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Shalfleet VillageIsle of Wight |
Shalfleet village
Shalfleet is a small Isle of Wight village 4 miles east of Yarmouth and 6 miles west of Newport on the A3054. It is a typical English village with a church, a pub, a manor house, a water mill (unfortunately no longer in use) and a number of picturesque cottages, some of them thatched. As is common with most English villages, it has its share of new development, but it is my feeling that this has been tastefully done. Unfortunately it is situated on a main road so a large amount of traffic passes through it, the village centre now has traffic lights which allows a one way flow. Shalfleet was described in an 1870 guide book (Blacks) as being 'not too lively' and probably hasn't changed in that respect!
The name Shalfleet is Anglo-Saxon and means 'shallow creek' as there is a stream (the Caul Bourne) running through the centre of the village and then into Newtown Creek. The first record of the name (as Aet Scealdan Fleote) was in the year 838. At the time of the Domesday book in 1086 it was called Selceeflet or Seldeflat (depending on what authority!), in1305 as Shaldefiete,1309 Schaldfieet, 1509 Schaldfiet and in 1539 as Chaldyfiete. These are from various sources, although I can't confirm their accuracy!
The Village
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A view of Shalfleet from the church tower. The building in the foreground is the old rectory, with behind it to the left the old store and post office. The traffic lights controlling the single flow through the village are between them. |
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A recently taken picture of the Shalfleet parish church, St Michael the Archangel. The oldest part of it dates from about 1070 and it was mentioned in the Domesday book.
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The New Inn, Shalfleet. The building dates from around 1750, although there has been considerable work carried out on it since then. A book on its history is available from the pub. Web site |
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Looking west from the church tower, the parish hall may be seen in the centre of the picture, with the main road in the background. |
There are a number of different pages about the Shalfleet, in addition to this page they are:
Freshwater | Totland | Alum Bay and the Needles | Yarmouth | Shalfleet | Newtown | Calbourne | Carisbrooke Castle | Newport and Carisbrooke | Cowes and Gurnard | Osborne House | Wootton, Fishbourne and Quarr | Ryde | Seaview | Bembridge | Brading | Sandown | Shanklin | Godshill | Ventnor | St Lawrence and the Undercliff | St Catherine's Lighthouse's | Niton | Blackgang Chine | Blackgang and Chale | Brighstone and Shorwell | Mottistone to Compton
Historic Isle of Wight Postcards