Mersley is a farming hamlet on the Isle of Wight. Mersley is in Newchurch Parish, and is adjacent to the village of Newchurch itself. Mersley is home to a large garlic farm which is part of the Isle of Wight Garlic Festival in nearby Newchurch, held annually since 1983 and now drawing 25,000 visitors a year.The Isle of Wight Garlic Festival This garlic farm has also been investigated for inappropriate pesticide use in the past.Pesticide Incident Report 1999/2000 , Health and Safety Executive.Pesticide Incidents Report 2000/2001 , Health and Safety Executive.Garlic baron bounces back, James Arnold, BBC News, 24 July 2002.Mersley Farm, Isle of Wight, Lords Hansard text for 20 Dec 2000. Mersley Farm, Isle of Wight, Lords Hansard text for 15 Dec 1999.
Potter Molly Attrill worked out of a converted barn in Mersley from 1982 to 2014.
Name The name means 'the woodland clearing or meadow belonging to a man or family called Madoc(k)', from originally Welsh Madoc(k) and Old English lēah. Mersley Down has the same origin, named after Mersley.
~1250: Maddokesley
~1270: Madekeslie
16th century: Markesley
1769: Messly, Messly Down
Archaeological Interest Mersley is the subject of archaeological interest because of findings of Roman pottery in the area. Earthenware and crockery were discovered at the Garlic Farm in the 1970s and 80s.Trott, K., 2002, The evaluation excavation at Mersley Farm, Newchurch, Proc Isle of Wight Nat Hist Archaeol Soc 16, 95-112.ROMAN WIGHT, Malcolm Lyne Ridges on nearby Mersley DownMersley Down pictures,Megalithic Portal. might be terraces, suggesting the previous presence of a Roman vineyard.IRON AGE VINEYARDS ON MERSLEY DOWN ? , Archive of Monthly News Items As previously featured in the History Centre, Isle of Wight History Centre , January 2000. There is evidence of a possible earthwork enclosure on a farm in Mersley.An assessment of LIDAR for archaeological use , David Motkin, formerly with the Isle of Wight Council Archaeology Service, AERIAL ARCHAEOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP Annual Meeting, Aberdeen University, 5–7 September 2000.
There is a chalk pit on Mersley Down.DUXMORE CHALK PIT, MERSLEY DOWN, NEWPORT, Isle of Wight Unitary Development Plan, Appendix E.
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