SHANKLIN
Sencliz (xi cent.); Schlenting, Sentlyngges (xiii
cent.); Sheynclyng (xv cent.); Shenklyn (xvi cent.).
Shanklin, 9 miles south from Ryde, lies under the
north slope of the down, for the most part on high
ground, on which the residential part of the town
is built. On the low ground near the shore runs
the parade, with buildings, mostly consisting of
lodging-houses, facing the sea, to which access is
gained by a lift from the northern cliff. The old
village of Shanklin lies at the head of the chine, and
with its thatch-roofed cottages forms a picturesque
grouping. The pier, completed in 1891, is 1,200 ft.
long, with landing-stage for steamers and a pavilion
for entertainments. Under the provisions of the Local
Government Act of 1894 the affairs of the town are
now controlled by an urban district council. A
clock tower on the esplanade commemorates the
1897 Jubilee of Queen Victoria. There is an
excellent social club on the south cliff facing the sea,
and a literary institute in Steephill Road. The Arthur
Webster Memorial Hospital in the Landguard Road
was built in 1905 by Lord Alverstone.
The parish contains 799 acres, of which in 1905
12 acres were arable land, 230¼ acres permanent grass
and 30 acres woodland. (fn. 1) The soil is gravel and clay.
In 1894 the parish was divided into two parts for
civil purposes: Shanklin, including that part of the
parish within the urban district, and East Shanklin,
including that part of the parish of Brading in
Shanklin urban district. (fn. 2) In the following year East
Shanklin was further extended to include part of
Brading, (fn. 3) and in 1898 it again became part of
Shanklin. (fn. 4) Another extension was made in 1901,
when more of Brading parish was added to Shanklin.
John Keats the poet stayed at Shanklin early in
1819, writing Otho the Great and Lamia. The poet
Longfellow was a visitor in 1868.
MANOR
SHANKLIN was held at Domesday
by Gozelin son of Azor, and was of
considerable extent and value. It had
been held before the Conquest by six freemen of
King Edward, and Livol held a hide of the manor
in 1086. (fn. 5) By the 13th century Shanklin, with
Gozelin's other estates, had passed to the de Lisle
family, probably descendants of Azor, being held at
the end of the century by John de Lisle. (fn. 6) The
manor, which was held of the honour of Carisbrooke, (fn. 7)
then followed the same descent as West Court in
Shorwell (q.v.) to the Popham
and Hill families. (fn. 8) It seems
eventually (after 1765) to
have passed to the Pophams,
while West Court passed to
the Hills. John Popham was
dealing with half the manor
in 1780 and 1803, (fn. 9) and died
in 1816, his only son John
having predeceased him. The
manor therefore passed to his
daughter Mary, wife of the
Rev. Richard Walton White. (fn. 10)
Her son Francis assumed the
name Popham in 1852 under
the terms of his grandfather's will. (fn. 11) He died without issue in 1894, and the manor at present belongs
to his widow. (fn. 12) The old manor-house was restored
and enlarged by Mr. White-Popham in 1883.
It practically occupies the same site and is picturesquely situated.
Popham. Argent a chief gules with two harts' heads caboshed or therein.
CHURCHES
The church of ST. JOHN
BAPTIST, (fn. 13) or the 'old church,' as
it is called, stands at the southern
end of the parish at the angle made by the roads to
Wroxall and Ventnor. It has been so altered and
added to that it is now of little interest. Originally
it must have been of the usual aisleless type of
manorial chapel—an oblong structure with nave and
chancel in one line; and so it remained (fn. 14) till 1852,
when transepts were added, the church lengthened
westward and a bell turret formed at the intersection
of the roofs. A lych-gate with clock and bell was
put up as a memorial to Mr. White-Popham. There
is a good Renaissance oak chest, apparently brought
from elsewhere. (fn. 15) There are memorial tablets to
members of the Hill and Popham families. The
registers date from 1717.
Shanklin Old Village
Entrance to Shanklin Chine
There are two bells. The plate consists of a chalice
and paten of 1681–2, two patens of 1719 and 1807
respectively, a chalice of 1854 and a flagon of 1855.
ST. SAVIOUR'S ON THE CLIFF, the church of
an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1869, (fn. 16) has a chancel,
nave with aisles of four bays, and a western tower with
spire, containing a peal of eight bells, added in 1887.
ST. PAUL'S, GATTEN, now in Shanklin, is an
ecclesiastical parish taken out of Sandown in 1876. (fn. 17)
The church was built 1880–90, and has an apsidal
chancel, a nave with aisles of five bays and a stone
tower at the north angle.
ADVOWSONS
Shanklin was a chapelry annexed
to Bonchurch rectory (fn. 18) until 1853,
when it was constituted a separate
rectory. (fn. 19) The advowson has always followed the
descent of the manor (fn. 20) and now belongs to Mrs. White-Popham. In the middle of the 13th century the
chapel of St. John the Baptist, Shanklin, was not
assessed on account of poverty. (fn. 21)
The living of St. Saviour's on the Cliff is in the
gift of the rector of Shanklin, and the advowson of
St. Paul's, Gatten, is in the gift of the Church
Patronage Society.
Other places of worship are: Congregational Church
in High Street (1883), Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
in Regent Street (1883), United Methodist, Victoria
Avenue (1885). A new Roman Catholic church was
built in Atherley Road in 1907.
There do not appear to be any endowed charities
or permanent institutions in this parish other than the
Home of Rest, Sandown Road, erected in 1893 by
Mrs. Harvey, and the Literary and Scientific Institute
in Prospect Road. (fn. 22)