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{{short description|Tourist attraction in Shanklin, Isle of Wight}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{coord|50|37|34|N|1|10|28|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}
[[File:Shanklin Chine Waterfall.jpg|300px|thumb|Shanklin Chine's largest waterfall, near the upper pay gate.]]
{{Location map
|Isle of Wight
|label=Shanklin Chine
|lat_dir=N | lat_deg=50.626228
|lon_dir=W | lon_deg=1.174478
|position=above
|width=250
|float=right
|caption=Shanklin Chine on the Isle of Wight}}
'''Shanklin Chine''' is a geological feature and tourist attraction in the town of [[Shanklin]], on the [[Isle of Wight]], [[England]]. A wooded coastal ravine, it contains waterfalls, trees and lush vegetation, with footpaths and walkways allowing paid access for visitors, and a heritage centre explaining its history.

==Geology==
[[File:Shanklin Chine c1910 - Project Gutenberg eText 17296.jpg|thumb|Shanklin Chine, circa 1910.]]
A [[chine]] is a local word for a stream cutting back into a soft cliff. Formation of the chine, which cuts through [[Greensand|Lower Greensand]] [[Cretaceous]] sandstones, has taken place over the last 10,000 years. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, stones were laid at the top of the waterfall to arrest this progress. There are a continuous series of spring lines on the cliff faces in the chine. The Isle of Wight has a number of chines, but the largest remaining is Shanklin. With a drop of {{convert|32|m}} to sea level, and a length of just over {{convert|400|m}}, the chine covers an area of approximately {{convert|1.2|ha}}.<ref>[http://www.shanklinchine.co.uk/index.php/origins Origins of Shanklin Chine]</ref>

==History==
Prior to the Victorian era, Shanklin was a small agricultural and fishing community, the latter nestling at the foot of the chine, and it was not until the early 19th century that it began to grow. Like most of the chines on the south of the island, Shanklin Chine was well-used by smugglers.

===A romantic landscape===

[[File:Beautiful Britain - The Isle of Wight - by G.E. Mitton - 1 SHANKLIN CHINE.jpg|thumb|left|Shanklin Chine depicted in the ''Beautiful Britain'' series by [[Geraldine Mitton|G. E. Mitton]]]]

The chine became one of the earliest tourist attractions on the Isle of Wight, with records of the public visiting the site to view it as far back as 1817.<ref>[http://www.isleofwightattractions.co.uk/ShanklinChine1.htm Isle of Wight Attractions website]</ref> [[Keats]] found inspiration for some of his greatest poetry while staying at Shanklin in 1819 and wrote: "The wondrous Chine here is a very great Lion; I wish I had as many guineas as there have been spy-glasses in it."<ref>''The Letters of John Keats'', John Keats, Kessinger Publishing, 2004, {{ISBN|1-4179-4563-X}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z8yOMjngzcC Google Books]</ref> It was a favourite subject for artists including [[Thomas Rowlandson]] and [[Samuel Howitt]]. Descriptions of the site at the time are surprisingly similar to the present day:

{{Blockquote
|text=The delightful village of Shanklin. In this sequestered spot is a good inn, fitted up for the accommodation of visitors. The object of attraction at Shanklin is the Chine, (which is situated at about ten minutes walk from the inn. This phenomenon of nature is a combination of beauty and grandeur; it is formed by the separation of a lofty cliff, whose height is 280 feet perpendicular, and 100 feet wide at the top. On entering the Chine from the shore, we pass along one side, rugged and barren; through which a winding path has been cut by a poor fisherman; while below the rippling stream urges its way to the ocean, which pours its rolling waters at its feet, and spreads its boundless expanse before it. On the other side the cliff is fertile, covered with hanging wood and bushes, adorned with a neat cottage, and having a little rustic inn. About the middle of the Chine is a small Chalybeate: and the path now conducts by a serpentine course to a scene of awful grandeur, formed by stupendous masses of matter on each side, and the rustling of a small cascade, which falls from the head of the Chine, and passes between the dark and overhanging cliffs.
|author=S Horsley
|source=''Beauties of the Isle of Wight'' (1828)<ref>[http://www.round-the-island.co.uk/beauties/beauties.htm Beauties of the Isle of Wight, S Horsley, 1828, London. Full text of book available online]</ref>
}}

===Second World War===
During the [[Second World War]] the chine was taken over and used as an assault course by the Commandos whose HQ was at [[Upper Chine School]]. [[40 Commando|40 Royal Marine Commando]] trained there in preparation for the [[Dieppe Raid]] in 1942. A fuel pipeline for [[Operation Pluto]] (Pipeline under the Ocean) also ran through the chine, and {{convert|65|yd|m}} of pipework has been preserved at the chine.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

[[File:PLUTO Shanklin Chine.jpg|thumb|A surviving section of the PLUTO pipeline at Shanklin Chine.]]

PLUTO, one of the great secret successes of the war, was the idea of [[Lord Louis Mountbatten]] who later became [[List of Governors of the Isle of Wight|governor of the Isle of Wight]]. During the [[Normandy landings]] in 1944, forked pipelines from the chine and Sandown carried petrol {{convert|65|mi|km}} under the Channel to [[Cherbourg]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.shanklinchine.co.uk/ Shanklin Chine] official website

{{Chines on the Isle of Wight}}

[[Category:Chines of the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:Shanklin|Chine]]

Shanklin Chine - Revision history

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