Binstead
Binstead has a long and interesting history. It was mentioned in Domesday Book as Benestede, and was connected from early days with the Abbey of Quarr, which was founded in 1131 by Baldwin de Redvers, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The name "Quarr" comes from the local quarries from which stone went to build Winchester and Chichester cathedrals, the ships loading up on the Hard. Only a few fragments of the old Abbey remain in the fields, but there is a modern building of warm terracotta brick, which is quite a landmark.
Binstead Church was built probably in the 13th century, and was served by the monks until the Dissolution. The sole remaining part of the ancient Church is the chancel, the rest having been demolished in 1844 to make room for the present building. Over a blocked Norman arch, once the north door of the Church and later used as the south- east entrance to the churchyard, is a very curious stone figure which has been known locally as "the idol". Much weathered (although in the 19th century it was provided with a triangular gable for protection) it appears to belong to a class of enigmatic figures known to antiquarians by the Irish appellation of "sheela-na-gigs". Albin (1795) says it had once been taken down, but was replaced as its removal was "productive of displeasure to the inhabitants". These figures possibly had magical or religious significance, and it is curious that they were tolerated by the Church authorities.
Legend has it that Queen Eleanor, wife of Henry II and mother of Richard the Lion-heart, was once imprisoned at Quarr; and that another queen, unnamed, lies buried in the grove nearby. Princess Beatrice, daughter of Queen Victoria and for many years Governor of the Island, spent her brief honeymoon here.
The first school was built on a site given by J. Fleming, whose family once owned most of Binstead and is remembered in the name of the inn, the Fleming Arms. Together with a house for the headmaster the cost in 1854 was £525. There were about sixty pupils. The present school on the outskirts of the village has 225 pupils; they still crown the May Queen each year with ceremony and maypole dances.
Bygone days are recalled by a few thatched houses (a thatcher still lives locally) and the smithy, now disused. The latter has a "spreading chestnut tree", but it is a young replacement for the one which was struck by lightning.
