Hurst Spit
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Hurst Spit | |
|---|---|
 Hurst Spit, looking south-east towards the lighthouse and castle | |
  Hurst Spit | |
| Coordinates: 50°42′23″N 1°33′04″W / 50.7063°N 1.5511°W | |
| Grid position | SZ316897 |
| Location | Hampshire, England |
Hurst Spit is a one-mile-long (1.6 km) shingle bank near the village of Keyhaven, at the western end of the Solent, on the south coast of England. The spit shelters an area of saltmarsh and mudflats known as Keyhaven and Pennington marshes. At the end of the spit is Hurst Castle, an artillery fortress originally built on the orders of King Henry VIII, and much enlarged in the 19th century. Hurst Point Lighthouse was built on the end of Hurst Spit in the 1860s.
Hurst Spit is a hook-shaped shingle spit which extends for 1.4 miles (2.25 km) from the Hampshire shore into the Solent towards the Isle of Wight.[1] The spit forms a barrier which shelters a Site of Special Scientific Interest known as Hurst Castle And Lymington River Estuary.[2] To reach the end of the spit one can either catch the seasonal ferry from Keyhaven, or follow the footpath (part of the Solent Way) along the top of the spit.[3]
The sea route past Hurst Spit can be hazardous to boats because the constriction to the tidal flow caused by the spit creates strong tidal streams, as well as spiky waves mixed with circular areas of flat sea caused by the upwelling water.[1] In addition a sand bar, known as The Trap, sticks out 60 m (200 ft) into the Solent just east of the round tower of Hurst Castle.[1]
Storms regularly uncover unexploded ordnance on the spit, some dating back more than a century. Soldiers stationed at the castle used to practice the firing of shells.[4]
Geology
The spit formed from loose flint pebbles which had been eroded from the cliffs further west.[5] Although originally formed by natural processes, Hurst Spit has been declining in volume, probably since the 1940s when coast protection works in Christchurch Bay first began to interrupt the flow of the shingle towards the spit.[6] In 1989 the spit was so weakened that it was danger of being permanently breached.[5] A stabilisation scheme took place in 1996-7. This scheme rebuilt the shingle bank using dredged shingle, and saw the building of a new rock revetment utilising larvikite rocks shipped from Norway at the western end of the spit and near the castle.[5] The spit has to be replenished from time to time, most notably in the aftermath of the 2013-14 UK winter storms when New Forest District Council had to rebuild and reinforce parts of the spit.[4] The spit no longer has its original natural appearance and looks "more like a railway embankment."[5]
Fossils from the Barton Beds were at one time a common sight amongst the gravel, but are now rare.[5] In the 1830s deposits of bitumen were also noted on the spit, and in 1840 there was even an attempt to establish a bitumen factory.[5] The origin of the bitumen is unknown, but it may be that the spit accumulated natural floating deposits of bitumen.[5]
Wildlife
Hurst Spit supports an important community of saltmarsh plants especially sea purslane (Halimione portulacoides); glasswort (Salicornia species); annual seablite (Suaeda maritima); and golden samphire (Inula crithmoides).[7]
Behind the spit is an area of saltmarsh and mud flats known as Keyhaven and Pennington marshes.[5] The marshes contain a variety of wildlife especially birds, invertebrates, and plant life.[2] There are colonies of black-headed gulls and dunlins, and many wading birds including oystercatchers, ringed and grey plovers, and redshanks.[2]
Glanville fritillary butterflies have been reported on the spit probably only as wind blown individuals.[8]
