The Undercliff of the I.O.W.
To better understand why Hillside was build/ positioned where
it is, it might be relevant to explore the area and what has
happened in the
past.
The postiton of Hillside is on the top of what is called the
Undercliff of the Isle of Wight which is a 'land slip' terrace
between the sea cliffs and the high wall-like cliffs which form the
northern escarpment of the area forming the southeast coast of the
Island. It is a fertile area of varying width between a
few hundred yards and half a mile wide and about six miles long,
which extends from Luccombe in he east and Blackgang in the
west.
The geology of the area explains how this has
occurred.
In very simple terms the area can be considered as a jam
sandwich. The Chalk and Upper Greensand strata ( the top
slice of bread ) slipped seaward, between 8000 and 2500 years ago,
on a layer of Gault Clay i.e." blue slipper" ( the jam
) The Lower Greensand rock (the lower slice of bread )
forms the sea cliffs . 1 The chalk downs and
the cliff to the north protect the area from cold north winter
winds making a 'sun-trap' and with the Gulf Stream's warming
effect on the terrace, produces a microclimate that is favourable
to vegetation and human habitation.
It has been occupied by humans since the Stone Age
( Neolithic -i.e. 2500-2000 B.C ).
The early hunter-gatherers cleared small farms were
from the debris on the terrace and they lived well as farmers on
crops and animals from fertile land and from sea. An account
of the early inhabitants of the area is given by Whitehead
2. and Davenport Adams 3.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066 the Island was given by
King William to William Fitz Osbern.
"Be it known to all present and to come, that
I, William, Earl of Devon and Lord of the Isle of
Wight,
have given... all the tithes of my Lordships
of the Island, which are known to belong the same
monks
of Bovcombe, of Wrockeshale and of Underwathe,
in corn ....
William
de Vernon, the Earl of Devon's Charter of ... to the Monks of Lyra.
1193
The monks of this monastery of Lyre, in Normandy, landed at Monk's
Bay, Bonchurch each year to collect their Island tithes.