In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described East Cowes like this:
COWES (East), a village and a chapelry in Whippingham parish, Isle of Wight. The village stands at the base of a wooded hill, on the right bank of the Medina river, opposite Cowes; is a coast-guard station; and has a post office‡ under Cowes, a hotel, four landing-places, three ship-building yards, a church, an Independent chapel, and a Bible Christian chapel. ...
One of the landing places is the Queen's private one for Osborne House. The church was founded, in 1831, by the Queen, then Princess Victoria; and is in bad Gothic style, by Nash. East Cowes Park, to the south of the church, was laid out for a hundred picturesque villas, and a botanic garden; and now contains some pretty houses. East Cowes Castle, near the Park, is a showy Gothic mansion, built by Nash for his own use, now the scat of Lord Gort, and has some fine conservatories. A castle, similar to that of Cowes, formerly occupied the site of this edifice; and the two are described, in Leland's verses, as
The two great Cowes that in loud thunder roar,
This on the eastern, that the western shore,
Where Newport enters stately Wight.Slatwoods, the birth-place of Dr. Arnold, now the residence of Miss Shedden, is adjacent; and the mansions of Spring Hill, Norris Castle, and Osborne House, are a little to the east. -The chapelry includes the village and part of the environs; and was constituted in 1842. Pop., 1, 954. Houses, 347. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £200.* Patron, the Rector of Whippingham.
East Cowes through time
East Cowes is now part of the Isle of Wight district. Click here for graphs and data of how the Isle of Wight has changed over two centuries. For statistics about East Cowes itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of East Cowes, in The the Isle of Wight and Hampshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/181
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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