Shanklin Chine

Natural Landmark

Shanklin Chine is a dramatic, narrow ravine carved into the soft sandstone cliffs of the Isle of Wight's eastern coast, plunging approximately sixty feet from the village of Shanklin Old Village down to the beach at Shanklin Esplanade. The word 'chine' is a local dialect term, derived from the Old English 'cinu' meaning gap or fissure, used along the southern English coast to describe these steep-sided coastal gorges. Shanklin Chine is one of the best known and most visited of the island's several chines, and has been a tourist attraction since the late eighteenth century.

The gorge was formed over thousands of years by the action of a small stream cutting downward through the soft Ferruginous Sands formation, a band of iron-rich sandstone that gives the rock its characteristic reddish-brown colour. The stream still flows through the chine today, cascading over a waterfall near the upper entrance before winding down through the ravine to emerge onto the beach. The steep, sheltered walls of the chine create a microclimate that supports lush vegetation quite unlike anything else on the island. Ferns, mosses, liverworts and rare plant species cling to the damp rock faces, and the canopy of trees overhead gives the gorge a cave-like, almost primeval atmosphere even on the brightest summer days.

Shanklin Chine has attracted literary and artistic visitors for over two centuries. The Romantic poet John Keats stayed in Shanklin in 1819 and wrote portions of 'Lamia' and 'Otho the Great' during his time in the village. He is known to have walked in the chine, and a plaque commemorates his connection to the site. The painter J.M.W. Turner also sketched the ravine, and numerous Victorian guidebooks described it in rapturous terms as one of the natural wonders of the island.

During the Second World War, the chine took on an entirely different significance. It was used as the southern terminus of PLUTO (Pipe-Line Under The Ocean), the secret project to supply fuel to Allied forces in Normandy following the D-Day landings in June 1944. The pipeline ran from pumping stations in Hampshire, under the Solent, through the chine and then beneath the English Channel to France. A permanent exhibition within the chine tells the story of PLUTO with photographs, artefacts and explanatory panels, and the remains of some of the original infrastructure can still be seen.

The chine is privately owned and has been managed as a visitor attraction since 1817, making it one of the oldest commercial tourist sites on the island. The pathway through the ravine has been carefully maintained with steps, bridges and handrails that allow visitors to descend safely through the gorge, crossing the stream at several points and passing close to the waterfall. The route takes roughly twenty to thirty minutes to walk at a leisurely pace.

In the evenings during the summer season, the chine is illuminated with coloured lights, transforming the gorge into a quite different experience. The illuminations highlight the waterfall, the rock faces and the overhanging vegetation, and the effect of walking through the narrow, glowing ravine after dark has been a signature attraction since the lighting was first installed in the mid-twentieth century. Evening opening times vary by season.

At the bottom of the chine, visitors emerge onto Shanklin beach, with the esplanade and its cafes and shops stretching away to the north. At the top, the entrance is in Shanklin Old Village, one of the prettiest corners of the island, with thatched cottages, tea rooms and the Crab Inn, which has occupied the same site since the seventeenth century. The combination of natural drama, wartime history and the gentle charm of the surrounding village makes Shanklin Chine one of the Isle of Wight's most distinctive and memorable attractions.