St. Catherine's Oratory is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

on St. Catherine's Down, above the southern coast 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 ...

. It was built by Lord of

Chale Chale is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight of England, in the United Kingdom. It is located three kilometres from Niton in the south of the Island in the area known as the Back of the Wight. The village of Chale lies at the foot ...

Walter de Godeton (sometimes spelled "Goditon") as an act of penance for plundering wine from the wreck of St. Marie of

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

in Chale Bay on 20 April 1313.WARD LOCK & Co's Illustrated Guide Book: Isle of Wight
1948 The tower is known locally as the "Pepperpot" because of its likeness to a pepper shaker.

History

De Godeton was tried for theft in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, before a jury from the island, and fined 287 and half marks on 27 February 1314. However, he was also later tried by the Church courts, since the wine had been destined for the monastery of Livers in

Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...

. The Church threatened to excommunicate him unless he built a lighthouse near Chale Bay.''The Island''
Features (All Island),

Beacon, 31 July 2007. There was already an oratory on the top of the hill, dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria. This was augmented by the construction of the lighthouse, with a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

to accommodate the priest who tended the light, and also gave

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

for those at peril on the sea. Although de Godeton died in 1327, the lighthouse was nevertheless completed in 1328. It remained in active use until the Dissolution of the Monasteries between 1538 and 1541. St. Catherine's Oratory is Britain's only surviving medieval lighthouse, and the second oldest, after the Roman lighthouse at Dover. It is a stone structure four stories high, octagonal on the outside and four-sided on the inside, originally attached to the west side of a building; remnants of three other walls are visible.St. Catherines Oratory

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

br>Pastscape
, National Monuments Record Number: SZ 47 NE 15. In the 18th century, Sir Richard Worsley of

Appuldurcombe House Appuldurcombe House (also spelt Appledorecombe or Appledore Combe) is the shell of a large 18th-century English Baroque English country house, country house of the Worsley baronets, Worsley family. The house is situated near to Wroxall, Isle of ...

bolstered the structure by adding four large buttresses to prevent its collapse. Nearby, there are the footings of a replacement lighthouse begun in 1785 but never completed, as the hill was prone to dense fog. Its remnants are known locally as the "salt cellar". A nearby

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

barrow was excavated in 1925.Isle of Wight Nostalgia - Archaeology
/ref> The current St. Catherine's Lighthouse, constructed after the 1837 wreck of the ''Clarendon'', was built much closer to sea level on St. Catherine's Point.

References

External links

Isle of Wight Nostalgia - St. Catherine's Oratory St Catherine's Oratory English Heritage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Catherines Oratory Medieval lighthouses Transport infrastructure completed in the 14th century Buildings and structures completed in 1328 Buildings and structures on the Isle of Wight Tourist attractions on the Isle of Wight English Heritage sites in the Isle of Wight Lighthouses in England Grade II listed lighthouses Grade II listed buildings on the Isle of Wight

History

See also

References

External links