Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2007/January 2008 | Page 40

life

ISLAND HISTORY

Isle of Wight was a
smugglers haven

T

he Isle of Wight plays a notable
part in the story of smuggling
in England in the 18th and 19th
centuries, which is a tale as rich and
colourful as the smuggled silk stockings
sewn into the lining of a ladies petticoat.
Smuggling started in Britain in about

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1300, when a customs duty was placed
on the export of wool, which was in
great demand in Europe. By the 15th
century, it’s clear that wool was being
smuggled from the Island to France,
where it fetched a much higher price.
Smuggling became known as ‘Owling’,

after the owl-like noises made by
smugglers to communicate with each
other. Its practitioners preferred to call it
‘free-trade’, and as this trade became more
profitable, port officials were given bribes,
allowing more smuggling to take place.
But as the stakes grew higher, the threat of
serious violence began to attach itself to
smuggling, as gangs armed themselves to
escape non-compliant customs enforcers.
By the 18th century smuggling was
rampant in southern England. High
taxes on tobacco, wine, spirits and tea
from mainland Europe were imposed
to finance wars with France and in
America. Low wages and the high
price of these ‘luxury goods’ created a
popular and profitable black market, an
opportunity seized upon by many poor
fishermen and sailors. In some parts of
the country, whole communities became
involved in the illegal trade. For most
of the 18th century, two-thirds of the
Island’s population were reckoned to be
involved in the smuggling of brandy, tea,
tobacco and silks. All classes, from the
gentry downwards, were on board and
plenty of customs officials were happy
to turn a blind eye for a backhander.
The Government was incensed about the
loss of revenue caused by smuggling, and
in 1779, in response to estimates of £7
million lost each year, Parliament stiffened
the anti-smuggling laws. On the Island,
Cowes was the centre for anti-smuggling
operations. Although some battles at
sea were successful for the authorities,
the large and well-armed smuggling
ships were able to move to less protected
areas of the Island, or to ports where
customs officials were easier to bribe.
The chines, the remains of deep-cut
river valleys which lead down to the sea,
provided excellent landing spots on the
Island, because most featured a safe
beach on the coast, and a secure path
inland, hidden from view by dense trees
and bushes. Blackgang Chine, although
wild and desolate, had high cliffs that
gave the receivers on land a clear sight of
approaching smuggling ships. Contraband
was hauled up the cliffs in tubs on ropes.
The Monks Bay area was another
popular landing site, and in Totland Bay
in 1817, a violent confrontation with a
gang left two customs officers injured
before the smugglers escaped with the
contraband, which was hidden in the
belfry at Freshwater parish church.

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