Bembridge, a village and a chapelry in Brading parish, Isle of Wight. The village stands on the E side of Brading Harbour, 2 1/2 miles ENE of Brading. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Brading (R.S.O.) Population, 1024. It is a coastguard station. The Bembridge and Brading railway has a station here, and the village is much resorted to as a watering-place. The Brading Harbour Company have carried out extensive alterations. In 1882 they erected the Royal Spithead Hotel, established extensive oyster breeding beds, and placed many acres of reclaimed iand under cultivation. There is a golf club and also a yacht club, which holds regattas fortnightly in the season. The chapelry was constituted in 1827. The tract of 2 1/2 miles by 1 1/2 between Brading Harbour and the Channel bears the name of Isle of Bembridge, and the termination of it on the NE is called Bembridge Point. A ridge of hill across its neck, called Bembridge Down, has an altitude of 855 feet, commands a very gorgeous view, was the scene of a rebuff of the French in 1546, and is crowned by a granite obelisk 70 feet high, erected in 1849 to the memory of the late Lord Yarborough. The rocks present a fine study to the geologist, and lignite, fuller's earth, and red ochre are found. The Bembridge Ledge and other ledges run off from the E coast into shoals, and the Nab and Warner lightships are situated to the ENE. An important masked battery, known as the Steyne battery, has been erected at Bembridge, and is armed with heavy guns. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Winchester; gross value, £98 with residence. Patron, the Vicar of Brading. The church was built in 1845, is in the Early English style, and has been much enriched with stained glass windows, marble steps, and good brass work.
