Island Harbour Marina
Encyclopedia
Island Harbour Marina is a marina
located on the River Medina
at the hamlet of Binfield
near Newport
and about 1 mile upstream of Cowes
on the Isle of Wight
, UK. It was created from the former Medina Yacht Harbour in 1987 by Don Lang Design and Bellwinch PLC. The design of 96 cottage-style houses and residents marina won an Award for Design Excellence in 1988, but the subsequent recession resulted in the sale of the marina in 1989 before development was completed.
In the 19th century it was developed as a tide mill, which milled corn using tide power. East Medina Mill was reputed to supply ships transporting convicts from Southampton to Australia. In 1730 a substantial house, East Medina House, was built on the site for the mill owner, which still stands.
On 20 March 2009, Island Harbour Holdings Ltd was placed into administration, with Andy Beckingham and Shay Bannon, business restructuring partners at Southampton-based BDO Stoy Hayward as joint administrators. However the planned development of 48 holiday homes will be completed by a third party contractor.
Island Harbour began as an English tide mill, known as the East Medina Mill. The original building was built on the site of today’s lock entrance in 1790 by William Porter, a baker from Newport
. Just after 1790 the banks who had previously supported Mr. Porter withdrew funding and the business was forced to close. Thomas Porter died a year later and the buildings were left empty.
Towards the end of the 18th century, the mill was used as a barracks
as German
and Prussian soldiers along with their families were stationed there. The mill became barracks again in the early 19th century after the Napoleonic war when French soldiers were held here as Prisoners of War.
The mill ceased to work in 1939, causing the current owner, James Roach to leave it. In 1939 the Borough of Newport obtained the mill for use as a store for waste material. A large fire subsequently burnt down half of the mill and it remained derelict until 1950 when it was demolished. During this time, in 1946 a firm known as "Southern Aircraft" leased the land to build aircraft, however the project was never really successful. In the mid-1960s a small group of local people took over the lease to build a marina, which opened in 1965. Island Harbour has recently changed hands, being bought by the current owners in 2006.
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
located on the River Medina
River Medina
The River Medina is the main river of the Isle of Wight, rising at St Catherine's Down in the south of the Island and through the capital Newport, towards the Solent at Cowes. The river is a navigable tidal estuary from Newport northwards where it takes the form of a ria . The Medina is 17km long...
at the hamlet of Binfield
Binfield, Isle of Wight
Binfield is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight near Newport....
near Newport
Newport, Isle of Wight
Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...
and about 1 mile upstream of Cowes
Cowes
Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, UK. It was created from the former Medina Yacht Harbour in 1987 by Don Lang Design and Bellwinch PLC. The design of 96 cottage-style houses and residents marina won an Award for Design Excellence in 1988, but the subsequent recession resulted in the sale of the marina in 1989 before development was completed.
In the 19th century it was developed as a tide mill, which milled corn using tide power. East Medina Mill was reputed to supply ships transporting convicts from Southampton to Australia. In 1730 a substantial house, East Medina House, was built on the site for the mill owner, which still stands.
On 20 March 2009, Island Harbour Holdings Ltd was placed into administration, with Andy Beckingham and Shay Bannon, business restructuring partners at Southampton-based BDO Stoy Hayward as joint administrators. However the planned development of 48 holiday homes will be completed by a third party contractor.
History
The history of the site goes back to the Middle Ages when it was a carp lake for a local monastery.Island Harbour began as an English tide mill, known as the East Medina Mill. The original building was built on the site of today’s lock entrance in 1790 by William Porter, a baker from Newport
Newport, Isle of Wight
Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...
. Just after 1790 the banks who had previously supported Mr. Porter withdrew funding and the business was forced to close. Thomas Porter died a year later and the buildings were left empty.
Towards the end of the 18th century, the mill was used as a barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
as German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
and Prussian soldiers along with their families were stationed there. The mill became barracks again in the early 19th century after the Napoleonic war when French soldiers were held here as Prisoners of War.
The mill ceased to work in 1939, causing the current owner, James Roach to leave it. In 1939 the Borough of Newport obtained the mill for use as a store for waste material. A large fire subsequently burnt down half of the mill and it remained derelict until 1950 when it was demolished. During this time, in 1946 a firm known as "Southern Aircraft" leased the land to build aircraft, however the project was never really successful. In the mid-1960s a small group of local people took over the lease to build a marina, which opened in 1965. Island Harbour has recently changed hands, being bought by the current owners in 2006.