| Hayling Island |
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Hayling Island is situated south of Langstone between Chichester and Langstone harbours and can be reached by taking the turning off the A27 at Havant and following the road across the bridge that was built in 1956 and replaced a causeway that was made of railways sleepers that had been there for a century or so and could only be accessed at low tide. Half way along its four mile length the bridge it is almost cut in half where Mill Rythe, an inlet comes in on the east side at this point the island is only half a mile across, and most of the island population live south of this narrow section. The island though not very big is rich in history, with a Roman settlement at North Island. Tournebury an earthworks is believed to stretch back before the days of Christianity. There are bells that have rung out across the area for more than 600 years. Hayling consists of two old parishes, St Mary's in the south and St Peter's in the north and St Andrews is a modern parish that was founded at the most south-eastern tip of the island. Stoke and Northney in the north are the only settlements of any size the former being a small village with a group of shops where the road from Northney joins the man route and has some thatched cottages and meandering country lanes, while the south part of Hayling is the favourite for holidaymakers with its combination of both town and country and the settlements of Eastoke, Gable Head and West town with farms and woods and the sea all within reach. Two past times have been the mainstay of the island, the first being Smuggling as it was an ideal place to depart across the channel to the northern parts of France and it is said that the islanders made special canvas bags to carry the brandy home in and were hung under the crinoline dresses of the women. The other past time is fishing and oyster beds were created at the end of the 1800s at Salterns Creak and were dredged up from the vast beds in the Solent and placed in the creek where they overwintered. But fate dealt a cruel blow as in 1901 the winter was so severe that the oyster beds became frozen and this caused a rapid decline in trade. But the oyster beds did contribute to the wealth of the island as it brought the railway here from Havant. Today though Cockles and Winkles are harvested though not so many as there were a few years ago. However in 1996 the oyster beds on the north west coast of the Island were with help from the Borough Council, restored and now is a wildlife haven which has become a seabird breeding site. Hayling also became famous around 1885 when the first woman to win a golf competition and also to be elected the first female captain in England came into being, she was Mrs Howard Fairhough and the clubhouse in those days was the Royal Hotel. Brickmaking stated here when two brothers George and Albert Pycroft came to the island from Portsmouth in 1901 and built neighbouring houses where they worked at market gardening. But after two years of poor harvests they decided to start Brickmaking again and this soon flourished and on special occasions bricks are still being made here by hand. Wooden houses started being built of Empire Wood near Hayling station just after the First World War when Commander David Joel and his wife started the business and they were so successful they left to island to start a factory nearer to the capital. Today the island is a tourist attraction with its beaches and good seaside restaurants and hotels and even today it may take a while to get back and forth across the road bridge. The island got its name from Saxon times when it meant the Island of Hegel's People but when the Saxons first settle here there was already a Roman building in North Hayling and when the Domesday Survey took place most of the island had been settled, there were four manors here. The largest of these being in the south part of the island which had been granted by William the Conqueror to the monks of the Abbey of Jumieges in Normandy. During the 15th century the lads of the Priory were being famed by the king and were returned to the Charterhouse by Henry V and which late were owned by the Dukes of Norfolk. But the loveliest building on the island has to be St Peters church built in North Hayling in 1140 and is said to be a fine example of a typical English village church of the Norman period North Hayling had the first of many of Warners' Holiday Camps. Captain Harry Warner started the Hayling camp about 1934. The Warners, very sensibly, began modestly - he was the camp gardener and handyman while his wife cooked and cleaned. After a year or so the Captain purchased land from the neighbouring farmer and eventually progressed to having many camps both in England and abroad. South Hayling parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and is the oldest building in this part of the island, and was started in 1225 and it looks just like it was built today. There is a clerestoried nave, a row of windows that are in the upper wall of the nave above the aisle roof. Near the pulpit there is a stone bowl that could be either a Saxon font or just a washing bowl, originally excavated from a field and a vicar saved it, though the edge has been damaged the pattern that runs around it can still be seen. There are three sundials similar to the ones at St Peters and by the lychgate can be seen a set of old stocks where any person creating a misdemeanour would be locked up on public display. The Font is 12th century and two faes have been carved on it |