The Needles
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The Needles is a row of distinctive stacks of chalk that rise out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, England, close to Alum Bay. A lighthouse has stood at the western end of the formation since 1859. The formation takes its name from a needle-shaped pillar called Lot's Wife that used to stand in its midst until it collapsed in a storm in 1764. The remaining rocks are all short and squat and not at all needle-like, but the name has stuck.
It was featured on the 2005 TV programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the South.
Tourism
The Needles is inextricably linked with Alum Bay, but the main tourist features of the headland itself are the two batteries, the experimental rocket testing station, and the four Coastguard cottages owned by the National Trust and let as holiday homes.
The Isle of Wight Coast Path has its westernmost point at the Coastguard Cottages.
Military use
The Needles Old Battery was a military installation built on the cliff top above the stacks in 1861–63 to guard the West end of the Solent. It was initially equipped with 7" Armstrong RBLs, which were replaced by 9" RMLs in 1873. These took a team of 9 men to load and fire. The projectiles weighed 256lbsSource: National Trust plaques on the site.
Early searchlight experiments were conducted in 1889–92 at Grid reference , just after which the New Battery was built higher up the cliff. Its field of fire was from approximately West South West clockwise to NortheastSource: Observations at site based upon gun placement and gun aiming tracks, and it was designed to defend The Solent against enemy shipping. The Old Battery was originally equipped with the guns which were later deployed at the New Battery, but the concussion from firing these caused the chalk cliffs to crumble. The move to the New Battery removed this problemSource: National Trust plaques on the site.
In 1903 the old guns were considered obsolete and thrown off the cliff. They have since been recovered and restored as permanent exhibits, placed where they were originally installed. During World War I early trials of anti-aircraft guns were carried out, and the site saw anti aircraft action in World War II. The new Needles guns were scrapped in 1954.
The headland was used for Black Knight[Black Knight Testing at The Needles] rocket tests from 1956–71, and the site is now open to the public, owned by the National Trust. Concrete installations remain, but the buildings that were less durable have either been demolished or were torn down by the elements.
Access
Though there is a metalled road up to The Old and The New batteries, access is on foot, from a car park at Grid reference . The battery site becomes dangerous in high winds and is closed to the public in winds above force 8
The Old Battery pictures
Geology
The Needles pointed shape is a result of their unusual geology. The strata have been so heavily folded during the Alpine Orogeny that the chalk is near vertical. This chalk outcrop runs through the centre of the Island from Culver Cliff in the east to the Needles in the west, and then continues under the sea to the Isle of Purbeck, forming Ballard Cliff (near Swanage), Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door.
References
See also
External links
- [Needles and Alum Bay tourist website]
- [Needles Battery]
- [National Trust on The Needles Old Battery]
- [A 360 degree 'virtual reality' panoramic view of the Needles and the lighthouse from a ship,]
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