Brook is a village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of

Brighstone Brighstone is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, 6 miles southwest of Newport on the B3399 road. Brighstone was previously known as "Brixton". The name derives from the Saxon name " Ecgbert's Tun". Brighstone is the largest vil ...

, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 156. On 1 April 1933 the parish was abolished and merged with Brighstone.

Background

Brook is situated on the south west coast of the Island between

and

Freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

, and borders a section of rugged coastline, the

Back of the Wight Back of the Wight (also known as West Wight) is an area on the Isle of Wight in England. The area has a distinct historical and social background, and is geographically isolated by the chalk hills, immediately to the North, as well as poor publi ...

, facing into the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

and towards the famous Needles and west Wight cliffs. Brook's principal public attraction is its proximity to a section of coast which is used by the public for walking, fossil hunting,

kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

and

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

. There is a small 'green' by the beach and a

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

-owned section of land with a small car park, the nearby hamlet of

Brookgreen Brook Green is a small hamlet on the Isle of Wight located near Brook on the Back of the Wight. It is owned by the National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, W ...

is also owned by them. There are no toilets, no cafe and no souvenir shops. A chine leads down to

Brook Bay Brook Bay is a bay on the south western coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies to the west of the village of Brook. It faces southwest out into the English Channel. It stretches about from Hanover Point in the east to Sudmoor Point to ...

, which is a semi-circular sweep of semi-rocky beach facing south west. The prevailing south-westerly winds scour the beach and alternately either pile up sand from the

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

coast, or strip it bare, exposing rocks and sometimes fossils. There is a section of reef extending from the shoreline for about half a mile into the English Channel. The hinterland of Brook rises steeply from the coastal road to join the chalk spine which stretches from one end of the Island to the other.

Church

St. Mary's Church, Brook is perched on a small hillock at the top of the village. It was rebuilt in 1864 following a disastrous fire on 16 December 1863 his date quoted from W.H. Davenport Adams, 1873, although Lloyd and Pevsner, 2006, says 1862 The oldest surviving part of the church probably dates from the 13th century.

Transport

It is linked to other parts of the Island by

Southern Vectis Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight, founded in 1921 as Dodson and Campbell. It became the Vectis Bus Company in 1923. The company was purchased by Southern Railway before being nationalised in 1969. In 1987, the company wa ...

bus route 12, serving

Totland Totland is a village, civil parish and electoral ward on the Isle of Wight. Besides the village of Totland, the civil parish comprises the western tip of the Isle of Wight, and includes The Needles, Tennyson Down and the hamlet of Middleton. T ...

and

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

as well as intermediate villages. The Island Coaster bus also serves the south side of Brook on its journey between

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 24,096 according to the 2021 Census. Its growth as a seaside resort came after the villages of Upper Ryde and ...

Sandown Bay Sandown Bay is a broad open bay which stretches for much of the length of the Isle of Wight's southeastern coast. It extends from Culver Down, near Yaverland in the northeast of the Island, to just south of Shanklin, near the village of Luc ...

Alum Bay Alum Bay is a bay near the westernmost point of the Isle of Wight, England, within close sight of the Needles rock formation. Of geological interest and a tourist attraction, the bay is noted for its multi-coloured sand cliffs. The waters and ad ...

and Yarmouth.

References

Villages on the Isle of Wight Brighstone {{IsleofWight-geo-stub