The River Yar on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, rises near the beach at Freshwater Bay, on the south coast, and flows only a few miles north to Yarmouth where it meets the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay t ...

. Most of the river is a tidal

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

. Its headwaters have been truncated by erosion of the south coast. The estuary from Freshwater to Yarmouth is part of the island's Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It contains important habitats, including saltmarsh, reedbeds, mud flats and sand dunes. These host a rich abundance of wildlife, particularly over-wintering wildfowl and waders. The Yar estuary is also a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. In addition the upper reaches of the river are designated an SSSI called Freshwater Marshes, and a large part of Freshwater Marshes are also a Local Nature Reserve called Afton Marshes. During World war two it was used as the basis of the Yar stop line which was fortified in part with Type 22 pillboxes. The Yar is one of two rivers of that name on the Isle of Wight. It is referred to as the Western Yar if it is necessary to distinguish between them with the other river being known as the

Eastern Yar The River Yar on the Isle of Wight, England, rises in a chalk coomb in St. Catherine's Down near Niton, close to the southern tip of the island. It flows across the Lower Cretaceous rocks of the eastern side of the island, through the gap ...

References

Yar, Western Yar Estuary Yar, Western Local Nature Reserves on the Isle of Wight {{England-river-stub

See also

References