Shorwell (pronounced Shorrel by some locals and Islanders) is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

English Parishes & Welsh Communities N&C 2004
/ref> on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, United Kingdom. It is from Newport in the southwest of the island. Shorwell was one of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

's favourite places to visit on the Isle of Wight.

History

The parish of Shorwell contains three manors: North Shorwell (or Northcourt), South Shorwell (or Westcourt), and

Wolverton Wolverton is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located at the northern edge of Milton Keynes, beside the West Coast Main Line, the Grand Union Canal and the river Great Ouse. It is the administrative seat of Wolverton and G ...

. The

Shorwell helmet The Shorwell helmet is an Anglo-Saxon helmet from the early to mid-sixth century AD found near Shorwell on the Isle of Wight in southern England. It was one of the grave goods of a high-status Anglo-Saxon warrior, and was found with other o ...

, a sixth-century Anglo-Saxon helmet, was found in the parish. Northcourt was built in 1615 by the Deputy Governor of the Island, Sir John Leigh, and is the islands's largest

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

Features

Northcourt Manor's grounds contain a spring, the Shor Well, which feeds a stream, one of the tributaries of the Buddle Brook. There is a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

called the Crown Inn, featuring a pond stocked with brown trout. Shorwell's terrain is hilly, and backs onto the chalk downs leading to

Chale Bay Chale Bay is a bay on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies to the west of the village of Chale from which it takes its name. It faces south-west towards the English Channel, its shoreline is in length and is gently curvi ...

and

Compton Bay Compton Bay is a bay located on the southwest section of the Isle of Wight, England. Its northwestern edge is defined by the distinctive white chalk cliff of Freshwater Cliff, named after adjacent Freshwater Bay, which forms a small cove w ...

; several public footpaths crisscross this region, linking the village up to walking routes nearer the sea. The twelfth-century St. Peter's Church is in the village. The island's oldest

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

club is based in Shorwell as well as Shorwell United, the Island's oldest Sunday League football club. It is linked to other parts of the Island by

Southern Vectis Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight. The company was founded in 1921 as "Dodson and Campbell" and became the "Vectis Bus Company" in 1923. The company was purchased by the Southern Railway before being nationalised in 1969. ...

bus route 12, serving Freshwater,

Totland Totland is a village, civil parish and electoral ward on the Isle of Wight. Besides the village of Totland, the civil parish comprises the western tip of the Isle of Wight, and includes The Needles, Tennyson Down and the hamlet of Middleton. Th ...

and Newport as well as intermediate villages.

References

External links

Photographs of Shorwell
Francis Frith Collection. Villages on the Isle of Wight Civil parishes in the Isle of Wight {{IsleofWight-geo-stub