Brading
Brading is a very ancient village, shown in the Domesday Book as Berarding. A 17th century map shows a group of cottages and a church standing at the head of a broad haven, well placed as a port for small vessels carrying corn and coal; for fishing (Brading cockles and oysters were appreciated); and for smuggling.
Smuggling was quite an industry, and Brading seems to have had various escape routes through the attics of houses on the east side of the High Street. Wall holes and screened windows can still be seen in adjoining attics.
The sea once came up to the High Street, and a stone can be found which marks a mooring and/or high tide mark. Before 1878 two attempts had been made to drain the haven, the third in that year succeeded. During these operations a stone-headed well was said to have been found, suggesting that the land had been drained previously. The old breached seawall now forms part of a pleasant footpath through the meadows to Bembridge.
The Church, almost on the old quayside, stands on a little hill; St. Wilfred is reputed to have preached on this site when he brought Christianity to the Island in A.D. 685. The first simple structure was on a pagan burial ground. The present building is largely 12th century. Two aisles and the Oglander chapel were added in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the whole was carefully restored in 1864 by the Oglander family of Nunwell. There are some interesting tombs in the chapel, and in the south aisle is a wall brass to the memory of Legh Richmond, once curate-in-charge of the parish, whose tracts and loving care of the poor carried his name far beyond its boundaries. His "Annals of the Poor" was widely read in the 19th century, and after.
The fine steeple is mounted on a tower supported by an arcaded porch, an unusual feature. The peal of eight bells, the oldest dated 1594, is a delight to campanologists. Little Jane's grave (see "Annals of the Poor") is in the churchyard, and her home, now much restored, is just off the Mall. In the south-east corner of the churchyard is one of the few remaining Pounds, in which stray animals were kept until claimed.
A Congregational Chapel was built in 1846, and in 1864 a Methodist one which has lately been restored for use. The old Town Hall holds some interesting deeds; paraphernalia of the early officials; weights and measures; the ballot box; records; and the Seal which shows that Brading was once called the King's Town. Beneath this little building markets were held, until they were moved to the Downs where there was more room for junketings. The gaol, stocks and whipping-post, still in place, illustrate early forms of discipline.
The Museum is a very old house which was "restored" in 1498! and the Bullring to which bulls were tethered for baiting still exists in the centre of the village.
Little has been recorded about education before 1766 when £8 was paid for "Teaching children"; Legh Richmond taught some poor children in the old Town Hall, but it was not until 1823 that a National School was set up, followed in 1846 by a British School, both combined as a Council School in 1949.
Nunwell, the "great house", is still owned by the Oglander family whose forebears came to England with William the Conqueror. The present house, mainly Jacobean and Georgian, replaces an older one destroyed by fire. Charles I stayed there when he was trying to come to terms with his Parliament, and troops were stationed there against the French. The house and gardens are open some days in the summer, and contain various interesting relics.
One of the most important antiquities is the Roman Villa at Morton on the outskirts of Brading. This was a very considerable building, and a number of fine mosaic floors remain, one almost unique. The farm which was a necessary adjunct to life on such an estate is also indicated, and traces of the fields can still be seen on the hillside. Many articles pertaining to the domestic life of the inhabitants were found during the excavations, and are on show, but there is nothing to tell us whether the owner was a Roman official, or a local worthy who was able to enjoy the Roman way of life.
Following the recent re-organisation of the Island, Brading has now officially become a town.
