COWES (WEST), a sea-port and chapelry in the
northern division of the parish of NORTHWOOD, liberty
of WEST-MEDINA, Isle of Wight division of the county
of SOUTHAMPTON, 4 miles (N.) from Newport, and
86 (S.W.) from London. The population is returned
with the parish. . This -place owes its origin to the
erection of a small castle on the western bank of the
river Medina^ which commands the entrance of the
harbour: this fortress, which was built in the reign of
Henry VIII.> is a small edifice with a semicircular
battery mounting eleven pieces of heavy ordnance, and
contains accommodation for a captain and a company
of artillery. From the excellence of the harbour, in
which ships may find shelter in stormy weather, and
from which they may sail out either to the east or west,
as the wind may serve, Cowes has become a populous
and flourishing town; and, from its advantageous situation
for ship-building, a private dock-yard has been
established, in which several men of war have been
built for the royal navy. The town is pleasantly and
romantically situated on the declivity of an eminence
rising from the mouth of the river Medina, by which it
is separated from East Cowes. The streets are narrow,
and the houses in general inelegant, but, rising above
each other from the margin of the river to the summit
of the acclivity on which they are built, they have a
pleasing and picturesque appearance from the opposite
bank, and are seen with peculiar advantage from the
sea, of which they command interesting and extensive
views. The excellence of its beach, the pleasantness of
its situation, and the salubrity of the air, have rendered
it a fashionable place for sea-bathing, for which purpose
several respectable lodging-houses have been erected for
the accommodation of visitors, and numerous bathingmachines
are ranged on the beach, to the west of the
castle: the environs' abound with elegant mansions and
marine villas, the grounds being laid out with exquisite
tuste. In addition to the amusements which the town
affords, there are frequent opportunities for aquatic excursions.
The Yacht club, consisting of His Majesty
and about sixty noblemen and gentlemen, established
here for many years, celebrate their annual regatta
generally in August or September, on which occasion
more than two hundred yachts and other vessels are
assembled, forming a spectacle truly splendid and magnificent.
An extensive trade is carried on in provisions
and other articles for the supply of the shipping: the
principal exports of the island- are wheat, flour, malt,
barley, wool, and salt, large quantities of which are
shipped for France, Spain, Portugal, and the Mediterranean
shores. The number of vessels belonging to
this port in 1829 was one hundred and fifty-one,
averaging thirty-nine tons' burden; in 1826, nine
British and four foreign vessels entered inwards from
foreign ports, and nine British and two foreign vessels
cleared outwards. Packets sail daily to Southampton
and Portsmouth, and passage boats to Newport and
Ryde. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Winchester, endowed with
£400 private benefaction, £400 royal bounty, and
£ 1400 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the
Vicar of Carisbrooke. The chapel, erected in 1657,
and consecrated in 1662, is on the summit of the hill
on which the town is situated. There is a place of
worship for Wesleyan Methodists.