Apse Heath is a hamlet 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 ...

, UK. Apse Heath is centered on the intersection of Newport Road and Alverstone Road. At the 2011 Census the Post Office said the population of the hamlet was included in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

of Newchurch, Isle of Wight. It is northeast of

Whiteley Bank Whiteley Bank, also spelled "Whitely Bank", is a small village or hamlet on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. It is located two miles west of Shanklin and south-east of Newport. It is mainly known by the crossroads, now styled as a mini-round ...

and south of

Winford Winford is a village and civil parish within the Chew Valley, Somerset, England. It is within the unitary authority of North Somerset about south of Bristol. The parish has a population of 2,153. The parish includes the village of Felton whi ...

. Apse Heath is bordered by the leafy villages of Alverstone and

Queen's Bower Queen's Bower (or Queen Bower) is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight, England that has effectively merged with Winford and Apse Heath to create a village. It is classed as part of Sandown, with the postcode PO36. It is in the civil parish of Newchurch, ...

, and is surrounded by areas of woodland and agricultural land. It also sits roughly 2 miles east of the village of Newchurch, and 1 mile west of

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

. The word "apse" in the local dialect means an

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

tree, or ''

Populus tremula ''Populus tremula'' (commonly called aspen, common aspen, Eurasian aspen, European aspen, or quaking aspen) is a species of poplar native to cool temperate regions of Europe and Asia, from Iceland and the British IslesJames KilkellIrish native ...

''. Thus, Apse Heath refers to a

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

(small moor) populated by Aspens. Apse Heath Methodist Church has a congregation of 11 to 15 that meets every Sunday to worship. The church was founded in 1875 by the Bryanites or Bible Christians. The cornerstone of the present chapel was laid by Lord Alverstone, on 10 September 1902. Electric lights were installed in the church and hall in 1956. Apse Heath has a shop, called "Raj's Premier Stores", some other businesses and a post office. The Hamlet has gained some popularity over pranksters and their efforts to alter the sign with marker pens or electrical tape, changing the 'P' in 'APSE' to an 'R', thus editing the sign to read 'ARSE HEATH'. Although

Island Roads An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be c ...

tends to hastily clean the sign down and remove the damage, the sign is rarely ever clean for long, much to the amusement of both schoolchildren from the hamlet and the neighbouring village of

and tourists alike. On 12 January 2006, two horses were injured in a fire in some stables in Apse Heath. On 5 August 2007, a small plane crashed, briefly after taking off from Isle of Wight Airport in

Sandown 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 ...

in Lake, next to Apse Heath, killing all 4 passengers. Apse Heath was the site of brickmaking operations in the past. It was also the site of a sweet factory, which employed a number of local people until it closed down. Transport is provided by Southern Vectis route 8, which runs through the hamlet between

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 a ...

References

{{authority control Villages on the Isle of Wight