Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for RYDE

RYDE, a town, a parish, and a sub-district, in the Isle of Wight. The town stands on the coast, at the Nterminus of the Isle of Wight railway, opposite Spithead, 5½ miles by water S S W of Portsmouth; was anciently called La Riche or La Rye; was a port and a watch-station in the time of Edward III.; was burnt by the French in 1377; went afterwards into decline; had a pop.of only about 220 in 1656, and of 1, 601 in 1811; is now the largest town in the island, a great resort of summervisitors and sea-bathers, a sub-port to Cowes, a coast-guard station, and the landing-place of about ninetenths of all the visitors to the island; communicates constantlyby steamers with Portsmouth, Gosport, Southampton, Cowes, and Stokes Bay, and by railway with Brading, Sandown, Shanklin, and Ventnor; occupies the N and Efaces of a moderately elevated hill, together with neighbouring plains and slopes; consists chiefly of streetsrunning parallel with the shore, or at right angles, and generally well-built, wide, and clean; includes a suburbin the parish of St. Helens; enjoys charming environs, with pleasant views of the mainland shores and of theisland's hills; and has a head post-office, ‡ a railway station with telegraph, two banking offices, seven chiefhotels, very numerous lodging-houses, a good bathingbeach, various bathing establishments, a profusion ofboating appliances, an excellent pier, an esplanade, a town hall and market house, an assembly-room, a theatre, a royal arcade, a yacht club-house, three churches, sixdissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, a publiccemetery, a philosophical and scientific society, a youngmen's Christian association, public libraries, national schools, and an infirmary.

The railway goes 12 miles southward to Ventnor; and was authorized in 1860, and opened in 1864. The pieris 2, 250 feet long, and from 12 to 20 feet wide; wasformed, in successive portions, from 1813 till 1861; and serves as a delightful promenade. The esplanade is anoble walk and drive, 1, 150 feet long; was completed in 1856; and has been somewhat injured, as to its amenity, by the formation of a small dock and landing-stage inconnexion with the pier. The town hall and market house were built in 1831, at a cost of £12, 583; and havean Ionic portico, on a plain Doric colonnade; and the town hall is in the upper part, and is used for publicmeetings, concerts, and balls. The assembly-room isover the town hall, and was constructed in 1867. The royal arcade was built in 1835 at a cost of £12,000; butshows little correspondence of either appearance or capability to its cost. The yacht club-house was built in 1847; and is noted for connexion with a splendid regattaabout the middle of August. Trinity church occupies acommanding site, on the brow of the hill; was built in 1845; is in the early English style; and has a tower and spire 146 feet high. St. Thomas' church was built in 1827; St. James' church, in 1829. The Independent chapel was built in 1853: succeeded a previous chapel of 1816; and has a Corinthian portico, with stucco pillars. The new Baptist chapel was built in 1862, and is in the early English style. The Roman Catholic chapel was built in 1845, at the expense of the Countess of Clare; and is in an elaborate variety of the early English style. The public cemetery was formed in 1842, and enlarged in 1862. The philosophical society's rooms were originally national schools; and include a library, a reading-room, and a museum. The young men's Christian Association rooms are in a building erected in 1867; and include class-rooms, news-room, and libraries. The infirmary is on the road to Ashey, and has accommodation for 50 patients. Markets are held on Tuesdays and Fridays, and a fair on 5 July. Pop. of the town in 1851, 7, 147; in 1861, 9, 269. Houses, 1, 734. Pop. of the St. Helens portion in 1861, 161.

The parish was disjoined from Newchurch in 1864;and includes Swanmore and Haven-Street. Acres and property, returned with Newchurch. Pop. in 1868, about 12, 500. The manor was originally part of Asheymanor; became separate in 1565; was then purchasedby A. Dillington; and went by sale, in 1704, to thefamily of Player. The living of St. Thomas is a vicarage, and the livings of Trinity and St. James are p.curacies, in the diocese of Winchester. Value of St. T., £112; of the others, not reported. Patron of St. T., the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol; of T., the Vicar; of St. J., the Proprietor. The p. curacies of Swanmore and Haven-Street also are separate benefices.—The sub-district contains also five other parishes. Acres, 17, 894. Pop. in 1851, 14, 228; in 1861, 17, 715. Houses, 3, 491.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Ryde CP/AP       Ryde SubD       Hampshire AncC
Place names: LA RICHE     |     LA RYE     |     RYDE
Place: Ryde

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