Totland: A Brief Guide
Until the mid-19th Century, this seagirt western peninsula remained a remote utterly rural finger of land pointing out
into the English Channel. It has provided a look-out for the inhabitants - a tout - hence the name Totland to guard against
marauders. Until the Tennyson Monument was erected in 1904, a beacon was maintained on the downs, guarded and manned to give
immediate warning. In the mid 19C a line of forts was built on the northern coast from the Needles right round to Fort
Victoria. This opened up this area to opportunistic Victorian developers.
Letter from WR Blackmore, Parish Archivist, 1991
In 1870, the Totland Bay Estate Company was formed with ambitious plans to create a new seaside resort. Jenkinson's Guide to
the Isle of Wight (1876) defined the Bay's attractions as "beautiful smooth sands suitable for bathing and bathing machines".
To meet the anticipated demand in what was then a fishing hamlet, a new road was built connecting Totland Bay. Colwell and
Yarmouth.
Roy Brinton, Isle of Wight, the Complete Guide (Dovecote Press) 2006
A pretty watering place taken from the parish of Freshwater. The air of Totland Bay is peculiarly salubrious, and so health
giving as to make it one of the best seaside resorts for invalids seeking perfect convalescence, eminent physicians agree as
to the health restoring powers of the genial yet bracing atmosphere.
Stevens Directory, 1883
TOTLAND BAY
The Village is delightfully and pleasantly situated at the head of a fine open bay, the mighty ocean is seen in all its
grandeur, while the sands are fine and clean, and well adapted for bathing, a splendid view is obtained from the beach and
from the new hotel on the summit a grand scene as far as the eye can reach. Totland Bay is a Beach in reality as well as
name, there is sand enough and to spare which is perfectly firm and of clean white appearance, the beach is not steep but
slopes gently and safely, and the most timid may enjoy a dip with the utmost confidence. A row or sail from the beach is
always accessible. Conways' pleasure craft will be found all that can be desired.
Stevens Directory, 1883
(The young) JMW Turner's pencil describes the arc of Totland Bay, duck-boards on the mud lead us into a foreground of
fishermen and boats. Old people recall Totland as nothing much more than cottages, church, school and farm. From Cliff End,
you can walk along the newly reinforced sea wall to Totland's 1966 sea defences and the Lifeboat House.
Paul Hyland, Wight, 1985
PIER
The pier is 450 feet long, built of iron and forms a pleasant promenade to the visitors, while a bazaar well stocked
displays a choice collection of fossils, and ornaments made from the peculiarly coloured sands from Alum Bay.
Stevens Directory, 1883
By 1880, the company had erected a 450 feet long cast-iron pier. Overlooking it was built the Totland Bay Hotel, which
proved so popular that five years later it had to be enlarged. Lodging houses and a bathing establishment with library and
reading room were also built. Crowds of holiday makers landed from the steamers that once called. After the Second World War
the pier was repaired and re-opened, though today it is in private hands and closed.
Roy Brinton, Isle of Wight, 2006
BEACH AMUSEMENTS
There is a reading room and library situated on the beach. The bathing establishment attached is under good management and
bathing here is greatly patronised.
Stevens Directory, 1883
LIFEBOAT STATION
Totland takes its name from "tout land" meaning "look out", making it an obvious site for a lifeboat station. In 1870, after
the money had been raised by local Sunday school children, one duly opened at the sound end of the bay. In 1915. the Totland
Lifeboat Station was equipped with the Island's first steam lifeboat. The station closed in 1924, but part of the 1884
boathouse still stands.
Roy Brinton, Isle of Wight, 2006
The Lifeboat House sheltered gallant craft from 1885 to 1924. Earlier still the Little Dove, bought by public subscription,
was on station here. It was a proud day when the Landward of Totland led the coffin bearing craft Havengore up the Thames for
Winston Churchill's funeral.
Paul Hyland, Wight, 1985
HOTEL
The new hotel is a fine noble brick building of modern construction. It advertises itself as follows: its terraces and
windows command full views of the Solent, and the Yachts and Steamers constantly passing by. It also boasts a large tennis
lawn in front. an a ample supply of the purest spring water. The air is particularly bracing and dry, and the climate has
been pronounced by distinguished Physicians to be unsurpassed by any in England. It is well adapted for winter residence.
(The hotel was demolished in the late 1970s, and replaced by a block of luxury flats).
Stevens Directory, 1883
The Grand Hotel is now rubble ... Councillors squabble over the merits of blocks or flats or bungalows to fill in the vacant
lots. Mrs Hammersley's grand house survives, just: decapitated, a bungalow with an interior like an elegant salon.
Paul Hyland, Wight, 1985
HOUSES
These turned Totland into a flourishing little seaside resort, which together with the sheltered character of the area
attracted wealthy Victorians to build red brick villas whose towers and gables remain a Totland feature today - there are
several examples in Madeira Road.
Roy Brinton, Isle of Wight, 2006
BUILDING BOOM
Building is now proceeding rapidly and pretty villas are springing up. The Totland Bay Estate Company offer great facilities
to partners who wish to erect residences for themselves. Leases are offered for 999 years, as the estate commands a fine
frontage to old ocean. So that before long very extensive building operations will be commenced.
Those interested are urged to contact Thomas Waterhouse at Manor Terrace. Buildings listed include the Reading Rooms and
Library, Coast Guard Station. Iron Pier, Wilmington, The Chalet, The Hermitage, St Winifreds, Glen Headon and Weston Terrace.
Hand drawn plans exist for many of these properties, designed by the likes of WB Haberason, architect, 38 Bloomsbury Square,
London and John Giles and Gough, architects, 28 Craven Street, Charing Cross.
Stevens Directory, 1883
SHOPS
There is a terrace of good shops and an excellent Post Office well managed. Chas H Mallard of Weston Terrace is ironmonger,
corn and provision merchant and in charge of telegraph and postal services. He also purveys Guinness's stout in casks and
bottles, Crosse and Blackwells pickles and Huntleys and Palmers biscuits. J Brewer is listed as is a livery stable keeper, WS
Good as a draper, and C St John general builder.
Stevens Directory, 1883
CHURCHES
Christchurch, erected in 1875 (its cost raised by voluntary subscription) is a neat stone edifice in the early English style,
having a spiral tower and one bell.
Stevens Directory, 1883
The large lychgate of Christchurch was constructed from timbers from HMS Thunderer, a veteran of Trafalgar. On Weston Lane,
in red brick in the Italian Romanesque style, is the 1923 Roman Catholic Church of St Saviour. In the Avenue is Totland Bay
Methodist Church, erected in 1904 as a memorial to Mary Toms and Williarn Bailey, the first Bible Christmas missionaries to
visit the Island (in 1823), The building to the rear is the Sunday School room.
Roy Brinton, Isle of Wight, 2006
TRANSPORT
Brewer's Omnibus runs three times daily to Yarmouth, to meet Steamers and every facility is given to the Excursionists by the
coaches and carriages constantly running from all parts of the Island to make this rising watering place a pleasing holiday
retreat.
Stevens Directory, 1883
COLWELL BAY
Good bathing is to be had, and those who like an unsophisticated and out of the world place might do worse than give it a
try.
Ward Lock Guide, 1907
At sea level, freshwater limestones give way to blue clay and the sands of Colwell Bay, a mosaic of spread towels,
wind-breaks, lilos, trunks and bikinis, from which bright fragments detach themselves and bob in the blue ground of the sea.
Elegant Venus shells can be picked out of the landslips and Bramble Chine boasts a fossil oyster bed. In JMW Turner's
watercolour there is no sea wall, just a thatched buildings from which crumbling steps lead down to a beach strewn with
lobster pots. Warden Point, then topped only with turf, rears behind in rumpled grandeur.
Paul Hyland, Wight, 1985
FORT ALBERT
Fort Albert, a large square red brick fort was built in 1854-6 to defend the Needles Passage and today is divided into
apartments.
Roy Brinton, Isle of Wight, 2006
TURF WALK
Take that reminder of past gentility the Turf Walk amongst Scots pine and sycamore, willow and cherry plum, then climb up
through a tunnel of hawthorn on to Headon Hill.
Paul Hyland, Wight, 1985
HEADON WARREN
A high down, over 400 feet above the level of the sea, on which is a Fort mounted with guns for the protection of the
western mouth of the Solent.
Stevens Directory, 1883
Near the top, limestone is cloaked with turf, but the summit is gravel growing heath, heather and sea buckthorn, and pungent
on hot days with the coconut fragrance of yellow furze.
Paul Hyland, Wight, 1985
In late summer, the flowering heather covering Headon Warren is another attraction. The Warren is also the site of a Bronze
Age burial mound, dating to about 1500 BC.
Roy Brinton, Isle of Wight, 2006
ALUM BAY
A pleasing seaside resort. Excursionists who land here frequently from Bournemouth, Lymington, Southampton, Cowes and Ryde,
as many as 800 having crossed the Pier from one steamer. A commodious pier has been erected and a Bazaar at the entrance
affords plenty of scope for the juvenile portion to satisfy their utmost curiosity. James Cotton is pier manager and
collector of fossils and maker of sand ornaments.
The 'Needles' in past ages formed the original headland but time and the violence of the mighty deep have separated them from
the mainland and shaped them into fantastic shapes and ragged figures. The Lighthouse, which formerly stood on the highest
point of the cliff is now located on the westernly of the rocks. During the foggy weather, a bell is constantly rung, the
vibration being heard a distance of 5 miles. The 'Royal Alum Bay Needles Hotel' delightfully situated near the beach. is
fitted up in the most complete style. Furnished apartments may be obtained.
The Shores of Alum Bay form one of the most curious and imposing scenes on the coast, the lofty chalk precipices of a pearly
hue on the one side and the beautiful variegated and strangely formed cliffs on the other, with the various colours and
peculiar nature of the layers of sand, intermixed with red and yellow ochre, fuller^s earth and black flints.
Another attraction is Scratchell's Bay. Large flocks of sea birds resort here and are sought after by the inhabitants for
their eggs and feathers which are sent to London and other markets. Samphire is also to be found growing on the rocks in
clusters. There is an ample supply of pure water arising from the different springs in the neighbourhood. A pleasant stroll
can be enjoyed either by the road or by the romantic cliffs, which in the summer is covered with heather in full bloom and
the soft. velvety nature of the turf make the walk a pleasing one.
Stevens Directory, 1883
Geologically rich in the millions of years old cretaceious deposits at Alum Bay, these colourful sand cliffs have attracted
visitors since the early 18C.
Letter from WR Blackmore, Parish Archivist, 1991
The Victorians used the sands to create pictures of Island scenes which are now collectable. The best way to see this
remarkable phenomenon is to use the chair lift which runs between the cliff top and the beach. There is a memorial to
Gugliemo Marconi (1874-1937) who set up the first permanent wireless station in the world here, in 1897. The principle
tourist attraction is the Needles Pleasure Park, whose activities include glass blowing, sweet making and emulating the
tourism of more than a century ago by creating a picture using coloured sands.
There is an open top bus service up to the Old Needles Battery which was built in 1861-3 to defend the narrow Needles Channel
from attack by the French. The Battery is now in the ownership of the National Trust and is open in the summer. It gives
wonderfully dramatic views of the Needles.
Roy Brinton, Isle of Wight, 2006
FORMATION OF PARISH
Originating as part of the ancient Manor of Weston Braybocuf in Freshwater, the western part of the Manor was consolidated
in 1828 into the Ward Estate. In 1888, an independent ecclesiastical parish of Christ Church, Totland Bay was created from
the ancient parish of All Saints. Freshwater. 1894 saw the creation of an autonomous civic Totland Parish Council.
Letter from WR Blackmore, Parish Archivist, 1991
PARISH COUNCIL ARCHIVES
December 4 h 1894 saw the first meeting of Totland Parish Council, called by Edmund Granville Ward. The following year. they
called for Government sewer in Colwell Bay to be carried out below low water mark. It prepared to get Totland roads adopted
by the Rural District Council. In 1896 TPC proposed that Yar Bridge be purchased and opened up to the public. Nine years
later, it was suggested that a Mr Tankard hand over the Turf Walk to the Parish, which he did a year later. He also offered
to sell the foreshore for £4,500 but this was refused. In 1903, the population was numbered at 1328. A rail tunnel from
Totland Bay to Hurst Castle was proposed in 1913, but soon dropped.
Mr Aman suggested the construction of a war memorial in 1919. There were complaints about the speed of traffic coming down
Church Hill, and charabancs using country lanes. In 1923 the council bought the sports ground, although there were letters
opposing the plan to erect public conveniences nearby. The police were also notified when people played football on a Sunday
morning. The Parish Council in turn complained to the Attorney General in 1929 about a big gun firing at Fort Warden which
caused damage to property and upset visitors. There were also complaints about children singing carols, about excessive bus
fares (4d from Totland to Moa Place), and about a lady seen cycling on the Turf Walk.
Air raid exercises were held in 1937, in preparation for another European conflict. In 1940 Colwell Bay was closed to
bathers, signposts were taken down to confuse the enemy, and the War Office wrote to announce they needed to dig trenches
and erect barbed wire along the Turf Walk. Peacetime saw the selling off of Fort Warden for either holiday camp or light
industrial use. A sea wall was built at Totland Bay in the late 1960s. In 1972, British Hovercraft left the High Down Rocket
Site. In 1978, the old Totland Beacon was reinstated, in miniature. Trees were planted along Summers Lane to replace the
dead elms, and Totland Beach was sold to a private company. A reservoir was constructed on Headon Hill, the new tank flown
in by helicopter. Turvills Field was given to the parish, to provide a green space.
From notes made by Cllr Audrey Smith, as part of Centenary Exhibition, 1994
Document compiled by Dr Brian Hinton, Totland Parish Council Hon Archivist, June 2006.
