Cridmore

Cridmore
Hamlet
Cridmore Farm
Cridmore
Cridmore
Location within the Isle of Wight
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNEWPORT
Postcode districtPO30
PoliceHampshire and Isle of Wight
FireHampshire and Isle of Wight
AmbulanceIsle of Wight
UK Parliament

Cridmore is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight, in the civil parish of Chillerton and Gatcombe[1] and the ward of Central Rural,[2] about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south of Newport.[3] It is the location of the Cridmore Bog, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in unfavourable condition[4], notified in 1985.[5] The neighbouring hamlet is Roslin.[1][6][7]

Name

Its name means 'the marshy ground overgrown by weeds or other vegetation', from Old English crȳde and mōr, referring to the Cridmore Bog.[8]

~1286: Cruddemore

1299: Crudmore

1305: Crodemor

1337: Crudemore

1708: Cridmore

18th and 19th centuries: Cridmore[6][7][8]

History

On 10 August 1940, four bombs went off in a neigbouring SSSI, The Wilderness, damaging windows at Cridmore Farm.[9]

Cridmore Farm

The farm is owned by the Clarke family, now in their 4th generation of farming. They have a beef herd of ~50 cows who graze on the marshlands during summer and calve during spring. It has ~1,000 acres (400 ha) of land for combinable crops, such as wheat, oilseed rape, beans and oats.[3]

Building refurbishments and improvements

In 1962, the farm buildings were improved, for example an upgrade to the dairy using bricks from the brickworks at Rookley. The Barn Store, built in 1983, expanded in 1990 and originally used for housing cattle has been refurbished into a storage facility, managed by Nick and Lizzie Ward.[3]

Cridmore Bog

The Cridmore Bog is an SSSI notified in 1985[10] situated in a flat valley bottom with deep acid peat and marshy grassland, which the River Medina flows through. It makes up one of the largest wet acid peatland habitats on the Isle of Wight, with plant species uncommon in other parts of the Island.[11] It is able to support plants like Blue Cornflowers (Centuarea cyanus) and Yellow Corn Marigolds (Glebionis segetum)[3] It is in unfavourable condition, along with two other sites: Alverstone Marshes and Thorness Bay.[4] Cows graze on the site during summer.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Chillerton and Gatcombe (Isle of Wight) parish map - SWC". Saturday Walkers Club. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  2. ^ "Central Rural (Isle of Wight) ward map - SWC". Saturday Walkers Club. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e Hallett, Matthew (21 October 2024). "Cridmore Farm: A Heritage of Farming in the Heart of South Wight". Barn Store. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  4. ^ a b "Wildlife – Isle of Wight National Landscape". Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  5. ^ "Geology of the Isle of Wight, part sheets 300, 331, 344,345. Brief explanation". webapps.bgs.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  6. ^ a b W.H and Son's Map of the Isle of Wight, exact date unknown.
  7. ^ a b W.H Smith and Son's Map of the Isle of Wight from the Ordnance Survey, exact date unknown.
  8. ^ a b Mills, A.D (1996). The Place-Names of The Isle of Wight. Shaun Tyas. ISBN 9781900289009.
  9. ^ Searle, Adrian (1989). Isle of Wight at War 1939-1945. Stanbridge, Wimbourne, Dorset: The Dovecote Press. ISBN 9781874336730.
  10. ^ "SSSI detail". designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  11. ^ "River Medina and Merstone Stream". islandrivers.org.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2026.