St Helens 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 authority ...

located on the eastern side of the

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 the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. The village developed around

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

s. This is claimed to be the largest in England but some say it is the second largest. The greens are often used for

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

matches during the summer and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

in the winter, and also include a children's playground. The village is a short distance from the coast, about a ten-minute walk to St Helens

Duver A duver (pronounced to rhyme with ''Cover''; occasionally spelt as dover) is an Isle of Wight dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two di ...

. The Duver was once the location of the island's first

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

(one of England's first golf courses), which for a while was almost as famous as the golf course at

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

. It is now a popular beach for tourists during the summer season and is protected by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. 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 (Great Britain), Southern Railway b ...

bus route 8 serving

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

Bembridge Bembridge is a village and civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to the implausible claim by some residents that Bembridge ...

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, 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, Isle of Wight, Lake in between. Together ...

and Newport including intermediate villages.

History

The origin of St Helens seems to revolve around the

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...

Priory and the monastic church, built circa 1080. In 1340 a French raid landed at St Helens but was repulsed by Sir Theobald Russell. In 1346

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

set sail from St Helens to invade

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. After

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

suppressed the

alien priories Alien priories were religious establishments in England, such as monasteries and convents, which were under the control of another religious house outside England. Usually the mother-house was in France.Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms'' p. ...

in 1414 the old church became the parish church. The original church eventually became unsafe and a new one was built further inland. In 1720 a great wave destroyed the old church, though the church tower still stands to this day; the seaward side is painted as a

sea mark A sea mark, also seamark and navigation mark, is a form of aid to navigation and pilotage that identifies the approximate position of a maritime channel, hazard, or administrative area to allow boats, ships, and seaplanes to navigate safely. Th ...

. It is believed that Admiral Lord Nelson's last view of England was of the St Helens seamark - HMS ''Victory'' had anchored nearby to collect drinking water, before setting sail for

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

and participation in the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

. In the early 18th Century, the entrance to the harbour was near to the church. Attempts at reclamation of the harbour, which were unsuccessful due to locals removing building materials, resulted in the harbour being moved. The church was undermined by the quarrying of stone from the beach, which accounts for the large dressed blocks leading along the beach to

Priory Bay Priory Bay is a small privately owned bay on the northeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies to the east of Nettlestone village and another mile along the coast from Seaview. It stretches from Horestone Point in the north to Nodes ...

. A small gun battery, which has been lost to the sea, once defended the entrance. Dressed stones from the walls of the destroyed church, which were soft sandstone, were found to be good for scrubbing the decks of wooden planked warships - hence the terms '

holystone Holystone is a soft and brittle sandstone that was formerly used in the Royal Navy and US Navy for scrubbing and whitening the wooden decks of ships. A variety of origins have been proposed for the term, including that such stones were taken fro ...

' and 'holystoning the decks'. The closest Royal Commission sea fort to the island is St Helens Fort, named after St Helens. Historic England has St Helens Fort listed as a Scheduled Monument https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1017370/and Grade II Listed Building https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101034399-st-helens-fort-st-helens#.W8yGtPZFyM8 which shows how important it is to the national heritage. St Helens is still host to a number of families who have been residents for over 300 years. Common St Helens names include Attrill, Bennett, Burden, Dyer, Henley, Jacobs, Phillips, Toogood, Williams and Wade.

Geography

St Helens is located to the east of the Isle of Wight on high ground to the north of

giving it views over the busy harbour. The nearest town is

, about away. The village is located on the coast, with St Helens

nearby at the mouth of the harbour. The area features a sand-dune complex where the first golf course on the island was located, and where there is now a popular sheltered beach, cafe and beach huts. The Duver is no longer a golf course and is maintained by the

. A promenade stretches along the beach, with the sand dunes at the rear. During the summer season the beach is litter picked, with large amounts of seaweed removed and given to local farmers for composting. In 1997, the beach was given a Seaside Award Flag. The

Eastern Yar The River Yar on the Isle of Wight, England, rises in a chalk coomb in St. Catherine's Down near Niton, close to the southern tip of the island. It flows across the Lower Cretaceous rocks of the eastern side of the island, through the gap ...

, from its source at Niton to the south of the island, runs through the village en route to the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...

. St Helens'

built environment The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...

is set around large village greens, which are often claimed to make up the second largest green in England. The greens are split up in some areas to allow for roads, with housing and other development to the north and south sides of the greens.

Amenities

St Helen's Church is the village's

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

located just outside the main village. It was first built in 1717 but then rebuilt in 1831. The present church is a stone structure with brick dressings, and consists of an aisleless nave, with transepts, a chancel and west tower with one bell. St Helens Community Centre replaced the old "Tin Tabernacle". This is located on the corner of Guildford Road and Upper Green Road St Helens. Bookings can be made for hire of this community centre and it is a popular place for meetings. There is a chapel incorporated within the Community Centre so that people who cannot get to the main St Helens Church can come here. St Helens Pavilion is a very important amenity especially for sporting events such as cricket and football that take place on St Helens Green. The Vine Inn is a Public House on Upper Green Road, opposite the village green. It is over 100 years old. Until the late 1960s it was adjoined by a rival pub, the Sailor's Home. St Helens Post Office is the key shopping centre of St Helens village. It is the "corner shop" on Upper Green Road. This shop sells general groceries and is the local newsagents. More recently it has opened up a café. Priory Bay Hotel is now the subject of a major planning application as announced in the Isle of Wight County Press . "FORMERLY one of the Island’s top hotels, Priory Bay could be back in businesses following a multi-million pound makeover." http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/16986127.pictures-developers-of-priory-bay-hope-to-create-best-hotel-on-the-island/ St Helens Primary School Broomlands Close St Helens. For much of 2008 it looked likely that the school would be closed following

education reforms Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, t ...

to move the island to a two-tier education system. The village protested with signs displayed across the village stating "We love St Helens Primary School". In March 2009 the school was saved from closure.

Notable residents

Sophie Dawes, Baronne de Feuchères Sophie Dawes (29 September 1790 – 15 December 1840), '' Baroness de Feuchères'' by marriage, was an English "adventuress" best known as a mistress of Louis Henry II, Prince of Condé. Early life Dawes was born in 1790 at St Helens, Isle o ...

– "adventuress" best known as a mistress of

Louis Henry II, Prince of Condé Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...

– film actor, Oscar and double Emmy winner *

Alfred Toogood Alfred Henry Toogood, Sr. (1872 – July 1928) was an English professional golfer who played during the late 19th and early 20th century. Toogood finished fourth in the 1894 Open Championship and won £7. He also tied for ninth place in the 189 ...

– professional golfer who lived at Eddington Road and played at the Royal Links Club

References

External links

Old pictures of St HelensIOW Council beach information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Helens, Isle of Wight Seaside resorts in England Villages on the Isle of Wight Civil parishes in the Isle of Wight Beaches of the Isle of Wight