Bembridge Down

Culver Down is a chalk down to the north of Sandown, Isle of Wight. It is believed that its name derives from "Culfre", which is Old English for dove. The down has a typical chalk downland wildlife on the uncultivated areas (generally the southern and eastern slopes). This includes plants such as Small Scabious, Harebell, Cowslip and Lady's Bedstraw. The chalk cliffs to the north and east are important nesting places for seabirds. Historically, Culver has been the source of commercial bird's egg collecting from ropes over the cliff. It was also known for breeding peregrine falcons, as well as breeding Common Woodpigeons (Culvers), the source of the cliff's name. The northern side is intensively grazed by cattle, so fertilization and poaching of the soil, not to mention a spell as an artillery training ground, have all but eliminated the natural chalk ecosystem. On Culver Down a number of unusual ant species live, including the semi-myrmecophilous Solenopsis fugax (Latr.), a thief ant which was recorded there several times by Horace Donisthorpe. The ant Ponera coarctata has also been taken from this location. The public parts of this prominent headland are owned and managed by the National Trust, and afford views of the English Channel. For many years the whole site was a military zone and not open to the public. There are several historic military features on the down, a number of private dwellings, the Culver Haven pub, and the very visible Monument. The military barracks which once adjoined the monument has been almost completely erased, but there is a substantial fort, now under the ownership of the National Trust and occasionally opened to the public. Part of the fort is leased to Micronair, manufacturing crop-spraying and military equipment. It is a Palmerston Fort, constructed in the 1860s. At the end of the cliff is a coastal and anti-aircraft battery from the Second World War. In 1545 a French force was intercepted crossing from its beachhead at Whitecliff Bay to attack Sandown by local levies under Sir John Oglander and a skirmish fought on the Down. The French were finally repulsed at Sandown. The poet Algernon Charles Swinburne said in a letter that he had climbed the cliffs at 17, in order to prove his manhood to his family after they refused to let him join the army.There is a legend that a 14th-century hermit lived at the end of the cliffs in a cave, in a structure then known as Culver Ness. He is said to have predicted that the well at Wolverton would be poisoned. When a pilgrim from Jerusalem came to bless the well, the vigilant and pious villagers are said to have murdered him. Shortly after, the French sacked the village and since then it has been lost beneath the trees of Centurion's Copse. They were repulsed from further mischief by Sir Theobald Russell. There was subsequently a great storm which destroyed the Ness and drowned the hermit. This was held to be divine retribution.

Bembridge Fort (map reference SZ624861) is a fort built on the highest point of Bembridge Down close to the village of Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, England. It is one of the many Palmerston Forts built around Portsmouth during the period of the Second French Empire, as a safeguard against a perceived threat of French invasion by Napoleon III.

Whitecliff Bay and Bembridge Ledges is a 131.6-hectare (325-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest that lies around the coastline of the easternmost part of the Isle of Wight from the Bembridge harbour entrance in the north around Foreland to Whitecliff Bay to the south. The site was notified in 1955 for both its biological and geological features.

Bembridge Airport (IATA: BBP, ICAO: EGHJ) is an unlicensed aerodrome located about a mile south-west of the village of Bembridge, Isle of Wight, England. It is one of four airstrips on the Isle of Wight, and one of two large airfields, the other major one being Isle of Wight/Sandown Airport about four miles to the south-west. Bembridge Airport is open to non-residents PPR (prior permission required).Gliding no longer takes place from Bembridge.

Hillway is a settlement on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The hamlet lies near to the south-east coast of the island, and is located near to the larger settlement of Bembridge (where the 2011 Census population is included). Hillway is the location of the Britten-Norman aircraft factory and Bembridge Airport, and is approximately 8.5 miles (13.7 km) south-east of Newport.

Horseshoe Bay is a small bay on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies at the east end of the headland of Culver Down. It faces south-east towards the English Channel and its shoreline is approximately 100 yards (90 m) in length. It should not be confused with a similarly named Horseshoe Bay about 8 miles (13 km) southwest at Bonchurch.The seabed is rocky and the beach comprises a steep bank of flint pebbles. The cliffs are sheer, concave and are made of chalk, which is unstable and persons on the beach are at risk of being injured by falling rocks dislodged by the many seabirds that use the cliff as a breeding ground. Horseshoe Bay lies north-north-east and adjacent to, two caves known as The Nostrils. These can be reached by scrambling over a small rocky outcrop and are partly submerged at high tide. The beach can only be reached at high tide by boat; but in low tide it can be reached at beach level from the headland from Whitecliff Bay. At a certain time of the year, on very low tides, it is possible to reach Horseshoe Bay from Sandown Bay. Walking to the bay should only be attempted on an ebb, a falling tide. This entails some scrambling and a short traverse even at extreme low tide across the submerged base of the cliff between an old collapsed cave and the nostrils. The coastguard and the lifeboats (rescue) are sometimes called to rescue people trapped by a rising tide, or unable to cope with the terrain.

Culver Battery is a former coastal artillery battery on Culver Down, on the eastern side of the Isle of Wight, England. The fortification is one of several Palmerston Forts built on the island following concerns about the size and strength of the French Navy in the late 19th century. It was operational during the First and Second World Wars. The battery was closed in 1956.

Redcliff Battery (map reference SZ638855) is a battery located to the west of the Culver Cliffs and east of Yaverland on the Isle of Wight, England. It is one of the many Palmerston Forts built on the island to protect it in response to a perceived French invasion. Construction of the battery began in April 1861 and was complete by September 1863 at a cost of £4,776. Most of it has fallen into the sea. Only small amount left May 2020

Whitecliff Bay is a sandy bay near Foreland which is the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight, England, about two miles south-west of Bembridge and just to the north of Culver Down. The bay has a shoreline of around three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) and has a popular sandy shingle beach which is over half a mile long. It is a tourist site with three holiday parks in the vicinity of the bay; it has two cafes though minimal facilities. Access is limited and only possible down two steeply sloping concrete tracks. The site is of major geological interest, being part of the Whitecliff Bay And Bembridge Ledges SSSI.

Yaverland Battery is a battery on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. It was constructed between 1861 and 1864.It originally mounted eight 7-inch Armstrong Rifled Breech Loading (RBL) guns, and enclosed with a Carnot wall. A rear surrounding wall included a small barrack block for two officers and 57 men. By 1886 the original guns had been replaced by eight 64-Pounder Rifled Muzzle Loading guns. Between 1898 and 1900 the battery was re-modelled to mount three 6-inch Mk VII Breech Loading guns. Between the First and Second World Wars the battery was used by Territorial Army artillery units for Coast Artillery gun practise. In 1956 on the dissolution of Coast Artillery all of the guns were removed and the site sold off. It was developed for use as a holiday camp. The remains of the Battery are now a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Yaverland Manor is a medieval manor house in Yaverland, near Sandown, on the Isle of Wight. It was reconstructed in c. 1620 with alterations c. 1709. It became a Grade I listed building in 1949.The house was erected with many stellas in the reign of James I., after the manor had passed by purchase from the Russells, the progenitors of the noble family of Bedford, who were Lords of Yaverland from the days of Edward I. to those of Mary. Sir Theobald Russell, one of the chief heroes of the island, commanded the inhabitants in 1340, when they successfully resisted a French invading force that landed at Bembridge, but unfortunately he was slain in the moment of victory. The house contains some wood carvings, including two figures known as Nero and Cleopatra, others in the shape of Moors' heads with wings, some playing on musical instruments, some as brackets to support the ceiling of the staircase. It has a great hall where a carriage or two might drive about comfortably. Its grey walls and great mullioned windows harmonize soberly and well with its grove of fine sheltering elms. In the green close before the house two great stone shields, with coat armour boldly carved, are laid against the trunk of a tree, evidently taken from the old gateway. Close by is the chapel, referred by most historians to the time of Edward L, but evidently of much more ancient date.

Steynewood Battery (map reference SZ641869) is a battery located between Bembridge and Whitecliff Bay on the Isle of Wight, England. It is one of the many Palmerston Forts built on the island to protect it in response to a perceived threat of French invasion. Construction of the battery began in 1889 and was completed by 1893.