Northwood
Northwood now seems, to a stranger, to be just a suburb of Cowes, but in mediaeval times the "North Wood" of Parkhurst must have extended nearly to the sea. There were, however, clearings, and in these were farms, one of which, Luton Farm, figured in Domesday Book under the name of Levintune. Chawton Farm, near the Church, was Caulkstone in 1248, and Pallance Farm was "de la Palente" in 1235. Medham was probably the home of William de Medeme in 1299, and his house may have stood on the same site as the present one. Nodes Farm and Comforts appear on 18th century maps.
The manor of Werra or Werror was granted in 1130 by the Earl of Devon (de Redvers) to God's House (St. Julian's Hospital) in Southampton.
Northwood Church was built in the 12th century, and enlarged in the 13th, so there must have been enough inhabitants to provide the tithes for its upkeep. Very little early work now remains. Up to 1486 all burials had to be at Carisbrooke – and there were no proper roads! In 1794 the Church was "adorned" with a peculiar square wooden tower, with a weather-cock sprouting from the top; later on this was mercifully removed and a spire built.
Local boys seem to have gone away to make their fortunes, but not to forget their old homes, and in 1699 we find Richard Smith of London, Goldsmith, desiring to be buried near his parents at Northwood, and directing that his sister, Jane Spinks, should be re-interred there. He left £200 (a very large sum in those days) to St. Mary Woolnoth, London, for the purchase of land, the income from which was to finance an apprentice from Northwood every second year; also 40 shillings a year to provide bread for the poor.
In 1500, Northwood had attracted a "confraternity" of men and women to set up a religious house. Henry VIII closed this down in 1536 though the house, near the Church, was still extant in 1690. The 19th century saw an enlarged population with the coming of the railways and larger shipyards at Cowes, and more houses were built; the gravel pits at Furzyhurst, and the brickyards at Hillis, Werrar and the lower end of Oxford Street working hard. The school, built in 1885, had to be enlarged fifty years later.
In 1876, Northwood was struck by a severe tornado. A house in Pallance Road, "Woodside", was wrecked, and the family's belongings scattered over a wide area, some being picked up in nearby copses. A local preacher stood on the ruined staircase and preached to the sight-seers after the disaster.
At the turn of the century the village had a Mission Church to cope with the "overflow" from the Parish Church, and there was also a Methodist Chapel. The village had three well-known inns – the Horseshoe, very old, and said to have originally been the Half-way House, the Flower Pot at Somerton, and the Travellers' Joy which was then a little thatched ale-house in Pallance Road.
There was a wheelwright and forge next to the Horseshoe, and another forge in Pallance Road; and even a shipbuilder at Hurstake for a short time.
Northwood had its own Parish Fire Brigade, the firemen living in a widely spread area from Rew Street to Hillis to Chawton, so that one can only wonder how they managed to assemble to cope with a serious emergency.
