Grange Chine and Marsh Chine form a geological feature on the south west coast of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. They lie to the south of the village of

Brighstone Brighstone is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, 6 miles southwest of Newport on the B3399 road. Brighstone was previously known as "Brixton". The name derives from the Saxon name " Ecgbert's Tun". Brighstone is the largest vil ...

. These two

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 Is ...

s form the largest chine feature on the Isle of Wight. The Grange Chine starts at the southern edge of Brighstone and runs south-west, crosses under the A3055 Military Road at the hamlet of Marsh Green then continues for about five hundred metres to reach the beach at

Brighstone Bay Brighstone Bay is a bay on the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies to the south and west of the village of Brighstone from which it takes its name. It faces southwest towards the English Channel, its shoreline is in leng ...

. The Marsh Chine starts to the east of Marsh Green alongside the A3055 and runs west where it joins the larger Grange Chine before it reaches the beach. Both chines have much shallower sides than other chines on the Isle of Wight and are extensively covered with hardy bushes, stunted trees and scrub. The Chines drain water from the southern slopes of Brighstone Down and from as far as

Shorwell Shorwell (pronounced Shorrel by some locals and Islanders) is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. It is from Newport in the southwest of the island. Shorwell was one of Queen Victoria's favourite places to visit ...

to the east. The stream ( the

Buddle Brook Buddle Brook a small river on the Isle of Wight, England. The Brook drains water from the southern side of Brighstone Down and as far to the east as the village of Shorwell. Its flow is the greatest of the streams in the South-West of the Island ...

) formed is significant enough to power two mills,

Yafford Mill Yafford is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight. It is located southwest from Newport in an area known as the Back of the Wight between Brighstone and Niton. It is in the civil parish of Shorwell. It has a non-operational water mill, which was work ...

and

Brighstone Mill Brighstone is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, 6 miles southwest of Newport on the B3399 road. Brighstone was previously known as "Brixton". The name derives from the Saxon name " Ecgbert's Tun". Brighstone is the largest vil ...

, and where it finally drains into the sea the stream is at least four metres wide and is crossed by a small wooden footbridge. Once the stream reaches the

pebble A pebble is a clastic rocks, clast of rock (geology), rock with a grain size, particle size of based on the Particle size (grain size), Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than Granule (geology), gra ...

beach it soaks in and disappears. Grange Chine is the location where the first fossils of the dinosaurs ''

Neovenator ''Neovenator'' ( nˈiːə͡ʊvˌɛne͡ɪtə; "new hunter") is a genus of carcharodontosaurian theropod dinosaur. It is known primarily from several skeletons found in the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian-Barremian) Wessex Formation on the south co ...

'' and ''

Brighstoneus ''Brighstoneus'' (after Brighstone, a village on the Isle of Wight) is a genus of Ankylopollexia, hadrosauriform dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight, England. The genus contains a single specie ...

'' were discovered, following a storm that resulted in a landslide on the chine in 1978. To the west of the Grange Chine is a holiday park consisting of a

campsite Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...

and a small number of static caravans. The beach here is often covered in litter. The

Isle of Wight Coastal Path The Isle of Wight Coastal Path (or Coastal Footpath) is a circular long-distance footpath of 70 miles (113 km) around the Isle of Wight, UK. It follows public footpaths and minor lanes, with some sections along roads. Route The pat ...

crosses the Grange Chine via a wooden footbridge near the beach.

References

External links

Holiday park next to Grange Chine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grange Marsh Chine Chines of the Isle of Wight