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Shalfleet Church
(St Michael the Archangel)
Isle
of Wight
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Old postcards are sometimes poorly produced
and grainy, I've done my best to scan them.
Dates are from the card or my estimate (where
possible). The maker of the card is shown in brackets (where
available).
All pictures on this page are from my
own collection, but are not my copyright. If you wish to
repost or reuse them would you please out of courtesy let me
know.
A
drawing of the church (from the east) dated 1809 and
credited to
Charles Tomkins. Note the Cupola on the tower. This suggests
it
may
actually be earlier (the steeple was build in 1800).
The Church was dedicated to St Michael
the Archangel in 1964, as the previous dedication was long lost.
The oldest
part (the tower) dates from about 1070 and was mentioned in the
Domesday book, the tower
certainly formed part of the original building, its wall being
over five feet thick. It
was originally built as a refuge for the villagers from French
raiding parties, they used
to come ashore at Newtown creek. It initially had no external
entrance, a ladder had to be
climbed to the roof to gain access. An entrance was built in the
13th century but this has
caused stability problems since then since there are very poor
foundations. It has now
been underpinned.
The church itself can be traced in its
present form to the 13th century. A Steeple was
added to the tower in about 1812, this was purchased by the sale
of the parish gun and of
the bells which would have rung from the steeple. This resulted
in the local saying:
"Shalfleet poor and simple
people
Sold their bells to build
a steeple."
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Undated
(but probably from the beginning of the 19th
century).
Original
print in the church.
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Shalfleet church from the east around
1890. The houses
on
the left have long been demolished
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An
artists impression of the church from the west, probably
around 1900.
The
steeple was demolished in 1912 as it was found to be
unstable. (Gubbins)
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Shalfleet
church from the west, looking over the pond which
became part of the vicarage grounds. Around 1910. (Ideal)
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Shalfleet
church, probably in the 1930's. (Sweetman)
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Shalfleet church, said to be in 1937, looking across
Church Lane.
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Shalfleet
Church 1950's. (Frith)
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Shalfleet Church from
the South, probably from the 1950's
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Inside
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Shalfleet
Church nave, undated probably 1930's
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A similar
view from slightly further back
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Shalfleet
Church pulpit, undated
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Shalfleet
Church altar, undated
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Interior of
Shalfleet Church, around 1970. (Dixon)
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Shalfleet
Postcards page 1
Shalfleet
Creek
10
May 2015
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