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Page 32
* * * * *
In the year 1834, this beautiful spot was advertised to be sold off in
small lots for building 18 or 20 villas!--a circumstance much regretted
by the admirers of the peculiar scenery of the Undercliff, which was
exhibited here in its utmost perfection. Nearly the whole of the land is
now disposed of; some of the houses were built for the purpose of
letting lodgings; one has been opened as a first-rate Hotel; but the
greater number are private residences,--and certainly it must prove a
most enviable retreat for families or invalids during the winter months.
It is impossible for any spot to be better adapted for a number of
houses being built in a comparatively small compass: for the whole of
the ground is so romantically tossed about by the sportive hand of
Nature,--presenting here a lofty ridge of rocks, there a woody dell
adorned with a purling stream or a limpid pool, that most of the houses
are completely hid from each other's view.
From the bad taste which too generally prevails--we mean the
_vanity of glare_--the affectation of _elegance_,--so frequently
carried out at the expense of all propriety, we were not without
apprehension that many of the gentry at Bonchurch would also
neglect the essential rule, that _the peculiar character of every
scene demands an_ APPROPRIATE STYLE _in building and decoration_;
for it avails little to have ivy-mantled rocks and mossy cliffs,
the sunny knoll and the shady glen, with their groves and
streams,--if the Genius of the spot be not consulted, and HARMONY
made the rule of every innovation and improvement. In a word, it is
too often in building as in dress, that many persons resort to show
and refinement as the surest means of attracting the world's
admiration for their superior taste and rank! But in justice to the
Gentlemen who have located in this fairy-land, we must acknowledge
that they for the most part avoided (as far as was possible),
disturbing the natural beauties of the place, and have studied to
make their happy retreats ...
"Smile with charms
CONGENIAL TO THE SOIL, and all its own:
For Ornament
When foreign or fantastic, never charmed."
>>The reader who may feel an interest on this subject is referred
to pp. 36 and 43 of the "_Vectis Scenery_."
The most delightful residence at Bonchurch is called EAST DENE: the
beauty of its locality is unrivaled; the exterior of the house in a
chaste style; and the interior fitted-up and furnished at a great
expense in the antique mode of the 16th century.
[Illustration: _THE PARISH CHURCH OF_ BONCHURCH _ISLE OF WIGHT_]
The Tourist should certainly visit the old Church, which stands near the
shore, and not far from the road, though concealed from it by a lofty
ridge of the fallen cliff: it is of simple construction, but beautifully
canopied by a grove of magnificent elms, and is supposed to have been
built in the 11th century,--which is taken as a proof that this part of
the Undercliff was certainly in a state of repose at the time of its
erection; and has undoubtedly remained so ever since. Still, we cannot
question for a moment, but this spot must have been in some previous age
(judging from analogy,) subjected to the same catastrophes which we have
witnessed even in our own time in its immediate neighbourhood at East
End. There is also a new Church, of a neat design, beautifully nestled
amongst the rocks in the higher part of the village.
As ROCK, in this part of the island, constitutes the chief source of
picturesque effect, it would be an omission not to point out two crags
which have gained quite a celebrity for their age and beauty: the first
is _Hadfield's Look-out_, boldly rising from the road; the other a
prominence in the face of the upper range of precipices, called _the
Pulpit Rock_: the former has generally the appendage of a
flag-staff,--the latter a rude cross, in unison with its name.
The road through the valley of Bonchurch presents a most enchanting
scene: shaded by noble trees; and edged by bold rocky knolls,--and a
small pellucid lake and stream, beyond which appears a romantic tract of
broken ground and wild brushwood, backed by the venerable grey
land-cliff and the lofty brow of St. Boniface Down. On emerging from
this beautiful spot, we have on our right a genteel residence called ST.
BONIFACE HOUSE, situated close at the foot of the high down which gives
the name; built in a very chaste rural style; and embellished by some
noble trees, and a sparkling rill.
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