Island Rivers

All about rivers on the Isle of Wight

  • The Rivers
    • Newport Rivers
      • Fairlee Hole
      • Gunville Stream
      • Lukely Brook
      • Pan Stream and Staplers Stream
      • River Medina and Merstone Stream
    • East Wight Rivers
      • Blackbridge Brook and Wootton Creek
      • Eastern Yar
      • Monktonmead Brook
      • Munsley Bog
      • Palmers Brook
      • Scotchells Brook
      • Wroxall Stream
    • West Wight Rivers
      • Caul Bourne
      • Chine Streams
      • Gurnard Luck
      • Newtown Rivers
      • Rodge Brook
      • Thorley Brook
      • Western Yar
    • Data about Isle of Wight watercourses
  • Chines
    • All about Chines
      • Forming the Chines
      • Changing Chines
      • Archaeology 1
      • Archaeology 2
      • Geology on Show
      • Smuggling
      • Shipwrecks & Lifeboats
      • Chines in Wartime
      • Wildlife of the Chines
      • Life of Leisure
      • Future for the Chines
    • Chines Research & Reports
    • Exploring the Chines
      • Small Hope Chine & Shanklin Chine
      • Luccombe Chine
      • Blackgang Chine
      • Whale Chine, Ladder Chine & Walpen Chine
      • Shepherds Chine & Cowleaze Chine
      • Grange Chine & Marsh Chine
      • Chilton Chine
      • Brook Chine & Churchill Chine
      • Compton Chine & Shippards Chine
      • NW Coast Chines
  • Explore
    • Fishing
    • Multimedia
    • Walks/Rides
    • Exploring the Chines
  • Love Your River
    • State of Our Rivers
    • Best Practice
    • Issues
      • Flooding
      • Invasive Non-Native Species
      • Litter and other rubbish
      • Water Quality
      • Water Resources
    • Pond Care
    • The Water Cycle
    • Info & Links
    • Get Involved
    • Home learning about rivers
  • Projects
    • Map of Island River Partnership Projects
    • Our Aspirations
    • Current Projects
      • Bringing Beavers Back to the Isle of Wight
      • Catchment Sensitive Farming
      • Farm Capital Grants
      • Lower East Yar Naturalisation
      • Improving the Lukely Brook
      • Plant Positive – Invasive Non- Native Species Removal
      • River Club
      • Solent Plastic Pollution Hub
    • Past Projects
      • Dodnor Rediscovered (2018)
      • Gateway to the East (2020)
      • Meanders and Reflections (2020)
      • Medina Houseboats (2016)
      • Septic Tanks
      • Wetland Restoration (2020)
      • Wroxall Stream Enhancements (2020)
      • Wroxall Wetlands 1 (2016)
      • Wroxall Wetlands 2 (2016)
  • About
    • Catchment Based Approach
    • Island Rivers Catchment Plan
    • Our priorities for the Island’s watercourses
    • Newport Rivers Group
    • Eastern Yar Meetings
    • Ryde Rivers Meeting
    • West Wight Rivers Meeting
    • Water Framework Directive
    • Contact
    • Privacy, GDPR and all of that
  • Events
  • News
You are here: Home / The Island’s Watercourses / West Wight Rivers / Chine Streams

Chine Streams

The Chine Streams are the Islands only south flowing watercourses.

In the south of the Island the Shorwell and Buddle streams both rise in the Central Chalk west of Newport before joining and flowing to the sea as the Brighstone Stream through Grange Chine. The two arms of the adjacent Atherfield Brook rise in Lower Greensand and flow through Shepherds Chine to the sea.

Chines have formed in the parts of the Island where water emerging high above sea level has only a short distance to go over soft rocks before it meets the sea coupled with a rapid rate of coastal erosion caused by high energy waves and wild Atlantic storms.

The position and angle of some of the Isle of Wight Chines, especially Shippards, Brook and Shepherd’s Chines suggest they are cutting down into lines of ancient weaknesses caused by deep faults in the geology below.

The Island’s chines provide an exceptional example of very old geology changing at a rapid rate, with visible variations from one visit to the next. Chines are often favourite spots for wildlife; their rough vegetation and steep sides providing shelter which is very rare for exposed coastal areas. They have been used by people as the main access points to and from the sea for millennia. They have countless stories to tell about shipwrecks, dramatic rescues and smuggling. There’s a whole section of this site dedicated to the Chines, packed with information.

In 2014 we mapped all the issues we were aware of with regards to the Chine Streams. This map can be viewed here. Please let us know if you know of other issues.

The technical bits

The Catchment Data Explorer is an Environment Agency tool which helps you explore and download information about the water environment. It supports and builds upon the data in their river basin management plans. Read about Atherfield Stream here. You will see that under the Water Framework Directive it is currently rated ‘Moderate’ with an objective of ‘Good’ by 2027.

The Brighstone Streams assessment can be read here, and is similar to Atherfield Stream.

Get free updates

To subscribe to our mailing list just complete your details below. We send our periodic newsletters and other important updates about the project.

Connect with us

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Supported by

Down to the coast logo

Heritage Lottery Fund Logo

Island Rivers Partnership, Shide Meadows Centre, Shide Road, Newport, PO30 1HR · hello@islandrivers.org.uk · 01983 201563

Copyright © 2022 Natural Enterprise - Website designed by onlinestressfree.com