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Home , Appuldurcombe House, Carisbrooke, Compton Bay, Leicestershire, Nunwell, Sandown

Visiting Vectis The

Martin Light and Terence Blunden

isiting Norwegians must be Vpuzzled why so large and populous an island does not have bridge or tunnel access to the mainland. These have been proposed but wars have intervened and many local people like to preserve their difference from the mainland by resisting better connections than those made by the ferry services. The oldest ferry company is Red Funnel – originally the Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of Steam Ship Packet PLC, registered in 1861 – which operates both car and Red Jet services from Southampton to . Wightlink runs car ferry services from Portsmouth to Fishbourne and Lymington to Yarmouth, with a Fast Catamaran service from Portsmouth Harbour Station to Pier Head. For many day visitors the Hovercraft provides a service unique to the UK from Southsea to the seafront in Ryde. Within living memory barges were brought over to Ryde and beached at high tide, and unloaded as the tide went out. Next to the ferry terminal at Yarmouth is the best preserved of Henry VIII’s forts alongside a delightful small town. At Cowes the ferries pass the Royal Yacht Entrance to Castle Squadron, housed since 1855 within the remains of another Henrician fort, and patronised since its launch in 1815 by Most visitors will want to visit at Yarmouth, , Cowes and royalty and a wealthy elite. the most famous of the Island’s Freshwater. For students of military Those arriving at Ryde Pier Head historical attractions, and naval history, there are many have a choice: they can make their own and . Both give sites of interest around the island, and way down a pier opened in 1814 that has free admission to curious forts in , many the recently been refurbished by Wightlink members and it would be worth product of the 1850s but some from or catch a 1938 London Underground considering joining. Yarmouth Castle more recent war scares, as at Culver tube train that runs on third rail power and are also EH Down. Carisbooke Castle also has an down an 1880 pier and on to . owned. There is plenty of information independent Museum, and with a prior This heavily-subsidised line survives about both Osborne House and the appointment it is possible to visit the because some method of taking people Castle. It is worth remembering that museum in winter months when the down the pier is still needed, especially while Carisbrooke Castle fulfilled its rest of the castle is closed. This also has at Music Festival time! Some of you will initial purpose very well, to protect the an excellent library and large collection remember the famous/notorious 1970 person and interests of the Norman material, relating to the island’s story. Rock Festival that took place in West Lords of the island after 1066, it did Financial restraints have put on Wight: today’s Festivals in and around little to protect the rest of the island hold efforts to provide a modern Record Newport are well organised and popular against the numerous French attacks. Office; meanwhile, the helpful staff will derivatives . This did not come until forts were built do what they can, but do check opening

32 The Historian / Autumn 2012 Osborne House from the lower garden – ’s Family retreat

hours. The office is on a hill above the resident. Medieval parishes ran across from Fishbourne and Newtown, of the harbour in Newport. In recent years the island from north to south, and the Mesolithic and Neolithic times. During Newport has taken over from Ryde as oldest churches today are not found in the Iron Age the island developed its the leading town on the island, with Ryde or Newport but in rural villages agriculture and this probably attracted large stores bringing traffic that clogs like and . All Saints the Romans. Remains of several Roman up the town centre whose streets are ’s medieval painting of a lily villas have been found: two are on show. still recognisably medieval in plan. It crucifix is one of only two in Europe. At has had recent archaeological was developed at the lowest bridging one time each parish was responsible for digs led by Sir Barry Cunliffe and a point of the , just down the purchasing and maintaining a gun, the splendid new building to display the road from Carisbrooke. Carisbrooke is Carisbrooke gun is in the castle museum mosaics. Newport is smaller but easier a western suburb today but was more dating to 1549. It was sold early in the to understand. Recent finds coming important in early medieval times. Its nineteenth century to pay for the repair from the ‘Dark Ages’ suggest a wealthier church, St Mary’s, was granted soon of the churchyard wall. society than was thought until recently, after the Norman Conquest by William A brief overview of island history but many of these have yet to be assessed FitzOsbern to the Benedictine Abbey will be helpful before referring to places by the experts. The Saxon rulers left of Lyre in Normandy, which he had to visit on a tour of the island. The signs of their organisation in the parish founded. A priory was established about island separated from the mainland structures and elsewhere. From the 1147 but the church feels more like a about 4000 BC at the latest, and some Conquest to 1293 the Crown had passed parish church than a monastic one, as of the most interesting evidence has control to a Lord, and the last was there were never more than six brothers come from underwater archaeology, Isabella de Fortibus. With no heir, she

The interior of Carisbrooke Castle

Godshill Newtown Old Town Hall

The Historian / Autumn 2012 33 more resemble a slice of second-rate Appuldurcombe House fashionable London, stuck on the side of the Island, than anything which one would be prepared to meet with’. Two local heritage groups have worked hard to rescue the Cemetery and the Arcade. Local history is very popular on the island, and there are many good exhibitions worth visiting. Seaview, St Helens and are all related to the sea and sailing; a little exploration into their history will show that St Helens used to have the gas works, so has come up in the world since their demolition. But it also had an early golf course on its Duver (a sandy strip of land) visited by royalty. An RNLI lifeboat station was built in Bembridge in 1867, and the Queen Victoria of 1887, the oldest surviving RNLI lifeboat, can usually be found at Barns. The island’s one surviving tower mill in Bembridge () goes back at least to the 1740s, and has never burnt down. Sandown has a modern Dinosaur Museum, and Shanklin has the Chine, a Victorian attraction from the days when visitors were fascinated by ferns, and still kept interesting today with historical exhibitions. The Pluto pipeline that sent sold the power back to the Crown on her and started selling it, as well as helping petrol to after the Normandy deathbed. to set up the Royal Yacht Squadron. landings ran down the Chine, and The island was starting to move into Ryde began to grow rapidly. In the pumps can be seen in Bembridge prosperous times by 1300 when new second half of the century, railways Heritage Exhibition and at the Zoo in towns had been established for over started to carry visitors to central and Sandown. 100 years at Newport, Brading, and eastern parts of the island. Tourism Brading has an old church, a restored Yarmouth. The Wars against France over became a major employer. Market Hall and the old Bull Ring. the next century were disastrous for the Traditional industries on the island Newchurch’s church parish once served island. As late as the reign of Henry VII had been agriculture and fishing, from Ryde in the north to the south legislation was passed banning islanders supplemented by smuggling. After 1800, coast. The narrow lanes by which it is from leaving the island. In 1377 all the boat building developed in Cowes, and approached from the north are part of island except for Carisbrooke Castle with growing government involvement its attraction. Nearby was the fell into French hands, and a layer of through two world wars so did allied war home of the Oglander family, who were charcoal under Newport still gives industries in high technology, notably the last hosts of King Charles I before evidence today of what happened. radar. his imprisonment in Carisbrooke Castle Newtown never recovered. It is to history that we turn to explain and execution. Appuldurcombe, seat The Reformation saw the dissolution the variety of people found living – or at of the Worsley family, is near Wroxall. of the Abbey at Quarr. The medieval least, owning property – on the island. While the house is a protected ruin, the quarries that had supplied stone to The super-rich came for the sailing, the grounds and setting are still magnificent. Portchester Castle and sundry cathedrals quality of air and the romance of a place The south of the island from were becoming exhausted. In 1588 that was hard to reach. Many earned to the west is much less densely the Armada passed by, but there was their living by catering for them, often inhabited. Ventnor was highly rated sufficient alarm for Carisbrooke Castle’s however, in jobs that were seasonal. by Victorians who had travelled on defences to be modernised against Today, with few major industries, the the continent as it reminded them of attack. By the 1600s there was local government struggles financially. Italy, with its steep slopes and quiet a strong Protestant feeling in the towns. One major employer is HM Prisons, sea views. Artists visited Charles I came to the island in 1647 and with Pankhurst, Albany and Camp Hill in numbers. Swinburne is perhaps the left under arrest to be taken to his trial adjacent to Newport where there were most notorious and then there were and death in London. Most of the island once army barracks (now united as Isle many visiting celebrities like Dickens was now owned by wealthy landowners of Wight Prison). – I hope we do not have to put up a like the Worsley, Holmes and Oglander The north and east of the island plaque for all of them. Dickens’ stay in families, governed from their seats at are the most heavily populated. Walk Bonchurch was not a disaster, but he was Appuldurcombe, Yarmouth and Nunwell. around Ryde and you will find many not as enthusiastic as most Victorians By 1800 a wealthy few had started delightful buildings and indeed a about its natural attractions. Enjoy discovering the delights of sea bathing terrace from the early nineteenth the Victorian houses like Compton and fresh air away from London smogs. century. Snobs in 1838 disagreed: the Undermount, entered through a tunnel Lord Yarborough, a Leicestershire speculators were little men, who built lined with shells (1857). , landowner, inherited the Worsley land the ‘genteel residences’; ‘the houses named after Ecbright who gave it to

34 The Historian / Autumn 2012 the see of Winchester in 826, has a beautiful churchyard in spring and a Erosion to the car park at , off the Military Road on the Isle of Wight. row of attractive cottages with a small museum. It is famous for having three Rectors who became bishops – Thomas Ken, Samuel Wilberforce and Thomas Moberley. has another row of ancient cottages called Winkle Street, next to a former sheep dip. Many of the historic amusements have fallen into the sea at Chine, but it continues to entertain children of all ages. The stretch of coast to the west is where dinosaur bones are found, especially after a cliff fall. The future of the A3055 military coastal road is uncertain in places, nearer Freshwater Bay it is has fallen into the sea less than 200 years after its construction. Freshwater sprawls, but one of its sons is at last achieving fame: Robert Hooke, whose father was the rector in the 1640s. One who came to live on the island in the 1850s for peace and quiet was Wolverton manor Lord Tennyson; he lived long enough all at least 75 years old, and one dating to become such a tourist attraction that from the 1860s. by the 1880s he had to leave the island Newport’s Museum of Island History for peace and quiet in the summer. A in the old Guildhall is disgracefully only personality best known today for her open two days a week, these times do photography is , not reflect the interesting exhibits owned and a visit to Dimbola Lodge is essential by the island. In happier times valuable for any interested in this art. buildings towards the Quay have been The National Trust manages 10% preserved, and a walk round Newport of the Island and looks after will reward an observant historian Manor house, known to many as the with many delightful eighteenth and home of Lord Seely whose horse Warrior nineteenth century houses. The Bus survived the First World War with him Museum has occasional days when rides despite being under fire many times. can be taken as well as housing static Seely was responsible for unearthing exhibits. the Tudor Manor House and restoring Many visitors still think the island Isle of Wight Steam Railway it following a landslip. The Trust lives in the past. Outside the summer also owns the Old and New Needles season, it has a reasonable bus service Batteries. The Old Battery guarded the for a rural area. Further economy western approaches to Southampton cuts leading to more dependence on and Portsmouth and gives excellent volunteers could threaten much of what views of . The New Battery makes the island such an enjoyable place has recently been opened up with not just for a holiday but for historical information on its role in the Second exploration, often unravelled by the World War. Nearby was the testing 12 local history societies, all of which ground for the ill-fated Black welcome visitors to their meetings. And rocket, which fired successfully and was of course, so does the local Branch of promptly scrapped. the Historical Association whose own The remaining land on the north history is recorded on the HA’s site: coast of the Island is a haven for bird www.history.org.uk watchers especially Newtown harbour. The question I am asked most Bembridge windmill Fort Victoria, to the west of Yarmouth, frequently by visitors from abroad is how with displays on the underwater the island got its name. While Wight archaeology and an example of the huge comes from the Roman name Vectis, its investment the Victorians felt they had earlier origin is still disputed. Not Veni, to make in national defences. Yarmouth vidi, vici, but: I came, I saw and stayed. and Cowes have delightful houses as well as relics of older buildings. Martin is a former committee has the Classic Boat museum, reached member of the Island Historical by a floating bridge from (west) Cowes. Association branch, and Terry has Cowes has other sailing collections. been its secretary for many years. The Steam Railway has its headquarters Both are Fellows of the Historical in Haven Street, and is notable for its Association. excellent restoration of early carriages,

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