Lake is a large village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

located on Sandown Bay, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is six miles south-east of Newport situated between

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake in between. Together with Shanklin, Sandown forms a built-up area of ...

and

Shanklin Shanklin () is a seaside resort and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, located on Sandown Bay. Shanklin is the southernmost of three settlements which occupy the bay, and is close to Lake and Sandown. The sandy beach, its Old Village ...

, and to the east of the hamlet of

Apse Heath Apse Heath is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight, UK. Apse Heath is centered on the intersection of Newport Road and Alverstone Road. At the 2011 Census the Post Office said the population of the hamlet was included in the civil parish of Newchurch ...

Name

Lake is named after the Old English "Lacu" referring to the creek that ran along, and has been artificially widened into what is now Scotchells Brook, which is between the

Isle of Wight Airport Isle of Wight/Sandown Airport is an unlicensed aerodrome located west of Sandown, Isle of Wight, England. It is close to the village of Lake. Isle of Wight Sandown Aerodrome formerly had a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P883) that allows fl ...

, the Morrisons Superstore and the ''Spithead Industrial Park''.

History

The high street that runs through Lake has not changed much since the early 20th century. However, the village war memorial, constructed in 1920, has been relocated behind the Fairway Bus Shelter due to having been run down twice by carelessly driven lorries. The thatched cottage at Merrie Gardens dates from the 17th century and is the oldest surviving building in Lake.

Geography

Lake is a seaside village situated above the cliffs on Sandown bay, it stands at an elevation of above sea-level. Lake's beach or 'Welcome Beach' has golden sands and reached by a steep path down the

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

cliffs to the Revetment. It has two cafes (Hinks and Strollers), beach huts, a Sea Scout hut and inshore lifeboat. A large public park called Los Altos starts at the boundary between Lake and

. Another large park called Lake Cliff Gardens borders the cliffs that back onto the beach and stretches between Lake and Shanklin. Local wildlife includes

Pipistrelle ''Pipistrellus'' is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae and subfamily Vespertilioninae. The name of the genus is derived from the Italian word , meaning "bat" (from Latin "bird of evening, bat"). The size of the genus has been con ...

bats at Los Altos, kestrels along the Cliff Path and Common Toads which spawn in the disused reservoir behind the Mall. The

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

of the River Yar are an SSSI supporting newts, voles and

wildfowl The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on ...

Facilities

Flickr - ronsaunders47 - ISLE OF WIGHT BEACH HUTS

The village has the Broadlea primary school at Blackpan and The Bay School (Church of England primary and secondary) at the north end of the Fairway. There are several pubs including The Stag, plus The Porter Club (formerly Lake Working Men's Club) and a Town Guild. Local businesses include Downer & White undertakers, Swinton Insurance, Allegri accountants,

RSPCA The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

charity shop and a veterinary practice. The village also features an Indian and Chinese Restaurant plus two Chinese takeaways, a kebab shop and Lake Fish Bar. There is a doctor's surgery and pharmacy. The disused medical clinic at the corner of Lake Hill and the Fairway is now a Co-Operative funeral parlour. There were recently two pubs in the village - The Stag and the Manor House. The Manor House was closed and has since reopened as a

Tesco Metro Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

. However, another pub, "The Merrie Garden" has recently opened near the Morrison's store. Alongside The Merrie Garden pub, a new

Premier Inn Premier Inn is a British limited service hotel chain and the UK's largest hotel brand, with more than 72,000 rooms and 800 hotels. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports competing with the like ...

has recently been built. It opened in late 2015. A branch of KFC opened in December 2018 nearby. Sandown & Shanklin Golf Course is behind the Academy School and the Rugby Club in front.

Religion

The village has a

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

which was opened in 1956 and upgraded from 2009 to 2011 with the addition of a church hall. The old church, built in 1877, complete with a hall and schoolroom (added in 1923) is now a multi-purpose building with both halls being converted into housing. The

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

Church of the Good Shepherd, which was constructed designed in 1892, is also in the village.The Good Shepherd
- Diocese of Portsmouth Construction finished in May 1894 and it replaced the former ''Little Iron Church'' of 1876. There also is a Kingdom Hall of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

Transportation

Public transport is provided by

Southern Vectis Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight. The company was founded in 1921 as "Dodson and Campbell" and became the "Vectis Bus Company" in 1923. The company was purchased by the Southern Railway before being nationalised in 1969. ...

bus routes 2, 3 and 8 - which run between Newport,

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came ...

Ventnor Ventnor () is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the sea. ...

and

Bembridge Bembridge is a village and civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to the implausible claim by some residents that Bembridge ...

. Night buses operate on Friday and Saturday nights. Having opened in 1987, Lake railway station was the newest on the island until the construction of a station at

Smallbrook Junction Smallbrook Junction railway station is a railway station on the Isle of Wight, England. It is unusual because it has no public access but exists purely to provide a connection between two rail systems. Another similar station is Manulla Junction ...

in 1994. The station is placed in the heart of a quiet residential area close to Lake Cliff Gardens.

References

External links

Some current photographs
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110904215507/http://www.bags4vacs.co.uk/27101.html Hilton Price's Nostalgic Lake {{authority control Villages on the Isle of Wight Civil parishes in the Isle of Wight