Bracklesham Bay is a biological and geological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

. It is a

Geological Conservation Review The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee and is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological ...

site. It is a coastal

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

on the west side of the

Manhood Peninsula The Manhood Peninsula is the southwest of West Sussex in England. It has the English Channel to its south and Chichester to the north. It is bordered to its west by Chichester Harbour and to its east by Pagham Harbour, its southern headland be ...

, England. The bay looks out onto the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

and the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

is visible from the beach, as is the

Nab Tower The Nab Tower was a tower planned for anti-submarine protection in the Solent in World War I. It was sunk over the Nab rocks east of the Isle of Wight to replace a lightship after the war, and is a well-known landmark for sailors as it marks ...

lighthouse and the

Spinnaker Tower The Spinnaker Tower is a landmark observation tower in Portsmouth, England. It is the centrepiece of the redevelopment of Portsmouth Harbour, which was supported by a National Lottery grant. The tower's design was chosen by Portsmouth reside ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

. The villages of Bracklesham and

East Wittering East Wittering is a coastal village in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. The majority of the village lies within the civil parish of East Wittering, while the western edge lies within the boundary of West Wittering civil parish. ...

are situated in the centre of the bay and it is bordered by the town of

Selsey Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounde ...

on the southern/eastern tip, and the village of

West Wittering West Wittering is a village and civil parish situated on the Manhood Peninsula in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies near the mouth of Chichester Harbour on the B2179 road southwest of Chichester close to the border with Ha ...

on the west side.

Biology and geology

This stretch of foreshore has unimproved grazing pastures, shingle, salt marsh, reed beds and ditches. The pasture is subject to seasonal flooding and it is important for its breeding and overwintering birds. The site has highly fossiliferous

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...

(56 to 34 million years ago) beds with over 160 fish species. There are also much more recent

Middle Pleistocene The Chibanian, widely known by its previous designation of Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. Th ...

marine deposits dating to around 500,000 years ago which provide a record of changes in sea levels.

Medmerry managed realignment scheme

Medmerry realignment scheme (geograph 4791022)

The earth embankment at Medmerry holding back the sea was originally built in the 1960s; however the coastline in the area was subject to frequent flooding events which were becoming unsustainable. The scheme arose out of consultations from the 2008 Pagham to East Head Coastal Defence Strategy with the managed realignment scheme being adopted. In 2013 the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and en ...

completed the new 7 km inland floodbank and breach in the shingle wall to providing flood relief and this enabled creation of the form the Medmerry

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment th ...

nature reserve. The scheme cost £28 million. it is the largest open-coast scheme in Europe and is understood to be one of the most sustainable projects the

has completed.

References

External links

Government Policy Paper on Medmerry coastal flood defence scheme
{{coord, 50.753, -0.847 , type:landmark_region:GB-BNE, display=title Bays of England Chichester District Beaches of West Sussex Sites of Special Scientific Interest in West Sussex Geological Conservation Review sites Managed retreat