Chale Bay, Isle Of Wight, UK (2)
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Chale 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
of
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, in the United Kingdom. It is located three kilometres from
Niton Niton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Niton and Whitwell, on the Isle of Wight, England. It is west of Ventnor, with a population of 2,082. It has two public house, pubs, several church (building), churches, a pottery ...
in the south of the Island in the area known as the
Back of the Wight Back of the Wight (also known as West Wight) is an area on the Isle of Wight in England. The area has a distinct historical and social background, and is geographically isolated by the chalk hills, immediately to the North, as well as poor publi ...
. The village of Chale lies at the foot of St. Catherine's Down.


History

Chale is recorded in the Domesday book as "Cela", which probably derives from the Old English word , meaning "throat". This is thought to refer to the nearby ravine or chine at Blackgang. The name was also recorded as "Chele" or "Chielle", but it has been "Chale" since the 12th century. There were three manors in Chale at the time of the Domesday Book: Chale, Gotten and Walpen. The Parish Church of St Andrew was founded by Hugh Gendon in Chale in 1114. However, the present church dates from the 14th century. It has six bells in its tower. One might have been made about 1360. It has some fine stained glass windows. The Chale Abbey farm has a window that dates from the 14th century. The name Abbey refers to the style of the building, not its religious use. Chale Abbey Farm and Walpen Manor are two of the oldest buildings on the Isle of Wight. In 1456, John Goodyear, parson of Chale, donated an alabaster altarpiece depicting the main episodes in the life of the Apostle Saint James the Greater, to the Cathedral of
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...
, Spain, where it is preserved today. The south coast of the Isle of Wight has seen many shipwrecks because it has some famous rocky outcroppings. Lord William de Godeton removed some casks of wine from a French shipwreck in 1312. However, this wine was the property of the Church, which forced Godeton to build a tower and an octagonal oratory at the top of the cliffs above Chale on St. Catherine's Down. A fire was maintained in the oratory to prevent further shipwrecks. A monk remained resident in the oratory. The Clarendon sank in Chale Bay in 1836, claiming 25 lives. The public was outraged, and demanded that a new lighthouse be built. Government officials who were in England and not familiar with local geography decreed that the new lighthouse should be on top of St. Catherine's Down. However, it is common for fogs to roll in and obscure the top of St. Catherine's Down, and there were more wrecks even after the new lighthouse was built. A second lighthouse, still in use, was built at the foot of the cliffs. Chale is close to
Blackgang Chine Blackgang Chine is the oldest amusement park in the United Kingdom, having opened in 1843. Named after a now-destroyed chine (a coastal ravine) in the soft Cretaceous cliffs, it is about 6 miles from Ventnor at the southern tip of the Isle of W ...
amusement park, which was opened in 1843 and was Britain's first theme park. Chale had a school by 1784. The current school building dates from 1883, although it has been augmented by a newer hall, kitchens and a computer complex. It sits near the church and Wight Mouse Inn at the southern end of the parish. The school was the smallest on the Island, and one of the smallest in the United Kingdom with only 20 pupils on roll. This led to the threat of the school's closure, and it did close just before the summer vacation of 2010. The Wight Mouse Inn and Clarendon Hotel is named after a shipwreck in 1835. Some of the timbers from the wreck are part of the building. It was a popular destination of the upper classes in an earlier era.


Today

Public transport is provided by
Southern Vectis Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight, founded in 1921 as Dodson and Campbell. It became the Vectis Bus Company in 1923. The company was purchased by Southern Railway before being nationalised in 1969. In 1987, the company wa ...
bus route 6, which runs between Newport and
Ventnor Ventnor () is a seaside resort town and civil parishes in England, civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface D ...
. The summer-only ''Island Coaster'' service also stops in Chale.


Governance

Chale is part of the
electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...
called Chale, Niton and Whitwell. At the 2011 Census the population of this ward was 2,721.


See also

* St. Andrew's Church, Chale *
Blackgang Chine Blackgang Chine is the oldest amusement park in the United Kingdom, having opened in 1843. Named after a now-destroyed chine (a coastal ravine) in the soft Cretaceous cliffs, it is about 6 miles from Ventnor at the southern tip of the Isle of W ...
*
Chale Green Chale Green is a hamlet on the B3399 road about a mile inland from the village of Chale on the Isle of Wight. Administratively it is part of Chale. History Originally Chale Green was known as Stroudgreen. There is a Stroud Green Farm north o ...


References


External links


History of Chale website
{{authority control Villages on the Isle of Wight Civil parishes in the Isle of Wight