Chapter II: Carisbrooke, Newport, Cowes, and Ryde (2)

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_Aquatic Amusements, &c. at Ryde._

THE ROYAL VICTORIA YACHT-CLUB, established in 1845, numbers amongst
its members many gentlemen of the highest rank, and owners of as
fine yachts as any in the world. Their Club-house is a handsome and
commodious building on the beach west of the Pier; and they have an
annual Regatta in the latter part of the summer, when several
pieces of plate, etc., are sailed for by the vessels of this and
other clubs. There is also a TOWN REGATTA held about the same time,
for the purpose of giving encouragement to the skilful and
deserving watermen: the sailing matches being between the wherries
of the place, which are of a large size, and esteemed by nautical
men to be the finest sea-boats in the kingdom: and as the race is
confined to a circuit which can be distinctly seen from the whole
of the Pier, there is as much interest excited as if the prizes
were contested between larger craft. Rowing-matches also take
place; good bands attend--and the diversions of the day usually end
with a splendid display of fireworks, a dinner, or a ball. In
short, nothing can exceed the gaiety of the scene, when the weather
is at all fine: as it is made the occasion of a general festivity
by the inhabitants--and resorted to as a holiday by great numbers
from Newport, and the eastern parts of the island.

THE SHORE presents, when the tide is at its lowest ebb, a wide expanse of sand, stretching for miles both eastward and westward of the Pier, preserving upon an average the breadth of a mile: here and there interspersed with ledges of rock, and the banks beautifully feathered with groves and shrubberies. In some parts the sand has accumulated over the mud in sufficient quantity to bear wheel-carriages (which is the case near the Pier): and is found to be gradually increasing both in depth and extent. The best time to take a walk upon the shore is directly after the tide has begun to ebb,--for the sand is then firm and cool to the feet; but after a few hours' powerful sun in calm weather, it is rendered sufficiently hot to give the flowing sea almost the temperature of a warm bath, on which account the bathing here is preferred by many parties to a bolder shore.

That part called the DUVER (now built on,) was remarkable as having
been chosen for interring the crew of the Royal George, a ship of
108 guns, which sank at Spithead on August 29th, 1782, by a sudden
squall, while undergoing a careening of her bottom, when nearly
1000 persons perished.

Near the Pier are the bathing-machines, well attended, and in full operation; together with hot, tepid, and other baths for invalids.

THE PROSPECT.--As the _amenity_ of every situation depends, we
consider, greatly on the range and beauty of the view which it
commands, we here give a faint sketch of the one obtained from Ryde
and its neighbourhood: by which, however imperfect, it will be seen
by the reader, that few prospects in England can surpass this,
perhaps even in point of pleasing composition--but certainly not as
_a perpetual source of the most amusing observation_.

The foreground of the Pier generally presents a most animated
picture,--crowded with promenading fashionables; and surrounded by
numerous wherries, steam-packets, and other craft, at anchor or
gaily sailing about; a busy scene which forms a striking contrast
to the quiet sylvan charms of the home-coast extending many miles
east and west, and embellished by several delightful villas and
other marine residences, among which are Osborne Palace (indicated
by a lofty prospect-tower),--and Norris Castle, just beyond. We
have the Solent Channel seen from here to peculiar advantage,--on
the one hand contracting to the appearance of a noble river, and on
the other expanding and uniting with the open sea. The far-famed
anchorage of Spithead occupies the centre, with St. Helen's to the
eastward, for ships of war; and westward, the Motherbank and
Stokes's Bay, for merchantmen and colliers; hourly altering their
position with the changing tides, and their number as suddenly
increased or diminished with every adverse or propitious breeze.

"Majestic o'er the sparkling tide,
See the tall vessel sail,
With swelling winds, in shadowy pride,
A swan before the gale!"

The eye is soon caught by a splendid range of houses called
Anglesea Villa, on the opposite nearest shore, contiguous to
Monkton Fort; and is thence carried to immense mass of brick
buildings that form the grand naval hospital of Haslar, with the
town of Gosport in its rear; opposite which are the celebrated
fortifications of Portsmouth, with its noble harbour affording calm
security to the maritime glory of England:--Southsea Castle stands
a little to the eastward, and beyond that is the low level of
Hayling Island, where several handsome houses have recently been
built.

The line of Portsdown hills, on one of which is Nelson's monumental
pillar, usually bounds the view to the north; but in clear weather
our range of perspective embraces a portion of the South Downs
which is crossed by the London road near Petersfield: and on the
left, the beautiful retiring banks of Southampton Water to the town
to itself, backed by the woodland heights of the New Forest;--while
to the right it extends to the spire of Chichester Cathedral; but
with the aid of a glass even to Beachy-head, which appears in the
east like a faint cloud upon the horizon of the sea.

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THE ENVIRONS OF RYDE

May be characterized as being beautifully rural, enlivened by peeps or open prospects of the sea: for this is the best wooded quarter of the island, adorned with several charming seats and villas, and intersected by good roads.

But perhaps it ought to be here explained to the stranger, that by
_good_ roads, in the Isle of Wight, is only meant that they are
kept in tolerably good order: not that they are level, or even
gently undulating: for the very charm of the island consists in its
sudden alternation of hill and dale, producing a constant change of
scenery: one moment you may be enclosed in a sylvan theatre; and
the next minute stand on the brow of a hill, sufficiently lofty to
command an interminable panoramic prospect of land and sea.

We will first conduct our friends along the shore _eastward_ of the town, for the distance of two or three miles. The principal objects to the westward have been already noticed (p. 41, &c.)

APPLEY (about half a mile,) is a marine villa celebrated for its amenity: hence an excellent road to St. John's, where several very eligible sites for building on are to be disposed of: and a neat little church has recently been erected.

ST. CLARE, another delightful residence: the house built in the castellated style: and the pleasure-grounds and very extensive gardens, truly exquisite.

PUCKPOOL, a sequestered Swiss Cottage.

SPRING-VALE, a pretty hamlet composed of lodging-houses.--A carriage-road hence by the back of St. Clare.

SEA-VIEW (two miles), another pleasant hamlet, containing several lodging-houses: and having near it the beautiful villas of SEA-FIELD, FAIRY-HILL, SEA-GROVE, &c. A road hence to Nettlestone Green.

The grounds of the Priory extend eastward for about a mile: the sandy beach the whole of the distance is remarkably fine.

>> _From the above it is apparent, that a Party may have a very
pleasant saunter just as far as may prove agreeable, according to
their ability for walking; as there is a choice of roads by which
to return, thus making a circuit of any extent they like._

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We now start by the regular carriage-road for the rocky coast (commonly called the Back of the island), and first reach a hamlet on the rise of the next hill, named OAK-FIELD, and then ...

ST. JOHN's, a first-rate seat,--mansion plain, but admirably situated for prospect, and screened by beautiful wood, as will appear in the road making several sudden turns, over-arched by lofty trees, especially the silver fir. Shortly the tower of St. Clare appears on our left: WESTRIDGE in a valley on the right; and several other minor seats are successively passed,--some partially seen through the woods and shrubberies, and others quite secluded.

>> From the hamlet called _Nettlestone Green_ (about two miles from
Ryde,) a carriage-road leads down to Sea-view, by which the party
may on another occasion return on the beach to Ryde, passing the
back of St. Clare.

THE PRIORY is three miles from Ryde: it takes its name from having been the site of an ancient monastic cell--is a spacious, plain mansion, and ranks among the finest seats in the island: here too, much of the wood is uncommonly fine, notwithstanding its exposure to the sea-air. Arriving at ...

ST. HELEN's GREEN,

We are presented with a beautiful view of the Peninsula of Bembridge, Brading Haven, and the British Channel. The houses are mostly scattered round a large verdant square (which gives the name): and a spacious building, to answer the purposes both of a parish school and chapel, has been lately supplied by the liberality of a resident gentleman. But the chief object of curiosity here is THE OLD CHURCH-TOWER, _standing now at the water's edge_, and still struggling against the further "encroachment of the sea," which in the year 1719, was such as to oblige the parishioners to build another place of worship in a more secure situation: this we passed near the Priory. The old tower was strengthened with a thick facing of brick-work, and painted white; for it was required to be preserved as a landmark to ships entering the roadsted. There is something extremely tranquil and pleasing in the whole of the scene,--and though the composition is simple, forms an excellent subject for a sketch.

>> The Party may either cross the ferry with their vehicle to
Bembridge--for there is a good horse-boat in attendance, and drive
round Yaverland and Brading; or they may go to the latter place at
once; returning over the downs to Ashey Sea-mark, which affords an
almost unrivaled prospect,--and hence descend towards Ryde, making
altogether a charming circuit of about sixteen miles.

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BRADING HAVEN

Exhibits during high water the beautiful appearance of an extensive lake: but at the recess of the tide, a mere waste of sand and ooze, comprehending above 800 acres.

As the sea comes through a very narrow inlet at St. Helen's,
several unsuccessful attempts have been made to recover from its
usurpation so valuable a tract of land:--in 1630 the famous Sir H.
Middleton was engaged, and indeed succeeded for a short time, by
means of a bank of peculiar construction. But the sea brought up so
much sand, ooze, and weeds, as to choke up the passage for the
discharge of the fresh water, which accumulating, in a wet season
and a spring-tide, made an irreparable breach, and thus ended an
experiment which _then_ cost altogether about £7000. "And after
all, the nature of the ground did not answer the expectations of
the undertakers; for though that part adjoining Brading proved
tolerably good, nearly one-half of it was found to be a light
running sand." But it should be observed, that previous to the
above attempt, several of the rich meadows contiguous to the haven
were at different times taken in.

One circumstance was very remarkable: namely, A WELL, cased with
stone, was discovered near the middle of the haven;--an
incontestible evidence, that at some remote period, the spot was in
a very different condition.

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To the very remarkable CHANGE which appears (by the discovery of a
well,) to have taken place in the condition of the haven--and the
threatened existence of St. Helen's Church, from the "encroachment
of the sea,"--we beg to call the attention of our more reflecting
readers. History and tradition are silent as to the cause; and the
popular opinion of the present day briefly dismisses the question
by ascribing it to an increased elevation of the sea. But this
hypothesis is not supported by the appearance of the coast
immediately to the westward of the haven, where some creeks or
inlets _have become dry_; a circumstance which induced the Rev. P.
Wyndham, who wrote almost the first intelligent Guide to the
island, to conclude that there actually had been a secession of
tides in this quarter; yet, singular enough, he makes no allusion
either to the haven or the church. Now as there is really no
evidence whatever in the neighbourhood that would lead us to
suppose in the slightest degree, that the sea has encroached upon
the land _by its gaining a higher_ GENERAL _level_ (an idea
deprecated by many eminent geologists), we must take the
alternative in accounting for the phenomenon, and infer that the
land of the haven must have SUNK at some very distant period, and
that more recently, the same fate attended the foundations of the
church, which certainly could not have been originally built so
very close to the water's edge, as to be constantly enveloped in
sea-foam during every fresh breeze from the east.

Analagous to the above mutation in the state of the land, is the
following singular fact related by Sir Rd. Worsley, of
Appuldurcombe, who, living as it were on the spot, was not likely
to be imposed upon. The reader is to picture to himself three very
high downs standing nearly in a line,--St. Catharine's, Week, and
Shanklin: the latter, when Sir Richard wrote the account in 1781,
he guessed to be about 100 feet higher than Week Down, but which
"was barely visible" over the latter from St. Catharine's, in the
younger days of many of the old inhabitants of Chale, and who had
also been told by their fathers that at one time Shanklin could be
seen only from the top of the beacon on St. Catharine's. "This
testimony, if allowed," says the worthy baronet, "argues either a
sinking of the intermediate down, or a rising of one of the other
hills, the causes of which are left for philosophical
investigation:" and so with respect to the haven and the church, we
leave it as a curious question to amuse our scientific
friends--whether it is the sea that has risen, or the land which
has subsided?

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BEMBRIDGE.

>> _This is a peninsula about three miles long by one broad,
terminating abruptly on the sea-side in a range of_ SUBLIME CHALK
PRECIPICES. _The part easily accessible to strangers is White-cliff
Bay, two miles from the ferry._

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On account of the inconvenient situation of Bembridge as to the
usual _routes_, it is not so much visited as Freshwater, whose
precipices are on rather a grander scale, and the most celebrated
in Great Britain of this magnificent species of coast scenery. For
this reason, and also as the cliffs of both places agree almost
precisely in their geological character (for they are but the
termini of the same chain of hills), we shall merge the _general_
description of the former in that of the latter; but we would
advise the stranger who may sojourn at Ryde, by all means to visit
Bembridge, if he should decline going to Freshwater; and if in a
good boat on a fine day, so much the better,--he will be well
gratified with the _brilliant_ spectacle which these noble "_white
cliffs of Albion_" present.

Before the year 1830, Bembridge seemed to be shut out from intercourse with the world: it was very rarely visited; possessed no facilities of communication; and had no charms to call the traveller aside from the routine track. But owing to the WISE and spirited exertions of a resident gentleman, it was soon rendered a populous village.

Among the first improvements was the erection (by public subscription) of a handsome little church for the accommodation of the inhabitants, who before had no place of episcopalian worship nearer than Brading: the next consideration was the establishment of a horse-boat, and other regular means of passage across the haven:--land was sold off on eligible terms for building; several tasty villas were soon erected, and ample shrubberies formed:--new roads were projected, the old ones widened and repaired, and travelling altogether rendered more agreeable. A respectable Hotel was also built at the same time, near the beach.

The face of the country about Bembridge is pleasant enough, being agreeably checquered by grove and meadow, cultivation and open pasturage: but it is THE SURROUNDING PROSPECT which yields the chief pleasure. The situation of the Church and other principal buildings, is sufficiently evident to the visitor from St. Helen's, or as he crosses the ferry.

The chalk precipices of Bembridge are named _the Culvers_, from the circumstance it is said, of their having been the haunt of immense numbers of wild pigeons; and they are now, as has been already mentioned (p. 21), resorted to in the summer months by prodigious flights of various sea-fowl. There is a small cavern called HERMIT'S HOLE in the face of the cliff, about thirty feet from the top; the descent to it however is steep and narrow, and it is comparatively but seldom visited.

BEMBRIDGE LEDGE is a dangerous reef of rocks, stretching out into the sea a considerable distance: a floating beacon-light called "the Nab" is always moored within a short distance, to warn ships of their position.

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YAVERLAND. This is a straggling village near the sea-shore, between Brading and Sandown Fort. The little parish-church and the adjoining mansion (now converted into a farm house,) exhibit a venerable appearance, and being surrounded by groves of magnificent elms, the whole presents one of the prettiest _rural_ scenes in the island; and to the amateur of sketching, it must prove a treat. The Parsonage too will be admired for its appropriate character and pleasant situation.--Passing a few scattered cottages, our road will be on the pebbly beach to ...

SANDOWN,

Altogether an extensive village, containing several new houses built near the sea-shore, intended for letting as summer lodgings: some of them are large and splendidly furnished: and enjoy a beautiful view of the British Channel, the dazzling cliffs of Bembridge, and the range of coast for two or three miles in the direction of Shanklin. There is a church, newly erected in the upper part of the village: and a neat inn on the beach.

Midway between Sandown and Shanklin we pass through LAKE, a pretty hamlet, having a few cottages that let occasionally for lodgings during the summer months.

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BRADING

Consists of one long, ancient street (through which is the chief thoroughfare from Ryde to Shanklin and the Undercliff,) and a few good houses recently built on the outskirts: it lies about half a mile from the haven; and still retains some of the privileges of an ancient borough. The Church is considered the oldest in the island; as it was certainly in existence early in the eighth century, though some date its erection so high as the sixth, and contend that the first islanders converted to Christianity were here baptized. On account of its antiquity, the numerous relics which it contains, together with the many well written inscriptions to be found on the tombstones in the cemetery (the most noted of which perhaps is the one erected to the memory of "Little Jane,") it is very frequently visited by parties making the southern tour. The surrounding country too is agreeably varied by wood and water, arable and pasture, and a very fine outline of hill and dale.

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To return to Ryde or Newport over the downs from Brading, will be found exceedingly interesting to those strangers who delight in the contemplation of grand prospects, and a most fertile and well cultivated country:--having no objection at the same time to a _hilly_ road as the price of their enjoyment, and which _we_ call the most beautiful in the island.

But as artists are often enraptured with passages of scenery that
to others prove comparatively uninteresting, we subjoin a sketch by
Sir H. ENGLEFIELD, showing the deep interest and pleasure the
surrounding landscapes are capable of affording:--

"To enjoy in all its glory, the complete view of the northern
tract, which in detail presents so many separate beauties, we must
ascend the chalk range that rises immediately from the woods of
Nunwell. When the weather is clear, it is impossible to describe
the magnificent scene which these hills command, from Brading
Downs, by Ashey Sea-mark, and soon quite to Arreton chalk-pit.

"To the _north_, the woodlands form an almost continued velvet
carpet of near 10,000 acres, broken only by small farms, whose
thatched buildings relieve the deep tints of the forests. The
Wootton River winds beautifully among them, and beyond the whole
the Solent Sea spreads its waters, which in clear weather is tinged
with an azure more deep and beautiful than any I ever saw. The
Hampshire land rises in a succession of hills quite lost at length
in blue vapour. The inland view to the _south_ is far from
destitute of beauty, though less striking than the northern scene.
The vale between the chalk range and the southern hills is seen in
its full extent: and the southern hills themselves rise to a
majestic height. To the _eastward_ the sea is again visible over
the low lands of Sandown, and by its open expanse affords a fine
contrast to the Solent Channel.

"The nearer objects on the southern slope are also very
interesting: Knighton House, with its venerable grey fronts mantled
with luxuriant ivy, and bosomed in the richest groves, is as
beautiful at a distance, as it is interesting on a nearer approach.
Arreton is also surrounded with trees, which group happily with the
pretty church and an old mansion now converted into a farm: and
from the western end of the downs, the country about Newport and
Carisbrooke is seen to great advantage. _Such is the faint outline
of a scene, which, in richness of tints, and variety of objects,
surpasses anything I ever saw._"

_Note._--Since this was written, Knighton House has been pulled
down.

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_Objects between Brading and Newport._

Our course will be for the first three miles due west. On the north side is NUNWELL, the oldest seat in the island, having been awarded by William the Conqueror to the ancestors of Sir William Oglander, the present proprietor. Noble specimens of every kind of forest-tree are to be found in the park: particularly oaks, several of which are many centuries old, the family having long employed every possible means of preserving these venerable chiefs of the grove. The house (a large, plain building,) stands at the foot of the down, and therefore is not seen from the road: but the surrounding park, woods, and farms of the estate, spread before the eye in a most beautiful style ...

"With swelling slopes and groves of every green."

ASHEY SEA-MARK is very conspicuously seen, being seated on a high down, three miles from Brading, four from Ryde, and five from Newport: it is a perfectly plain, triangular object, erected in the middle of the last century to assist pilots in navigating St. Helen's anchorage.

On the south side of the down appears the pretty village of NEWCHURCH, in the direct road from Ryde to Godshill, &c. The situation of the Church is rather romantic, being nearly on the edge of a remarkably steep sand-cliff, through which the road is cut, feathered with brushwood and several overhanging trees.

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If the tourist be returning to Newport, he will pass through the long village of ARRETON, whose church stands at the foot of the down of that name: it is of considerable antiquity,--and though its style of architecture is certainly heavy, is upon the whole both picturesque and singular. Its chief internal decoration is a beautiful mausoleum to the memory of Sir Leonard W. Holmes, bart.: and in the churchyard is buried the young woman celebrated for her piety in the popular tract of "the Dairyman's Daughter."

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