page_title: Shanklin Chine
section_title: A romantic landscape
hierarchical_section_title: Shanklin Chine / History / A romantic landscape
caption_attribution_description: English: Caption: The picturesque ravine carved by a small stream on the south side of the town. Painted by A. Heaton Cooper, From the Beautiful Britain series, The Isle of Wight, by G. E. Mitton.
context_page_description: 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.
context_section_description: 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. 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." 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:
  '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.
  Extract from Beauties of the Isle of Wight published by S Horsley 1828
caption: Caption: The picturesque ravine carved by a small stream on the south side of the town. – From the Beautiful Britain series, The Isle of Wight, by G. E. Mitton.
exif: {"Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "44", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7500"}