The Wreck of the Clarendon

On the morning of 11^th October 1836 a terrible storm was raging around the south west coast of the Island as a West Indiaman ship, the Clarendon, was trying to clear the area of Chale Bay.

As she sailed across Chale Bay she was gradually driven closer and closer in shore, until her luck ran out and she grounded at the bottom of Blackgang Chine.

Depsite the valliant efforts of the villagers all but 3 of her 27 passengers and crew were lost. Many of these were drowned but some were crushed as the ship broke up and the timbers rained down on those unlucky souls tossed about by the sea.

The three that were rescued owed their lives to the bravery of a local fisherman, John Wheeler, who after tying a rope around his waste went out and rescued these people whilst others on shore dragged him and the victims out of the surf.

All day the villagers fought to try and rescue the ship's company but to no avail. In the end all they could do was to bring the bodies ashore. Many of the tragic victims are buried in St Andrews Churchyard.

It is said that when the wind is in a certain direction the cries of those lost souls can be heard screaming in the wind.

It was after this in 1840 that the Trinity Board, the forerunner of today's Trinity House, built the current lighthouse at St Catherine's Point in Niton, which is the southern most point of the Island.