Sandown Savoy Hotel in February 2012 2.JPG
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Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake in between. Together with Shanklin, Sandown forms a built-up area of 21,374 inhabitants. The northernmost town of Sandown Bay, Sandown has an easily accessible, sandy shoreline with beaches that run continuously from the cliffs at Battery Gardens in the south to Yaverland in the north.


Geography

The town grew as a
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
resort surrounded by a wealth of natural features. The coastal and inland areas of Sandown are part of the Isle of Wight Biosphere Reserve designated by UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme in June 2019, and Sandown's sea front and clifftops form part of the Isle of Wight Coastal Path. The Bay that gives Sandown its name is an excellent example of a concordant coastline with five miles of well-developed tidal beaches stretching all the way from Shanklin to Culver Down due to
Longshore drift Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle incoming wave direction ...
. This makes Sandown Bay home to one of the longest unbroken beaches in the British Isles. To the north-east of the town is Culver Down, a chalk
down Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a ty ...
accessible to the public, mostly owned and managed by the National Trust. It supports typical chalk downland wildlife, and seabirds and birds of prey which nest on the cliffs. Nearby are Sandown Levels in the flood plain of the River Yar, one of the few freshwater wetlands on the Isle of Wight, where Alverstone Mead Local Nature Reserve is popular for birdwatching. Sandown Meadows Nature Reserve, acquired by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust in 2012, is a place to spot kingfishers and water voles. Further inland, Borthwood Copse provides delightful woodland walks, with bluebells aplenty in the Spring. The area's marine sub-littoral zone, including the reefs and seabed, is a Special Area of Conservation. At extreme low tide, a petrified forest can be revealed in the northern part of the Bay, and fragments of petrified wood are often washed up.


History

There is some evidence for a pre-Roman settlement in the area. During the Roman period, it was a site of salt production. Before the 19th century, Sandown was on the map chiefly for its military significance, with the Bay's beaches feared to offer easy landing spots for invaders from the Continent. It is the site of the lost Sandown Castle. While undergoing construction in 1545, the fortification was attacked during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight when invaders fought their way over Culver Down from
Whitecliff Bay Whitecliff Bay is a sandy bay near Foreland which is the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight, England, about two miles south-west of Bembridge and just to the north of Culver Down. The bay has a shoreline of around and has a popular sandy ...
before being repelled. The castle was built into the sea, prone to erosion and demolished fewer than a hundred years after it was built. In 1631, the castle was replaced by Sandham Fort built further inland. In 1781, the fort's complement consisted of a master gunner and over twenty soldiers. Sandham Fort was demolished in the mid-19th century and is now the site of Sandham Gardens. In the 1860s, five Palmerston Forts were built along the coast of Sandown Bay, including
Granite Fort Sandown Fort (map reference ) is a fort built in Sandown on the Isle of Wight in the middle of Sandown Bay. It is one of the many Palmerston Forts built on the island to protect it in response to a perceived French invasion. It was a replacement o ...
at Yaverland, now the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary. On the town's western cliffs Sandown Barrack Battery survives as a scheduled monument and
Bembridge Fort Bembridge Fort (map reference ) is a fort built on the highest point of Bembridge Down close to the village of Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, England. It is one of the many Palmerston Forts built around Portsmouth during the period of the Seco ...
, where the National Trust offers tours, can be seen on the downs to the north-east. One of the first non-military buildings was Sandham Cottage or 'Villakin', a holiday home leased by the radical politician and one-time Mayor of London John Wilkes in the final years of the 18th century. See 'Sandown's famous connections' below. The arrival of the railway in 1864 saw Sandown grow in size, with the town's safe bathing becoming increasingly popular. In the summer of 1874, the Crown Prince Frederick and Princess Victoria of Germany, their children and entourage rented several properties in the town and took regular dips in the Bay. Sandown's pier was built in the same decade, opening in May 1878, and extended in length in 1895. The town laid further claim to becoming a fashionable English resort when the Ocean Hotel opened in 1899. The brainchild of West End theatrical impresario
Henry Lowenfeld Henry Lowenfeld in Polish, ''Henryk Loewenfeld'', (1 September 1859 - 4 November 1931) was a Polish-born British entrepreneur and theatrical impresario. He founded the Kops Brewery, the UK's first UK brewer of non-alcoholic beer, and built Lo ...
, the Ocean built on to and swallowed up the town's previous hotel of choice, the King's Head. For the new hotel's inauguration, a large number of dignitaries were invited from London, arriving in Sandown from Portsmouth by special boat. Guests had the chance to explore Sandown in coaches and carriages, and the hotel servants were all dressed in uniforms 'like admirals and post-captains' Sandown's destiny in the 20th century was to become a favourite bucket-and-spade destination for all classes. The Canoe Lake was opened in 1929 by the author Henry De Vere Stacpoole followed in 1932 by Brown's Golf Course (see below). The Art Deco Grand Hotel, opened next door to Brown's in April 1938, is now closed with planning permission for demolition granted in 2014. Today, Sandown's esplanade has a mixture of former Victorian and Edwardian hotels with modern counterparts overlooking the beach and the Bay. A new Premier Inn opened in 2021.
Sandown Pier Sandown Pier is a pleasure pier in Sandown, Isle of Wight, England. History Plans for the pier were drawn up in the 1860s and bill passed in Parliament in 1864. However, construction did not start until 1876. The first section of the pier mea ...
has an amusement centre with arcade games, children's play areas and places to eat and drink. The pier's former landing stage is used for sea fishing. Further north is the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary, formerly Isle of Wight Zoo. Established as Sandown Zoo in the 1950s, it was acquired by the Corney family in the 1970s and today specialises in rescued tigers, other big cats and primates. Nearby is the purpose-built
Dinosaur Isle Dinosaur Isle is a purpose-built dinosaur museum located in Sandown on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The museum was designed by Isle of Wight architect Rainey Petrie Johns in the shape of a giant pterosaur. It claims to be the first cu ...
palaeontology centre which opened in 2001, and Sandham Gardens which offers a dinosaur miniature golf course, attractions for children and young people, and bowls.


HMS Eurydice

On 24 March 1878, the Royal Navy training ship
HMS Eurydice (1843) HMS ''Eurydice'' was a 26-gun Royal Navy corvette which was the victim of one of Britain's worst peacetime naval disasters when she sank in 1878. Origins of ''Eurydice'' Designed by Admiral the Hon. George Elliot, the second ''Eurydice'' w ...
capsized and sank in Sandown Bay with the loss of 317 lives, one of Britain's worst peacetime naval disasters. The tops of the vessel's sunken masts were still visible from Sandown two months later on the day the town's pier was opened HMS Eurydice was refloated in August and beached at Yaverland to be pumped out, the subject of a painting by Henry Robins (1820-1892) for Queen Victoria who came over from Osborne House with other members of her family to see the wreck. There is a memorial to crew of the Eurydice in the graveyard of
Christ Church, Sandown Christ Church, Sandown is a parish church in the Church of England located in Sandown, Isle of Wight. Rev. William Darwin Fox, naturalist-clergyman, second cousin of Charles Darwin, is buried in the graveyard, with most of his large family. H ...
.


Town Hall

Commissioned by the local board of health in 1869, the Grade II listed
Sandown Town Hall Sandown Town Hall is a municipal building in Grafton Street, Sandown, Isle of Wight, England. The structure, which was the meeting place of Sandown Urban District Council, is a Grade II listed building. History Following their appointment in ...
is situated in Grafton Street. In March 2021, the Isle of Wight Council granted planning permission to convert the building for residential purposes and subsequently decided, in September 2021, to dispose of the Town Hall while exploring opportunities for community use. In 2022, paint samples taken inside the building found evidence of a celebrated 1873 multi-coloured ceiling decoration by Henry Tooth, now hidden beneath layers of 20th century paint


Brown's Golf Course

Designed by one of the UK's leading players of the time
Henry Cotton (golfer) Sir Thomas Henry Cotton, MBE (28 January 1907 – 22 December 1987) was an English professional golfer. He won the Open Championship in 1934, 1937 and 1948, becoming the leading British player of his generation. The Rookie of the Year award in ...
, the Brown's pitch and putt courses were the idea of south London pie and sausage maker Alex Kennedy. Opened on Sandown's eastern sea front in March 1932, the original clubhouse had the motto 'Golf for Everybody' emblazoned on its roof. Brown's and its ice cream factory were reportedly adapted in the 1940s to disguise pumping apparatus for Pipe Line Under the Ocean (PLUTO) intended to deliver oil to the
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
beaches. The courses remain popular with all ages in the 21st century, and a conservation management plan for the 7.5-hectare site was published in July 2020


Sandown Carnival

The town's summer carnival has been entertaining visitors since 1889. Today's organisers put on a series of events including the popular Children's Carnival and Illuminated Carnival, Sandown Bay Regatta, and New Year's Day Celebrations with a fireworks display. Since 2017, another popular Sandown get-together called Hullabaloo has been held over a weekend in May, organised by Shademakers UK Carnival Club in collaboration with educational organisations, musicians, businesses and charities. In 2022, Hullabaloo will be held in October.


Isle of Wight Scooter Rally

Sandown is one of the main centres of this annual event which takes place over the August Bank Holiday weekend, attracting thousands of scooterists from all over the UK and other countries. A base for scooterists with entertainment and camping facilities is provided at Sandown Airport


Eating and drinking

Sandown offers an assortment of restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs along the sea front and in the town. They include the restored Bandstand restaurant on Culver Parade with sweeping views of the Bay. Family-friendly 'gastro-pubs' include The Caulkheads in Avenue Road. Boojum and Snark at 105 High Street, opened in 2019 and inspired by author Lewis Carroll who stayed across the road in the 1870s, is the town's first sustainable microbrewery offering craft beers and ciders, and art exhibitions.


Transport

Sandown railway station is on the Island Line Railway, the Isle of Wight's one remaining public line from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin. Sandown is also served by buses run by Southern Vectis on routes 2, 3 and 8 with direct services to Bembridge,
Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...
, Ryde, Shanklin and
Ventnor Ventnor () is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the sea. ...
. Night buses are run on Fridays and Saturdays, along route 3.


Media location

The UK group Take That filmed the video for their fifth single
I Found Heaven "I Found Heaven" is a song by English boy band Take That from their debut studio album, '' Take That & Party''. It was released as the album's fifth single on 3 August 1992. Background Written and produced by American singer Billy Griffin and ...
on Sandown's beaches and sea front in 1992 Sandown High School and locations nearby were used in the 1972 film That'll Be The Day starring David Essex, Ringo Starr, Billy Fury and Rosemary Leach. The TV series Tiger Island on ITV and National Geographic in 2007 and 2008 chronicled the lives of the more than twenty tigers living at
Isle of Wight Zoo The Wildheart Sanctuary, previously known as the Isle of Wight Zoo and Sandown Zoo, is a sanctuary inside the former Sandown Fort on the coastline of Sandown, Isle of Wight. The zoo was privately owned but became a charitable trust in 2017. Th ...
.


Twin towns

Sandown had a twinning (''jumelée'' in French) arrangement with the town of Tonnay-Charente in the western French département of Charente-Maritime although the relationship was reported to be 'in tatters' in 2002. Sandown has also been twinned with the United States town of
St. Pete Beach, Florida St. Pete Beach (formerly called St. Petersburg Beach) is a coastal city in Pinellas County, Florida. Known as a tourist destination, St. Pete Beach was formed from the towns of Pass-a-Grille, Belle Vista, St. Petersburg Beach and unincorporated ...
.


Namesakes

* The town of Sandown and its Bay have inspired the naming of a number of Sandowns around the world, including
Sandown, New Hampshire Sandown is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,548 at the 2020 census, up from 5,986 at the 2010 census. History Once part of Kingston, Sandown was incorporated as a separate town in 1756 by coloni ...
USA, Sandown, Gauteng a suburb of Johannesburg in South Africa, and Sandown Bay in South Africa's Western Cape. The former industrial area of Sandown on the Parramatta River, New South Wales, Australia was commemorated by the
Sandown railway line The Sandown Line is a short former industrial railway line in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It began life as the Bennett's Railway, opening on 17 November 1888. The line diverges from the Carlingford railway line, ...
in the western suburbs of Sydney, which ceased passenger services in 1991. *
HMS Sandown Three ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Sandown''. Sandown is a seaside resort on the Isle of Wight, England. * , one of 24 paddle wheel minesweepers, and was launched in 1916 and broken up in 1923. * , a paddle wheel ferry built in ...
, launched in 1988, was the name ship in the Sandown class of mine countermeasures vessels. Its earlier namesake was the paddle steamer and passenger ferry PS Sandown which saw wartime service as a minesweeper.


Notable people

* John Wilkes (former Lord Mayor of the City of London) stayed regularly in Sandown in the late 18th century at the place he called 'Villakin', also known as Sandham Cottage. A memorial plaque marks the site of the cottage close to the present-day High Street. On Sunday mornings, Wilkes would go to Shanklin Church, and after the service would walk across the fields to Knighton with
David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
and his wife. * Naturalist Charles Darwin worked on the abstract which became '' On the Origin of Species'' when staying at Sandown's King's Head Hotel in July 1858. He and his family later moved on to Norfolk House in nearby Shanklin. Darwin also visited the Isle of Wight on other occasions, and was photographed there by Julia Margaret Cameron in 1868. * The writer George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) stayed in Sandown during a two-week visit to the Isle of Wight in June 1863, having recently published her novels '' Romola'' and ''
Silas Marner ''Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe'' is the third novel by George Eliot. It was published in 1861. An outwardly simple tale of a linen weaver, the novel is notable for its strong realism and its sophisticated treatment of a variety of issues ...
''. Her celebrated work '' Middlemarch'' was published nine years later. *
Frederick III, German Emperor Frederick III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl; 18 October 1831 – 15 June 1888), or Friedrich III, was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days between March and June 1888, during the Year of the Three Emperors. Known informa ...
and his consort Victoria, Princess Royal, when Crown Prince and Princess of Germany, stayed at Sandown with their children for two months in the summer of 1874. Queen Victoria, the Crown Princess's mother, travelled from Osborne House to visit them on 31 July, an event she described in her journals The German royals commissioned a stained glass window which can still be seen at
Christ Church, Sandown Christ Church, Sandown is a parish church in the Church of England located in Sandown, Isle of Wight. Rev. William Darwin Fox, naturalist-clergyman, second cousin of Charles Darwin, is buried in the graveyard, with most of his large family. H ...
to commemorate their stay in the town. * The author Lewis Carroll, the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, spent successive summers on Sandown sea front in the 1870s, staying first at the King's Head Hotel and later at Culverton House. In 1875, while he was writing '' The Hunting of the Snark'', he met 9-year old
Gertrude Chataway Gertrude Chataway (1866–1951) was the most important child-friend in the life of the author Lewis Carroll, after Alice Liddell. It was Gertrude who inspired his great nonsense mock-epic ''The Hunting of the Snark'' (1876), and the book is dedic ...
whose family was staying next door. The first edition of The Hunting of the Snark is dedicated to Gertrude. * The composer
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
(1864-1949) spent summer holidays at Sandown's Ocean Hotel in 1902 and 1903. His sketchbooks show that, while there, he worked on his Symphonia Domestica and themes that found their way into Der Rosenkavalier *
Sir Isaac Pitman Sir Isaac Pitman (4 January 1813 – 22 January 1897) was a teacher of the :English language who developed the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman shorthand. He first proposed this in ''Stenographic Soundhand'' in 183 ...
worked on his system of shorthand in Sandown in the 1860s *
Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...
, Frankie Howerd,
Tommy Cooper Thomas Frederick Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a Welsh prop comedian and magician. As an entertainer, his appearance was large and lumbering at , and he habitually wore a red fez when performing. He served in the British Army f ...
,
Jimmy Tarbuck James Joseph Tarbuck (born 6 February 1940) is an English comedian, singer, actor, entertainer and game show host. He was a host of ''Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' in the mid-1960s, and hosted numerous game shows and quiz shows on ITV ...
and Dickie Henderson were among the late 20th century performers doing summer seasons at Sandown Pier Pavilion * Oscar-winning film director and playwright Anthony Minghella was a pupil at Sandown High School Members of the groups Level 42 and the Bees also went to
Sandown High School Sandown Bay Academy, formerly Sandown High School, was an academy status secondary school located in Sandown on the Isle of Wight, England. From 2012 to 31 August 2018 it was sponsored by the Academies Enterprise Trust. On 31 August 2018, the a ...
and began their musical careers in Sandown. * Edward Upward (1903-2009) long-lived author and part of the
Auden Group The Auden Group or the Auden Generation is a group of British and Irish writers active in the 1930s that included W. H. Auden, Louis MacNeice, Cecil Day-Lewis, Stephen Spender, Christopher Isherwood, and sometimes Edward Upward and Rex Warner. ...
in the 1930s, lived in Sandown from 1961 to 2004 *
James Clutterbuck James Clutterbuck (born 18 August 1973) is a former English cricketer. Clutterbuck was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born in Sandown on the Isle of Wight. Clutterbuck represented the Surrey Cricket Board in ...
, cricketer * William Darwin Fox, naturalist-clergyman, second cousin of Charles Darwin buried in Sandown. * James Dore (1854-1925), a photographer who recorded hundreds of late Victorian and Edwardian images of Sandown and the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight Heritage Service holds a collection of his work Dore was also a local councillor, Justice of the Peace and Sandown's Chief Fire Officer * Thomas Field Gibson FRG found some important
fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
while staying at his beach house at Sandown. *
Eric Charles Twelves Wilson Lieutenant Colonel Eric Charles Twelves Wilson VC (2 October 1912 – 23 December 2008) was an English British Army officer and colonial administrator. He received the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the ...
V.C. was born in Sandown. * Simon Moore, footballer who plays for Sheffield United. *
Mary Ellis Mary Ellis (born May Belle Elsas, June 15, 1897 – January 30, 2003) was an American actress and singer appearing on stage, radio, television and film, best known for her musical theatre roles, particularly in Ivor Novello works. After appea ...
, ATA Pilot 1941–1945, later managing director of Sandown Airport. Mary died in July 2018 aged 101


See also

*
Bembridge Down Bembridge Down is a Site of special scientific interest which is north-east of Sandown, Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is th ...
* Sandown Bay *
Christ Church, Sandown Christ Church, Sandown is a parish church in the Church of England located in Sandown, Isle of Wight. Rev. William Darwin Fox, naturalist-clergyman, second cousin of Charles Darwin, is buried in the graveyard, with most of his large family. H ...
*
Church of St. John the Evangelist, Sandown The Church of St. John the Evangelist, Sandown is a parish church in the Church of England located in Sandown, Isle of Wight. Building The church was built in 1880 and 1881 by the architect Luck. This dramatic building is located at the jun ...
* The Bay Church of England School * List of current places of worship on the Isle of Wight


References


External links


Sandown Visitor Information

Sandown Carnival website

Hullabaloo website

Our Sandown, Facebook history group

Sandown HUB, Facebook group for local news and information

Official website of Sandown Town Council
*
Official website of the Isle of Wight Council
{{authority control Seaside resorts in England Beaches of the Isle of Wight Towns on the Isle of Wight Civil parishes in the Isle of Wight