St Catherine's Oratory
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St. Catherine's Oratory is a
History
De Godeton was tried for theft in Southampton, before a jury from the island, and fined 287 and half marks on 27 February 1314. However, he was also later tried by the Church courts, since the wine had been destined for the monastery of Livers in Picardy. The Church threatened to excommunicate him unless he built a lighthouse near Chale Bay.[2] There was already an oratory on the top of the hill, dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria. This was augmented by the construction of the lighthouse, with a chantry to accommodate the priest who tended the light, and also gave Mass for those at peril on the sea.
St. Catherine's Oratory is Britain's only surviving medieval lighthouse, and the second oldest, after the Roman lighthouse at Dover. It is a stone structure four stories high, octagonal on the outside and four-sided on the inside, originally attached to the west side of a building; remnants of three other walls are visible.[3]
In the 18th century, Sir Richard Worsley of Appuldurcombe House bolstered the structure by adding four large buttresses to prevent its collapse.[citation needed]
Nearby, there are the footings of a replacement lighthouse begun in 1785 but never completed, as the hill was prone to dense fog. Its remnants are known locally as the "salt cellar". A nearby
See also
References
- ^ WARD LOCK & Co's Illustrated Guide Book: Isle of Wight, 1948
- ^ The Island[permanent dead link], Features (All Island), Isle of Wight Beacon, 31 July 2007.
- ^ St. Catherines Oratory[permanent dead link], English Heritage Pastscape Archived 21 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, National Monuments Record Number: SZ 47 NE 15.
- ^ Isle of Wight Nostalgia - Archaeology
External links
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