St. Catherine's Down
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| St Catherine's Down | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 237 metres (778 ft) |
| Location | Isle of Wight, England |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 196 |
| OS grid reference | SZ493773 |
| Listing | (none) |
St. Catherine's Down is a chalk down on the Isle of Wight. It is located close to St Catherine's Point, the southernmost point on the island, and rises to 240 metres at its highest point, between the towns of Niton and Chale.
On this hill is St. Catherine's Oratory, locally known as the "Pepperpot", a stone lighthouse built in the 1300s by Walter De Godeton. It is the second oldest lighthouse in the British Islands. Only the Roman-built lighthouse at Dover is older.
Reportedly, de Godeton was found guilty for having scavenged wine, belonging to the Church, from the wreck of the St. Marie of Bayonne in Chale Bay. He was ordered to make amends, ubder threat of excommunication by building this lighthouse. Fires were lit in the lighthouse tower to warn ships at sea of the presence of the coast.
There was an attached chapel at one time, but it has been long demolished. There is a Bronze Age barrow nearby which was excavated in the 1920s.
A replacement lighthouse was begun in 1785. However it was never completed. Locally this half finished building is known as the "salt pot".
St. Catherine's Point is often foggy, so it is not the best location for a lighthouse. There is a lighthouse built after the wreck of the Clarendon in 1837 to the west of Niton at the foot of the Undercliff.
The northern end of St. Catherine's Down is host to the Hoy Monument. The Hoy Monument was created by Michael Hoy in 1814 to commemorate the visit of the Russian Tsar to Great Britain. There is an 1857 plaque at the base of the Hoy Monument that commemorates the soldiers killed in the Crimean War. The Hoy Monument was repaired in 1992 at a cost of £85,000, which was donated.
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