Niton, Isle of Wight

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Niton is a village on the Isle of Wight, near Ventnor with a thriving population of approximately 3000 supporting two pubs, several churches, a butcher, a pharmacy and 3 local shops including a post office.

St Catherine's Lighthouse circa 1910

St Catherin's Lighthouse was bombed in worldwar 2 on a direct hit on the boiler house killing three lighthouse keepers. Luckily the lighthouse escaped with only a chip on the lens and they still have the same lens today.

1 Geography
2 Niton Church
3 History
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Niton village is split into two halves by a break in the inner cliff large enough to house the main road through Niton. Upper Niton lies in a hollow and is set around a crossroads. The lower part of the village, below the inner cliff is often known as Niton Undercliff, which was a small fishing hamlet until the 19th Century. This part of Niton flourished in Victorian times due to the popularity of Ventnor as a health resort and many mansions and holiday cottages were built here. The road on the Undercliff continues east from Niton towards Ventnor. The Undercliff at Niton includes the most southerly point of the Isle of Wight, St. Catherine's Point and St. Catherine's Lighthouse.

The source of the Eastern Yar is in the parish, a little to the north of the village.

[edit] Niton Church

Niton church has a sixteenth-century tower and squat spire. The church has both Norman and mediaeval walls. The chancel is of the Decorated period, and has a rich modern reredos. There is a porch from the 14th century and the large Norman font that has a band of moulding and pointed arches on round pillars is around 700 years old. The chancel is 15th century.

On the wall can be found a memorial portrait by John Flaxman, depicting a woman holding pelicans in her hand in relief.

The registers, which date from 1560, show the following entry:

July the 1st, Anno Domini 1675. Charles II, king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, etc., came safely ashore at Puckaster, after he had endured a great and dangerous storm at sea.

In front of the porch is a modern Celtic cross inserted in the four steps of the old churchyard cross. Near the Celtic cross a marble monument covers the grave of Edward Edwards, (d. 1886) the pioneer of the public library movement.

[edit] History

Marconi used Knowles Farm in Niton as a location for radio experiments when he was living on the Isle of Wight around the late 1800s and early 1900s. There is a stone at Knowles Farm 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^[1] in Undercliff.