CHALE.

"We are now seven miles from Ventnor and 8 ½ from Newport. The Parish Church of St. Andrew is built of stone in the Norman style of architecture, and was erected in the reign of Henry I. by Hugh Vernon. It has an embattled western tower with four bells. Internally it comprises nave, north and south porches, and chancel, and there are several interesting memorial tablets. It provides sittings for 300 worshippers. The graveyard contains the remains of Captain ‘Walker, who, with the crew and all the passengers perished with the ill-fated Clarendon in Chale Bay on the 11th October, 1836. From this point the Military road runs along the side of the sea to Freshwater, a distance of ten to twelve miles. It was constructed by the Government for defence purposes, and is shut off at various intervals from the public, so that we would advise our friends not to be tempted to think they can drive along it to the western end of the Island. About a mile down this road lies the coastguard station of Atherfleld, where a lifeboat is housed ready for service. Her name is the Catherine Swift, and she was presented by a lady of that name. At this treacherous point of the coast, on the 1st February, 1892, the magnificent mail ship, the Eider, belonging to the North German Lloyd Co., ran on to the concealed ledge during a fog, and was fixed there. The Atherfield, Brooke, and Brighstone lifeboats went out to her, but the captain gallantly refused to leave his ship for some days. In the meantime the passengers and the bulk of the crew were brought ashore in the lifeboats -about 500 souls altogether. Atherfield was the scene of much interest at the time, thousands of people visiting the spot. The inhabitants were almost unanimous in predicting the destruction of the ship; but about two months after she struck on the ledge she was successfully raised and taken round to Southampton in flying colours.

Before proceeding further in this direction we would note that Chale has a Bible Christian Chapel and a Mission Hall; and at Chale Green, a mile eastward, there is a Wesleyan Chapel.

Letters arrive from Wroxall, via Niton, at 5.30, and on Sundays at 10 a.m.; and are dispatched at 5.20 p.m. Wall boxes are cleared at Blackgang at 5.33 p.m., on Sundays at 10.10 a.m.; and at Chale Green at 5.45p.m., and on Sundays at 10.45 a.m.

Before going further to the westward, we will take our readers a couple of miles in an easterly direction, and say something about ....." {Godshill}

The Minerva Isle of Wight Pictorial and Guide - circa 1900

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