Arreton

Name

The name means 'the farmstead or settlement associated with a man called Ēadhere', from Old English Ēadhere (personal name), -ing- and tūn.

~880 (in an 11th century copy of King Alfred's will): Eaderingtune

1086: Adrintone

~1145: Aretona

1235: Arretone

1255: Athertone

1297: Areton

Description

The village has two inns with a long history. The White Lion Inn has been in business for two centuries, and was a staging inn on the A3056 road between Newport and Sandown. At one time, there was a Red Lion Inn nearby. The Arreton Barns Craft Village commercial complex named after a best selling book about a girl (Elizabeth Wallbridge) from Arreton by Rev. Legh Richmond.

Arreton is home to the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum, which moved to the Arreton Barns Complex from Bembridge after 26 years. It is housed in a "Grade II stone barn" at Jacob's Yard in the Arreton Barns Centre. Visitors to the Shipwreck Centre can buy a variety of souvenirs and salvaged objects, including Copper ingots from a Victorian steamer ship which capsized off the coast nearby.

St. George's Church, Arreton is renowned. The war memorial was designed by local architect, Percy Stone (1856–1934). On the road to the church is the 17th century Stile Cottage which was previously used to store ales for the church.

Opposite the church is the Island Brass Rubbing Centre, Lavender Cottage (which sells lavender products) and a wood carving of St. George and the dragon by local sculptor Paul Sivell.

Arreton Manor, the local manor house, was rebuilt between 1595 and 1612 by Sir Humphrey Barnet. Arreton Manor is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) and has been owned by at least eight monarchs, the earliest being King Alfred the Great who left it in his will to his youngest son Aethelweard. King Charles I reviewed troops on the lawn in 1629, and Queen Victoria planted a tree in the garden.

There are or were several ancient mills in Arreton. The mill at Horringford was apparently a paper mill.

To the north of the village lies Arreton Down, a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

There is also a zoo south of Arreton, at Hale Common, known as Amazon World Zoo.

Southern Vectis bus route 8 passes through the village on its way between Newport and Ryde via Sandown and Bembridge. The Downs Tour also serves the village during the summer.

Other history

Evidence of habitation during Bronze Age Britain are the "two round barrows, the larger, some 9 feet high, known locally as Michael Morey's Hump".

The Arreton church of St. George was first begun in the Norman era. The monks of Quarr helped to extend the Church of St. George around 1160. A tower was added in 1299. In the fourteenth century, a brass effigy of Harry Hawles, Steward of the Island on behalf of Montecute, Earl of Salisbury, was added to the church's interior. The brass effigy is missing its head and also the coat of arms.

There is a note marking Hawle's resting place that reads:

:Here is ybried under this grave :Harry Hawles, his soul god save :Long tyme steward of the yle of wyght :have m'cy on hym, god ful of myght.}}

A renowned bowling green in Arreton Parish flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries. "I have seen," wrote Sir John Oglander (1595–1648), "with my Lord Southampton at St. George's Down at bowls some thirty or forty knights and gentlemen, where our meeting was then twice every week, Tuesday and Thursday, and we had an ordinary there and card-tables."

Arreton appears as the central location, fictionalised as "Arden", in the 1889 Maxwell Gray novel, The Reproach of Annesley.

The parish of Arreton was at one time one of the largest on the Isle of Wight. In 1894, Arreton was divided into the parishes of North Arreton and South Arreton. In 1898, part of South Arreton was transferred to Godshill, and part of Godshill was transferred to South Arreton in return. North Arreton was absorbed into Whippingham in 1907.

Arreton Athletic, the village's local football team, play in Division 3 of the Isle of Wight Saturday Football League.

Governance

Arreton is part of the electoral ward called Arreton and Newchurch. At the 2011 Census the population of this ward was 3,610.

References

References

1. [https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/construct/submit.asp?forward=yes&menuopt=201&subcomp= Office of National Statistics: QS102EW - Population density] retrieved 30 May 2017
2. [https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southeastengland/admin/E06000046__isle_of_wight/
3. Arreton can be found at {{gbmapping. SZ535865.
4. Thomas Brinkhoff: City Population, http://www.citypopulation.de. "Isle of Wight (Unitary Authority, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".
5. Mills, A.D. (1996). "The Place-Names of The Isle of Wight". [[Shaun Tyas]].
6. "The White Lion pub official website". whitelionarreton.com.
7. [http://www.wightwash.org.uk/pubpage/arreton.html# White Lion] {{Webarchive. link. (25 July 2008 , [http://www.wightwash.org.uk/index.html Wightwash online, The official website of the Isle of Wight branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)] {{Webarchive). link. (27 October 2007)
8. contains a pub called "[[The Dairyman's Daughter]]",[http://www.arretonbarns.co.uk/pub.html The Diaryman's Daughter pub description and pictures] {{Webarchive. link. (12 November 2007 , [http://www.arretonbarns.co.uk/index.html Arreton Barns official website] {{Webarchive). link. (9 November 2007)
9. [http://www.iowight.com/shipwrecks/ Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum], [http://www.iowight.com/ Isle of Wight pictures website]
10. "Arreton Barns official website". Arretonbarns.co.uk.
11. link. (11 December 2007 , Bembridge Parish articles, [http://bembridge.com/default.asp bembridge.com website] {{Webarchive). link. (9 October 2007 , 26 September 2004, retrieved 27 October 2007.)
12. [http://www.visitbritain.no/Attraction/Arreton/Museum-Shop-or-Shopping-Centre/502205/Jacob's-Yard.htm Jacob's Yard Museum, Newport], [http://www.visitbritain.no/ Visit Britain Norwegian website]
13. [http://www.iowight.com/gallery/others/arreton1.jpg Picture of St. George's Church], [http://www.iowight.com/ Isle of Wight picture website]
14. (24 July 2009). "Arreton War Memorial". Memorials & Monuments on the Isle of Wight.
15. [[Anglo-Saxon charters]] [[S 1507]] (AD 873 x 888), King Alfred's will, tr. S.Keynes & M.Lapidge, 'Alfred the Great', Harmondsworth, 1983, pp.173-8, with notes, pp.313-326. The identification of the estates of Aethelweard is based on the corresponding notes translated by Keynes & Lapidgde
16. (2008). "Southern Vectis – bus route 8". www.islandbuses.info.
17. (2008). "Southern Vectis – The Downs Tour". www.islandbuses.info.
18. (December 1960). "Report on the Investigation of a Round Barrow on Arreton Down, Isle of Wight". Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.
19. 'A pictorial and descriptive guide to the Isle of Wight in six sections', Ward Lock and Company, 1948
20. "Create & Manage the Ultimate Club Website".
21. "Arreton and Newchurch ward population 2011".