Shalfleet Church (St Michael the Archangel) Isle of Wight

Old postcards are sometimes poorly produced and grainy, I've done my best to scan them.

Dates are from the card or my estimate (where possible). The maker of the card is shown in brackets (where available).

All pictures on this page are from my own collection, but are not my copyright. If you wish to repost or reuse them would you please out of courtesy let me know.

A drawing of the church (from the east) dated 1809 and credited to 

Charles Tomkins. Note the Cupola on the tower. This suggests

 it may actually be earlier (the steeple was build in 1800).

The Church was dedicated to St Michael the Archangel in 1964, as the previous dedication was long lost. The oldest part (the tower) dates from about 1070 and was mentioned in the Domesday book, the tower certainly formed part of the original building, its wall being over five feet thick. It was originally built as a refuge for the villagers from French raiding parties, they used to come ashore at Newtown creek. It initially had no external entrance, a ladder had to be climbed to the roof to gain access. An entrance was built in the 13th century but this has caused stability problems since then since there are very poor foundations. It has now been underpinned.

The church itself can be traced in its present form to the 13th century. A Steeple was added to the tower in about 1812, this was purchased by the sale of the parish gun and of the bells which would have rung from the steeple. This resulted in the local saying:

"Shalfleet poor and simple people

Sold their bells to build a steeple."

Undated (but probably from the beginning of the 19th  century). Original print in the church.	Shalfleet church from the east around 1890. The houses  on the left have long been demolished
An artists impression of the church from the west, probably around 1900. The steeple was demolished in 1912 as it was found to be unstable. (Gubbins)	Shalfleet church from the west, looking over the pond which became part of the vicarage grounds. Around 1910. (Ideal)
Shalfleet church, probably in the 1930's. (Sweetman)	Shalfleet church, said to be in 1937, looking across Church Lane.
Shalfleet Church 1950's. (Frith)	Shalfleet Church from the South, probably from the 1950's
Inside Shalfleet Church nave, undated probably 1930's A similar view from slightly further back Shalfleet Church pulpit, undated Shalfleet Church altar, undated Interior of Shalfleet Church, around 1970. (Dixon) Shalfleet Postcards page 1 Shalfleet Creek 10 May 2015