Puckaster

Puckaster is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight, England. Puckaster is on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight, south of Niton, between St. Catherine's Point and Binnel.

History

Puckaster has historical significance. Some have tried to identify Puckaster Cove with the Roman "Portus Castrensis" [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0959-5295(1885)14%3C45%3AOT%22AOP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J "On the "Longstone" and Other Prehistoric Remains in the Isle of Wight"] , A. L. Lewis, The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 14, 1885 (1885), pp. 45-47, doi:10.2307/2841479] although others dispute this. [ [http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:owUkOXk59iUJ:mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/springhill/castle_haven.doc+puckaster&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=91&gl=us "I Remember, I Remember." Memoirs of two previous 'Undercliff ' inhabitants] , Alan Champion, Ventnor: 1989.] Also, on July 1, 1675 King Charles II was forced ashore in PuckasterCove in bad weather and heavy seas, [ [http://freespace.virgin.net/roger.hewitt/iwias/history.htm The Isle of Wight Timeline of History] , [http://freespace.virgin.net/roger.hewitt/iwias/home.htm Isle of Wight History Centre] ] [ [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/HAM/IOW/Niton/index.html Niton] , Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson (c)2003, Accessed October 24, 2007 from UK and Ireland Genealogy website.] as recorded in the Niton Church Register:

Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Hopsonn as an orphan lived in Niton. Seeing the fleet passing offshore he literally ran away to sea, down Puckaster Lane and into a rowing boat, later distinguishing himself, especially at the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702 and returning to beecome a local Member of Parliament. He is mentioned by Samuel Smiles in Self Help.The coastline around Puckaster is quite treacherous, leading to the creation of St. Catherine's Oratory on St. Catherine's Down and eventually other lighthouses in the area. Among the other shipwrecks near Puckaster was that of the West Indianman "Three Sisters". The Three Sisters went aground at Puckaster in January of 1799. Three of the crew were drowned in this accident. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A894224 Isle Of Wight Shipwrecks: 'HMS Pomone' and 'Carn Brae Castle'] , BBC h2g2, December 7, 2002.]

Geography

Puckaster is part of the Undercliff area, and subject to coastal erosion concerns. [ [http://www.coastalwight.gov.uk/coastalcentre.htm Isle of Wight Coastal Visitors Centre] ] [ [http://www.isleofwightattractions.co.uk/Landslip.htm Landslips on The Isle of Wight] ] [ [http://stream.port.ac.uk/environment/scopac5/sow1/sow1.htm West & South Isle of Wight] , Standing Conference on Problems Associated with the Coastline.] [ [http://copranet.projects.eucc-d.de/files/000166_EUROSION_IsleofWight.pdf LUCCOMBE - BLACKGANG ISLE OF WIGHT (UNITED KINGDOM)] , Robin G. McGiness, [http://www.coastalwight.gov.uk/ Isle of Wight Centre for Coastal Environment] ] [ [http://www.english-nature.org.uk/About/teams/team_photo/Undercliff%20Matters%20Issue%202.pdf Life on the Edge] , Undercliff Matters, English Nature, Issue 2, September 2003.] It is also the home of some rare bees and other unique insects. Its unique climate allows the growth of some plants that are found nowhere else in the British Islands; this was even the subject of a publication by philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill. [ [http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/238/53566 John Stuart Mill, The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXXI - Miscellaneous Writings] , ed. John M. Robson (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1989), Accessed on 2007-10-24, originally published as "Rarer Plants of the Isle of Wight", Phytologist, I (Nov. 1841), 91-2. No. 59 in Art. XXXIII, “Varieties.” Signed “J.S. Mill.”] To this end, Puckaster Farm was purchased in an effort to preserve this area. [ [http://www.english-nature.gov.uk/about/teams/team_photo/Undercliff%20Matters%20Issue%203%20(rev).pdf A Walk on the Wild Side] , Undercliff Matters brochure, English Nature, Issue 3, April 2004.]

Puckaster has inspired several renowned paintings and drawings. For example, British painter Edward William Cooke (1811-1880) made a watercolor of Puckaster Cove in 1831. [ [http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/prints/viewRepro.cfm?reproID=PV5457 PAE5457 Puckaster Cove, Isle of Wight] , Edward William Cookee, water colour drawing no. 33 in Notebook of Pictures (11 July 1831)] The Brigham Young University Museum of Art owns an anonymous drawn plan of a Puckaster dwelling [ [http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Moa&CISOPTR=8143&CISOBOX=1&REC=7 Plan for Puckaster, Isle of Wight] , Brigham Young University Museum of Art.] and a watercolor of a Puckaster cottage. [ [http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Moa&CISOPTR=8142&CISOBOX=1&REC=3 Puckaster, Isle of Wight] , Brigham Young University Museum of Art.] Mrs. W. Bartlett and W. Willis made a well known etching of Puckaster Cove that was published in "Barber's Picturesque Illustrations of the Isle of Wight" in 1845. [ [http://www.bluegreenpictures.com/perl/Cyan.pl?mode=view;inum=102371;lightbox=66 "Puckaster Cove 1845, Isle of Wight"] , [http://www.bluegreenpictures.com/perl/Cyan.pl?mode=home Bluegreen Pictures website] .] The Tate Collection includes a drawing by artist Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841) titled, "Sir Willoughby Gordon and his Daughter Julia, Cooking on a Griddle at Puckaster, near Niton, Isle of Wight 1822". [ [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=16185&searchid=11425&tabview=subject "Sir Willoughby Gordon and his Daughter Julia, Cooking on a Griddle at Puckaster, near Niton, Isle of Wight 1822"] , David Wilkie, 1922.] Painters L. J. Wood and Richard Henry Nibbs (1816-1893) have also produced notable paintings of Puckaster.

Famous residents

Yacht designer and builder Uffa Fox lived in Puckaster. Prince Philip stayed in Puckaster as a young man when he was learning to sail. [ [http://www.islandcottageholidays.com/Cottage%20Web%20Pages/Puckaster%20House,%20The%20Wing.htm The Wing, Puckaster House] , Island Holidays website.]

Mythology

Author Cassandra Eason identifies Puckaster as a place which is frequented by fairies in her book, "A Complete Guide to Fairies & Magical Beings". [ [http://archive.thisishampshire.net/2001/10/6/70788.html Fairy magic] , Vicki Green, Hampshire, October 6, 2001.]

References

External links

* [http://availablelight.cc/catalog.php?item=464&catid=St.%20Catherine%92s%20Point Puckaster Cove] photo, Steve Gascoigne, Available Light Photography
* [http://wightundercliff.mine.nu Website with old pictures of the Undercliff of the Isle of Wight]