Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Location | Isle of Wight |
---|---|
Grid reference | SZ473915 |
Interest | Biological |
Area | 395 hectare |
Notification | 1986 |
Location map | Natural England |
Parkhurst Forest is a woodland to the north-west of Newport, Isle of Wight, England.
The site is partly a site of special scientific interest. It consists of ancient woodland, relict heathland and plantation woodland. The woodland is freehold owned and managed by Forestry England. It is 395 hectares in area and the second largest forest on the Isle of Wight after Brighstone Forest. It is open to the public.
It is much used as recreational land and is a haven for wildlife including the red squirrel and many species of bird such as garden warbler, nightjar, woodcock, green, great spotted woodpecker and long eared owl.
An industrial area is located off Forest Road within the forest itself. Factories were located in this way during the Second World War to avoid German bombers. One of these factories, a former aircraft hangar, became the printworks for J. Arthur Dixon, the eponymous manufacturer of greetings cards and postcards. [1]
James I hunted deer in the forest. There have been sightings of wild deer reported on the Isle of Wight.
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest and second-most populous island of England. It is in the English Channel, between two and five miles off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. The island has resorts that have been holiday destinations since Victorian times, and is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland and chines. The island is part of the historic county of Hampshire. It is designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island county off the south coast of England. It is in the civil parish of Newport and Carisbrooke, The town is slightly north of the centre of the island. It has a quay at the head of the navigable section of the River Medina, which flows northwards to Cowes and the Solent. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 25,844.
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featuring in the Domesday Book.
In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 is likely to have developed naturally.
Wootton Bridge is a large village, civil parish and electoral ward with about 3,000 residents on the Isle of Wight, first recorded around the year 1086. The parish also contains the settlement of Wootton.
Wootton Creek is a tidal estuary that flows into the Solent on the north coast of the Isle of Wight. The estuary has also been known in the past as "Fishbourne Creek", "Wootton River" and "Wootton Haven".
Brighstone Forest is located in the southwest of the Isle of Wight. It is the largest forest on the Isle of Wight, being just a few hectares larger than Parkhurst Forest. It is spread over a number of hilly ridges which form the backbone of the Isle of Wight. From west to east the ridges are Chessell Down, Westover Down, Brighstone Down, Newbarn Down, Rowborough Down and Idlecombe Down. The main entrance is located at grid reference SZ 419849. The forest lies close to the small town of Brighstone, and is part of the Isle of Wight AONB.
Mottistone is a village on the Isle of Wight, located in the popular tourist area the Back of the Wight. It is located 8 Miles southwest of Newport in the southwest of the island, and is home to the National Trust's Mottistone Manor.
Parkhurst is a neighbourhood northwest of the town of Newport, Isle of Wight. It has few amenities, but a large residential population.
Shide is a small settlement on the Isle of Wight, some of which is considered to be in the Newport conurbation.
Merstone railway station, was an intermediate station situated on the edge of Merstone village on the line from Newport to Sandown incorporated by the Isle of Wight Railway in 1868
Shide railway station was at Shide, on the southern fringes of Newport, Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. It was an intermediate station on the line from Newport to Sandown, which was initially operated by the Isle of Wight Railway.
Queen's Bower is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight, England that has effectively merged with Winford and Apse Heath to create a village. It is classed as part of Sandown, with the postcode PO36. It is in the civil parish of Newchurch, Isle of Wight. Transport is provided by Southern Vectis bus route 8 to Sandown, which stops at Hairpin Bend on Alverstone Road once every hour throughout the day, which is right on the perimeter of Borthwood Copse.
Freshwater railway station was the westerly terminus and largest station of the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway, the platform being extended to accommodate the "Tourist Train", a non-stop service from Ventnor.
Cowes railway station was a railway station in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. It took pride in being the "prettiest station on the Garden Isle".
The Wilderness is a Site of Special Scientific Interest which is located on the Isle of Wight, England. It is close to the village of Rookley in the valley of the River Medina. The Wilderness is an area of wet woodland over a quite deep peat soil with adjacent areas of unimproved acid grassland and wet grassland. The SSSI covers an area of 12.59 hectares, the boundaries being reset in 1984 to exclude an area of grassland which had been artificially improved.
Forest Side is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.
St Paul's Church, Newport is a parish church in the Church of England located in Barton, Isle of Wight and Newport, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom.
Carisbrooke Priory was an alien priory, a dependency of Lyre Abbey in Normandy. The priory was situated on rising ground on the outskirts of Carisbrooke close to Newport on the Isle of Wight.
John Arthur Dixon was the British founder of the eponymous manufacturer of greetings cards and postcards.