Seaview is a small

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

resort located on the north-eastern corner of 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 ...

, overlooking the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...

. The village is popular with tourists and is from the town of

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 24,096 according to the 2021 Census. Its growth as a seaside resort came after the villages of Upper Ryde and ...

, where most tourists reach the island by

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...

. Together with Nettlestone, it forms a

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 ...

of Nettlestone and Seaview.

The village

The High Street is perpendicular to the shore. On the seafront lies the Old Fort pub, a drinking spot popular with both residents and summer visitors. The Salterns Cottages used to house salt pan workers. One street is named ''Rope Walk'' because long sections of rope for rigging ships were laid out there. The well-known Priory Bay is approximately a ten-minute walk from the village. This stretch of beach can only be reached at low tide. It is filled with white sand and offers excellent swimming conditions. In addition, Seagrove Bay, between the village and Priory Bay, is quite popular. Some of the largest houses in the area are along Pier Road and Bluett Avenue, and this is partly responsible for the nickname "millionaires avenues". Further large period houses, now largely divided into flats, can be found in Ryde Road. In 1870, Augustus Gough-Calthorpe, 6th Baron Calthorpe, had a

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...

style house, Woodlands Vale, built by Samuel Sanders Teulon. The nearby Calthorpe Road is named after the family. Seaview has many holiday homes including some with sea views. This leads to a seasonal variation in the activity in the village - with many second-home owners visiting only in the summer months or holiday periods. There are two hotels, the Seaview Hotel and the Northbank Hotel. There is a pub, pizza place / café, stationery shop, pharmacist, Post office, Community grocery shop, Beauty Clinic, wine shop, seaside clothing shop, Seaview Beach Shop and an art gallery. No Man's Land Fort, formerly part of the coast defences and now a luxury residence, is visible in the

one mile from Seaview. Public transport is available on

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 8, which operates between

Bembridge Bembridge is a village and civil parishes in England, 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 so ...

, Sandown and Newport. St. Peter's Church the village's

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church built in 1859.

Boating

The village is home to the Sea View Yacht Club, founded in 1893. In summer, the village hosts the Seaview

Regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wa ...

, during which locals and tourists can take part in many traditional activities, such as the greasy pole where people line up and see how far they can slide along a pole covered in grease. Once they have slipped off, they drop into the sea below. There is also a diving competition and a firework display concludes the event each year.

Seaview Pier

In 1877 the Seaview Pier Company was formed to build Seaview a promenading pier, and approval for a 350-yard-long pier was given by Parliament in 1878. The suspension pier was designed by Frank Caws, a Seaview-born engineer/architect then working in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. The pier was finished in 1881 and was 1000 foot-long and 15 feet wide; in 1889 it was extended another 50 feet. There were four towers from which the pier deck was suspended with chains. In its heyday, the pier received passenger ferries from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and other south-coast towns. At the entrance to the pier was the Pier Hotel, which catered for holidaymakers. The Pier was still in use after World War II and in August 1948 became the first pier ' listed' under the Town and Country Planning Act. However, it was severely damaged in a storm in late December 1951 (only leaving around 100 ft of promenade intact), and was later demolished in 1952.

References

External links

Old pictures of SeaviewSeaview information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seaview, Isle Of Wight Villages on the Isle of Wight