Colwell Bay () is a bay in the west of 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 ...

. It is located between the towns of Totland and Yarmouth. The bay's northernmost point is Cliff's End ( Fort Albert) the closest point of the Island to the British mainland, with

Hurst Castle Hurst Castle is an artillery fort established by Henry VIII on the Hurst Spit in Hampshire, England, between 1541 and 1544. It formed part of the king's Device Forts coastal protection programme against invasion from France and the Holy Roman ...

lying at the end of a long peninsula just 1500 metres (a little less than a mile) to the northwest. The southernmost point is Warden Point. Colwell Bay has a popular beach, with two miles of sand and shingle, and facilities including cafes, shops and equipment hire outlets. An area of 13.56

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

has been notified as a

geological Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle o ...

, notification originally taking place in 1959. The site is significant for its

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

geology and maritime vegetated soft cliff habitat.What are Maritime Cliffs

Solent Forum
/ref> It is the location of three

chine A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isl ...

s: Colwell Chine, Brambles Chine and Linstone Chine. Colwell Bay is on the A3054 road and near the western end of the

A3055 road The A3055 is an A-Class Road on the Isle of Wight in Southern England. It forms the Southern portion of the ''circular'' around-the-Island A-class loop, the northern section being the A3054. The stretch along the south-west coast of the Isla ...

. Public transport to the area is provided by Southern Vectis route 7 and the Needles Tour.

References

External links

Colwell Bay
official IoW tourism website
IOW Council information
Sites of Special Scientific Interest on the Isle of Wight Bays of the Isle of Wight Beaches of the Isle of Wight Chines of the Isle of Wight {{England-SSSI-stub