Brading

By Joe Lever and John Pewseys, tourism correspondents

There is evidence, from skeletal, artifactual and structural remains, that the area of the Isle of Wight currently within the Civil Parish of Brading has been home to humans continuously through Stone, Bronze, Iron Ages and recorded history, right up to the present day. Tumuli, - burial mounds for tribal chieftains - can still be detected, despite heavy agricultural impact, along the ridge of the Downs; and the impressive 1900-year-old remains of the Roman Villa in Morton is still here for all to visit in the new £3 million exhibition centre. Brading first gained prominence as one of the principal towns of the Island through its sitting at the head of a substantial sheltered harbour whose tidal waters reached as far inland as the rear of the present day Bugle Inn in the High street. Roman vessels plied between South Coast ports and Brading harbour and, later, King Alfred the Great's new-born Navy repelled a Danish Viking invasion fleet off the entrance to the harbour.

During the last 120 years, Brading has grown in population, together with the necessary dwellings,schools and places of worship, to its present size of some 900 households of over 1900 inhabitants. However, the main employments of its breadwinners now lie outside the parish and in the larger towns of the Island and the adjacent mainland. Many of the essential small shops of previous years; butchers, bakers, greengrocers, fishmongers, ironmongers, outfitters, shoemakers etc, have gradually disappeared and the premises given over to supplying the tourist trade or have simply become private dwellings. A Town guide is available for those wishing to explore Brading further. www.brading.gov.uk

Brading

By Joe Lever and John Pewseys, tourism correspondents

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