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Blackgang Chine
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Blackgang Chine
Blackgang Chine is an amusement park in Blackgang, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. It was opened in 1843 and is the oldest amusement park in the United Kingdom. The park includes multiple themed "lands", including Pirate Cove, Restricted Area 5, Fairy Land and Village, and Cowboy Town. Owing to the unstable land on which the park is situated, landslides occur frequently, and attractions have been moved further inland to safer ground on several occasions.
The original chine was a steep gault ravine overlooking Chale Bay, stretching around three-quarters of a mile down to the shore. It was visited by few people other than local fishermen and smugglers. On 11 October 1836 the cargo ship Clarendon was wrecked at the foot of Blackgang Chine, with the loss of many aboard.
During Victorian times, people were seeking out new healthy holiday resorts, and the Isle of Wight was becoming an increasingly attractive holiday destination. Alexander Dabell, the founder of the park, soon realised the business potential of this, trying various ventures. In 1839 Dabell became friends with a publican who had recently built a hotel at Blackgang, which now forms the Chine Cafe and administration offices. In the light of the increasing popularity of Sandrock Spring (an adjacent chalybeate spring), he speculated that gardens could be set up that would appeal to the Victorians as a holiday destination. Dabell took out a lease for the site in 1842 and Blackgang Chine amusement park opened in 1843, with pathways built down to the ravine and gardens landscaped on the cliffs. Steps were built to give access to the beach from the lower road. It has, as of 2008, remained a family business, owned by descendants of Dabell. A 19 m fin whale skeleton, washed up near the coast of The Needles in 1842, is still a showpiece today.
Owing to recurring landslides, the chine itself has been destroyed, and coastal erosion has a significant impact on the area today. The park's focus now is themed entertainment for families with young children, lifesize animatronic dinosaurs being a noted feature. The same owners run a sister site, the Robin Hill countryside adventure park. Clifftop walks in and around the area give panoramic views of the English Channel and the south-western Isle of Wight coast.
Although the etymology is simply "black pathway", the theme park fosters the interpretation of a smuggling origin: visitors to the park are greeted by a gigantic fibreglass statue of a smuggler between whose legs they can pass to enter.
The Blackgang Chine park is featured in the book Bollocks to Alton Towers, concerned with "uncommonly British days out", and in a related documentary,Far From the Sodding Crowd. In a 2010 interview, actor Rupert Grint stated that his family's favourite holiday was visiting the Isle of Wight, their favourite attraction being Blackgang Chine.
The park is frequently associated with ghosts, particularly related to smugglers, with several tales of sightings around the park. In 2008 a video was recorded, showing what appeared to be the apparition of a girl in a blue dress.
Located below the village of Blackgang on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight, at the western end of the Undercliff, Blackgang Chine was historically a dramatic coastal ravine. In 1800 it was described as a "steep gaunt ravine" descending 150 m (490 ft) over about 1.2 km (1⁄2 mi).
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Blackgang Chine
Blackgang Chine is an amusement park in Blackgang, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. It was opened in 1843 and is the oldest amusement park in the United Kingdom. The park includes multiple themed "lands", including Pirate Cove, Restricted Area 5, Fairy Land and Village, and Cowboy Town. Owing to the unstable land on which the park is situated, landslides occur frequently, and attractions have been moved further inland to safer ground on several occasions.
The original chine was a steep gault ravine overlooking Chale Bay, stretching around three-quarters of a mile down to the shore. It was visited by few people other than local fishermen and smugglers. On 11 October 1836 the cargo ship Clarendon was wrecked at the foot of Blackgang Chine, with the loss of many aboard.
During Victorian times, people were seeking out new healthy holiday resorts, and the Isle of Wight was becoming an increasingly attractive holiday destination. Alexander Dabell, the founder of the park, soon realised the business potential of this, trying various ventures. In 1839 Dabell became friends with a publican who had recently built a hotel at Blackgang, which now forms the Chine Cafe and administration offices. In the light of the increasing popularity of Sandrock Spring (an adjacent chalybeate spring), he speculated that gardens could be set up that would appeal to the Victorians as a holiday destination. Dabell took out a lease for the site in 1842 and Blackgang Chine amusement park opened in 1843, with pathways built down to the ravine and gardens landscaped on the cliffs. Steps were built to give access to the beach from the lower road. It has, as of 2008, remained a family business, owned by descendants of Dabell. A 19 m fin whale skeleton, washed up near the coast of The Needles in 1842, is still a showpiece today.
Owing to recurring landslides, the chine itself has been destroyed, and coastal erosion has a significant impact on the area today. The park's focus now is themed entertainment for families with young children, lifesize animatronic dinosaurs being a noted feature. The same owners run a sister site, the Robin Hill countryside adventure park. Clifftop walks in and around the area give panoramic views of the English Channel and the south-western Isle of Wight coast.
Although the etymology is simply "black pathway", the theme park fosters the interpretation of a smuggling origin: visitors to the park are greeted by a gigantic fibreglass statue of a smuggler between whose legs they can pass to enter.
The Blackgang Chine park is featured in the book Bollocks to Alton Towers, concerned with "uncommonly British days out", and in a related documentary,Far From the Sodding Crowd. In a 2010 interview, actor Rupert Grint stated that his family's favourite holiday was visiting the Isle of Wight, their favourite attraction being Blackgang Chine.
The park is frequently associated with ghosts, particularly related to smugglers, with several tales of sightings around the park. In 2008 a video was recorded, showing what appeared to be the apparition of a girl in a blue dress.
Located below the village of Blackgang on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight, at the western end of the Undercliff, Blackgang Chine was historically a dramatic coastal ravine. In 1800 it was described as a "steep gaunt ravine" descending 150 m (490 ft) over about 1.2 km (1⁄2 mi).
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