page_title: Monks Bay
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Monks Bay / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph - Thanks to Peter Thomsom for releasing photo on GFDL.
context_page_description: Monks Bay is situated on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight, England just to the east of the village of Bonchurch, it is around ¹⁄₃ mile in length. It has proved popular with visitors and is one of the natural highlights of the town, which has been the venue for such figures as Charles Dickens. It has also proved to be a good state for local flora to be established. The bay has a row of houses which look out to the English Channel.
context_section_description: Monks Bay is believed to be where French monks from Lyra Abbey landed from Normandy. It was also the site of the 1545 Battle of Bonchurch being one of the three locations where 2000 French troops landed on the Isle of Wight coast. The result of the battle stopped the French attempts to seize the island as its own, making war for continued operations against England in the Italian War of 1542–46.
  The area was notable as a venue for smuggling rings, where contraband would be landed here and then transported inland. The bay was also used to legally disembark cargo from ships and fishing for local lobsters and crabs, once a major source of income, continues the area.
caption: The area where the battle took place
exif: {}