St Lawrence, Isle of Wight

The Undercliff area of St Lawrence.

St Lawrence is a village on the south side of the Isle of Wight, in southern England. It is located to the west of Ventnor and many consider it a part of that town. St Lawrence is situated on the Undercliff, and is subject to regular landslips.

Features

St Lawrence Old Church.

"The Church at St Lawrence", engraving by Richard Godfrey of Long Acre, c.1780. Published in Worsley, Sir Richard, History of the Isle of Wight, London, 1781

RAF St.Lawrence. Remains of a buried reserve CH radar site

R. H. C. Ubsdell. "A sermon at St. Lawrence's churc, Isle of Wight"

St. Lawrence is much older than Ventnor. One of its churches dates from the 12th century; before the addition of a chancel in 1830, it was only 25 feet long and 11 feet wide, and was considered the smallest church in England. Although there are undoubtedly smaller chapels including the tiny church at Les Vauxbelets on Guernsey, this arguably remains the smallest to be built as a parish church — although this role has long since been supplanted by a larger church in the village - see St. Lawrence's Church, St. Lawrence. It also has a 15th-century baptismal font - a stoup that is about 500 years old and a series of 18th-century hat pegs. The piscina niche is almost the same age as the church.

The larger church at St. Lawrence dates from the 19th century, but has a 17th-century altar and a chest that dates from 1612.

There was a glassworks styled as Isle of Wight Glass by the Old Park Hotel in St. Lawrence but this is now closed. Nearby is the site of the Tropical Bird Park, which is also now closed. Close to the newer church is the site of the Rare Breeds Park, which closed while the A3055 road was closed to the west of the village due to landslip.

William Spindler

St Lawrence was in the nineteenth century the subject of an ambitious plan by a German developer, named William Spindler (who had made his fortune as a chemist in Berlin), to develop St Lawrence as a resort to rival Ventnor. He lived on the Isle of Wight from 1881 to his death in 1889 and is buried in Whitwell. During his time in St. Lawrence he had an enormous influence there and on the surrounding areas. He possibly alienated local opinion with a series of "improving pamphlets" criticising local perceived laziness. His legacy has been a number of grand Victorian houses, often semi-derelict and half hidden by woodland. Perhaps his most noticeable memorials are several huge pieces of masonry in Binnel Bay, which once formed a harbour which is all but inaccessible from the land. These have fallen into titanic ruins and are known locally as "Spindler's Follies".^[1]

Transport

It is linked to other parts of the Island by Wightbus bus route 16, serving Ventnor and Shanklin and intermediate villages.^[2] This service was withdrawn along with all other wight bus services in 2011. The village was served by a 2 hourly service by Southern vectis' route 6 between Ventnor and Newport until a landslip between St Lawrence and Niton in 2014. Since February 2014 Southern Vectis route 6 terminates at Ventnor Botanic Gardens with a more limited morning service between St Lawrence village and Ventnor.

References

↑ Lake House Design: William Spindler
↑ "Traveline - Wightbus route 16". traveline.org.uk. 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-04.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Lawrence, Isle of Wight.

Two walking Heritage Trails around St Lawrence, one around the village and the other along the coast

Ceremonial county of Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight Portal

Unitary authorities	Isle of Wight

Major settlements	Bembridge Brading Cowes East Cowes Freshwater Newport Ryde Sandown Shanklin Ventnor Yarmouth See also: List of civil parishes in Isle of Wight

Rivers	River Caul Bourne River Medina Newtown River Solent Wootton Creek Eastern Yar Western Yar

Topics	Buildings and Structures Culture Dinosaurs Education Geography History People Places Politics Schools Transport Visitor attractions

Settlements on the Isle of Wight

Towns	Brading Cowes East Cowes Newport Ryde Sandown Shanklin Ventnor Yarmouth

Civil parishes	Arreton Bembridge Brighstone Calbourne Chale Fishbourne Freshwater Gatcombe Godshill Gurnard Havenstreet and Ashey Lake Nettlestone and Seaview Newchurch Niton and Whitwell Northwood Rookley Shalfleet Shorwell St Helens Totland Wootton Wroxall

Other villages and hamlets	Adgestone Afton Afton Park Alum Bay Alverstone Alverstone Garden Village Apesdown Apse Heath Barton Bathingbourne Bierley Binfield Binstead Blackgang Blackwater Bonchurch Bouldnor Borthwood Bowcombe Branstone Brook Carisbrooke Chale Green Chessell Chillerton Cranmore Cross Lane Culver Down Downend Easton Egypt Point Elmfield Fairlee Five Houses Foreland Fields Forest Side Freshwater Bay Great Thorness Gunville Hale Common Hamstead Haylands Hillway Horringford Hulverstone Hunny Hill King's Quay Kingston Knighton Limerstone Little Atherfield Little Thorness Littletown Locksgreen Lowtherville Luccombe Marks Corner Mersley Merstone Moortown Morton Mottistone Nettlecombe Newbridge Newtown Ningwood Ninham Niton Undercliff Norton Norton Green Nunwell Oakfield Osborne Parkhurst Pondwell Porchfield Princelett Puckaster Puckpool Quarr Hill Queen's Bower Rew Street Rookley Green Roud Rowridge St Lawrence Sandford Seagrove Bay Shalcombe Shide Staplers Steephill Steyne Cross Thorley Thorley Street Thorncross Totland Bay Upper Ventnor Wellow Westridge Whippingham Whiteley Bank Winford Wootton Bridge Wootton Common Yafford Yarbridge Yaverland

See also	List of places on the Isle of Wight List of civil parishes on the Isle of Wight

Coordinates: 50°35′19″N 1°14′23″W / 50.58861°N 1.23972°W / 50.58861; -1.23972

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, December 27, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.