St Catherine's Point is the southernmost point on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

. It is close to the village of

Niton Niton is a village on the Isle of Wight, west of Ventnor, with a population of 2,082. It has two pubs, several churches, a pottery workshop/shop, a pharmacy, a busy volunteer-run library, a medical centre and two local shops including a post o ...

and the point where the

Back of the Wight Back of the Wight is an area on the Isle of Wight in England. The area has a distinct historical and social background, and is geographically isolated by the chalk hills, immediately to the North, as well as poor public transport infrastructure. ...

changes to the Undercliff of Ventnor. On nearby St Catherine's Down is St Catherine's Oratory, locally known as the "Pepperpot", a stone lighthouse built in the 1323 by Walter De Godeton. It is Britain's oldest medieval lighthouse. Reportedly, de Godeton felt guilty for having scavenged wine, destined for a monasteryJ.C Medland "Shipwrecks of the Wight".Coach House Publications ltd, 2004 from the wreck of the ''St Marie'' of

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine ...

in Chale Bay. He was ordered, on pain of excommunication, to make amends by building this lighthouse. Fires were lit in the lighthouse tower to warn ships at sea of the presence of the coast. There was an attached chapel at one time, but it has been long demolished. There is a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

barrow nearby which was excavated in the 1920s. A replacement lighthouse was begun in 1785. However it was never completed. Locally this half-finished building is known as the "salt pot". St Catherine's point is often foggy, so it is not the best location for a lighthouse, but as a weather station the location is fairly suitable. The weather station is one of the 22 locations whose reports are included in the BBC Shipping Forecast. LB&SCR H1 class 4-4-2 no. 40 (later no. B40 and 2040) was named ''St. Catherine's Point'' after this landmark.

Climate

References

External links

Weather station information at Met Office
__NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Catherines Point Headlands of the Isle of Wight Nature Conservation Review sites

Climate

See also

References

External links