Kelly's Directory (1886) - Northwood

Northwood is a parish on the west bank of the Medina, and includes within its boundaries the town of West Cowes, in the liberty and rural deanery of West Medina, archdeaconry of the Isle of Wight and Winchester diocese, from 2.5 to 5 miles north of Newport. St. John the Baptist, the parish church of Northwood, which is situated about midway between Cowes and Newport, is a very ancient stone edifice, in the Early Norman style, and consists of chancel, nave, and aisles: the church was thoroughly restored, re-seated and a handsome tower, with spire, built in 1864: here are five stained windows; in the south side of the church is a beautiful window, representing John the Baptist, in memory of the Rev. S. Seaman. The register dates from the year 1544. The living is a chapelry, annexed to Carisbrooke, joint yearly value £1,162 and 53 acres of glebe, in the gift of Queen's College, Oxford, and held since 1858 by the Rev. Edward Boucher James M.A. of Queen's College, Oxford; the Rev. Charles Edward Seaman M.A. of Corpus Christi, Cambridge is the resident officiating curate. There is a small Wesleyan chapel. Mann's and Smith's charities of about £30 yearly are for apprenticing. Parkhurst prison is part of this parish. PALLANCE GATE, formerly ex-parochial, is now incorporated with Northwood. Edward G. Ward esq. is lord of the manor and the principal landowner. The soil is loamy; subsoil, clay and gravel. The chief crops are corn, and some land is in pasture. The area, including West Cowes, is 4,865 acres of land and 417 of water and foreshore; rateable value, including West Cowes, £33,967; the population in 1881 was 8,484, of which 358 are in Parkhurst prison, and 7,072 in West Cowes.

[Description(s) from Kelly's Directory of the Isle of Wight (1886)]