Tye

Quiet north-eastern corner with farmland, marshes, harbour-edge walks, excellent birdwatching, and an unspoilt rural character.

Tye is a small area in the north-eastern part of Hayling Island, where the island faces Chichester Harbour across the tidal flats. The area is largely rural, with farmland, scattered houses, and the low-lying marshland that characterises much of the island's eastern shore. Tye is one of the quietest parts of Hayling, with narrow lanes, limited development, and views across the harbour that have changed little in centuries. The area is popular with birdwatchers, who come for the wading birds and wildfowl that feed on the mudflats and in the tidal channels. The shoreline at Tye is accessible on foot, and the walks along the harbour edge offer solitude and wildlife in equal measure. Development pressure has been resisted here, and the area retains the character of the agricultural island that Hayling was before the twentieth-century holiday trade transformed its southern shore. The contrast between the busy seafront at South Hayling and the silent marshes at Tye captures the essential duality of the island.