Brambles Chine
Brambles Chine is a chine in Colwell Bay, Isle of Wight, England notable for its geology. After years of erosion, a path down to the beach near Brambles Chine was destroyed, but rebuilt in 2023.[1]
The chine is accessible from the coastal path. A slipway is where the chine bed used to be.[2]
Name
Named from a place called Brambles on Andrew's Map of 1769, and perhaps associated with Bramblehill (1608), the origin of the name is from Lazarus Bramble, a master mariner from Yarmouth that owned the chine in 1648. The word chine is from Old English cinu (fissure, ravine).[3]
There is a self-catering holiday village and a park near the chine with the same name.[4]
Location
It is located in Colwell Bay, near the villages of Freshwater and Totland. There is a small, unnamed copse of trees surrounding the chine. In the bay, there are two other chines: Linstone Chine to the north, and Colwell Chine to the south.[5]
The geology consists of the sands and clays of the Headon Hill Formation.[6] It was one of the areas investigated in the 17th Century by Robert Hooke.[7]
References
- ^ "Revamped Brambles Chine pathway offers direct access to West Wight beach". OnTheWight.com.
- ^ "NW Coast Chines". islandrivers.org.uk. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
- ^ Mills, A.D (1996). The Place-Names of the Isle of Wight. Shaun Tyas.
- ^ "Brambles Chine Holidays". www.brambleschineholidays.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
- ^ Club, Saturday Walkers. "Great Britain Road Atlas - SWC". Saturday Walkers Club. Retrieved 2025-11-04.
- ^ West, Ian. "Colwell Bay, Isle of Wight". Wessex Coast Geology. University of Southampton.
- ^ "Isle of Wight Geology: Geology and Robert Hooke". IWHistory. Retrieved 4 November 2025.