George Brannon

“ It indicates little that is remarkable at a distance; but a truly sublime effect is produced when the stranger is placed under its awful roof with his back against the concave chalk: for he then sees above him a magnificent Arch two hundred feet in height and overhanging the beach at least one hundred and eighty!—yet so true, nay, even elegant is the sweep, that it rather resembles the stupendous work of Art, than the casual production of Nature. ”

“ In short, nothing can exceed the gaiety of the scene, when the weather is at all fine: as it is made the occasion of a general festivity by the inhabitants—and resorted to as a holiday by great numbers from Newport, and the eastern parts of the island.
The Shore presents, when the tide is at its lowest ebb, a wide expanse of sand, stretching for miles both eastward and westward of the Pier, preserving upon an average the breadth of a mile: here and there interspersed with ledges of rock, and the banks beautifully feathered with groves and shrubberies. ”

“ If we sail to the eastward on leaving Cowes Harbour, the first objects demanding our attention are Norris Castle and the royal Palace of Osborne, with their extensive lawns sweeping to the shore, shaded by numerous groups of noble trees. After passing the Creeks of King's Quay and Wootton, we have a partial sight of Binstead: and a most comprehensive view of the fashionable town of Ryde, just as we leave the Pier. Hence to St. Helen's the coast forms several beautiful bays, lined with gentlemen's seats and villas, hamlets, and luxuriant woods. ”

“ The village is most delightfully rural, and though it has several roomy lodging-houses, and two large hotels, still, from the bold variety of the ground, and the many shrubberies and clumps of fine elm and ash trees with which it is adorned, the dwellings are so hid from one another, that in almost every point of view it has the pleasing appearance of being but a small quiet hamlet. ”

“ The Wootton River winds beautifully among them, and beyond the whole the Solent Sea spreads its waters, which in clear weather is tinged with an azure more deep and beautiful than any I ever saw. The Hampshire land rises in a succession of hills quite lost at length in blue vapour. The inland view to the south is far from destitute of beauty, though less striking than the northern scene. The vale between the chalk range and the southern hills is seen in its full extent: and the southern hills themselves rise to a majestic height. ”

“ To return to Ryde or Newport over the downs from Brading, will be found exceedingly interesting to those strangers who delight in the contemplation of grand prospects, and a most fertile and well cultivated country:—having no objection at the same time to a hilly road as the price of their enjoyment, and which we call the most beautiful in the island. ”

“ We shall often see the prospect-tower of Fernhill peering above the masses of variegated foliage; and indeed the whole has much the air of a religious structure, enjoying one of those happy localities which distinguished such retreats of former days. The opposite banks of the river, or rather lake, are clothed with the finest oak-woods in the island, feathering from the very water's edge; and the whole neighbourhood presents the rich appearance of an extensive forest covering hill and dale. ”

“ It is impossible for any spot to be better adapted for a number of houses being built in a comparatively small compass: for the whole of the ground is so romantically tossed about by the sportive hand of Nature,—presenting here a lofty ridge of rocks, there a woody dell adorned with a purling stream or a limpid pool, that most of the houses are completely hid from each other's view. ”

“ Almost the whole extent of Freshwater Cliffs meets the eye at once: but there is no great difficulty in recognizing the most noted rocks, caves, &c. as we pass along. The various forms which are exhibited by those huge masses of chalk the Needles, as we approach and leave them, in connection with the beautiful precipices of Scratchell's Bay, form perhaps the most interesting circumstance of our voyage: the light-house seems placed on the very brink of the precipice: and the brilliant scenery of Alum Bay will appear to advantage, especially if it be a sunny afternoon. ”

“ This view is altogether picturesque and animated: for the foreground is exceedingly bold,—and the prospect of Sandown Bay and the sublime cliffs of Bembridge, give wonderful brilliancy and interest to the perspective.
As we advance, the scene becomes increasingly romantic, especially when we are about half-way through it: for the deep sides of the chasm so fold into one another as to exclude all prospect, and yet afford a great diversity of coloring, light, and shade ”

“ As the public are now excluded from the garden and pleasure-grounds, it is rather difficult to get a good view of the castle; the best places however are ... a lofty knoll or promontory on the opposite side of the road,—and a rocky mound near THE CAVE, which is in the face of the sea-cliffs, marked by a flag-staff; and there is, close by, a path to the beach. Half an hour's saunter would be quite sufficient to enable a visitor to judge of the beauty of the scene—which at one time procured it the title of Queen of the Undercliff. ”

“ Oct. 15, 1811.—Passed Lord Dysart's beautiful cottage: it stands at some distance from the shore, and has several distinct roofs, well thatched: stands at the head of a winding lawn, with a fine beech-grove, and richly-colored copse. The little parish-church of St. Lawrence, perhaps the smallest in England, stands on a knoll, and terminates the cultivated valley; immediately beyond which we entered upon a scene of the wildest grandeur and solemnity. Many of the ruinous precipices of the upper cliffs project in horizontal strata, yet have perpendicular rents. ”

“ Is an extremely pretty place, and still very populous, though much less so than formerly, when it enjoyed the consequence of a city, guarded by the only fortress in the island to which the inhabitants could fly for refuge in the moment of invasion: it rises on a hill opposite that on which stand the venerable ruins of the Castle: and in the intervening valley a beautiful stream winds its course towards Newport, sufficiently copious to turn several mills—the springs supplying water highly esteemed for its purity. ”

“ The fact of so many of the hills and downs being crowned with some far-seen object, such as a light-house, obelisk, or telegraph, must be a source of considerable interest to a traveller in the Isle of Wight, not only by their often giving an identity and attraction to many of those broad features of scenery which would otherwise be comparatively tame and monotonous, but also by enabling him to determine the bearings and situation of places in their vicinity. ”

“ The material of the shore is principally fine shingle, or very small pebbles, among which particles are frequently picked up, possessing a brilliancy that has gained for them the title of "Isle of Wight diamonds;" and though they may be comparatively of inferior value in point of intrinsic quality,—still, the interest taken in searching for them must prove a source of the most agreeable employment to those visitors whose health precludes any exercise of a more active nature. ”

“ From this circumstance, and some of the loftiest towers being enveloped in the most luxuriant ivy, the whole building has so venerable an air of antiquity, even when closely examined, that we can hardly suppose it to be the production of modern days: and enjoying too as it does an uncommonly fine position on the most northern hill of the island, its general aspect is truly magnificent in every point of view. It is scarcely necessary to add, that the castle commands a most interesting marine prospect. ”

“ Though the island has to boast of many passages of highly romantic and brilliant scenery, yet the predominant character of its landscapes is, as was hinted above, calculated to amuse, to delight, and promote cheerfulness, rather than to astonish or impress the spectator with feelings of awe by their stupendous grandeur ”

“ Newport is allowed by most travellers to be as clean and pretty a country-town as any in the kingdom. The houses are of a modern and respectable construction: the streets regular and well paved, with sufficient descent to be always clean; and two copious streams water it on the east and west.
Being closely surrounded by an amphitheatre of lofty downs, beautifully checquered by pasture and cultivation, cottages and villas,—the environs are of the most agreeable and inviting character, and the climate mild and salubrious ”

“ Having reached the beach, the visitor should take a short walk under the towering sandrock precipices which range to the right and left for several miles, before he enters the Chine. Nowhere on the coast of the island is there a more charming stretch of shore,—for the sand is of a cool dark color, firm enough for wheel-carriages and horses to be used by invalids, and therefore proves equally alluring to the aged as to the young, to enjoy salubrious exercise and recreation ”

“ A stranger should make his perambulation by first ascending the hill by the old carriage-road, passing several villas (see list) secluded by dense shrubberies and large trees; a circumstance little to be regretted, as their chief boast is the amenity of their location. But through the tall plantations on the right our eye will be delightfully attracted by the picturesque turrets of East Cowes Castle, and the surrounding beautiful grounds. At the pretty lodge-entrance to the castle, the road divides,—the left-hand branch running to Norris, the right to Osborne and Newport ”

“ The park of Appuldurcombe is extensive; and the soil being extremely rich, supports a great number both of deer and cattle,—the former of which is nowhere else to be found in the island. At the back of the mansion rises a lofty hill, whose sides are hung with groves of noble beech, interspersed with many venerable oaks. On the summit is an obelisk, originally seventy feet high, built of Cornish granite, to the memory of Sir Robert Worsley: but of late years it has suffered severely from the high winds, to the violence of which its elevated position renders it so exposed. ”

“ From almost every part of this down we gain the most splendid views; below, is the rich vale of Arreton, Newchurch, and Godshill: beyond is seen on the north, Portsmouth and the neighbouring anchorages, with the wooded heights above Southampton Water; eastward are the beautiful shores of Sandown Bay; to the west the prospect is continued far beyond the white cliffs of Freshwater, by the coasts of Hants and Dorset: and on the south expands the azure horizon of the boundless ocean. ”

“ Thus compassed by the sea and the best roads in the island, it extends from north to south about two miles and a half, by nearly two miles from east to west; enjoying the most delightful variety of scenery, from the simple picture of rural life to the grandeur of our naval glory, and the majesty of the ocean itself.
The quality of the soil differs very considerably; but the worst is well adapted for oak-plantations; and the thorough draining and other improvements now carrying on will make the whole admirably suited for agricultural pursuits, to which H.R.H. the Prince Consort is very partial. ”

“ This part of the Undercliff is at once picturesque and lively; there being just sufficient houses to give the scenery a cheerful aspect, without intrenching too much on the natural beauties of the place. ”

“ Passing the Old Pepper-rock, a picturesque detached mass at the foot of the chalk—we find ourselves under the noble promontory of MAIN-BENCH, where the precipices again rise to upwards, of six hundred feet in height: and being nearly perpendicular, present a truly sublime aspect, viewed either from above or below: while the constant washing of the waves at the lower part, by removing the looser particles of chalk, gives it much the appearance of having been built with vast blocks of masonry. ”

“ USEFUL HINTS TO STRANGERS
Purposing a visit to the shores of the Garden of England. They may arrange to breakfast comfortably at the usual hour in London—start by the rail-road, and reach either of the above ports at noon, or even earlier—steam-packets are in readiness to convey the passengers across, and stage-coaches and other vehicles await their arrival at Cowes and Ryde: our friends may then ride round one-half of the island, and return the next, or even the same night! ”

“ There has long been a tradition that Blackgang Chine was once the favorite retreat of a gang of pirates, and from that circumstance its name was derived.—Without disputing the fact of its having offered occasionally concealment and a safe depository to smugglers, or even pirates for a time,—it is equally, if not more probable, that it is indebted for its very expressive appellation to its sombre coloring, and the step-like appearance of the strata, if the word gang be admitted to have the same signification as it has in a ship. ”

“ A Progressive Change is evidently taking place in the boundary line of the coast—the sea making considerable invasions on the south side, which is exposed to the resistless currents of the ocean; while on the north it is found to be more gradually receding, from the accumulation of sand and shingle drifted and deposited by the less impetuous tides of the Solent Channel.—About Brixton, for instance, between Blackgang Chine and the Freshwater Cliffs, the loss of land has been estimated (from the successive removals of paths and hedges,) to exceed 200 feet in breadth in less than a century ”

“ A considerable village, about four miles from Chale, and five from Newport; it stands charmingly sheltered in a curve of the downs with a southern aspect; has a pretty church; and boasts of the finest old mansion in the island, called NORTHCOURT, built in the reign of James I. This venerable pile has lately been thoroughly repaired: a necessary operation by the bye that has stripped it for a few years of its greatest ornament—the rich drapery of ivy which invested its lofty gray walls and pinnacles: hills, clothed with hanging woods and plantations, rise boldly around it ”

“ The immediate neighbourhood of East Cowes has long been extremely beautiful, from being almost entirely covered with charming seats and villas, whose luxuriant groves and shrubberies give the scenery an uncommonly rich effect: and her Majesty having made this part of the island her marine residence, it now possesses a proud distinction in point of interest with the British public. ”