Eastern Yar
River on the Isle of Wight, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The River Yar on the Isle of Wight, England, rises in a chalk coomb in St. Catherine's Down near Niton,[2] close to the southern tip of the island. It flows across the Lower Cretaceous rocks of the eastern side of the island, through the gap in the central Upper Cretaceous chalk ridge of the Island at Yarbridge, then across the now drained Brading Haven to Bembridge Harbour in the northeast. It is the longest river on the Isle of Wight.[3]
| Eastern Yar River Yar | |
|---|---|
The Eastern Yar at Brading marshes | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| Region | Southeast England |
| County | Isle of Wight |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Niton, Isle of Wight |
| Mouth | The Solent |
• location | Bembridge Harbour, Isle of Wight |
| Length | 20 km (12 mi) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Scotchells Brook, Wroxall Stream[1] |
For most of its course, the river passes through rural areas. At Alverstone, a small weir uses water from the river to power a water mill.
The Yar is one of two rivers on the Isle of Wight with the same name. It is referred to as the Eastern Yar if it is necessary to distinguish between them with the other river being known as the Western Yar.
Name
The name may come from the "lost name" Yarneford, meaning 'the ford of the eagles', from Old English earn and ford. It could also mean 'the gravelly or muddy ford'. The ford was probably near the mouth of the river, near St Helens. The name is a back-formation.[4]
