Niton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Niton and Whitwell, on the Isle of Wight, England. It is west of Ventnor, with a population of 2,082. It has two pubs, several churches, a pottery workshop/shop, a pharmacy, a busy volunteer-run library, a medical centre and two local shops including a post office. The post office includes a pub and café that serves as a local meeting place. The village also offers a primary school with a co-located pre-school and nursery.
Niton village is split in half by a break in the inner cliff of the Undercliff, through which passes the main road. Upper Niton lies in a hollow and is set around a crossroads.
The lower part of the village, below the inner cliff and above Reeth Bay, is known as Niton Undercliff, and was a small fishing hamlet up until the 19th century. This part of Niton then flourished in Victorian times due to the popularity of Ventnor as a health resort, and many mansions and holiday cottages were built there.
Mount Cleves House was originally constructed in the late 1700s, and substantially remodelled in the early 1800s. Its residents included a Mr Kirkpatrick who owned the Isle of Wight Bank at the time and the owner of the Mortimer Foundry in Newport.[2]
The road along the Undercliff continues east towards Ventnor, but a major landslip in February 2014 has closed it to vehicular traffic between Niton and Ventnor, although it remains open for walkers and riders. The Undercliff at Niton includes the most southerly point of the Isle of Wight, St. Catherine's Point and St. Catherine's Lighthouse. That is also where the Navtex transmitting station is located.
The source of the Eastern Yar is in the parish, just north of the village.[3]
Prehistoric lithic implements dating to the lower Palaeolithic constitute the oldest evidence of occupation of the area by hominids at some point in the early to mid Pleistocene. These are namely Acheulean handaxes, that have been discovered on the Undercliff coastline beneath the village. Later prehistoric findspots show evidence of mesolithic and neolithic activity.
Bronze Ageround barrows are situated at several points on St Catherine's Down. These were used as burial monuments and perhaps territorial markers by Bronze Age communities. The historical parish boundary with Chale to the north follows these barrows, tentatively suggesting this is an ancient boundary between neighbouring communities that has persisted. Further Bronze Age evidence has been found at St Catherine's Point.
Close to Niton is the sheltered and remote Puckaster Cove, which was once proposed to have been used by Greek and Phoenician traders during the Bronze Age.[5] Although this is not widely accepted and little evidence exists to support the claim.
Evidence of Roman and Iron Age occupation has been found at St Catherine's Point, which may have been the site of a Roman military outpost, most likely a beacon or signal station.[6] Some of these finds include middens, with one containing the skeletal remains of a young girl.
On 1 April 1933 the parish of Whitwell was merged with Niton. On 1 December 1980, the new parish was renamed to "Niton & Whitwell".[7] In 1931 the civil parish of Niton (prior to the merge) had a population of 868.[8]
Niton lighthouse
St Catherine's Lighthouse
St. Catherine's Lighthouse was bombed in World War II, receiving a direct hit on the boiler house that killed three lighthouse keepers, Principal Keeper R T Grenfell, Assistant Keeper C. Tompkins and Assistant Keeper W.E. Jones.[9] The lighthouse itself was only slightly damaged, its lens only being chipped; the same lens is still used today. St. Catherine's Lighthouse was automated in 1997 with the keepers leaving the lighthouse on 30 July.[9]
Niton villageNiton, with St Catherine's Down behind
Marconi used Knowles Farm in Niton for radio experiments, when he was living on the island in the late 1890s and early 1900s. In January 1901, he transmitted radio signals a record 186 miles from there to his Lizard Radio Telegraph Station at the southern tip of Cornwall. The farm has a stone into which is cut the inscription, "This is to commemorate that Marconi set up a wireless experimental station here in A.D. 1900". While in Niton, Marconi stayed at the Royal Sandrock Hotel, which no longer exists.
A ship-to-shore radio station was established in 1900, and Niton Radio (callsign GNI) was maintained as a coastal radio station known to yachtmasters. It was featured in a British Telecom International information film. It finally closed, along with the rest of the coastal radio network, in 1997.[10] The Navtex transmitter at St. Catherine's Lighthouse is still in operation as of 2013 (Navtex is a shore-to-ship service). For the purpose of extended Shipping forecasts, the Met Office uses Niton as the name of the forecast area covering the Atlantic from FitzRoy, North to Irish Sea and East to Thames.[11]
Transport
Southern Vectis bus route 6 serves the village on its way between Newport and Ventnor.[12] During the summer, the Island Coaster also runs through the village.[13]
The Isle of Wight is an island, English county and unitary authority in the English Channel, 2 to 5 miles off the coast of Hampshire, across the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island in England. Referred to as "The Island" by residents, the Isle of Wight has resorts that have been popular holiday destinations since Victorian times. It is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland, and chines. The island is historically part of Hampshire. The island is designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Ventnor is a seaside resort town and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, eleven miles (18 km) from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the sea. The higher part is referred to as Upper Ventnor ; the lower part, where most amenities are located, is known as Ventnor. Ventnor is sometimes taken to include the nearby and older settlements of St Lawrence and Bonchurch, which are covered by its town council. The population is 5,567 according to the 2021 Census
St Lawrence is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ventnor, on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, in southern England. It is located to the west of the town of Ventnor, in the Undercliff, which is subject to landslips. The Undercliff lies between the original high cliff and the sea, formed over thousands of years, since the last Ice Age, from accumulated landslips. Several rocky coves can be accessed from the coastal path, which affords fine views of some prominent Victorian villas, set in a wooded landscape below the great rock wall of the original sea cliff: Woody Bay, Mount Bay and Orchard Bay. The area of the parish was around 329 acres (133 ha) in size. In 1931 the parish had a population of 329. On 1 April 1933 the parish was abolished and merged with Ventnor.
Wroxall is a village and civil parish in the central south of the Isle of Wight.
Whitwell is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Niton and Whitwell, on the south of the Isle of Wight, England, approximately 5 kilometres north-west of Ventnor, the village's nearest town. In addition to this, it is about five minutes away from its neighbouring small villages of Godshill and Niton. According to 2001 census data, the total population of the village was 578. There is a variety of stone and thatched housing, as well as some more modern housing, the most recent of which was completed in 2006.
Chale is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight of England, in the United Kingdom. It is located three kilometres from Niton in the south of the Island in the area known as the Back of the Wight. The village of Chale lies at the foot of St. Catherine's Down.
St Catherine's Point is the southernmost point on the Isle of Wight. It is close to the village of Niton and the point where the Back of the Wight changes to the Undercliff of Ventnor.
St. Catherine's Down is a chalk down on the Isle of Wight, located near St Catherine's Point, the southernmost point on the island. The Down rises to 240 metres at its highest point, between the towns of Niton and Chale. Upon the hill is St. Catherine's Oratory, which is a stone lighthouse built in the 14th century by Walter De Godeton. It is the second oldest, and only surviving, medieval lighthouse in the British Islands: only the Roman lighthouse at Dover is older.
Bonchurch is a small village in the civil parish of Ventnor, to the east of the town of Ventnor, now largely connected to the latter by suburban development, on the southern part of the Isle of Wight, England. One of the oldest settlements on the Isle of Wight, it is situated on The Undercliff adjacent to the Bonchurch Landslips Site of Special Scientific Interest. The main village is backed by a cliff to the north, with the Upper Bonchurch section on the clifftop halfway up St Boniface Down on the main A3055 road.
Chillerton is a village between Newport and Chale in the Isle of Wight in southern England. Chillerton is in the middle of a farming community. It is in the civil parish of Chillerton and Gatcombe, along with nearby Gatcombe; the parish had a total population of 422 at the 2011 census.
The A3055 is an A-Class Road on the Isle of Wight in Southern England. It forms the Southern portion of the circular around-the-Island A-class loop, the northern section being the A3054. The stretch along the south-west coast of the Island is formed by the Military Road.
Luccombe is a hamlet a short distance south of Shanklin, on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England.
Blackgang is a village on the south-western coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It is best known as the location of the Blackgang Chine amusement park which sits to the south of St Catherine's Down.
Wightbus was a bus operator on the Isle of Wight, established and owned by the Isle of Wight County Council. It operated a network of thirteen local bus services running across the island, mostly services which would not have been viable for the island's dominant commercial operator, Southern Vectis, to operate.
Puckaster is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight, England. Puckaster is on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight, south of Niton, between St. Catherine's Point and Binnel.
Bierley is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight, UK. Bierley is in the south of the Isle of Wight, north of Niton and 0.7 miles to the west of Whitwell. Bierley is at the corner of Kingates Lane and Newport Road.
Binnel Bay is a bay on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies between the villages of St. Lawrence and Niton. It faces south towards the English Channel, and is just under one mile (1.6 km) in length. It stretches from Binnel Point in the east to Puckaster Cove in the west.
The Undercliff, Isle of Wight, England is a tract of semi-rural land, around 5 miles (8.0 km) long by 0.25–0.5 miles (0.40–0.80 km) wide, skirting the southern coast of the island from Niton to Bonchurch. Named after its position below the escarpment that backs this coastal section, its undulating terrain comprises a mix of rough pasture, secondary woodland, parkland, grounds of large isolated houses, and suburban development. Its sheltered south-facing location gives rise to a microclimate considerably warmer than elsewhere on the island. Although inhabited, the Undercliff is an area prone to landslips and subsidence, with accompanying loss of property over time. Settlements along the Undercliff, from west to east, are: lower Niton, Puckaster, St Lawrence, Steephill, the town of Ventnor, and Bonchurch.
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