Shanklin, Isle of Wight

Historical Description

Shanklin, a village and a parish in the SE of the Isle of Wight. The village stands in a vale about 300 feet above sea-level, with a station on the Isle of Wight railway, 87 miles from London, and 8 S by W of Ryde. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office. Acreage of parish, 675; population, 2361. Shanklin was known at Domesday as Senchiz, was at one time a very lovely collection of retired cottages, is now a fashionable watering-place, with shops, villas, and terraces, enjoys a remarkably mild climate and very picturesque environs, and has good hotels, numerous lodging-houses, newsrooms, a literary institute, Conservative club, and publishes a weekly newspaper. A pier 1200 feet long, with a landing stage, has been constructed. The church of St John the Baptist is a cruciform building of stone and wood in the Perpendicular style, and was enlarged and thoroughly restored in 1859. The living is a donative in the diocese of Winchester; gross value, £340 with residence. St Saviour-on-the Cliff is a handsome building of stone in the Gothic style, with a lofty tower and spire. Adjoining the church is a very handsome parish room, which connects the church and vicarage, forming a very picturesque group that has been much admired. Close to the church and vicarage is a pretty little club for ladies as well as gentlemen. The living is a vicarage; gross value, £300 with residence. St Paul's is a stone building in the Early English style. The living is a vicarage; net value, £170 with residence. There are Congregational, Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, Bible Christian, and Roman Catholic chapels. The manor house stands to the NE of the church, and is a heavy corniced and high-peaked building of the early part of the 18th century. Shanklin Down flanks the S side of the village vale, has often been asserted to be a growing hill, as to both height and bulk, and is alleged to have attained an increased height of at least 100 feet since the early part of the 18th century. Shanklin Chine flanks the shore immediately E of the village, is a romantic chasm about 180 feet wide and 270 feet deep at the mouth, and about half a mile long; has rocky ledgy sides covered with brushwood, and is traversed by a streamlet making a fall of about 30 feet.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Shanklin from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Shanklin)

Maps

Online maps of Shanklin are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Hampshire, 1530, 1575, & 1622-34 is available to view on the Heraldry page.