Chichester Harbour Live Cam

Geological Foundations and Tidal Rhythms

The underpinnings of Chichester Harbour stretch back to the last Ice Age, when fluctuating sea levels carved out an intricate network of ria inlets along the southern English coast. As glaciers retreated, melting waters inundated low-lying river valleys, forming the broad, shallow basin of the harbour. Today, the harbour’s mudflats and saltmarshes reveal the interplay of silty sediments deposited by winter storms and fine chalk-derived particles washed from the South Downs. This ongoing sedimentation shapes the contours of the harbour bed, forging ever-changing channels that shift with the ebb and flow of its twice-daily tides.