Thorness Bay

Thorness Bay is a protected stretch of coast on the north-west side of the Isle of Wight. It forms part of a larger area of nature protection that includes Newton Harbour. The bay covers about 86 hectares and runs roughly three kilometres from Salt Mead Ledge to Gurnard Head. Its shoreline mixes mud, sand and shingle with rocky ledges of Bembridge Limestone. Soft cliffs along the bay expose the Bembridge Insect Bed, where fossilised plants and insects have been found. Over two hundred insect species have been recorded in the bay, and the protected marshland supports wildlife found nowhere else. A small unnamed brook crosses the marsh before reaching the sea in the middle of the bay. Little Thorness Farm, a beef farm nearby, manages seven hectares of this marsh as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Crown Estate, the National Trust and the Ministry of Defence own land within the protected area. Visitors follow a footpath from the holiday park straight onto the beach. The name Thorness Bay comes from Old English words meaning a thorn-tree hedge or enclosure. Historical records show the bay’s name evolving from Torneyam in the early 13th century to Thorness Bay by the late 18th century.