Skip to content

Historic island tower villa partially collapses

Island Echo Front of white van seen with tape across a drive and a large pile of stone rubble Island Echo
A large section the building's tower has been reduced to a pile of rubble

A hillside Grade II listed villa on the Isle of Wight has partially collapsed.

A large section of the Ravenscourt's three-storey stone tower has fallen away across a private road off Ocean View Road, Ventnor.

The cause of the collapse, that happened during the weekend's stormy weather, is not yet known.

The listed building is described by Historic England as an Italianate belvedere tower villa built between 1840-50.

Island Echo Steep driveway leading up to a building the front of white van is at the edge of red and white tape across the entrance with and a large pile of stone rubble and building debris.Island Echo
Debris from the collapse can be seen strewn across the road

Isle of Wight Council said its building control team was making an assessment of the property but the scale of the collapse is not yet clear.

The authority said: "The house has been secured with Heras fencing and the owner has requested people do not access the private driveway to view the building."

It added councillors had visited residents in 15 nearby chalets to check on their wellbeing and make arrangement for waste collections.

The building is close to the site of a vast landslip that happened a year ago between Shanklin and Ventnor.

The collapse on 10 December 2023 saw 16 hectares (40 acres) of land fall away and left several homes teetering on the edge of a cliff.

Devices in boreholes reaching 427ft (130m) into the ground are in place in the area to monitor any further movement and give an early warning of any increase in the risks of a future landslip.

You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram.

More from the BBC
External Internet links