This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Atherfield" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (September 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Atherfield is a rural location in the south west of the Isle of Wight, UK. It includes the small settlements of Atherfield Green and Little Atherfield, as well as several farms, and is set in largely open farmland. To the south west it is bounded by the cliffs of Chale Bay and Brighstone Bay, which are divided by Atherfield Point. The south-eastern part of Brighstone Bay is also sometimes known as Atherfield Bay, and was the site of a former holiday camp, now demolished.

Geology

Atherfield Bay is one of the best sources of Cretaceous fossils, and is one of the places that gives the Wight the nickname "Dinosaur Isle" (see Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight). The unique land formation on this coast means fossils up to 30 million years old are uncovered. The village serves as the namesake for a species of dinosaur, Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis, of which the species' holotype fossil was found in Atherfield.

The bay also marks the landward edge of the Atherfield Ledge, an underwater outcrop that has claimed many ships including the SS Eider and more.^[1]

Geology

References