Walking BritainChichester Harbour Walk
Thorney Island from Prinsted
Maps 
| Ordnance Survey Explorer OL8 | Sheet Map | 1:25k | BUY |
| Anquet OS Explorer OL8 | Digital Map | 1:25k | BUY |
| Ordnance Survey Landranger 197 | Sheet Map | 1:50k | BUY |
| Anquet OS Landranger 197 | Digital Map | 1:50k | BUY |
Walk Route Description
Click image to see photo description.
This route follows the shoreline of Chichester Harbour around Thorney Island. There are good views across the harbour. The start is the small free car park at Prinsted just off the A259 (grid ref. SU765050). It is important that you consult tide times as the route may be flooded in one or two places at very high spring tides. Parts of Thorney Island is Ministry of Defence land so short cuts across Thorney Island are not permitted.
From the car park follow the track west. Take the footpath on your right passing Thornham Farm on your left with the path soon becoming a track again. You are now on the Sussex Border Path and will follow it for most of the route. Reaching a road, cross straight over and continue on the path ahead. Reaching a T-junction with a track, turn right (grid ref. SU755501). The walk briefly heads north. Take the path on your left at grid ref. SU755052) to pass the southern end of a marina. You soon reach the shoreline.
Turn left along the shore and follow it back to the start! Initially you have views across the Emsworth Channel to Hayling Island. You pass Wickor and Marker Points before the path turns towards the southeast with views now to Chichester Harbour. Reaching Longmere Point (the most southerly point on the island) you will see Pilsey Island just offshore with West Wittering on the shore at the far side the water. Turning north you have Thorney Channel on your right. Passing the Church and War Cemetery you continue north to Stanbury Point and back to the start.
Note In the past access to this area has been strictly controlled with guards at the entry and exit points to MOD property. Access to the Church and adjacent cemetery has also be restricted. However this situation has recently changed so the advice is to read and obey any signs detailing access to the site.
Other walks nearby
| Walk 2043 | Thorney Island from Emsworth | easy/mod | 9.0 miles |
| Walk 2044 | Six Harbour Villages, Chichester | moderate | 10.0 miles |
| Walk 2828 | Dell Quay from Chichester Marina | easy | 3.8 miles |
| Walk 3548 | Stoughton, Kingley Vale & Bow Hill from Stoughton Down | easy/mod | 5.2 miles |
| Walk 1835 | Treyford & Didling from Hooksway | easy/mod | 6.0 miles |
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Chichester Harbour Walking
Not only one of the few remaining undeveloped coastal areas in Southern England, but rarer still, Chichester Harbour remains relatively wild. Its bright wide expanses and intricate creeks are at the same time a major wildlife haven and among some of Britain's most popular boating waters. Backed by the South Downs, the harbour is a series of tidal inlets, with a narrow mouth to the sea, punctuating areas of fertile farmland. Fringed by a narrow margin of wind-sculptured oaks and hawthorn, the fields in turn give way to salt-marsh and intertidal mud-lands, broken by a maze of creeks and rithes. More Information
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