Priory Bay facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Priory Bay |
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 Priory Bay looking north |
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 Priory Bay
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| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
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Priory Bay is a lovely, small bay on the northeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It's a private area, but you can still visit! The bay is about three-quarters of a mile east of Nettlestone village. It's also about three-quarters of a mile along the coast from Seaview.
Priory Bay stretches from Horestone Point in the north to Nodes Point in the south. Beautiful woodlands called Priory Woods surround the bay. The National Trust owns these woods. The bay faces east towards Selsey Bill and has a shoreline about 950 yards long. You can reach the bay by walking around Horestone Point from Seagrove Bay.
Bay Features
The northern part of Priory Bay has a straight coastline. This area has a sandy beach about 700 yards long, mixed with some pebbles. At the southern end, the bay curves towards the east. Here, the coast is rocky. You can see parts of old walls and supports that were built to protect the shoreline. Many of these have broken down and are scattered along the beach.
The cliffs around the bay are about 130 feet high. However, the sea is constantly eroding them. This means the waves are slowly wearing away the land. The southern part of the bay is especially affected by this erosion.
Underwater World
The bottom of the bay is mostly sandy. The water is shallow and gets deeper very slowly as you go out. There's a shallow sandbank just offshore called Gull Bank. This sandbank creates a long, thin pool of water next to the beach when the tide is low. It's a great spot to explore!
History of Priory Bay
People have found very old tools on the beach at Priory Bay. These tools are from the Paleolithic period, which is the early Stone Age. They were made of flint and have washed down from the cliffs. People first discovered these tools in 1886. Since then, hundreds of them have been found in the bay's gravels.
The bay gets its name from a small priory that was once nearby. A priory is a type of monastery. It's thought that monks from St Helens Old Church were connected to this priory.
To the south of the bay, you can find the Nodes Point Battery. This was a military site used from the early 1900s until 1956. It played a role in defending the coast.
