Naturist / Nudist Beaches in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland

Browndown Point (Stokes Bay) - near Southsea

Hampshire

nuff-beach
nuff-stokes-bay

MOD land overlooking the Solent. The MOD are actively asking naturists to leave. Nearby Meon recommended.

No longer used by naturists

Browndown is adjacent to an MOD range, lying on the North shore of the Solent between Lee-on-the-Solent, to the West and Stokes Bay (Gosport) to the East.

Access Problems

[Aug 2013] The MOD Defense Training Group says naturists may not use their land, and that they will be asked to leave. Reports are that people are are indeed being asked to leave.

"Warning Order. The land in question is owned by the MOD and is used for military training. There is no permission for anyone to use the beach as a nudist area and any of your [readers] who use the beach in this way will (and are) being sent off the beach. Could you ensure that Browndown is removed from your website as a matter of urgency or we will have no option but to escalate this through our departments as a matter of urgency".

"Browndown is used for military training and as part of that, cadets use this area and it would be unacceptable to have naturists on this area. ... the Browndown Byelaws control the access to this area - and anyone found on the area without clothing would in contravention of the Prohibited Activities 4(d) and therefore sent off the area. ... We do not have any naturist areas on our military lands."

DIOStratPol-Access AT mod DOT uk

The boundary of the army range is the high water mark, so if you are below it, you should in theory be fine. However, using nearby Meon instead might make for a less stressfull day

Getting There

StreetMap 

The "Solent Way" designated footpath runs along the beach between Lee on solent and Gosport, affording access on foot. By car - the B3385 leads straight from Fareham Station to the middle of Lee on Solent (Newgate Lane/Broom Way)

"By car, leave the M27 at Junction 11 and follow the signs for Gosport and the A32. After a couple of miles you will approach a double roundabout. At the first roundabout be in the left hand lane to go straight over (1st exit) and then move over the right hand lane to turn right (3rd exit) following the signs for HMS SULTAN. Stay on this road, Military Road (you will pass HMS SULTAN on this road), until the next roundabout. Here go straight over (2nd exit) and again follow the road until another roundabout. Again go straight over (1st exit this time) and you will see the sea .The road sweeps round to the left and on the crown of the bend there is a turn off into a car park; park here."

"You will notice a wire fence that leads down to the sea. Follow this and at the end, or through one of the many holes, turn right (if facing the sea) and start to walk away from the car park. The beach is made up of pebbles so walking can be difficult and there is definitely no access for wheelchairs. On your left you will walk past the rear of Browndown TA Camp. Keep walking until you can see a large concrete mushroom affair which marks the eastern limit of the nudist section. The western limit is marked by l high (50 feet or so) embankment."

Description

"The beach is long and flat and looks out across the Solent towards the Isle of Wight. Yachts sometimes come close to the beach to escape the strong tides that are common around the headland.. Don't be worried about the golfers, they know about the place and don't bother about it. Both these sites have been considered by the council for official recognition in the past (last time was about three years ago). Their policy is [to turn] a blind eye to the beaches. Both beaches are quite well used, Browndown being the better of the two."

Facilities
None on the beach - the nearest facilities are in the car park where there is a snack wagon and public toilets.

Water Quality
No specific information, but must be similar to other beaches along the Solent.

Map

Comments

Please leave a comment via the email address below.

Photos

Tag and share your photos to the UK Naturist Beaches group on Flickr.

Photos should be of the beach, or show the way to it. They should NOT have people in them.

nuff-beach
nuff-stokes-bay