Visit this famous leafy gorge, the Island’s earliest attraction - much loved by poets, artists and writers. The winding path, with its steep sides, a magical place for rare plants, woodland, wildlife (red squirrels) and enchanting waterfalls, the stream winds its way to the sea. Enjoy its peace and tranquillity and natural beauty. After dusk, during the main summer months, subtle illuminations create a different world.
New for 2012, the Heritage Centre presents the ‘HISTORIC JUBILEE EXHIBITION’ - Turner’s Isle of Wight Landscapes and the Discovery of Shanklin Chine. Following JMW Turner’s journey around the island from his sketchbook of 1795.
We also include scenic works of Victorian artist, Lefevre James Cranstone, in addition to vignettes of Queen Victoria’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees.
We continue with PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean) video and display, which shows how it carried petrol to the Allied troops in Normandy in WWII.
The Memorial to 40 Royal Marine Commando, who trained here during the war in preparation for the Dieppe Raid of 1942, can be seen at the lower entrance.
Take time to relax in the Conservatory and Tea Room, leading to the Gift Shop. On the beach below, Fisherman’s Cottage, built by William Colenutt in 1817, offers a choice of excellent food which can be enjoyed on the sun terrace.
J M W Turner on the Isle of Wight
1 Apr 2012 to 2 Nov 2012
The Isle of Wight sketches of the man widely regarded as England's greatest artist will form the evocative centrepiece of a summer-long exhibition on the Island in 2012.
J. M. W. Turner visited the Isle of Wight twice, in 1795 and 1827, providing with his many drawings a valuable record of the Island in the era preceding the Victorian tourist boom. Appropriately, one of his sketches was of Shanklin Chine – the venue for next year's exhibition, which will open at the Chine's heritage centre in April.
The Chine can justly claims to be the Island's oldest tourist attraction, visited and admired for its wild natural beauty for almost 200 years. Turner's 1795 drawing of it was featured in his Isle of Wight Sketchbook, which now forms part of the Turner Bequest collection on permanent display at Tate Britain in London.
Several of the sketches were later worked up by the artist for some of his finest paintings.
While the prized Turner images selected for exhibition at Shanklin will not be the originals, the Tate has co-operated by allowing the display of high-quality reproductions.
As its title – Historic Jubilee Exhibition: Turner's Isle of Wight Landscapes and the Discovery of Shanklin Chine – implies, the 2012 exhibition is also a celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and its content, too, will embrace a wider canvas than the Turner centrepiece, featuring the Isle of Wight works of other renowned contemporary artists such as Thomas Rowlandson and Charles Tomkins.
Scenic works by an artist from a later period, Lefevre James Cranstone, who painted a series of delightful watercolours while visiting the Island in 1881, will also feature. The exhibition will additionally include some evocative historical vignettes, recalling Queen Victoria's own Diamond Jubilee and other topics with a Jubilee theme, from the family archives of Anne Springman, Shanklin Chine's owner.
Apart from Mrs Springman, the team organising the Shanklin exhibition includes Professor Robin McInnes, who has extensively researched and written acclaimed accounts of the Isle of Wight's rich artistic legacy, and James Dearden, author of Turner's Isle of Wight Sketchbook. Preparation of a fully illustrated catalogue is under way.
St Rhadagunds
St Rhadagunds offers a residential experience for up to 75 adults and children in a variety of different sized rooms, all within one building. There are 27 bedrooms, including singles, twins, doubles and…
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