Thorney Island peninsula juts into Chichester Harbour and is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel called Great Deep.
West Thorney village is on the island’s East coast and Thorney Island south of Great Deep has been a military base since 1938, when an RAF airfield was built as a fighter station for Coastal Command to defend Portsmouth from WW2 German bombing raids.
Did you know?
Thorney Island became a military base due to a chance event in September 1933 when a Hawker Fury biplane crashed there, killing the pilot. When officials from the Air Ministry decided to check the scene of the accident they realised that Thorney Island would make an excellent site for an airbase!
Thorney used to be an isolated island almost a kilometre from the coast (see the map below), but sea walls were created in Victorian times to create the current land between nearby Prinsted and Thorney Island, with a causeway over Great Deep onto the island.
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The Manor of Thorney belonged to the chapelry of Bosham after the Norman conquest of 1066 and was held by the Bishops of Exeter. The island’s church is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The Manor was sold by the Bishop of Exeter in 1548 to Thomas Fisher, who sold it on to Henry Bickley in 1549.
The station closed as an RAF airfield in March 1976 and was left empty. After the Vietnam war ended in 1975 many persecuted refugees left their country by sea. Known as the Vietnamese boat people, in 1979 Thorney Island base was used as a temporary place to shelter over 500 people, who welcomed Britain’s support with open arms. The Island returned to the military in 1982 when the Army’s Royal Artillery Regiment moved in.
Public access to the island is limited to the 9 mile (15 km) coastal public footpath that encircles the island, part of the Sussex Border Path. Walkers should allow 3-4 hours for the route and must keep to the footpath marked with the yellow posts, as it is an active military base. Thorney Island has the only large sandy beach West of Chichester, so plan to spend time here!
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Walkers using the island’s coastal footpath will come across a security gate where you press an intercom button to access the southern part of the island. You may also occasionally be asked to provide your contact details such as name, address and mobile phone number.
At the island’s southern tip you will be rewarded with Thorney Island Sailing Club and the church of St Nicholas at West Thorney. Dating from around 1100 the Anglican church is named after the patron saint of sailors. Try and find the unusual three German WW2 graves in the churchyard.
Renamed Baker Barracks, Thorney Island has been home to the Royal Artillery since 1982 and it houses the 12th and 16th Regiments as well as 7th Air Defence Group with its Centaur logo.
Thorney Island has its own primary school with round 300 children, mostly from military families but with a small number from the local villages of Southbourne, Emsworth and Nutbourne too.
Thorney Island is also the home of the Bourne Bus that provides free local resident transport between local Bourne villages, Emsworth, Havant and Chichester. Website www.bournebus.co.uk.
To the south of Thorney Island is Pilsey Island RSPB nature reserve, with sand dunes, mud flats, salt marsh and shingle that is an ideal habitat for Brent geese, curlews, skylarks, egrets, shelduck and osprey. Now joined to Thorney Island by a sandbank, but with no public access to Pilsey, you can see birds and common seals out on the sandbanks from the bird hide at the Southern end.
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Many people tried to tame the sea between Thorney Island and the Chidham peninsula. In the 19th century a sea wall was built from the west of Cobnor Point on Chidham all the way to Pilsey Island. This ambitious attempt to exclude the sea from Thorney Channel ultimately failed, and the sea broke through. The sea walls, or ‘cuts’ created can still be seen on Google, satellite or aerial maps
Did you know?
In 2009 Thorney airfield was used as a test track for a British team hoping to break the Land Speed Record for a steam car that had been in place since 1906. The British Steam Car Challenge team had test driver Don Wales, nephew of the late Donald Campbell and grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell. On 26 Aug 2009 at Edwards Air Force Base in California the team were successful and Don achieved an average speed of 148 mph (239 kmh) over two consecutive runs over a measured kilometre.
- Guide to the Thorney Island walk and parking – click here
- Read more about Thorney Island’s seals – click here
- History of the RAF on Thorney Island – click here
- Read about the RSPB reserve on Pilsea Island – click here
- Bourne bus website and timetable – click here
- Read more about the British steam car challenge – click here