FLOW Trail Guide: West Itchenor
Famed for its world-renowned sailing club and home to Chichester Harbour Conservancy.
Parking: Layby opposite St Nicholas' Church, PO20 7DA
Approx. 2.5 miles. From the [1] 13th century church, head towards the coast and take the [2] footpath that leads straight on, where the road bends right. Follow this footpath to the [3] coastline and turn right to walk through woodland. Pass through the boatyard and once out on the [4] main road, turn right to walk back to the church. [5] West Itchenor Pond is close to the church, opposite the entrance to Spinney Lane.
West Itchenor Pond
West Itchenor has suffered from flooding in the past. This can be exacerbated during high tide when water is locked on the landside of the seawall.
This pond takes water from a large catchment area. Overtime, it filled with silt and was inadequate as a flood defence, because it could not take in lots of rainwater. The exit weir on the other side of the lane was lowered to allow more water to gush through quickly.
Dominating plants like hemlock water dropwort were reduced and a variety of wildflowers and wetland plants were introduced to enrich the biodiversity around the pond. Frogs, toads, newts and invertebrates thrive in the pond and bats skim over the water, feasting on midges on a summer’s evening.
Download the FLOW Trail Guide
This page is an extract from the Fixing and Linking Our Wetlands (FLOW) Trail Guide, which takes walkers on a tour of the ponds and wetland sites restored by the FLOW Project to benefit wildlife and mitigate flooding.
