Isle of Wight Garlic Festival

Mersley is a farming hamlet on the Isle of Wight. Mersley is in Newchurch Parish, and is adjacent to the village of Newchurch itself. Mersley is home to a large garlic farm which is part of the Isle of Wight Garlic Festival in nearby Newchurch, held annually since 1983 and now drawing 25,000 visitors a year. This garlic farm has also been investigated for inappropriate pesticide use in the past.Potter Molly Attrill worked out of a converted barn in Mersley from 1982 to 2014.Mersley is the subject of archaeological interest because of findings of Roman pottery in the area. Earthenware and crockery were discovered at the Garlic Farm in the 1970s and 80s. Ridges on nearby Mersley Down might be terraces, suggesting the previous presence of a Roman vineyard. There is evidence of a possible earthwork enclosure on a farm in Mersley.There is a chalk pit on Mersley Down.

Newchurch railway station, was an intermediate station situated on the edge of Newchurch village on the line from Newport to Sandown incorporated by the Isle of Wight (Newport Junction) Railway in 1868, opened in 1875 and closed 81 years later. Despite its rural location a "respectable" number of families alighted at the simple station, "little more than a wooden hut". The nearest location to the site is a bungalow, Newchurch Crossing.

All Saints' Church, Newchurch is a parish church in the Church of England located in Newchurch, Isle of Wight, England. The church is medieval dating from the 13th century. In 1883, restoration of the church was carried out by A.R. Barker, at the instigation of the vicar Rev. Alfred Dicker.The simple layout of the church consists of a nave, a chancel, northern and southern aisles, and a tower. It was built on the site of an older structure which was donated by William FitzOsbern to the Lyre Abbey. Subsequently, the church came under the control of the Beaulieu Abbey. When this religious authority was dissolved, the control of the church was entrusted by Henry VIII to the Bishop of Bristol (now Gloucester and Bristol).The church was one of the seven parishes on the Island when it was built, but now is part of several others. The unique white timber clad tower contains a small peal of six bells with a tenor weighing just 7 cwt or 350 kg.

Knighton is a hamlet near to Newchurch on the Isle of Wight. The name should be pronounced as Kay-nighton to avoid confusion with the larger, homophonic village of Niton, near Ventnor. Knighton is situated under Knighton Down and has historically always been a part of the parish of nearby Newchurch. Knighton consists of little more than a collection of farm houses, most now turned to residential use. The only amenity in the settlement is a post-box. To the south is Knighton Sandpit Ltd which is an aggregate extraction company. The pit is also used for off-road driving events. This is however, a little way from the main residential area. Knighton Gorges Manor in Knighton was one of the grandest manor houses on the Isle of Wight. But when the owner's daughter married against his will, he had it demolished, rather than allowing her to inherit it. Hugh De Morville, one of the knights responsible for the murder of Thomas Becket, fled to Knighton Gorges. There was a medieval settlement in Knighton, but nearly all of the population moved to the nearby village of Newchurch to escape the “Black Death”. Flint arrow heads can still be found in fields surrounding the area. It was estimated that at one time, the hamlet contained up to 60 houses. Jimmy Tarbuck lived at Griggs Farm in the 1980s whilst performing in the nearby town of Sandown. Knighton is the home of the “Wight Crystal” drinking water company, whose water comes from Knighton. John Wavell and Anna Cowlam farmed Knighton farm after their marriage in 1735 in Newchurch. They were the great-great-grandparents of Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell (1883-1950), former Field Marshall and Viceroy of India.

Newchurch is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. It is located between Sandown and Newport in the southeast of the island. Anthony Dillington, owner of the Knighton Gorges Manor in Newchurch wrote to his son Robert in 1574 that, "This is the very Garden of England, and we be privileged to work in it as Husbandmen......." Newchurch obtained its name from the new church built in 1087 by the Norman monks of Lyra. The Newchurch Parish for many centuries stretched from the north to south coasts of the Island; by the early Nineteenth Century the growing resort towns of Ventnor and Ryde were included within its boundaries. The parish was administered by the Church Parish Vestry until 1894 when civil matters were passed to the newly formed Parish Council which now forms the second tier of Local Government under the Isle of Wight Council. In 1982 Alverstone was included in the civil parish. The present day parish includes Newchurch Village, Apse Heath, Winford, Whiteley Bank, Alverstone, Alverstone Garden Village, Queen's Bower, Princelett and Mersley. Public transport is provided by Southern Vectis bus route 22, operating between Newchurch and Shanklin. Wightbus used to operate bus route 23 between Newport and Shanklin but this was discontinued when Wightbus ceased operations. The Sustrans route 23 cycle route also runs through the village at the bottom of the Shute, allowing easy access to Cowes, Newport and Sandown. Between 1875 and 1956 Newchurch had the advantage of a railway station. There is a pub called "The Pointer Inn" and a sub-post office.

Knighton Gorges Manor was one of the grandest manor houses on the Isle of Wight, located in the hamlet of Knighton, near Newchurch. The Elizabethan-Tudor style house's history has been a saga of tragic events. It started with a ghastly note of Hugh de Morville, an escapee who resided there after murdering Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury, on 29 December 1170, along with his three other comrades in crime Reginald FitzUrse, William de Tracy and Richard le Breton, then the death of Tristram Dillington in 1718 under mysterious circumstances and finally, 100 years later, followed by another tragic event of the owner of the Manor, George Maurice, destroying the manor in 1821 on his own volition (before his death), purely as a parental annoyance and spiteful action, to his daughter marrying a clergyman, against his wishes thus preventing her from owning the manor.These events have also generated reportedly paranormal events occurring at the manor location, witnessed in the form of the destroyed manor house itself appearing in an apparition form, ghost of Sir Tristram riding a ghostly horse each year on the anniversary of his death, and sighting of animal-like gargoyles on top of each gatepost at the entrance to the manor site.

Haseley Manor is a 14th-century, Grade 2* listed property located in Arreton on the Isle of Wight. The name Haseley is derived from the Saxon Haesel-leah meaning hazel wood, and the first record appears in 1086 in the Domesday Book, with Haseley being previously owned by King Harold, the unfortunate loser at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Part of the south wing contains Norman timber carved by the monks of Quarr Abbey in 1139 and Haseley claims to be the oldest house on the Island. Past owners have included four kings, Harold, William I, William II and Henry VIII, it was also the home of the judge, Sir Thomas Fleming, who tried Guy Fawkes. In 1537 Thomas Wriothesley obtained a grant of it from the Crown, and sold it next year to John Mill of Southampton, whose son George made it his residence in the reign of Elizabeth. Here, Sir John Oglander notes, he 'kept a brave house and lived worshipfully.' From him the manor passed in the same way as Binstead to the Fleming family of North Stoneham Park, and as of 1912 belonged to Mr. John E. A. Willis-Fleming. According to Sir John Oglander the house, pleasantly situated in the low ground to the north of Horringford station, was practically rebuilt by the Mills. In 1781 the then owner, Col. Edward Fleming, remodelled the two south rooms and generally modernized the house. By 1976 Haseley was derelict and overgrown with ivy. It has been restored over a 25-year period by Mr. Raymond Young and is now a Grade II* listed building and the private residence of Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Roberts

Downend is a settlement on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. It is the location of the Robin Hill adventure park. According to the Post Office the population of the settlement at the 2011 Census was included in the civil parish of Arreton. The hamlet lies to the north of the A3056 road, in the central-eastern district of the island. Downend is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Newport. Public transport is provided by Southern Vectis on route 8 and Wightbus on 33. Michael Morey, accused of murdering his grandson was said to have been hanged on the island and his body displayed in a gibbet opposite the Hare and Hounds pub. His ghost is still said to walk the street with an axe on his shoulder and in place of a face is a grinning skull.

Horringford railway station was an intermediate station situated on the edge of Horringford village on the line from Newport to Sandown incorporated by the Isle of Wight (Newport Junction) Railway in 1868.

Amazon World Zoo Park is a medium-sized zoo located in Newchurch, Isle of Wight on the outskirts of Sandown, England. The collection is based around the animals of the Amazon rainforest and as such features a variety of exotic animals from South America, including Giant Anteaters, Ocelots, Armadillos, Sloths, Capybara and Tapirs. The zoo originated as a private bird collection and grew into a Zoo Park open to the public all year round. It was once home to the largest collection of Toucans in the United Kingdom, holding 9 species in all; the collection has dwindled through the years leaving the sole remnant as a single Plate-Billed Mountain Toucan.The zoo has several rescue animals from the private pet trade, other zoos & collections, where they would have been destroyed for varying reasons, and airport seizures & wild caught animals that are unable to be returned to the wild. The zoo also contributes to several breeding programmes and is a leading breeder of Tamandua and Two-toed Sloths. In 2005 the zoo was subject to a nationwide media coverage after a baby penguin was stolen from the zoo overnight. The penguin chick was never found but is presumed to have died after being released into the Solent around the Isle of Wight. Since undergoing new management, the collection has improved remarkably. The zoo is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) for which it undergoes routine inspections to ensure that it is up to standard and providing correct animal welfare in an ecological way.

Arreton Down (grid reference SZ540872) is a 29.77 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Isle of Wight, originally notified in 1979 for its geological interest and then renotified in 1987, but for its biological interest only. It is public access land and popular with early morning dog walkers, who park near the chalk pit entrance. The land is marked by extensive ancient field features as yet unexcavated.

Alverstone Marshes (grid reference SZ572859) is an 83.8 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Isle of Wight, notified in 1951. The Alverstone Marshes are the site of a wetland restoration project by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It is also noted for water voles.