Place:St. Lawrence (IOW), Isle of Wight, England

Watchers
NameSt. Lawrence (IOW)
Alt namesUndercliffsource: former name
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates50.589°N 1.24°W
Located inIsle of Wight, England     (1890 - )
Also located inHampshire, England     (1890 - )
See alsoEast Medina Liberty, Hampshire, Englandancient county division in which it was located
Isle of Wight Rural, Isle of Wight, Englandrural district in which it was located 1894-1933
Ventnor, Isle of Wight, Englandurban district into which it was absorbed in 1933
South Wight District, Isle of Wight, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area 1974-1995
Isle of Wight (council), Isle of Wight, Englanddistrict municipality and unitary authority covering the area since 1995
source: Family History Library Catalog
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

St. Lawrence is a village on the south side of the Isle of Wight, England, in southern England. It is located to the west of Ventnor. St Lawrence is situated on the Undercliff, and is subject to regular landslips.

St. Lawrence was an ancient parish and a civil parish in the Isle of Wight Rural District until 1933 when it was absorbed into the parish and Urban District of Ventnor.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of St. Lawrence from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"LAWRENCE (ST.), a village and a parish on the S coast of the Isle of Wight. The village stands at the Undercliff, 2¼ miles WSW of Ventnor; and consists of ivy-mantled thatched cottages, with orchards. The parish consists of a narrow strip, about 1½ mile in length, along the coast. Post town: Ventnor. Acres: 332. Real property: £783. Population in 1851: 111; in 1861: 85. Houses: 18. The manor was formerly called Underwath or Undercliff; belonged to the De Anlas; passed to the Russells, the Hackets, the Leighs, and the Worsleys; and belongs now to the Earl of Yarborough. St. Lawrence villa here was erected, in 1794, by Sir Richard Worsley; high walls encircle it; and a road, of perilous narrowness, cut like a groove, goes up an ascent close to the walls. A strenuous attempt was made by Sir Richard Worsley to form a vineyard, on a plot of 2½ acres, with about 7,000 vines; was conducted under the supervision of an experienced person from France; but was abandoned in 1808. A fountain, called St. Lawrence's well, bubbles out, clear and sparkling, beneath a little Gothic building. About 20 acres are under wood, chiefly juniper trees. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester. Value: £106. Patron: the Hon. E. A. Pelham. The church is probably of Norman date; made long a claim to be the smallest in England, measuring only 20 feet long, by 12 wide, and 6 high; but was recently enlarged by a chancel 10 feet long, and by a porch and a bell gable. A picturesque ivy:clad fragment of an early English manorial chapel is in the neighbourhood, at Woolverton Farm. There is a national school."

Research Tips

A collection of maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrating the English county of Hampshire over the period 1832-1932 (the last two are expandible):
  • A group of maps of the post-1974 municipal districts or boroughs of Hampshire on Wikipedia Commons
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