Background

It is situated on the south west coast of the Island between Brighstone

Brighstone

Brighstone is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, 6 miles southwest of Newport on the B3399 road. Brighstone was previously known as "Brixton"...

 and Freshwater

Freshwater, Isle of Wight

Freshwater is a large village and civil parish at the western end of the Isle of Wight, England. Freshwater Bay is a small cove on the south coast of the Island which also gives its name to the nearby part of Freshwater....

, and borders a section of rugged coastline , the Back of the Wight

Back of the Wight

Back of the Wight is an area on the Isle of Wight, England that has a unique history and social background. Part of this stems from the fact that the area was and still is very cut off from the rest of the island and is made up of small villages strung out along the coast, such as Brighstone,...

, facing into the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 and towards the famous Needles

The Needles

The Needles is a row of three distinctive stacks of chalk that rise out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, England, close to Alum Bay. The Needles lighthouse stands at the end of the formation...

 and west Wight cliffs.

Brook's principal public attraction is its proximity to a section of coast which is used by the public for walking, fossil hunting, kitesurfing

Kitesurfing

Kitesurfing or Kiteboarding is an adventure surface water sport that has been described as combining wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one extreme sport. Kitesurfing harnesses the power of the wind to propel a rider across the water on a small surfboard or a...

 and windsurfing

Windsurfing

Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...

. There is a small 'green' by the beach and a National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

-owned section of land with a small car park, the nearby hamlet of Brookgreen

Brookgreen

Brook Green is a small hamlet on the Isle of Wight located at Brook on the Back of the Wight. It is owned by the National Trust....

 is also owned by them. There are no toilets, no cafe and no souvenir shops. A chine leads down to Brook Bay

Brook Bay

Brook Bay is a bay on the south eastern coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies to the west of the village of Brook. It faces south west out into the English Channel. It stretches about 2km from Hanover Point in the east to Sudmoor Point to the west. Much of the surrounding land, including the...

, which is a semi-circular sweep of semi-rocky beach facing south west. The prevailing south-westerly winds scour the beach and alternately either pile up sand from the Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

 coast, or strip it bare, exposing rocks and sometimes fossils.

There is a section of reef extending from the shoreline for about half a mile into the English Channel. The hinterland of Brook rises steeply from the coastal road to join the chalk spine which stretches from one end of the Island to the other.

Church

St. Mary's Church, Brook

St. Mary's Church, Brook

St. Mary's Church, Brook is a parish church in the Church of England located in Brook, Isle of Wight.-History:The church dates from 1864 by the architect Malling. It replaced a previous building which was destroyed in a fire...

 is perched on a small hillock at the top of the village. It was rebuilt in 1864 following a disastrous fire on 16 December 1863 [this date quoted from W.H. Davenport Adams, 1873, although Lloyd and Pevsner, 2006, says 1862]. The oldest surviving part of the church probably dates from the 13th century.

Manor

Brook Manor is mentioned in the Domesday survey, and in the reigns of the three Edwards it was held by the Clamorgan family, who occupied it for more than 300 years.

Transport

It is linked to other parts of the Island by Southern Vectis

Southern Vectis

The Southern Vectis Omnibus Company Limited is the dominant bus operator on the Isle of Wight. It was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group in 2005 and is a part of the company's Go South Coast division. The firm employs 299 staff, with 105 single deck, double deck and open-top buses and coaches...

 bus route 12

Southern Vectis route 12

Southern Vectis route 12 is a bus service operated by Southern Vectis between Newport and Totland via Shorwell, Brighstone and Freshwater.- West Wight Route :...

, serving Freshwater

Freshwater, Isle of Wight

Freshwater is a large village and civil parish at the western end of the Isle of Wight, England. Freshwater Bay is a small cove on the south coast of the Island which also gives its name to the nearby part of Freshwater....

, Totland

Totland

Totland is a village and civil parish at the western tip of the Isle of Wight. It lies on the coast at Colwell Bay, which is the closest part of the island to the British mainland...

 and Newport

Newport, Isle of Wight

Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...

 as well as intermediate villages. The Island Coaster bus also serves the south side of Brook on its journey between Ryde

Ryde

Ryde is a British seaside town, civil parish and the most populous town and urban area on the Isle of Wight, with a population of approximately 30,000. It is situated on the north-east coast. The town grew in size as a seaside resort following the joining of the villages of Upper Ryde and Lower...

, Sandown Bay

Sandown Bay

Sandown Bay is a broad bay which stretches for much of the length of the Isle of Wight's southeastern coast. It extends ten kilometres from Culver Cliff in the northeast to just south of Shanklin in the southwest. The towns of Shanklin and Sandown are located on the bay's coast.The seabed is a...

, Alum Bay

Alum Bay

Alum Bay is a bay near the westernmost point of the Isle of Wight, England, within sight of the Needles. Of geological interest and a tourist attraction, the bay is noted for its multi-coloured sand cliffs.-Geology:...

and Yarmouth.