Picturesque Winkle Street in Calbourne was originally known as Barrington Row and it was named after the Barrington family who owned the estate when the first cottages were built in the 1780s.
The name lived on well into the 20th Century, but why is it ‘Winkle Street’ now?
Scroll through the gallery of pictures above to see more...
Keir Foss, in his excellent book, ‘The Book of Calbourne’ provides two possible answers: first, a 14th Century rector of Calbourne church was one John Winkle and secondly, a species of the crustacean was discovered in the stream. Take your pick.
In 2002 myself, Alan Stroud, with Colin Fairweather, recorded an interview with Toby Downer, then aged 86.
He told us: “I was born in Winkle Street in 1916. On a Sunday in the 1930s there would be coaches from the Sun Inn to the bottom because they were bringing people out to Winkle Street even then.
“All the Winkle Street cottages belonged to certain farms, and the tied rents were three bob a week; that was docked out of your pay.
"Dad moved us up round the corner to Lynch Lane and all the other people down Winkle Street, said Dad must be mad because the rent there was three shillings a week, but we moved up here where it was 4s.10d.
"Dad said it was worth the extra 1s.10d. to be on your own!”
Is anyone in Winkle Street paying 24p rent today?
Like reading stories about the Isle of Wight in bygone days? Click here to visit our Looking Back section for more!
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