Victorian photo #15: The Arched Rock, Freshwater, Isle of Wight (100 Gems of English Scenery)

From ‘One Hundred Gems of English Scenery’, 1901

Limestone Cliffs, such as form the coasts of the Isle of Wight, seem to lend themselves to many curious shapes. Pillars, needles, haystacks, and many strange forms being hewn out of the comparatively soft material by the ceaseless raging of the sea. Perhaps few examples of these strange results are more extraordinary than the one opposite, as its form is an unusually perfect arch of gigantic proportions, and it stands far enough into the sea to be seemingly a fit prey for the next storm to wash away the rest of it, as it has done a part already. But as the Arched Rock is a striking feature in the scenery of this coast, it is to be hoped the ocean will be content for many a long year to let it continue to excite the wonder and admiration of the curious.

Freshwater often has high waves due to the effect of Atlantic storms, but the Arch Rock survived for many more years, although it eventually collapsed on 25 October 1992.