32-545: Farringford House , in the village of Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight , was the home of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson , from 1853 until his death in 1892. The main house dates from 1806 with gothic embellishments and extensions added from the 1830s. Of particular historical importance is the second library built by his wife Emily Tennyson in 1871 with a play room below connected by a turreted winding staircase. The grounds are laid to lawn, rose borders and informal planting. Evidence remains of Tennyson's planting schemes together with
64-455: A Site of Special Scientific Interest , and a large part of the Marshes is also a Local Nature Reserve called Afton Marshes. At the western end of Freshwater Bay on a bluff are the remains of Fort Redoubt , also known as Fort Freshwater or Freshwater Redoubt, a Palmerston Fort . Fort Redoubt was built in 1855–1856 to protect Freshwater Bay and was in use until the early 20th century; until
96-581: A careless-ordered garden, Close to the ridge of a noble down.” Tennyson rented Farringford in 1853, and then bought it in 1856. He found that there were too many starstruck tourists who pestered him in Farringford, so he moved to "Aldworth", a stately home on a hill known as Blackdown in Lurgashall , about 2 km south of Haslemere in West Sussex in 1869. However, he returned to Farringford to spend
128-561: A huge granite cross commemorating the life of Alfred Lord Tennyson . From here on a clear day it is possible to see Old Harry Rocks and the Isle of Purbeck to the west, Yarmouth and Lymington to the north, and to the east, much of the Solent , Fawley Oil Refinery , a large part of the western half of the Isle of Wight, and St. Catherine's Point , 20 km away across Brighstone Bay . Surprisingly it
160-570: A mix scheduled and on demand services, and expanded in 2023 with a new electric minibus. Freshwater was connected by train when the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway opened in 1888. Due to low usage, especially outside the holiday season after the war, the line closed in 1953, ten years before the Beeching cuts were published. [REDACTED] Media related to Freshwater, Isle of Wight at Wikimedia Commons Tennyson Down Tennyson Down
192-637: A section of the walled garden and wooden footpaths. The house and grounds have undergone a programme of restoration having been a Pontin's hotel since they left the Tennyson family's ownership in the 1940s. Martin Beisly and business partner Rebecca FitzGerald bought the hotel in 2007. They closed the hotel in 2009, and reopened it 2017 as a historic house/museum following renovation. Guided tours are available to book April to October. Group visits, writers' retreats, creative workshops, concerts and exhibitions are part of
224-407: A stag leapt to the rock from the cliff to escape during a hunt. Another huge slab fell off the cliff face in 1968, and is now known as the "Mermaid Rock". Immediately behind Mermaid Rock lies a small sea cave that cuts several metres into the new cliff. Freshwater's beach is very popular with tourists and locals. It is mostly pebbles, but it is also covered in chalk from the nearby cliffs, which
256-425: A structure known as the "Cabin" around 1800. British Poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson lived at nearby Farringford House (on the road between Freshwater and Alum Bay ). Tennyson lived at Farringford from 1853 until the end of his life in 1892. Tennyson wrote of Farringford: "Where, far from noise and smoke of town I watch the twilight falling brown, All round a careless-ordered garden, Close to
288-409: Is a hill at the west end of the Isle of Wight just south of Totland . Tennyson Down is a grassy, whale-backed ridge of chalk which rises to 482 ft/147m above sea level. Tennyson Down is named after the poet Lord Tennyson who lived at nearby Farringford House for nearly 40 years. The poet used to walk on the down almost every day, saying that the air was worth 'sixpence a pint'. It is part of
320-419: Is close to steep chalk cliffs. It was the birthplace of physicist Robert Hooke and was the home of Poet Laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson . Freshwater is famous for its geology and coastal rock formations that have resulted from centuries worth of coastal erosion . The "Arch Rock" was a well-known local landmark that collapsed on 25 October 1992. The neighbouring "Stag Rock" is so named because supposedly
352-492: Is frequently gathered by tourists as souvenirs. Freshwater features an excellent example of a surviving Victorian Beach hotel, The Albion . The Albion was built around the time Freshwater became well-regarded as a coastal resort and is still popular today. Frequent repair-work and repainting are undertaken on the building's sea-front exterior walls, due to strong storms which often batter rocks, and other debris, against it. The hills above Freshwater are named after Tennyson. On
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#1732851418627384-589: Is not possible to see the Needles from here as they are hidden beyond the next hill to the west which is known as West High Down . The Tennyson Trail , an Isle of Wight footpath, passes right along Tennyson Down and also makes up part of the Isle of Wight Coast Path in this area. Tennyson Down is one of the most significant downland sites in Britain. It forms the western end of the Tennyson Heritage Coast . It
416-511: Is predominantly grass downland which provides a wide area for walking. There is some scrubland and small trees mainly on the northern side which is away from the prevailing wind. The Down is owned and managed by the National Trust and is grazed by cattle and rabbits which ensures that its grass surface is closely cropped. It is open to the public. At the top of the Down at a height of 147m stands
448-543: Is the current pastor of All Saints, which is in the Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth . A primary school associated with the church is nearby. There is a marble memorial commemorating Tennyson in All Saints Church. Tennyson's wife Emily and other family members are buried in the church cemetery. The church is also the site of a memorial to Tennyson's son, Lionel Tennyson, who died of malaria in 1886. Dimbola Lodge ,
480-529: Is the headquarters of the Robert Hooke Society, who have created a walking trail around the area called the "Hooke Trail" to visit sites associated with him. They hold bi-monthly meetings at the Island Planetarium at Fort Victoria , a yearly Memorial Luncheon on 3 March on the date of his death and week-long celebrations of his birthday, 18 July. There is evidence of a Roman harbour at the end of
512-468: Is the only thatched church on the Isle of Wight. Freshwater was the site of the largest station on the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway that operated from 20 July 1889 to 21 September 1953. A supermarket and garden centre now occupies the location of the former station. Freshwater is near the source of the Western Yar , a river whose estuary runs north to Yarmouth . Freshwater Marshes are
544-706: The Western Yar . A romano-british grave containing a Vectis ware pot was found on sheepwash farm in 1898. In 530 AD, the Island fell to a combined force of Saxons and Jutes . After the Norman Conquest , Lord of the Island William Fitz Osbern gave the Saxon All Saints' Church and its tithes to the Norman Abbey of Lyre sometime between 1066 and his death in 1071. In 1414 all alien priories were seized by
576-503: The Crown. In 1623, when King James I gave Freshwater Parish to John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, Williams then granted Freshwater to St John's College, Cambridge on 24 March 1623. The Freshwater Parish originally was composed of five farms, known as "tuns": Norton, Sutton, Easton, Weston and Middleton. All of these place names still exist, except for Sutton, which is now called Freshwater Bay (previously Freshwater Gate). The first meeting of
608-531: The Freshwater Parish Council was on 31 December 1894. In 2010, 250 kg of cocaine was found in Freshwater Bay. The "Freshwater Five" fishing crew were convicted in relation to this, but are appealing their conviction. There are several attractions within the immediate area: Not all of these attractions are within the formal boundaries of the village. Freshwater is linked to other parts of
640-530: The Island by Southern Vectis buses on route 7 and route 12 serving Totland , Yarmouth and Newport as well as intermediate villages. In the Summer, open-top bus " The Needles Tour " and tourist service "Island Coaster" serve Freshwater Bay. Freshwater is on the Isle of Wight Coastal Path . For local transport within West Wight, a community transport scheme called FYT Bus (Freshwater, Yarmouth and Totland) running
672-403: The chalk ridge that forms the backbone of the Isle of Wight, this ridge extends to the west for 3 miles (4.8 km) where it ends with The Needles . To the east the hill descends gently down to Freshwater Bay where the sea has cut through the ridge. To the south is Highdown Cliffs , a near vertical chalk cliff drop of over 100 metres to the sea below. The top of the Down is fairly flat and
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#1732851418627704-625: The development of Freshwater Bay. Freshwater Lifeboat is an independent lifesaving organisation based in Freshwater Bay. It operates the Freshwater Bay Lifeboat Station on the promenade along Freshwater Bay and two lifeboats from public donations and profits from shop sales since it is not part of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution . It hosts the Freshwater and Totland Carnival every year. Freshwater
736-416: The estate. The houses at the end of Queens Road, the junction near the farm used to be stables where Fred Pontin 's horses were kept. Southern Vectis' Needles Breezer open top bus has a stop outside Farringford and this is the only bus that goes down Bedbury Lane towards Alum Bay. Tennyson wrote of Farringford: “Where, far from noise and smoke of town I watch the twilight falling brown, All round
768-467: The first overland crossing of Antarctica in 1958. Conductor Trevor Harvey was born in Freshwater in 1911. The Freshwater Village Association was created in November 2006. The Freshwater Village Association was formed by Freshwater residents who are concerned that Freshwater might lose its identity as a village. The Freshwater Bay Residents Association was created on 2 July 1984, to express concern over
800-406: The home of Julia Margaret Cameron and now a photographic museum, is in the village of Freshwater Bay, which is part of Freshwater. There is also a tearoom and bookstore. Tennyson's son, Hallam , donated land for a new church in Freshwater Bay. Hallam's wife Audrey Tennyson suggested that the church be named for St. Agnes . St. Agnes' Church, Freshwater was consecrated on 12 August 1908. It
832-400: The military sold it in 1928.A doorway carved into the cliff below the fort was the main access to the building from the beach, although most of the iron stairway that formerly gave access has broken up due to the repeated actions of rust and the tide. Two unusual structures that have been described as ice houses , pottery kilns or crematoria are found on Moons Hill in Freshwater. Robert Walker
864-518: The nearby Tennyson Down is a Cornish granite cross erected in 1897 in tribute to Tennyson, "by the people of Freshwater, and other friends in England and America." There is also a hill in the area called 'Hooke Hill', named for Robert Hooke. The Anglican All Saints' Church, Freshwater is one of the oldest churches on the Isle of Wight, and it was listed in the Domesday survey of 1086. Mark Whatson
896-483: The offering. On the estate there are ten self-catering cottages which are available all year round, there is also a tennis court and children's play area. The estate is located on Bedbury Lane, Freshwater Bay, on the south shore of the Isle of Wight, near its western point. Some of the surrounding houses, particularly those in Middleton at the start of Moons Hill are connected with Farringford's history, once forming part of
928-434: The ridge of a noble down." Tennyson rented Farringford in 1853 and then bought it in 1856. He found that there were too many starstruck tourists who pestered him in Farringford, so he moved to "Aldworth", a stately home on a hill known as Blackdown between Lurgashall and Fernhurst , about 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles (2.0 km) south of Haslemere in West Sussex in 1869. However, he returned to Farringford to spend
960-494: The winters. Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight Freshwater is a large village and civil parish at the western end of the Isle of Wight , England . The southern, coastal part of the village is Freshwater Bay , named for the adjacent small cove. Freshwater sits at the western end of the region known as the Back of the Wight or the West Wight, a popular tourist area. Freshwater
992-501: The winters. Pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron lived in Freshwater at Dimbola Lodge from 1860 to 1875. Gertrude Fenton , the novelist and editor of The Carisbrooke Magazine, lived at Lacey's Farm, Freshwater in the early 1880's. Freshwater was also the birthplace of Sir Vivian Ernest Fuchs (11 February 1908 – 11 November 1999). An English explorer, and Fellow of the Royal Society , whose expeditionary team completed
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1024-592: Was the first to excavate these features in the 1890s, and he thought they were evidence of a Phoenician settlement in Freshwater. Chemical analyses suggest that they were most likely lime kilns. The renowned scientist Robert Hooke (1635–1703) was born in Freshwater in 1635. His father John Hooke was the curate of All Saints Church in Freshwater. When Hooke's father died in 1648, Hooke left Freshwater for London to be apprenticed to portrait painter Peter Lely . After that, he went to Westminster School and then Oxford . Painter George Morland lived in Freshwater in
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