I have been carrying out a bit of Bonchurch Village research and came across Percy Goddard Stone who was an architect, historian and archaeologist who came to live and work on the island for most of his life. He worked on restoring the Bonchurch Old Church in 1823 and 1831. He is probably best known for the memorial monument to Queen Victoria in Newport 1901. I discovered this book that has treasures of the Isle of Wight dialect in a chapter of Lays. I am not clear if the rhy

Over the few years that I have visited and now live in Bonchurch, I have been fascinated by the old photographs of the village. For this sequence of images I think of the film 'The Time Machine' the H.G.Wells story. The best bit was the rapidly changing window display in the dress shop. I can't quite achieve that effect with these photographs, but the subtle changes are visible. The big change happens once the cottages on the left hand side of the road are gone and the Huish

To read the full version online copy and paste the following link- https://archive.org/details/bonchurchshankli00cook/page/n5 There are many wonderful guide books that touch on Bonchurch and gradually I will add to the collection on the blog. Bonchurch, Shanklin and the Undercliff by W B Cooke is a superb example describing Bonchurch in all its glory. It is wonderfully gossipy with descriptions of the major properties in Bonchurch, listing the owners and residents at the time

An early history of Bonchurch with the tithe maps 1729 and annotated map 1843 plus the earliest Ordnance Survey map 1862

#Bonchurch #BonchurchVillage #JMWTurnerRA #WBCooke

The old school building, the St Boniface Diocesan School established by Elizabeth Missing Sewell is on Mitchell Avenue opposite the tennis club. The plaque on the side of the building reads - This building was erected as St Boniface Diocesan School by Elizabeth Missing Sewell 1815-1906 of Bonchurch Authoress and Education Pioneer The Author Donna Lucey came to visit Ventnor and Bonchurch in November 2017 to talk about one of the pupils of the school in Bonchurch. With thanks

January 2018 Update The Japanese Knotweed at Monks Bay was sprayed when the fence went up. Many thanks for reporting the damage to the fence by the storms, so Bob Edney and team have temporarily taken them down and are monitoring the storms to decide how to proceed. I have asked how the community can help, and he has asked us to keep an eye on the fencing and report any problems. Japanese Knotweed has popped up in a few places around Bonchurch and in particular at Monks Bay.

Bonchurch Village Road circa 1950 #Bonchurch #BonchurchVillage #OldBonchurch