Eastern Yar

This article is about the River Yar in the eastern part of the Isle of Wight. For other Yars, including the other River Yar on the Isle of Wight, see Yar (disambiguation).

Eastern Yar River Yar
The Eastern Yar at Brading marshes
Location
Country	England
Region	Southeast England
County	Isle of Wight
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Niton, Isle of Wight
Mouth	The Solent
• location	Bembridge Harbour, Isle of Wight
Length	20 km (12 mi)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Scotchells Brook

River Yar at Alverstone

Riverside scene in early spring, near Alverstone

The River Yar on the Isle of Wight, England, rises in a chalk coomb in St. Catherine's Down near Niton, ^[1] close to the southern tip of the island. It flows across the Lower Cretaceous rocks of the eastern side of the island, through the gap in the central Upper Cretaceous chalk ridge of the Island at Yarbridge, then across the now drained Brading Haven to Bembridge Harbour in the northeast.

For most of its course, the river passes through rural areas. At Alverstone, a small weir uses water from the river to power a water mill.

The Yar is one of two rivers on the Isle of Wight with the same name. It is referred to as the Eastern Yar if it is necessary to distinguish between them with the other river being known as the Western Yar.

Name

The name may come from the "lost name" Yarneford, meaning 'the ford of the eagles', from Old English earn and ford. It could also mean 'the gravelly or muddy ford'. The ford was probably near the mouth of the river, near St Helens. The name is a back-formation. ^[2]

References

1. "River Yar Trail - Source to Sea". WightCam. Archived from the original on 23 April 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
2. Mills, A.D (1996). The Place-Names of the Isle of Wight. Shaun Tyas.

Ordnance Survey One Inch Seventh Series sheet 180

External links

• Isle of Wight Estuaries Project

50°41′32″N1°06′39″W / 50.69222°N 1.11083°W / 50.69222; -1.11083