Kelly's Directory (1886) - Freshwater

Freshwater is an extensive parish in the liberty and rural deanery of West Medina, archdeaconry of the Isle of Wight and diocese of Winchester, 12 miles west from Newport, 14 south-west from Cowes and 2 south from Yarmouth in the extreme west of the island. The church of All Saints, a building of stone in the Norman style, consists of chancel, nave, transepts, north and south aisles, and square embattled tower containing 2 bells. The church was rebuilt and partly restored in 1876, at a cost of £3,000, which was raised by public subscriptions. The register dates from the year 1576. The living is a rectory, yearly value £710, with residence and 6 acres of glebe, in the gift of St. John's College, Cambridge, and held since 1839 by the Rev. John Frederick Isaacson B.D. late fellow and tutor of that college and honorary canon of Winchester. There are chapels for Wesleyans, Baptists and Bible Christians. Holme's charity of £9 18s 10d yearly, derived from consols left in 18th century, is for bread and partly given in Bibles and prayer books to the children of the National school. Freshwater is much resorted to in summer as a marine bathing place, on account of its pure atmosphere, its remarkable cliffs and caverns, and its beautiful land and sea views: it stands on an estuary formed by the mouth of the little river Yar, which, being at its source separated only by a narrow isthmus of pebbles from the small creek called Freshwater Gate, in the centre of Freshwater Bay, on the opposite coast, cuts off this angle of the island, which in consequence, was formerly called the Isle of Freshwater. There are two commodious hotels at Freshwater Bay, one at Alum Bay, and one at Totland Bay. Several enchanting situations within Weston manor and Norlands have been chosen as the sites of villas, among which are Westhill, Norton Lodge, Afton House, the Marina, Farringford House and Alum Bay Cottage. The cliffs, which bound the whole extent of Freshwater Bay, are of stupendous height, and afford beautiful views from their summits: the prospect from the Lighthouse, on the highest and extreme western point of the cliff, 600 feet perpendicular above the level of the sea, is exceedingly magnificent, and includes a full view of the Needles: on the other side, within a short distance west of the mouth of the Yar, where the estuary meets the sea, and nearly opposite Hurst Castle, on the Hampshire coast, these cliffs commence; from that point they skirt the length of Totland Bay and Alum Bay westward, gradually increasing in height till, at the lighthouse, they meet the ridge from the southern side; then stretching out into the sea, fell many years ago and totally disappeared; the remaining three rocks are tipped by a number of jagged points, resembling the grinders of an enormous jaw: the entire range of these cliffs, when viewed from the sea, is beautiful: in some places they are perpendicular, in others they project over the sea in an awe inspiring manner: they are frequented, particularly from May to August, by great numbers of sea birds, who deposit their eggs among the crevices of the shelving strata at a great height: the country people take the birds thus harbouring by the perilous expedient of descending by ropes fixed to iron bars driven into the ground, and while thus suspended beat them down with sticks as they fly out of their holes. Several caverns and deep chasms in these rocks seem to penetrate a considerable way within in them; in many places the issuing springs form small cascades of water rippling down to the sea. A very remarkable natural cave is situated near Freshwater Gate: the principal entrance forms a rugged segment of a circle, about 20 feet high and 35 wide; it runs into the rock about 120 feet: this entrance can only be approached at low water, and even them the jutting crags and lofty fragments of rock which obstruct the passage render the access very difficult. At some distance to the eastward, about 500 yards from the shore are two insulated rocks, through one of which the waves have formed an opening, resembling a picturesque arch. Some very extensive Government Forts have been erected here. Farringford House is the seat of Lord Tennyson D.C.L., M.A. the poet laureate. Lord Haytesbury is lord of the manor of Freshwater; Edwin Granville Ward esq. of the manor of Weston; Lord Tennyson of the manors of Priors and Kings; Benjamin Cotton esq. of the manor of West Afton. The principal landowners are the lords of the manors. The soil is sand and gravel; subsoil, gravel. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats &c. The area is 4,835 acres of land and 479 foreshore and water; rateable value, £13,994; the population in 1881 was 2,809, including 331 in the fortifications.

[Description(s) from Kelly's Directory of the Isle of Wight (1886)]