Armchair Adventurers Explore the Isle of Wight Ar Following this the sea flooded over the land cha eol ogy and the Lower and Upper Greensands were laid down. They are composed of sandstones Geo graphy and marine clays containing fossils of coral, ammonites, clams and lobsters from the y Geolog tropical seas of 109 million years ago. ry isto By the end of the Cretaceous period the H limestone we call chalk made from billions of The Isle of Wight is 13 miles long and 23 miles tiny plankton shells was laid down in the warm across. At its highest point it is 791 feet above water chalk sea. It also saw the extinction of the English Channel and roughly diamond the dinosaurs, ammonites and numerous shaped. It is the second most populous island in other plants and animals. England. The northern half of the island is part of the geological Wessex channel basin. A geological basin is a large low lying area, often below sea level that collects sediment in cycles over millions of years. These areas are of interest to oil prospectors [this area is known to be a mature oil Culver Chalk Cliffs [dinosaurisle.com] kitchen], hydrologists and palaeontologists. The area’s geological history is well mapped and 56 million years ago the rock layers to the easily accessed. A really good summary can be north of the island were laid down in a warm found on the dinosaur isle web site. The English shallow sea, a home to over 500 different Channel was a large river valley that rose, sank types of shellfish plus sharks and sea rays. and rose again. Separation from the mainland They are the most brightly coloured crumbly occurred about 7,000 years ago due to rising sea muds and sandstones that form Alum Bay. levels that began about 10,000 years ago as ice Part of the chalk ridge was turned upright melted. The Wessex basin is known as a rift from pressure of global plate movement so basin likely to have been formed during the the layers now appear vertical. Permian to early Cretaceous period in response to movement in the African and Eurasian plates. The oldest rocks are called the Wealden made Alum Bay [dinosaurisle.com] There then followed a period of shallow lagoons and swamps which silted up 32 The Wealden at Brook Bay [dinosaurisle.com] million years ago. More recent times have up of mudstones and sandstones containing seen numerous alternating warm and cold remains of dinosaurs, including some footprints spells each lasting tens of thousands of years. at Hanover Point from the Cretaceous period in This has given rise to extensive patches of this once swampy environment around 126 gravel, clay and peat. million years ago. Armchair Adventurers Honiton U3A 2019 [ 2 ] 1 Archaeology Also on site are a nymphaeum [sacred pool], agricultural buildings and the remains of a Evidence of early human occupation is hypocaust heating system. Finds also include known from flint axes and stone artefacts from the paleao-,meso-, and neolithic periods. Neolithic long barrows [4,000 – 2,400BC] are found at Afton Down and Mottistone. At Tennyson Down there is a mortuary enclosure where bodies would have been de-fleshed. Over 300 Bronze Age round barrows [2,300 – 700BC] have been located mainly on the chalk downlands. There is an Iron Age hill fort at Chillerton Down. Brading Villa [Historic England] The Romans invaded in AD 43 and stayed coins, Samian ware, jewellery, games, window for 400 years. They named the island Vectis. glass and painted plaster. No Roman towns are known so it is believed that the island was used as an agricultural Newport Villa is a Romano – British farmhouse centre, including fishing, vines, wool, discovered in 1926 while excavating for a garage quarrying, tile and glass making. and dates from 280AD. It was probably built on an Iron Age site by a local landowner who adopted Sites of up to eight possible Roman Villas Roman ways. The foundations are still standing, have been identified. Two have been almost to their original height; they would have excavated, o been topped by timber frames with wattle and ne at Brading the other at Newport with daub. Excavations in the 1970s and 80s revealed numerous finds in each. Brading Villa mosaics were found in1879 by a farmer digging post holes and dates Newport Villa [British Express] Brading Villa [Britain Express] that the villa was only in use for about 50 years. from the mid-1st century. Excavations by There is a fine bath suite with frigidarium, Oxford University were carried out in 2008. tepidarium, caladarium and hypocaust. The baths The villa is three sided around a courtyard probably had a domed roof of tufa, a lightweight with twelve ground floor rooms, 5 of which stone, which would have prevented condensation contain exceptional mosaics suggesting the dripping down. Other finds include mosaics, roof owner was wealthy and well educated. The tiles, window glass and brightly coloured plaster. Brading Villa [British Express] Newport Villa [British Express] most famous of the numerous depictions is that of a cockerel headed man thought to be The site now has a reconstructed Roman kitchen a lampoon of the eastern emperor and garden. Constantius Gallus. 2 Armchair Adventurers Honiton U3A 2019 [2] History of settlements and industry Fear of another French invasion led to some landowners leaving the island in 1388. As previously explained the area was noted for its agriculture during Roman times, the Raids by the French in 1377 resulted in several light chalk soil making it easy to plough. A towns being burned so their fears were real. side effect of their presence was losing half the island’s natural woodland to Roman The population was further diminished by the furnaces. They also used sites at Binstead for Blackdeath in 1352 leaving villages deserted. quarrying and grew vines. The vineyard at 1528 saw a severe outbreak of the plague. Adgestone being one of the oldest in Britain. Larger farms and field enclosures further depleted the population. The cloth industry In 350AD the Anglo-Saxons invaded. The first began to decline. Brewing and leather recorded settlement was at Arreton in 885AD. production became the main town industries. Water wheels driving mills were in general use and at the time of the Domesday survey Henry VIII developed the Royal Navy and in 1086 24 were recorded. Calbourne Mill fortifications built at Sandown, Cowes and supplied flour and animal feed across the Yarmouth. In 1545 the last French invasion was island. repelled by local militia at the battle of Bonchurch with support from the English ‘men of The first recorded place for a Danish Viking war’. attack in England was on the Isle of Wight in 787AD. The islanders managed to repel this Between 1599 and 1771 the population rose by but by 981AD the Vikings were using the over 17,000. Newport harbour was being island as a base for their fleets. They settled developed along with Cowes shipbuilding. at Newtown. Pirates operated between the island and Poole. The islanders saw smuggling as a local right, Following the Norman conquest William from plundered French ships in the 100 years FitzOsbern became Lord of the Isle of Wight war to lighting ships to flounder on rocks. The and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle was Chines [deep cut ravines] provided shelter and founded and famously held Charles I as a cover for their work. To get around the imposed prisoner in 1647. Quarr Limestone was used Ship Wreck Act all people on board would be to build 126 properties. Various churches, killed. They used the lighthouse at Bembridge as Abbeys and Priories were also built between a sea marker. Carisbrook Castle [Rail link] Bembridge lighthouse today [visit Isle of Wight] 1070 – 1100. The first fulling mill [ a step in The roads were still tracks in the late 1700s and the process of cloth making to remove the road between Newport and Yarmouth had 32 impurities and thicken the cloth] was built at gates. By1830 steamships were crossing the Heasley in 1129. Solent and the first railway on the island between Cowes and Newport was opened in The island remained semi independent until 1862, a major achievement as most of the 1293 when it came under the control of the materials needed would have been brought from English crown under Edward I. It was the mainland. producing 166 cheeses and 16 stone of butter from summer dairy production. The During Victorian times tourism rapidly grew as a fishing village ‘La Ride’ [Ryde] was recorded new industry making good use of the new rail around 1300. networks on the island. 3 Armchair Adventurers Honiton U3A 2019 [2] Industry - Farming With its unique microclimate the Isle of Wight is the perfect place to grow produce that The island has a strong agricultural heritage would not grow elsewhere in the UK, for including sheep, dairy and arable. Recent coastal example apricots. Boadicea hops are grown audits and archaeological work have revealed at Ventnor botanic gardens and are hand narrow ridge and furrow workings from the post picked. They produce their own range of Roman to late Medieval times. They are thought to ales. The Goddard brewery also uses the be lazy beds used for arable farming. They were hops in their White Trash Ale. Tourism - The island hosts 121.611 overseas visitors a year along with 2.3million domestic visitors who spend in the region of £403 million making it the island’s largest industry. It is serviced by over 100 independent hotels and guest houses.