Whitwell, Isle of Wight

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Whitwell
White Well, after which the village was named. There are a total of 6 wells, painted in red across the village.
Whitwell shown within the Isle of Wight
Population	578 (2001 census)^[1]
OS grid reference	SZ520770
- London	95.13 miles, 153.1 km
Parish	Niton and Whitwell
Unitary authority	Isle of Wight
Ceremonial county	Isle of Wight
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	VENTNOR
Postcode district	PO38
Dialling code	01983
Police	Hampshire
Fire	Isle of Wight
Ambulance	Isle of Wight
European Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Isle of Wight
List of places: UK • England • Isle of Wight

Coordinates: 50°35′47″N 1°15′47″W / 50.596439, -1.26302

Whitwell is a small village located on the south of the Isle of Wight, 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, the latter of which, Whitwell forms a Civil Parish. 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.

Whitwell's small size has led it to become a very close-knit community with a range of amenities including a garage, a 700 year old church, the oldest pub on the island, dating back from the 15th century and a post office, which was recently re-located to a new premises inside the church bell tower.^[2] It is also the home of the Whitwell Motorcycle Club.^[3] A trout farm is located towards Nettlecombe, with three lakes covering 1.5 acres. The waters are well stocked with carp, roach and tench.^[4] Nettlecombe is the site of a lost medieval village.^[5]

Whitwell is named after the "White Well" inside the village, and pictured to the left. The well was visited by many during medieval times on pilgrimages, and now well dressing occurs annually each summer. Across Whitwell, six more old water standards can be seen. They were built in 1887 by William Spindler, a prominent figure in St Lawrence and his tomb now lies in Whitwell Graveyard.^[6] Half the cost of installing the wells was covered by William Spindler himself, the remainder by people of the village. The water was supplied by Mr Granville Ward from a spring on his land at Bierley.

1 Geography
2 Church
3 Amenities
4 Transport
5 Gallery
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Geography

Neighbouring towns, villages and places.^[7]

North-West: Kingston	North: Godshill	North-East: Shanklin
West: Chale	Whitwell	East: Bonchurch
South-West: Niton	South: St Lawrence	South-East: Ventnor

Whitwell is located in the south of the Isle of Wight. The nearest town is Ventnor, about 5 kilometres South of the village. Niton is the nearest village about 2 miles away, which together, Whitwell and Niton form a civil parish. Also close to the village, is Nettlecombe, slightly to the north east. The entire village is surrounded mainly by fields and classed as an 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, forming part of the Isle of Wight AONB.' The relief is mainly flat, with some slight hills. With the villages co-ordinates at N 50.60223 W 1.29967, its climate is warm, with a sea breeze coming in from the coast. It bennefits from Ventnor's microclimate as a result of being in a sheltered location on the cliff of the island's south coast. This offers the village more sunny days than the much of the British Isles, and fewer frosts.

The Eastern Yar, originating in the north-east of the island, extends an infant tributary to Whitwell and at one point, a stone sheep wash is still present. The River Yar Trail was set up on 24 May 2002, with a milestone outside the White Horse in Whitwell.

Whitwell's built environment is characterised by its mixture of stone and thatched housing. There is a mixture of single and two-story houses, with most single story housing on Bannock Road, recently developed with a small estate of bungalows. Terraced housing features in the center of the village. The most notable house in the village is The Old Rectory, close to the church and was formerly a Bed and Breakfast.

[edit] Church

Whitwell Church

The Church of St. Mary and St. Radegund in Whitwell is located on rising ground at the South end of the village and adjoins the rectory.

Various parts of the church date back to different centuries. Various portions of the church were constructed in the 12th, 13th 15th and 16th centuries. However, the church has some more modern parts as well.

The church consists of a nave which has a south aisle of three bays, a chancel with south aisle in alignment with the east wall, a western tower and a south porch. Looking at the church, it is evident that the original church did not have aisles, and had a narrow chancel, divided by an arch. A narrow south aisle was added in the 13th century which was later widened in the 16th century. The early chapel was dedicated to St. Radegund, and belonging to the parish of Gatcombe. The thirteenth-century south aisle with its chancel was added as a chapel-of-ease to Godshill. The south pillar of the chancel arch is made of a short column and a huge capital. The pulpit and the communion table in the south chancel are Jacobean. The church bell now at the west end of the middle aisle is sixteenth-century.^[8]

On Monday 16 April 2007 Whitwell's post office re-opened in a new location, in the village's local church. It is the first of its kind in the country, since it is located inside the church's bell tower. It is open every Monday and Friday between 9.30am and 2pm.^[9]

The idea to locate the new post office inside the church came from the church's vicar. The vicar suggested that the post office should opened in the church after no other suitable location was found.

[edit] Amenities

The village used to have a wide range of facilities used by local residents. However over the years, many of these have gone. These include two shops, a playgroup, its Methodist church, the forge, a nursing home and youth hostel. The facilities left include:

The White Horse

Post Office The village used to have its own, family owned post office. This was closed in 2006, however later in 2007 was relocated onto a new premises inside the church.
Pub The White Horse in the village centre is a popular pub across the island. It suffered a fire in 1987, then again 20 years later in 2007 which saw its temporary closure. Prior to the two fires, the pub was thatched, however after the fire in 2007, a tiled roof was built, in an attempt to prevent future fires. The pub has recently received a 'scores on the doors' rating of 5 stars from the Isle of Wight Council.^[10]
Garage The village's garage, named Whitwell garage is one of the only garages left on the island to still sell petrol (excluding supermarkets). It also sells cars, MOTs and servicing, specialising in Ford.
The Village Hall is used to host a variety of activities, as well as the Whitwell Village Show, which takes place annually each summer.

[edit] Transport

Rail

An old section of railtrack, leading to Whitwell Station.

Whitwell Station, on the Ventnor West branch of the Isle of Wight Central Railway, was opened along with the other stations on the branch on 20 July 1897. It was equipped with a passing loop, two platforms, a signal box and a substantial station building. Located at the top of Nettlecombe Lane, the station is located close to the village and the community it was intended to serve, unlike any other stations on the line.

However the track has now closed, and the waiting rooms have now been converted into two cottages and the old up platform has been restored. The site is now a popular tourist destination and is used for holiday accommodation.^[11] An old railway tunnel just outside the village is used as a mushroom farm.^[12] Another tunnel is still present on Nettlecombe Lane (pictured to the left) leading to the station.

Bus

Southern Vectis bus route 6 links the village with the towns of Newport and Ventnor, including intermediate towns.^[13] The seasonal 'Island Coaster' also runs through the village during the summer.^[14] The village was previously served by route 19, linking Ventnor to Newport via Rookley, however this route was discontinued after a timetable revision on 1 October 2006 when it was merged with the main route 6. Wightbus and Southern Vectis route 58 take students to school.

Roads

A Map of Whitwell.

There are only three roads exiting the village, Ventnor Road leading to Ventnor, Kemming Road leading to Niton and the main High Street which leads to Godshill.

The main road leading to Ventnor has recently been widened and resurfaced to cope with the larger number of cars using it, however this has caused controversy with nearby residents with reports of many cars speeding through the village. A sign was later put up, warning motorists if their speed exceeded the 30 mile per hour speed limit. More were later put up across other parts of the village.^[15]

Walking

The River Yar trail runs through the village with the milestone outside the village Pub. In addition to this, briddleways are maintained, running to nearby villages Wroxall and Niton. Future plans could see a pedestrian link from Whitwell to Niton along the main road.

[edit] Gallery

Whitwell village centre	Whitwell Chapel, recently converted into a house.	Bannock Road, with relatively new housing.	Whitwell Garage, one of the few on the island still to sell petrol.
Stone, thatched housing in Whitwell.	The River Yar, one of it's infant tributaries extends to Whitwell.	A stone sheepwash in Whitwell is still present.	The village's only telephone box. It was recently moved from it's old location outside the village's Post Office when it closed. It is now opposite Whitwell Chapel.