New Chine

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New Chine is a sandy coastal ravine on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight, also known as the Back of the Wight. It lies west of the village of Chale and was shaped by rainwater eroding soft Cretaceous rocks. The ravine starts at a 190-foot cliff and runs down to a knickpoint about one third of the way to Chale Bay beach. It is one of three chines carved by a small unnamed brook that comes down from Chale and drains rainwater from the west side of St. Catherine's Hill; the other two are Ladder Chine and Walpen Chine. The brook first carved Ladder Chine by plunging from the cliff edge, then found a shorter path and created Walpen Chine to the east, and now continues moving east to erode New Chine. New Chine consists of two narrow ravines feeding the same knickpoint: the main ravine carries the brook most of the year, while the smaller western ravine channels water only during flash floods. The Isle of Wight Coastal Path runs along the top of the chine and part of the brook.