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St Lawrence is a village and former
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 ...
, now in the parish of
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 ...
, on the south (English Channel) 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 ...
, in southern England. It is located to the west of the town of Ventnor, in the Undercliff, which is subject to landslips. The Undercliff lies between the original high cliff and the sea, formed over thousands of years, since the last Ice Age, from accumulated landslips. Several rocky coves can be accessed from the coastal path, which affords fine views of some prominent Victorian villas, set in a wooded landscape below the great rock wall of the original sea cliff: Woody Bay, Mount Bay and Orchard Bay. The area of the parish was around in size. In 1931 the parish had a population of 329. On 1 April 1933 the parish was abolished and merged with Ventnor.


History

St. Lawrence is much older than Ventnor dating back to at least the
Middle Ages 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 global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. The '' Old Church of St. Lawrence'' dates from the 12th century. When first built it was only 20 feet long and 12 feet wide, considered at the time to be the smallest church in England. In 1842 it was lengthened by the addition of a ten-foot chancel. Although there are undoubtedly smaller chapels including the tiny church at Les Vauxbelets on
Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
, this arguably remains the smallest to be built as a
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
church — although this role has long since been supplanted by a larger, Victorian church in the village. The old church has a 15th-century
baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...
- a stoup that is about 500 years old and a series of 18th-century hat pegs. The
piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Lutherans and Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a pisci ...
niche is almost the same age as the church. The church was refurbished in 1926–7. A larger church, St Lawrence's Church, St Lawrence, is situated away from the Old Church dates from the 19th century. It also has a 17th-century
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
and a chest that dates from 1612. In the 1870s the village was described in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales as consisting of "ivy mantled thatched cottages, with orchards" with many
Juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...
trees nearby. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the village was home to RAF St Lawrence. Originally a temporary base for RAF Ventnor and RAF Thorney Island, by 1942 it was a fully active
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
base in its own right. The base had two masts approximately 200 yards apart. The base ceased operations in 1947 and in 1994 a memorial plaque was placed at the site.


William Spindler

St Lawrence was in the nineteenth century the subject of an ambitious plan by a German developer and philanthropist, named William Spindler (who had made his fortune as a chemist in Berlin), to develop St Lawrence as a resort to rival Ventnor. He lived at Old Park, a mansion near Binnel Bay, from 1881 to his death in 1889 and is buried in Whitwell churchyard. During his time in St. Lawrence, he had an enormous influence there and on the surrounding areas. He possibly alienated local opinion with a series of "improving pamphlets" criticising local perceived laziness. He decried the lack of woodland in the area and employed local men to plant a million trees. He paid a large part of the money needed to supply St Lawrence and Whitwell with drinking water. You can see red-painted hydrants bearing lions' heads dotted about Whitwell's streets, and the occasional black-painted St Lawrence hydrants, one of which stands beside Seven Sisters Road, in the heart of the old village. Several huge pieces of masonry in Binnel Bay, all that is left of a harbour, are known locally as "Spindler's Follies".Lake House Design: William Spindler
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Amenities

The village has a
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
, two churches and a village hall. A building at Old Park, where William Spindler lived, houses artists' studios, open to the public once a year over the August bank holiday weekend, together with The Bunker art gallery, housed in a Second World War radar station nearby. Pelham Wood Nature Reserve is situated beside the Undercliff Drive and is open to the public. On the other side of the main road is a turning leading to St Lawrence Well, with its ornate Victorian well housing. Close to the newer church is the entrance to the Rare Breeds Park, which closed down due to loss of revenue from legally enforced closure during the foot and mouth epidemic of 2001.


Transport

The Undercliff Drive, the main road between Ventnor and Niton, was closed beyond St Lawrence in February 2014 by a landslip. Access was later restored for pedestrians and cyclists via a footbridge, the lack of through motorised traffic making this stretch of road much safer and quieter for walkers and cyclists than before. Due to the road closure, St Lawrence is now only served by local bus Number 31, operated by Minibus Plus.com on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.


References


Notes

:1.Published in Worsley, Sir Richard, History of the Isle of Wight, London, 1781


External links


Two walking Heritage Trails around St Lawrence, one around the village and the other along the coast
{{authority control Saint Lawrence, Isle of Wight Former civil parishes in the Isle of Wight Ventnor