life
ISLAND HISTORY
Island Life Listed Buildings
We live in times where there is a club or organisation for everything so we should
hardly be surprised to learn that there is a Milestone Society.
It may come as a surprise to learn that
the Island has nearly two thousand
listed buildings. You would of course
be right to think of such structures as
Osborne House, Carisbrooke Castle
and Appuldurcombe that along with
twenty-three others are listed as Grade I
and saved for posterity.
Close behind come those other
constructions recorded as Grade II being
considered nearly as important as the
above but lacking some merit that is often
difficult to identify. As an example, St
Article by Jan Toms
Thomas’s church in Newport is a Grade
I building whereas Arreton and Hasely
Manors are Grade II. Fifty-six Island
buildings are registered in this category.
Most of our Island treasures however
are recorded as being Grade II, certainly
worthy of preservation but not on a
par with those above. Looking at the
following list you may wonder if you
have skipped a page and are now reading
about something totally different, for by
Photo: One of the Island's hidden architctural gems.
50
any stretch of the imagination the word
“building” would hardly seem to apply.
In 1921 the GPO held a competition
to design a telephone kiosk. The winner
was Mr Giles Gilbert Scott. It was so
well constructed however that it soon
proved too expensive to produce. After
considerable tinkering, in 1926 an
amended design was put forward that
eventually flooded our streets – the iconic
K6, the box that became synonymous
with British public facilities. One in the
High Street at Bembridge, one beside St
Andrews Church in Chale, one
in Lind Street Ryde and two in
Ventnor are officially listed.
At Shanklin, while sea
bathing became all the rage
either modesty or lack of
backbone deterred some from
taking a cold plunge and an
alternative was offered at
Fisherman’s Cottage at the
bottom of Shanklin Chine.
Seawater was brought ashore
and heated by means of a
fire under a copper tank then
poured into a marble bath so
that visitors could soak up the
benefits. In 1990 the brine bath
was removed from its original
location and placed at the foot
of Shanklin Chine, a Grade II
tribute to a bygone age.
On the subject of water,
several troughs, fountains
and pumps have been deemed
worthy of preservation. At the
top of Lake Fairway beside
the war memorial stands a
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