Southsea Has a New Beach? – Portsmouth’s Coastal Defences Create New Public Shoreline

PORTSMOUTH’S COASTAL DEFENCES WORK CREATES NEW SHORELINE BEACH IN OLD PORTSMOUTH

The Portsmouth Coastal Scheme project building new coastal defences around Portsmouth has been progressing on a number of fronts and ‘Frontage 1’ part of the project at Old Portsmouth from the Square Tower down to Clarence Pier is almost complete…and it looks like it comes with a new beach for Southsea!

This area referred to as Long Curtin Moat and the Spur Redoubt isn’t new, but it was a mix of old concrete and stone banking (akin to what is being replaced at the moment around Southsea Castle) and inaccessible shoreline by the pier. With ‘Frontage 1’ now nearing completion there is a beautiful new beach that will also be accessible via stairwells down to the shore.

…With ‘Frontage 1’ now nearing completion there is a beautiful new beach that will also be accessible via stairwells down to the shore…

The walls of the new Portsmouth coastal defences corner close to the water at Spur Redoubt

The Spinnaker Tower peeks over the top of the new sea wall defences in Old Portsmouth

…Looking at the information for the coastal defences project this brand new beach in Southsea/Portsmouth seems to be missing one important thing…a name! So, what do you think it should be called?…

Despite seeing the plans in past years and the work taking place I only wrapped my head around that there will be a new beach the other day at a very low tide and went for a shore walk down from Sally Port and the Hotwalls. From the sea outlet of the moat up on King’s Bastion the beautiful beach (a mix of sand and shingle) pushes south from the towering new stone walls that turned a golden yellow as the sun was starting to set over The Solent.

Walking east you reach the Spur Redoubt corner in the walls where it meats a rocky outcrop before continuing all the way to Clarence Pier. At different points along the wall there are stairwells that lead to the new promenade that will be open in 2023.

This piece of shoreline was not being worked on (coastal work is now at Southsea Castle and up at Eastern Road) but the new promenade, the new Spur Redoubt timber bridge and more look to be finishing up soon, exciting times.

QUESTION: Looking at the information for the coastal defences project this brand new beach in Southsea/Portsmouth seems to be missing one important thing…a name! So, what do you think it should be called? Let us know.

You can find out everything about this project including updates on progress over at:

southseacoastalscheme.org.uk