Culver Down
Culver Down | |
---|---|
![]() Culver Down seen from Sandown Bay, 2003 | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 104 m (341 ft) |
Geography | |
Location | Isle of Wight, England |
OS grid | SZ631856 |
Topo map | OS Landranger 196 |
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
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
The public parts of this prominent headland are owned and managed by the
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
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.[1]
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
Suicides from Culver Down
There have been a number of reported suicides from Culver Down generally involving a vehicle being driven over the cliff. Measures to make the cliff edge less accessible to vehicles have been put in place but such incidents continue to occur.
On 11 October 2012, Robert Hayball of Newport also drove his van over the cliff, resulting in his death.[3]
The Yarborough Monument
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Yarborough_Monument.jpg/220px-Yarborough_Monument.jpg)
The monument is a memorial to Charles Anderson-Pelham, the 2nd Baron Yarborough (later first Earl of Yarborough and also Baron Worsley), founder of the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes. It was originally erected in 1849 on the highest point of Bembridge Down, 3/4 mile to the west, and was moved to its present position in the 1860s when its former site was used for the construction of one of the Palmerston forts.
References
- ^ Swinburne: the portrait of a poet, Philip Henderson, page 21, Taylor & Francis, 1974
- ^ Ltd, Not Panicking. "h2g2 - The Legend of Lost Wolverton - Edited Entry". Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- ^ "Culver Cliff body identified". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
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