Shanklin, a watering place on the Isle of Wight. Shanklin is a favourite tourist spot and is said to be "the best little place on the Island" with its old and new town bought together lovingly. It is a town of great character and charm with its many interesting sights. The saxon name for the settlement was "Scenchlinc" or cup in the rising ground", and the Doomsday Book mentions Shanklin as Sencling, a hill (kline) with a spring.

There were two poets who loved Shanklin, Keats and Longfellow. Keats Green is a sunny cliff walk with panoramic views over the English Channel where the poet wrote the opening line to his Endymion.

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever”

Longfellow whilst in the Olde Village wrote in a verse:

“O traveller, stay thy weary feet, drink of this fountain pure and sweet, it flows for rich and poor the same, then go thy way, remembering still the wayside well beneath the hill, the cup of water in his name”.

The little spring discovered by the physician to Charles II is still running bravely today.

The location and natural attractions led to the town becoming a fashionable Victorian destination. Its popularity was assured when the railway line from Ryde opened in 1864. A pier was built in 1890, and a cliff lift in 1892. Sadly, the magnificent pier was washed away in the storm of 1987.

During World War II, a pipeline was hidden in Shanklin to pump fuel across the Channel to the Allied Forces. Details of PLUTO (pipe line under the ocean) which was the idea of Lord Louis Mountbatten, can be seen in the Chine Heritage Centre.

Today Shanklin is a picturesque, bustling yet quiet place with many hotels, pubs and restaurants. The public park and gardens are a delight to visit and the downs and copses are now under the care of The National Trust. The seafront provides the ideal suntrap position for the Esplanade, sandy beaches, safe bathing and water sports.
As Darwin once said:

“There is no place like by the sea.”

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