England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Niton St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Niton lies in the extreme south of the Isle of Wight forming its southern tip, it is thus the southernmost parish on both its island and the county of Hampshire. Niton is located roughly 8 miles south of the island's capital of Newport and sits on the A3055 road which forms the southern coast road around the island. Niton has two distinct halves, inland around the church lies the main portion of the village, the A3055 zigzags through with properties lying wither side and with more modern developments to the northeast, further south amongst the jumble of The Undercliff, a result of frequent slumping of the underlying strata, lies a more modern coastal settlement above the cliffs of St Catherine's Point. The underlying rock type is chalk and limestone which produced rolling downlands ideal for grazing of sheep. Today Niton earns much of its income from tourism with the tourist hot-spot of Blackgang Chine lying to its west as a major draw. There is little surface drainage within the parish with most water finding its way to the English Channel sub-surface, a major cause of the strata's slumping. Niton is sited at around 100 metres by the church with the coastal section some 40 metres lower, land rises in billowing downs to local heights of 236 metres on St Catherine's Hill offering superb views across the south of the island and well worth the climb. At just under 1,400 acres Niton parish was fairly typically sized, within that acreage it would have supported a population of around 600 parishioners. In Domesday times Niton was a small rural holding, held by King William, himself, offering merely 8 ploughs as assets.

The Church

St John's church sits on the northwestern edge of the inland village on the northern side of Church Street, a lane paralleling the A3055 to its north. St John has early origins with Pevsner pointing out the late 12th century origins of its 3-bay northern arcade in the Norman Romanesque style. Its matching southern equivalent together with the southern aisle appear to be from the slightly later period of English Gothic styling from the early 13th century. Also dating from the 13th century one finds the southern chapel and a few windows dotted about. Unlike most churches there is little of the 14th & 15th centuries about the church, in date sequence one must look onward to the tunnel vaulted southern porch for the next fabric in the sequence, Pevsner seems totally unsure whether to place this feature in the 15th, 16th or even 17th century. Similarly indistinct in dating terms is the tower which is probably 17th century. As is usual the Victorians did their usual restoration, here it fell in 1864, when the most significant change was the addition of the northern aisle in faux Early English Gothic with lancet style windows. Parking in Church Street is to the west of the church which is accessed through extensive formal gardens which climb the hill on which the church sits from a lychgate at the junction of Church Street with Pan Lane. Unfortunately for the photographer mature trees take away the favoured southern aspects leaving few angles available for adequate images.