Mersley

Mersley Garlic Farm

Mersley is a farming hamlet on the Isle of Wight. Mersley is in Newchurch Parish, and is adjacent to the village of Newchurch itself. Mersley is home to a large garlic farm which is part of the Isle of Wight Garlic Festival in nearby Newchurch, held annually since 1983 and now drawing 25,000 visitors a year. ^[1] This garlic farm has also been investigated for inappropriate pesticide use in the past. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

Potter Molly Attrill worked out of a converted barn in Mersley from 1982 to 2014. ^[7]

Name

The name means 'the woodland clearing or meadow belonging to a man or family called Madoc(k)', from originally Welsh Madoc(k) and Old English lēah. Mersley Down has the same origin, named after Mersley.

~1250: Maddokesley

~1270: Madekeslie

16th century: Markesley

1769: Messly, Messly Down ^[8]

Archaeological Interest

Mersley is the subject of archaeological interest because of findings of Roman pottery in the area. Earthenware and crockery were discovered at the Garlic Farm in the 1970s and 80s. ^{[9] [10]} Ridges on nearby Mersley Down ^[11] might be terraces, suggesting the previous presence of a Roman vineyard. ^[12] There is evidence of a possible earthwork enclosure on a farm in Mersley. ^[13]

On Mersley Down

There is a chalk pit on Mersley Down. ^[14]

References

1. The Isle of Wight Garlic Festival
2. Pesticide Incident Report 1999/2000 Archived 2007-06-10 at the Wayback Machine , Health and Safety Executive.
3. Pesticide Incidents Report 2000/2001 Archived 2007-06-10 at the Wayback Machine , Health and Safety Executive.
4. Garlic baron bounces back, James Arnold, BBC News, 24 July 2002.
5. Mersley Farm, Isle of Wight, Lords Hansard text for 20 Dec 2000.
6. Mersley Farm, Isle of Wight, Lords Hansard text for 15 Dec 1999.
7. "About Molly Attrill" . Retrieved 31 October 2016.
8. Mills, A.D (1996). The Place-Names of the Isle of Wight. Shaun Tyas.
9. Trott, K., 2002, The evaluation excavation at Mersley Farm, Newchurch, Proc Isle of Wight Nat Hist Archaeol Soc 16, 95-112.
10. ROMAN WIGHT, Malcolm Lyne
11. Mersley Down pictures,Megalithic Portal ^{[ permanent dead link ]}.
12. IRON AGE VINEYARDS ON MERSLEY DOWN ? Archived 2007-08-19 at the Wayback Machine , Archive of Monthly News Items As previously featured in the History Centre, Isle of Wight History Centre Archived 2007-08-04 at the Wayback Machine , January 2000.
13. An assessment of LIDAR for archaeological use Archived 2007-07-17 at the Wayback Machine , David Motkin, formerly with the Isle of Wight Council Archaeology Service, AERIAL ARCHAEOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP Annual Meeting, Aberdeen University, 5–7 September 2000.
14. DUXMORE CHALK PIT, MERSLEY DOWN, NEWPORT ^{[ permanent dead link ]}, Isle of Wight Unitary Development Plan, Appendix E.

50°40′45″N1°12′56″W / 50.67917°N 1.21556°W / 50.67917; -1.21556