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St. Catherine's Oratory

Updated: Apr 23, 2020

Address: Blackgang Road, Chale, Isle of Wight, PO38 2JB

Photo credit: Sophia Brading


This tall medieval octagonal tower is all that survives of an oratory built here in 1328 as penance by a local landowner, who had plundered church property – casks of white wine – from a ship wrecked nearby. Affectionately known as the Pepperpot, it seems to have been used as a lighthouse, and stands on one of the highest parts of the Isle of Wight. It is part of the Tennyson Heritage Coast, a series of linked cliff-top monuments. A later lighthouse can be seen nearby.


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