Langstone Harbour

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Langstone Harbour

Langstone Harbour is a broad natural harbour on the south coast of Hampshire, lying between Portsea Island west and Hayling Island to the east, with Langstone on the mainland of Great Britain to the north. Portsea and Hayling Islands have tongues of land on their southern edges which reach towards each other and leave just a narrow mouth where Langstone Harbour opens to the English Channel.

Chichester, Langstone & Portsmouth Harbours

This is one of three capacious but highly tidal bays beside each other along the coast of south-eastern Hampshire and south-western Sussex: west of Portsea is Portsmouth Harbour and east of Hayling is Chichester Harbour.

Conservation designations

An area of 5,153 acres of sea and foreshore has been designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest known as 'Langstone Harbour SSSI'.[1]

The harbour is also part of the 'Chichester and Langstone Harbours' Ramsar site,[2] and Special Protection Area.[3]

Further ,parts of the harbour are in the 'Solent Maritime and Solent and Isle of Wight Lagoons Special Areas of Conservation'.[4][5]

Three areas around the harbour are Local Nature Reserves: Farlington Marshes[6] West Hayling[7] and The Kench.[8] The three linked harbours, Portsmouth, Langstone and Chichester, are important recreational and conservation areas as well as supporting commercial fishing and shipping. Langstone Harbour is administered by the Langstone Harbour Board.[9]

The eastern boundary with Chichester Harbour is defined by a historic causeway known as the wade way, which was originally the only crossing between Hayling Island and the mainland. It is now impassable, having been cut in two by a deep channel for the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal in the 1820s, a canal now long since abandoned.

Islands

Langstone Harbour contains a number of islands, including:

These islands are subject to erosion and during the 1990s a seven-year archaeology project took place[10] before their history was lost to the seas. There are two smaller notable islands: Round Nap Island which is connected to South Binness Island by a tidal causeway[11] and Oyster Island.

History

Langstone Harbour was originally a river valley of one of the tributaries flowing into a prehistoric river known to archaeologists as the River Solent.[12] At the end of the last Ice Age sea levels rose until at some time between 4000 and 3500BC the harbour took on the form it would have until the 18th century.[12]

For much of its history the harbour has been an area of salt production.[13] The Domesday Book records three salterns around the harbour and by the early 17th century a saltern at Copnor was well established.[13] Here a large shallow area of the harbour meant that even without further improvement salt could be extracted from the area after each tide.[13] The Copnor saltern ceased production in 1800 but salt production continued elsewhere in the harbour until 1933.[14]

The artificial lagoon built on the remains of the old oyster beds

In 1771 Farlington Marshes were reclaimed from the north of the harbour.[15]

Oyster farming began in the harbour around 1820 with winkle and clam cultivation probably starting around much the same time.[16] Production ceased in the 1950s.[17] An attempt at oyster farming in the 1980s soon failed.[18] In 1997 work began to turn the remains into an artificial lagoon.[18] The lagoon which has a small island at the centre has, as planned, become a breeding ground for birds, particularly little terns.[19]

During the Second World War the harbour was used as Starfish decoy site to misdirect German bombers.[20]

Wildlife

The harbour is home to an extensive range of marine and bird life. Fifty species of fish have been found in the harbour.[21] The harbour's bird life is even richer, the harbour hosting a wide range of species some of which are represented by over 10,000 individuals.[22] This is in a large part due to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds acquiring harbour's islands and a number of tidal areas in 1978 and turning them into bird sanctuaries.[22] As a result of the number of birds the harbour as become a popular spot for bird watchers.[22]

Seals occasionally appear in the harbour in winter.[22] American hard-shelled clams have been found in the harbour spreading from an initial release site on the lower River Test.[23] The harbour is also home to a population of Sand smelt.[24]

On 31 July 2008 a 26-foot 7-ton northern bottlenose whale was beached on a mudflat in Langstone Harbour. A rescue operation was carried out to try to save the whale and while the operation using a special lifting pontoon managed to free the whale from mudflats it remained in shallow water suffering kidney failure and was put down.[25][26][27]

Wrecks

The Phoenix breakwater wreck

There are several boat wrecks in the harbour.[28] One of these is a tug, the Irishman, dating from 8 May 1941,[28][29] sunk by a magnetic mine, which now rests partially submerged at low tide.[28] A slightly older wreck dating from 1926 is a Bucket dredger named the Withern.[28] Of unrecorded age is the wreck of the Excelsior, an 80-foot-long barge.[28] The harbour also contains a wrecked landing craft that rests with its bows almost permanently above the surface.[30]

Close to the entrance of the harbour, there is a wrecked Phoenix breakwater type C.[30] It was originally constructed to form part of a Mulberry Harbour for the Normandy Landings of June 1944.[30]

Various artefacts have been found from the prison hulks that were kept in the harbour during the Napoleonic wars.[31]

See also

Location

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Langstone Harbour)

References

  1. ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Langstone Harbour:
  2. ↑ Chichester and Langstone Harbours Ramsar Site: Natural England
  3. ↑ Designated Sites View: Chichester and Langstone Harbours SPA: Natural England
  4. ↑ Solent Maritime; Special Areas of Conservation: Natural England
  5. ↑ Solent and Isle of Wight Lagoons SAC: Natural England
  6. ↑ Farlington Marshes: Natural England
  7. ↑ "Designated Sites View: West Hayling". Natural England. https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteLNRDetail.aspx?SiteCode=L1009570&SiteName=&countyCode=19&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=. Retrieved 23 April 2020. 
  8. ↑ "Designated Sites View: The Kench, Hayling Island". Natural England. https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteLNRDetail.aspx?SiteCode=L1009192&SiteName=&countyCode=19&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=. Retrieved 23 April 2020. 
  9. ↑ Harbour Board
  10. ↑ Summary of archaeology
  11. ↑ Adam, Neil J; Momber, Gary (2000). "South Binness Island". in Allen, Michael J; Gardiner, Julie. Our Changing Coast a survey of the intertidal archaeology of Langstone Harbour Hampshire. York: Council for British Archaeology. pp. 104–5. ISBN 1-902771-14-1. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Tweed, Ronald (2000). A History of Langstone Harbour and its environs in the County of Hampshire. Dido Publications. pp. 16–17. ISBN 0-9533312-1-0. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Tweed, Ronald (2000). A History of Langstone Harbour and its environs in the County of Hampshire. Dido Publications. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-9533312-1-0. 
  14. ↑ Tweed, Ronald (2000). A History of Langstone Harbour and its environs in the County of Hampshire. Dido Publications. p. 34. ISBN 0-9533312-1-0. 
  15. ↑ Fontana, Val; Fontana, Dominic (2000). "A brief historical survey". in Allen, Michael J; Gardiner, Julie. Our Changing Coast a survey of the intertidal archaeology of Langstone Harbour Hampshire. York: Council for British Archaeology. p. 82. ISBN 1-902771-14-1. 
  16. ↑ Tweed, Ronald (2000). A History of Langstone Harbour and its environs in the County of Hampshire. Dido Publications. p. 50. ISBN 0-9533312-1-0. 
  17. ↑ Tweed, Ronald (2000). A History of Langstone Harbour and its environs in the County of Hampshire. Dido Publications. p. 59. ISBN 0-9533312-1-0. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Tweed, Ronald (2000). A History of Langstone Harbour and its environs in the County of Hampshire. Dido Publications. p. 54. ISBN 0-9533312-1-0. 
  19. ↑ Tweed, Ronald (2000). A History of Langstone Harbour and its environs in the County of Hampshire. Dido Publications. pp. 160–161. ISBN 0-9533312-1-0. 
  20. ↑ Fontana, Val; Fontana, Dominic (2000). "A brief historical survey". in Allen, Michael J; Gardiner, Julie. Our Changing Coast a survey of the intertidal archaeology of Langstone Harbour Hampshire. York: Council for British Archaeology. p. 87. ISBN 1-902771-14-1. 
  21. ↑ Tweed, Ronald (2000). A History of Langstone Harbour and its environs in the County of Hampshire. Dido Publications. p. 155. ISBN 0-9533312-1-0. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Tweed, Ronald (2000). A History of Langstone Harbour and its environs in the County of Hampshire. Dido Publications. pp. 157–161. ISBN 0-9533312-1-0. 
  23. ↑ "Mercenaria mercenaria". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 25 April 2006. http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-1718-theme=default. 
  24. ↑ Tubbs, Colin (1999). The Ecology, Conservation and History of the Solent. Packard Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 1853411167. 
  25. ↑ "Stranded sick whale put to sleep". BBC News. 1 August 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7538098.stm. 
  26. ↑ "Aerial footage of beached whale". BBC News. 1 August 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7536905.stm. 
  27. ↑ "Beached whale 'will not survive'". BBC News. 1 August 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7537234.stm. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 Momber, Gary (2000). "Wrecks". in Allen, Michael J; Gardiner, Julie. Our Changing Coast a survey of the intertidal archaeology of Langstone Harbour Hampshire. York: Council for British Archaeology. pp. 124–127. ISBN 1-902771-14-1. 
  29. ↑ Family History
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Hughes, Michael; Momber, Gary (2000). "The Mulberry Harbour Remains". in Allen, Michael J; Gardiner, Julie. Our Changing Coast a survey of the intertidal archaeology of Langstone Harbour Hampshire. York: Council for British Archaeology. pp. 127–128. ISBN 1-902771-14-1. 
  31. ↑ Pritchard, Martin; McDonald, Kendall (1987). Dive Wight and Hampshire. Underwater World Publications. p. 82. ISBN 0-946020-15-9. 
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