Lawrence, St, a village and a parish on the S coast of the Isle of Wight. The village lies chiefly in the Undercliff, 2 miles WSW of Ventnor. The parish consists of a narrow strip, about 1 1/2 mile in length, along the coast. A railway is under construction, leading from Merston near Newport down to St. Lawrence. There is a post office under Ventnor; money order and telegraph office, Ventnor. Acreage, 327; population, 318. The manor was formerly called Underwath of Undercliff, belonged to the De Aulas, passed to the Russells, the Hackets, the Leighs, and the Worsleys, and belongs now to the Pelham family. St. Lawrence Villa was erected in 1793 by Sir Richard Worsley; high walls shut it off from view, and a road of perilous narrowness, formerly part of the old high road, leads down to the villa. A fountain, called St. Lawence's Well, bubbles out, clear and sparkling, beneath a little Gothic building. About 20 acres are under wood, including giant elms, fig, cedar, and other trees. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester; value, £100. The old parish church, built about 1190, is near the W boundary of the parish. A picturesque ivy-clad fragment of an Early English manor house is in the neighbourhood. The new parish church, designed by Sir G.G. Scott, is a stone building in the Decorated style, and was erected in 1878. The Royal National Hospital for consumption is in the parish, and has accommodation for 140 patients. The surrounding country is singularly beautiful and picturesque.
