Z O t-H -3 K H oo K U D THE \ T G STRANGERS MVKIN& THE (Tout of % W, SHAELAND, 3L Id J& iivj, 9 iDRVBa 33, HIGH STREET, SOUTHAMPTON, Adjoining the Dolphin Hotel. L " ETTER-PRESS Sf COPPER PLATE PRINTING. DRAWING MATERIALS, TOURISTS' WRITING CASES. Bibles, Prayer Books, Church Services, Companions to the Altar, Pietas, fyc., IN MOROCCO AND PLAIN BINDINGS. ALBUMS, AND SCRAP BOOKS. BLOTTING AND CARD CASES. HE ANNUALS, POCKET BOOKS, Almanacks, Diaries, and Housekeeping Books. PERIODICALS AND OTHER WORKS SUPPLIED ON THE DAY OF PUBLICATION. r UNIVERSITY - o K ^ I V. H - ^ I > fl P ' MAKING 5fa>i} // iP8r$ffflf> 3^p> "Sy^/CI r ^T '^ JUL >A&Ah '* -da* { rv fL/a^all or ISILIE NTING bf.-ct* plan, for se^eiruf in. th& shortest, /; Ernb&lhsh&d, with views of ' the- Country Inns, (By (D ^ ^^, Author, Wbotron. , PREFACE TO THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL EDITION. ALL PUFFING has been avoided in the com- pilation of the following pages ; whether to gratify interested friends, or to improve the style by too liberal a use of elegant and superlative epithets often creating an expectation in the mind of the stranger, which will be disappointed on the first view of the object so blazoned forth with unme- rited encomiums. But though the author's aim has been through- out to sketch with the strictest fidelity and sobriety of colouring ; yet as scarcely two persons will ever give the same measure of praise to any one object, so of course will there often be a considerable difference of opinion between him and his readers on questions of taste and local beauty ; but it is to be hoped, that however great such difference may be, his veracity will not be too hastily impugned. 86714 PREFACE. This work having been twenty-four years before the public, during which time it has gone through as many editions, it may be repeated without arro- gance or " puff," that it is indebted for its success to the unvarnished style of its descriptions; a per- spicuity of arrangement, and a condensation of those particulars which are known from experience to be most useful to THE HASTY TOURIST ; advan- tages which distinguish it from its many rivals, both of home and metropolitan production : to say nothing of its accuracy, which must be an after- test, but may be inferred by the purchaser from the circumstance of the writer being an Artist, and a Resident for above forty years. Wootton Common, I.W., June, 1857. f T E IV T S . CHAP. I. GENERAL DESCRIPTION, . 9 Climate, Situation, and Extent, . 11 Geology, Agriculture, and Zoology, 14 Commerce and Population, . .18 History of the Island . . .20 Eminent Natives .... 24 CHAP. II. THE SCENERY of greatest interest. Sect, 1. Bembridge Cliffs, . . .25 2. SHANKLIN Chine and Village, . 27 3. From Shanklin to the Undercliff, . 31 Luccombe and East End . . 4. THE UNDERCLIFF, . . .33 Bonchurch, . . . .36 Ventnor, 39 Steephill, 42 St. Lawrence, . . . .43 Change in the Scenery, , . 44 Old Park, Cripple-path, &c., . 45 Exclusion from the Country Seats, 47 5. The Undercliff near Niton . . 48 St. Catharine's Light-house, . . 49 Sandrock Spring, . . .50 Blackgang Chine, . . .51 Wreck of the ship " Clarendon," . 54 CONTENTS. Sect. 0. St. Catharine's Hill, . . .55 The Country between Blackgang Chine and Freshwater-gate, . 56 7. THE FRESHWATER CLIFFS, . . 58 Freshwater Bay, . . . .60 ScratcheH's Bay Grand Arch, . 63 The Needle Rocks Alum Bay, . 64 8. Character of the Prospects, . . 67 CHAP. III. ARCHITECTURAL OBJECTS. Sect. 1. The Principal Seats, . . .73 2. Carisbrooke Castle, . . .83 Quarr Abbey, . . .86 3. Conspicuous Objects on the Downs, 87 CHAP. IV. TOWNS AND VILLAGES. Newport Carisbrooke Village, . 89 Ryde and its Environs, . . 97 Cowes and its Environs, . .105 Arreton, Brading, Bembridge, c. 113 CHAP. V. THE TOURS, . . .121 from Ryde, . 122 ,, Cowes, . 124 ,, ,, ,, Newport, . 126 Voyage round the Island, . , 128 The Passage and Conveyance. LISTS of Hotels, Inns, principal Seats and Country Villas, &c. V from Shanklin to Blackgang Chine, the scenery is a happy combin- ation of the beautiful and romantic, the sublime and terrific. The greater part of this interesting tract is called THE UNDERCLIFF, presenting for several miles a succession of highly picturesque objects, in some respects quite unique. The interior of the island is distinguished more O for its agreeable interchange of hill and dale, wood and cultivation, than for any very romantic or sub- lime effects. But, considering the extent of the island, its lofty intersecting downs (so remarkable for their beauty and variety of outline) are certainly quite as picturesque as the vast heaving swells of a more mountainous region. Solemn magnificence characterises the one, soft and cheerful diversity the other. "The almost perpetual succession of hills and dales which cover the Isle of Wight," observes Mr. STURCH, "creates such a variety of breaks and openings, that the eye of the traveller is continually entertained with new and surprising landscapes of Nature's exquisite painting. It is here that the love of novelty and variety, so natural to the mind of man, is most highly gratified, and at an easy expense; it is but changing one's position, for 11 which a quarter of an hour's walk is sufficient, and the scene is cast into a new form ; it is varied by so many new lines and new disclosures of land and water, that it no longer appears to be the same thing." I A. great and INCREASING source of attraction, es- pecially to invalids, is the very favorable CLIMATE. Constantly enjoying refreshing sea-breezes, im- proved by the dry and highly-cultivated face of the country, the Amis found by experience to be ex- tremely salubrious. In open, elevated situations, it is clear, sharp, and bracing ; but in all those parts which are screened by high downs and cliffs, it is remarkably mild, yet pure and dry : so that inva- lids and convalescents may easily avail themselves of a change of air, more congenial to their consti- tutions. It is a common remark, in proof of the mild temperature of the climate, "that myrtles, which love a soft marine exposure, are found to grow here with astonishing luxuriance, and even tender exotics thrive as if in their native beds." Dr. JAMES CLARKE, in his excellent Treatise on the Influence of Climate in the Cure of Chronic disorders, confirms the popular opinion : he says... "The island, from the variety which it presents in point of elevation, soil, and aspect, and from 12 the configuration of its hills and shores, possesses several peculiarities of climate and situation, which render it a verv favorable and commodious resi- v dence throughout the year, for a large class of in- valids. On this account the Isle of Wight claims our particular attention, as it comprehends within itself advantages which are of great value to the delicate invalid, and to obtain which, in almost any other part of England, he would require to make a considerable journey." And he further remarks, that "the Undercliff bids fair to exceed all other winter residences in this country, and the Isle of Wight will have added to its title of the Garden of England, that of the BRITISH MADEIRA." Niton, Cowes, Sandown, Shanklin, and Ryde, are particularly recommended by Dr. Clarke for summer residences. Situation, Form, Extent, fyc. The Isle of Wight is situated opposite the coast of Hampshire, and separated by a beautiful channel called the SOLENT SEA, of the average breadth of about 4^miles: it is bounded on the south by the British Channel, and is reckoned twenty leagues distant from Cherbourg, the nearest part of the French Coast. The form of the Island is an irregular lozenge, measuring 23 miles from east to west, and 13 miles 13 from north to south. Its circumference is about sixty miles, and the superficial contents upwards of 100,000 acres. The island is almost encompassed by formidable rocks and shelves, of which the most noted are the Needles and Shingles, at the western point ; Rock- en-end Race at the south, and Bernbridge Ledge at the eastern extremity. No part of the British coast is more dangerous to vessels ungoverned and driving in a storm ; and scarcely a winter passes without the melancholy catastrophe of shipwreck, especially along the southern shore, off Blackgang Chine, Atherfield, Brooke, or Compton. In those places where the shore is low and accessible, as at Yarmouth, Cowes, and Sandown, military fortifications have been established since the time of Henry VIII : these, from the proximity of the grand naval stations of Spithead and St. Helen's, have been considered of no practical utility, and like Carisbrooke castle, mere sinecures; the government however would appear to entertain a different opinion, from the fact of the year 1853 dating the erection of an extensive fort at Carey's-sconce, the site of an ancient battery, west- ward of Yarmouth. And it is a question whether the others may not receive some very considerable alterations. Geological and Agricultural Remarks. "The island affords many rare and quite singular geological phenomena ; and is, from its smallness and the nature of its coasts, peculiarly adapted for the investigation of its structure." The following concise description of the strata, on the authority 1.4 ofW.D.SAULL, Esq., F.G.S., F.S.A. &c., will suffi- ciently indicate to the geological reader, the prin- cipal fields for his research. DILUVIUM & ALLUVIUM. Spread on the top and the vallies over all the lower parts of the Island : consisting of rol- led pebhles, sands, loam and the vegetable soil. UPPER FRESHWATER & LAND. Binstead, Quarr