Watershoot Bay | |
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Watershoot Bay looking to the East | |
Location within the
Isle of Wight | |
Civil parish |
|
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Watershoot Bay is a bay on the southernmost tip of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) to the south-west of the village of Niton. [1] It faces south out into the English Channel, and is one of the smallest and remotest bays of the Isle of Wight with a rocky shoreline only around 500 feet (150 m) in length. It lies to the west of St. Catherine's Point lighthouse and is surrounded by a 170-acre area of undulating grassland and scrub owned by the National Trust and known as Knowles Farm. [2]
The beach is composed predominantly of sandstone, chalk and chert boulders (which are around 90 to 110 million years old) which are rich in fossils. [3]
The bay is best accessed from the car park about 350 yards (320 m) to the north or from the road that leads to the lighthouse but will involve a hike over rough terrain. [1]
The name of the bay may have come from that of a sloop lost there in 1755. [4] The bay was home to a boathouse from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. [5]
Watershoot Bay | |
---|---|
Watershoot Bay looking to the East | |
Location within the
Isle of Wight | |
Civil parish |
|
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Watershoot Bay is a bay on the southernmost tip of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) to the south-west of the village of Niton. [1] It faces south out into the English Channel, and is one of the smallest and remotest bays of the Isle of Wight with a rocky shoreline only around 500 feet (150 m) in length. It lies to the west of St. Catherine's Point lighthouse and is surrounded by a 170-acre area of undulating grassland and scrub owned by the National Trust and known as Knowles Farm. [2]
The beach is composed predominantly of sandstone, chalk and chert boulders (which are around 90 to 110 million years old) which are rich in fossils. [3]
The bay is best accessed from the car park about 350 yards (320 m) to the north or from the road that leads to the lighthouse but will involve a hike over rough terrain. [1]
The name of the bay may have come from that of a sloop lost there in 1755. [4] The bay was home to a boathouse from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. [5]