domesday also recorded that the settlement had a population of approximately 300, a church, two mills, a fishery, and a saltern. But Eling's history runs much deeper than this, as it is an ancient site within a historic area. Evidence of this includes the Iron Age Hillfort at Tatchbury Mount, about an hour's walk from the quay. Netley Marsh, on the edge of Totton, is noted for being the site of an early battle between Anglo-Saxon invaders under Cerdic and Romano-Celtic peoples under Natanleod. After the defeat, the area was claimed by the Saxon royal family and was a sub-estate of the large estate based on Hampstead Norreys. The pairing of the parish church and Manor House is typical of late Saxon estate centres, and St. Mary's, overlooking the quay from the hill above, was built on Saxon foundations.




By the Norman period, Eling was notable enough to justify the building of St Mary's Church, constructed on earlier Saxon foundations. This church still stands as a Norman structure, with records dating back to 1537. The Victorian exterior seen today results from a restoration undertaken in 1879-80 and conceals the earlier Saxon framework with its subsequent Norman additions. The original Saxon church was likely wooden and was later replaced by a stone Saxon building. A simple, elegant stone arch with a small Saxon window, along with typical Norman north and south doors, can still be seen. The church claims to be the tenth oldest in England.





The mill, however, is by far Eling's most remarkable historic feature. A tide mill has operated in Eling since it was first recorded in Domesday over nine centuries ago. However, these might not have been Eling's first mills, as it is believed that the Romans had a mill here as early as the 3rd century. Therefore, the tradition of milling in Eling could span nearly two millennia. The mills have been rebuilt multiple times over the centuries, but all have used similar processes and principles. Eling's current mill was rebuilt in the 1770s after a storm and flooding damaged the previous structure. The milling machinery dates from 1892, when the old wooden undershot wheels and main gearing were replaced by cast iron wheels, axles, and gears. Powered by the tides of Southampton Water and Bartley Water, in its heyday, with both waterwheels running and all four sets of stones operating across both tide cycles, it could produce up to 4 tonnes of flour a day.




This was far more grain than local farms could supply, making Eling Quay a bustling hub of trade and sometimes illicit activity, including shipbuilding and timber trading from the New Forest. Barges from eastern England delivered grain through Southampton Water, along the River Test into Eling Creek, and directly to the mill. The quays were closely linked with ship and boat building. Between 1808 and 1814, the Warwick family built six ships for the Royal Navy at Eling. The industry relied heavily on the abundance of timber from the New Forest. It was also a centre for illegal timber dealings, unlawfully taken from the forest, and a well-known smugglers' haven.




Ownership of the mill changed over the centuries: it was a royal manor before being owned by Winchester College from 1382 until 1975, often leased to local millers and continually adapting to changing economic conditions. However, the arrival of large, steam-powered roller mills eventually brought an end to the era of small tidal, wind, and river mills in the early twentieth century. Eling Mill continued operating into the 1940s before finally being abandoned. Fortunately, the structure and internal milling equipment survived until the 1970s, when it was restored between 1975 and 1980. Subsequently, Eling Mill reopened, with its cast-iron wheels from 1892 still turning, serving both as a working mill and a museum celebrating the nation's industrial heritage. Today, it produces flour daily and is the only fully operational tide mill in the United Kingdom, one of just five remaining worldwide.




Currently, vessels that lie at the bottom alongside Eling Sailing Club's pontoon to dry have carried grain here through the centuries. The clubhouse, next to the historic mill, warmly welcomes visitors. Their real ale at very reasonable prices makes it a lovely spot to soak up the history while overlooking the yachts in the basin. The adjacent Heritage Centre on Eling Quay tells the story of the mill and the wider area's history, with displays of Bronze Age daggers, shipbuilding artefacts, and stories from the Titanic. The Heritage Centre also includes a tearoom offering refreshments. Eling offers plenty of walks showcasing local birds and wildlife. A two-mile stroll from the quay passes the mill, Eling Great Marsh, Goatee Beach, Eling Church, Bartley Reach, and back. There's also a seven-mile walk around Totton and Eling along the River Test to Nursling and back via Testwood Lakes, or serious walkers can explore parts of the 44-mile Test Way.



From a uniquely boating perspective, Eling is an ideal haven for shallow, moderately sized cruising vessels that can rest on the bottom. However, it also exemplifies the exceptional cruising opportunities these vessels offer to visit charming enclaves of unhurried bygone times.

What facilities are available?

Cards for water and electric power are available in the Club House during bar hours, for use on the pontoon. Visitors are permitted to use the club's facilities bar and toilets. There is a CoOp located about 10 minutes’ walk away and a larger ASDA about 15 minutes away. Limited repair facilities are available. There is a maintenance berth with masts up to 10 metres and subject to 0.5 of a ton. Prices on application.

The clubs friendly bar (£2 a pint as of 2016) in the historic building should not be missed. Club Bar Opening Hours: Tuesday 8pm - 11pm, Thursday 6pm - 11pm, Friday 8pm - 11pm, Saturdays 1pm - 4pm. The Anchor Inn also serves food and there are several other opportunities in the town for restaurants and take-aways which caters to a population of nearly 30,000.

Totton and Eling is served by the railway at Totton railway station, on the South Western Main Line to Southampton, London Waterloo, Bournemouth and Poole, and is run by South West Trains. Bus services in the town Numbers 6, 8, 10, 11 and 12 all run from Totton (by the Precinct) to Southampton City Centre via Millbrook, Freemantle and Southampton Central Station. Bluestar, formerly Solent Blue Line, runs services to Southampton, Cadnam, Hythe, Dibden and around the town. Wilts & Dorset also operate cross county routes to Salisbury and First Hampshire & Dorset to Southampton via Southampton General Hospital.

Any security concerns?

The exit to the road is a gate lock which needs a re-entry code that is available from any member or the toll keeper if they are on duty. The quay is a somewhat open area where normal security measures should be adhered to.

With thanks to:

Richard Brown RYA Chairman, Southern Region.