Parish History

Parish History

SEAVIEW – as an established village – did not exist before 1800, except for a few fishermen’s huts and possibly the Salterns buildings. The story goes that in the early 1800’s the Rev. Henry Oglander of St Helens had built a house called Fairy Hill in which to retire. Anthony Caws, son of the steward of Prior Farm, lived on land immediately below Fairy Hill with his large family of eight and several grandchildren. A deal was done by which Anthony Caws exchanged that land for the outright possession of a large field known as Outer Cliff down to the seashore and development of Seaview had begun. The land was divided into nine equal parts for the eight children and one sitting tenant (Mr Benjamin Wheeler, another well-established Isle of Wight family, who was quickly bought out) leaving room for a Rope Walk at the rear to make the ropes for the men of the family who were mostly ship’s pilots. Building began at once on what is the High Street, the original plots being on the west side. The Esplanade and West Street followed later by Circular Road and the other side of the High Street. By 1850 the centre of Seaview was complete and it has retained its early Victorian character remarkably well. Seaview expanded outwards quickly throughout the second half of the 19th century and was a thriving seaside resort by 1860.

NETTLESTONE – There are two entries in the Domesday Book (1086), Hoteleston and Hotelstone; generally considered to be Nettlestone Farm and Nettlestone Village. These were held by the King. It is thought that they mean ‘in or near the nut-tree pasture or nut-tree wood’. By the fourteenth century, the original meaning was no longer understood and the village took the modern form of the name. The land was held by the de Lisle family and others until the mid-16th century when it passed to the Oglanders, with the present manor house dating from 1580. The house was inhabited by tenant farmers of the two farms on the land, Park Farm and Nettlestone Farm. Park Farm was the part inland to Smallbrook and had the more valuable arable land, while Nettlestone Farm was less rich and went down to the sea. The houses in the area were originally those associated with farming, i.e. workers’ cottages, wheelwrights, cartwrights, blacksmiths etc.