VENTNOR.
This is the chief resting-place between Shanklin and Niton. The Church, and the Cove, are the most interesting features.
Ventnor has risen into importance with a rapidity greater than any other place in the island: for as late as the year 1830 it numbered but about half-a-dozen cottages, one hotel, a small inn, and the accompaniment of a humble grist-mill, so necessary in a retired hamlet as this was then. But such has since been the eagerness for building, that land for the purpose which was at that time sold for £100 per acre, soon advanced to 300 or £400; latterly the price has risen at the rate of 800 to £1000 per acre for the more eligible sites. And at present there are three first-rate hotels and several minor inns; well stocked shops in almost every line of business: and medical men established on the spot. Several streets of considerable extent are completed, others are rapidly progressing; and much has also been done in the way of public improvements, such as paving, lighting, &c. The new Esplanade, on the beach, cannot fail to prove a delightful convenience both to the inhabitants and visitors at Ventnor.
It is greatly indebted for its prosperity to Dr. Clarke's popular Treatise, to which we have already referred (p. 16,) when speaking of the climate generally. Its progress was still more accelerated by the interest which the proprietor of Steephill Castle, John Hambrough, esq., took in its success, by erecting a handsome church, a large free-school, parsonage, &c.
Building being still carried on with undiminished speculation, the general appearance of the town must be consequently anything but agreeable—nor has there been the lapse of sufficient time for the growth of the shrubberies (however genial the climate,) to attain that size which would afford the relief of even a partial screen. Little therefore can be particularized under the present changing aspect of the place.
Among the buildings which attract attention in entering by the old road, are the connected range called St. Boniface Terrace, occupying a commanding situation, and the houses concurring in one general design: and below, some extensive erections, of rather a novel appearance to the untraveled eye, being strictly in imitation of the airy and picturesque style of the Italian villa.
The somewhat confused appearance of Ventnor is no doubt owing to its unexpected advance having prevented the adoption of any uniform ground-plan, as would no doubt have been done could the proprietor of the land have foreseen the magnitude to which the place was so soon to extend,—for in this respect a considerable improvement is visible in the latest-erected part of the town. The most regularly laid-out streets are near the shore: and one branch-road runs by the edge of the sea-cliffs for about half a mile towards Bonchurch, thus affording the houses an uninterrupted view of the sea.
To JOHN HAMBROUGH Esq. of Steephill Castle, in the Isle of Wight, This view of ST. CATHERINE'S CHURCH, erected by him at VENTNOR, is most respectfully inscribed by His much obliged humble servant, GEORGE BRANNON.
St. Catharine's Church is a beautiful feature in every respect, both in its exterior and interior, being the neatest in the island: and situated as it is on a commanding knoll nearly in the middle of the town, affords an admirable relief to the whole scene, by arresting the eye from the scattered glare of the surrounding slate-roofed and white-walled buildings,—which are almost the universal character of the houses.
The COVE presents at certain times a very animated and engaging picture: fishermen preparing for or returning from their voyage; invalids and other respectable parties sauntering or reclining on the sunny beach: some reading, others amused in listening to, and watching the curling waves expire at their feet in spreading foam. The material of the shore is principally fine shingle, or very small pebbles, among which particles are frequently picked up, possessing a brilliancy that has gained for them the title of "Isle of Wight diamonds;" and though they may be comparatively of inferior value in point of intrinsic quality,—still, the interest taken in searching for them must prove a source of the most agreeable employment to those visitors whose health precludes any exercise of a more active nature.
St. Boniface Down, which forms a green back-ground to the view, is also an object of interest (at least with artists or amateurs of sketching,) that ought not to be passed by unnoticed. It is exceedingly steep: has a never-failing spring on its lofty summit, and is often cheerfully sprinkled with sheep, of the South-down breed, safely nibbling the close herbage on its precipitous side.
Speaking of the down, we should deserve to be censured by those of our elderly readers who may have been to Ventnor ere it reached the magnitude of a town, not to inform them, that the then only Hotel (so beautifully seated close at the foot of the hill,) is no longer a place of public accommodation; the license has been transferred. Many were the respectable parties of the olden time who used to amuse themselves with the attempt to gain the summit of the down,—sometimes successfully, but more frequently at the expense of a rather too precipitate descent, to the no small diversion of their friends who had less daring to make the experiment. In this age of refinement, such displays of rural agility would be regarded as "utterly vulgar!" there are however more circuitous and accessible paths by which we may reach the eminence, and hence enjoy a most delightful prospect.
In concluding this brief notice of Ventnor, it would be very unfair to Dr. Clarke, not to mention the fact, that he was decidedly opposed to the residences of invalids (with pulmonary consumption) being accumulated together "in the form of a Town;" he recommends that a number of detached houses should be built along the Undercliff, each surrounded with the protection of a garden-wall and a few trees. But, begging the Doctor's pardon, we heartily rejoice that his advice could not be acted upon to any considerable extent (except at Ventnor and Bonchurch); because fortunately the most eligible and attractive spots in this romantic district are in the holding of gentlemen who have chosen such for their private residences: and certainly, if selfishness was ever pardonable, it is so in this instance; nay, for our part, we really congratulate the public, that the spirit of exclusiveness so widely exists in this happy region of the sublime and beautiful. For what a lamentable transformation it would prove of the natural character of the scenery, to have many large and often glary houses obtruding upon the eye in every direction! banishing all the wildest and most interesting local beauties, for domestic convenience or fantastic embellishment! Where then would be the attraction to call the thousands annually to our romantic isle? Where those UNIQUE LANDSCAPES which now constitute its proudest charm?
And after all, the Doctor's objection to a residence in town, is largely compensated for in the case of Ventnor, by the many advantages afforded to invalids, that could be procured only in a populous place: such for instance as regular stage-coaches running to and from Ryde and other places; a good landing-place; bathing-machines; a post-office and reading-rooms; the location of several apothecaries and eminent physicians: tradesmen of almost every description; and the facility of enjoying society in the dullest winter months.
Westward of Ventnor, we have a sudden and most agreeable transition from the glare of the town to a quiet picture of rural scenery, broken only by two or three cottages neatly built in the antique style; this is the commencement of the property of Mr. Hambrough (of Steephill Castle), which extends to St. Lawrence, the estate of Earl Yarborough; succeeded by Old Park; and near Niton, the seats of Mrs. Arnold, Sir W. Gordon, and Mrs. Vine: altogether a delightful distance of above four miles; which we hope will long escape any desecration of its beauties by the operations of building speculators.