I.

Introduction

Wight, Isle of (unitary authority) (ancient Vectis), island and unitary authority, southern England, lying in the English Channel, and separated from Hampshire to the north on the English mainland by the narrow channels of the Solent and Spithead. The area of the island and unitary authority are coterminous at 381 sq km (147 sq mi). Newport is the administrative centre.

The Isle of Wight is two distinct places: in winter it is largely left to the local residents; the summer brings large numbers of holiday-makers, numbering as many as ten times the local population.

II.

Land and Resources

The Isle of Wight is diamond-shaped, and measures 36 km (22.5 mi) from east to west, and 22 km (13.5 mi) from north to south. A chalk ridge, which once joined the island to the mainland, runs across the centre of the island from Culver Cliff at the far eastern point to the Needles running into the sea at the far western point. The three chalk pinnacles of the Needles (a fourth Needle disappeared during a storm in 1764) rise to a height of approximately 30 m (100 ft). To the north of the chalk ridge, the lower Tertiary rocks are cloaked in poorly drained clay lowlands, covered widely with oak woods. To the south of the ridge are Cretaceous rocks, then good farmland, and then again, nearer the sea, sandstone hills, which rise to over 230 m (750 ft). Much of the southern coast has comparatively high cliffs. Just inland from St Catherine's Point, the island's southernmost tip, is St Catherine's Hill, its highest point at 238 m (780 ft). The southern cliffs are dissected by a number of “chines”, steep, narrow gorges running down to the sea, cut by streams and filled with luxuriant vegetation. This area is very susceptible to landslips. The sea has claimed a stretch about 275 m (900 ft) wide of the southern coast in the last 50 years, and landslips have created the Undercliff, a wide coastal terrace, running between Ventnor and St Catherine's Point. The Countryside Agency has designated several parts of the island as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including stretches of the coast, the valley of the River Yar, the downland behind Ventnor, and the chalk ridge from Newport to Culver Cliff.

The island has three rivers, all of which flow northwards. The biggest of these is the Medina, which almost divides the island in two from south to north, reaching the sea at Cowes. To the east is the Yar (sometimes known as the East Yar), which empties into the sea near Bembridge, and to the west is another Yar (sometimes known as the West Yar), which has its estuary at Yarmouth. Mention should also be made of Wootton Creek, which opens into Spithead on the north-east side of the island, but which is more of an inlet from the sea than a river.

The Isle of Wight has one of the most pleasant climates in Britain, usually enjoying high temperatures and long hours of sunshine in summer, while the winters, despite the occasional harsh east wind, are rarely excessively cold. The climate was, in fact, responsible for the growth of many of the seaside resorts, which sprang up originally because of their suitability for invalids and convalescents. Average annual rainfall over the county is about 750 to 1,000 mm (30 to 40 in).

III.

Wildlife

The coastline of the island is populated by sea birds, including gulls, cormorants and shags, guillemots, and razorbills. Culver Cliff is a prime nesting site. At Newtown Estuary, on the opposite side of the island, there is a nature reserve that is home to waders and other wildfowl. New Forest ponies are taken to the island in summer to graze on St Boniface Down, above Ventnor. The Isle of Wight is one of the few places in Britain where, protected by the sea from the immigration of grey squirrels, the red squirrel is still found in significant numbers, especially in the partly replanted Parkhurst Forest, which covers an area of 405 hectares (1,000 acres) to the north-west of Newport.

IV.

Population and Administration

The population of the Isle of Wight was estimated in 2001 to be 132,719. The principal town is Newport (1991, 20,574), situated in the centre of the island. The other major towns, and principal holiday resorts—Ryde (1991, 20,502), Cowes (1991, 16,335), and Sandown and Shanklin (16,852)—are on the coast, as are the island's smaller towns, such as Ventnor (1991, 5,710), Bembridge (1991, 3,397), Yarmouth, St Helen's, Freshwater, and Totland Bay, which are all also resorts.

The unitary authority of the Isle of Wight is administered from County Hall, Newport. Until 1995 the island was divided into two district councils: Medina and South Wight. However, in April of that year, the Isle of Wight became the first of the English counties, under the Local Government Act 1994, to gain a unitary local government authority. The police authority is the Hampshire Constabulary, with headquarters in Winchester, Hampshire. A Crown Court sits in Newport.

V.

Places of Interest

Cowes, on the northernmost tip of the island, is a yachting centre, and yacht races have been held there since the 18th century. Cowes Castle is the headquarters of the Royal Yacht Squadron (founded 1815), and it is from there that races are started. Regattas are held every weekend during the summer; the internationally famous Cowes Week takes place each August. The town is the starting point for two important biennial yacht races, the Fastnet Race and Admiral's Cup. Not far from Cowes is Osborne House, which was designed in the Italian style by Prince Albert as a summer home for Queen Victoria, who had pleasant childhood memories of the island. She spent much of her widowhood at Osborne, and the elaborately decorated rooms are filled with her possessions; her private apartments remain exactly as they were on her death in 1901. Osborne House was given to the nation by Edward VII, and is now administered by English Heritage.

Yarmouth Castle was built by Henry VIII, and Carisbrooke Castle is a Norman and Tudor castle standing just south of Newport. The National Trust owns Bembridge Windmill and the Old Town Hall in Newtown. Ryde has a long, flat beach, and an early Victorian pier, almost 1 km (0.5 mi) long. Bembridge has a natural harbour, much used by the owners of yachts and houseboats. Sandown houses the Dinosaur Isle, an innovative dinosaur museum and exhibition, the first of its kind in the United Kingdom; the museum, shaped like a pterosaur, opened in 2001 and contains an extensive collection of dinosaur fossils excavated on the island. Sandown Bay is wide and sheltered, and has good sands. The best known of the chines in the south is Blackgang Chine, said to be named after a gang of smugglers (smuggling was a way of life in the island for many centuries). It now contains a Fantasy Theme Park. To the south-east of the Needles, above Freshwater Bay, is Tennyson Down, with a monument to Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who lived nearby at Farringford. At Alum Bay, not far from the Needles, the rocks are of varied colours. They are friable, and it is traditional to scrape them into glass tubes in order to display the different colours of Alum Bay “sand”. Above the bay is the Needles Pleasure Park and the Old Battery, a Victorian fort. The Isle of Wight Steam Railway, using the trains that formerly served the island, runs between Havenstreet and Wootton. The island has many picturesque villages, pre-eminent among which, and extremely popular with sightseers, is Godshill.

VI.

Economy

Dairy farming and fruit and vegetable growing are of some importance. Fishing takes place from Bembridge; at Newtown, oysters and other shellfish are gathered. Crabs and lobsters are caught off the south coast.

Shipbuilding at Cowes is an old-established industry, and there are a number of companies involved in high-technology marine production (from hovercraft to passenger ferries). More than 2,000 people work in this industry, which produces an annual net product of approximately £100 million. There is a tradition of aircraft construction, and the Pilatus Britten-Norman Islander and Trilander aircraft were developed on the island. GKN Westland Aerospace is a major supplier to aircraft manufacturers, and one of the country's major suppliers of advanced composite and metallic structures. High-technology industries include the development of radar systems. However, most of the workforce is employed in the service sector, especially in tourism. Near Newport is Parkhurst Prison, one of the country's top security jails, which is also a source of employment. The island is served by passenger ferries and hovercraft, and by car ferries, which ply from Portsmouth to Ryde or Fishbourne, from Southampton to Cowes, and from Lymington to Yarmouth. An electric train service runs from Ryde to Shanklin, and there are also buses and taxis; services expand considerably in the summer.

VII.

History

Early inhabitants of the island were dinosaurs, some of whose fossilized bones have been discovered in recent times. Early Bronze Age settlements are known to have existed, but there are no remains of any significance. The future emperor Vespasian annexed Wight in ad 43, and traces of the Romans are to be found in the island, which they named Vectis. There are two Roman villas, one at Newport, and the other, of special interest because of its size and state of preservation, at Brading. The island was later settled by Jutes, and in 661 became part of Wessex. It was subsequently given to the king of Sussex. By 998 it had been adopted by the Danes as their headquarters. After the Norman Conquest, William I, the Conqueror, gave the island to William Fitz-Osborn, who was probably responsible for building Carisbrooke Castle. It later reverted to the Crown, but was granted by Henry I to Baldwin de Redvers, in whose family it remained until 1293, when Edward I bought it for 6,000 marks. During the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, the Isle of Wight was constantly harried by the French. In 1377 they sacked and burned the towns of Yarmouth and Francheville on the western side of the island, and destroyed Newport so thoroughly that it was uninhabited for two years thereafter. Francheville was rebuilt, and renamed Newtown. A French landing force arrived in 1419, but was repulsed. In 1545 a large fleet of French ships came to the eastern side of the island, and launched an attack which resulted in considerable damage in the area of Brading, and as a result of this raid, a series of forts was built at Cowes, Yarmouth, Freshwater, and Sandown. During the English Civil War, the island strongly supported Parliament. Charles I was a prisoner in Carisbrooke Castle from 1647 to 1648; his children, the Princess Elizabeth (who died there) and the Duke of Gloucester, were also confined in the castle in 1650.