Kelly's Directory (1886) - Whitwell

Whitwell is a parish in the East Medina liberty and rural deanery and archdeaconry of the Isle of Wight and diocese of Winchester, 4 miles west from Ventnor and 8 south-by-east from Newport. The church is formed from two ancient chapels dedicated respectively to the Blessed Virgin Mary & St, Rhadegund, and is a stone building in the Norman style, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle and low square embattled tower at the west end of the south aisle containing 3 bells, and contains some fine stained windows: it has been re-seated and greatly improved, and the churchyard has been enlarged: the church is said to have been built and endowed by De Estur, Lord of Gatcombe. The register dates from 1678, but there are churchwardens' accounts from the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £186, in the gift of and held since 1867 by the Rev. Robert Bennett Oliver M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge. Charities of £4 yearly are for bread. There is a Preventive Station in this parish. The first mention of Whitwell is found in the roll of landowners under the Countess Isabella de Fortibus, where de Estur, one of the lords of Gatcombe, is said to hold the manor of Whitwell in demesne. The principal landowners are the Misses Cheape, James Cope esq. J.P. and the Hon. Evelyn Cornwallis Anderson Pelham, who is lord of the manor. The soil is a strong loam; subsoil, chalk and some good freestone for building. The chief crops are wheat, barley, and oats. The area is 1,907 acres of land; rateable value, £4,715; the population in 1881 was 706.

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