In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Niton like this:
NITON, a village and a parish in the Isle of Wight. The village stands 1 mile N E by N of St. Catherine's Point, behind the declivity of a sea-cliff, at the W end of the Undercliff range, 3¾ miles W of Ventnor; was anciently called Niton-Regis, from having belonged to Edward the Confessor; was afterwards called Crab-Niton, from the abundance of crabs and other crustaceans on the neighbouring coast; is a quiet and quaint place, very little affected by the influx of visitors to the surrounding attracting scenery, yet stands intimately connected with hotels to which the visitors resort; is the centre of many pleasant walks; and has a post-office, ‡ under Godshill, Isle of wight, and two small inns. ...
The parish comprises 1, 337 acres of land, and 60 of water. Real property, £4, 672. Pop., 700. Houses, 135. The property is divided among a few. Several genteel residences, a hotel, and a number of lodging-houses are in the Undercliffseetion. Niton down rises to the N of the village; and St. Catherine's down, 769 feet high, rises to the W. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester; and, from 1734 till 1867, was united with the vicarage of Godshill. Value, £400.* Patron, Queen's College, Oxford. The church was given, by William Fitz-Osborne, soon after the Norman conquest, to the abbey of Lire; went, at the dissolution, to the Crown; was given by Charles I., on the petition of Henrietta Maria, to Queen's College, Oxford; stands amid fine trees, oarising-ground, to the W of the village; shows some features of early decorated English; was restored in 1864; consists of two gabled bodies, with a stone-ribbed S porch, and with a W tower and low spire; and contains a piscina, and a monument, with medallion by Flaxman, to Mr. Arnold of Mirables. The churchyard contains the base of an old cross. There are a Baptist chapel, a Wesleyan chapel, and an endowed school with £27 a year. Charles II., when caught in a storm at sea in 1675, landed at Puckaster Cove. See Catherine's Down ( St.), Catherine's Point ( St.), and Under-cliff.
Niton through time
Niton is now part of the Isle of Wight district. Click here for graphs and data of how the Isle of Wight has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Niton itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Niton, in The the Isle of Wight and Hampshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/2663
Date accessed: 20th April 2024
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