The Pepper Pot

St. Catherine’s Oratory, or “Pepperpot” as it is known locally, is Britain’s best intact Mediaeval lighthouse. It looks like a mediaeval effort to make a rocket.Built in 1328 near the peak of St. Catherine’s Down, this octagonal lighthouse is one of stone construction and is around 4 floors in height. Once a chapel, the “pepperpot” was so named because it was the responsibility of the resident monks to keep the light burning.

Although the chapel no longer stands, four buttresses were built to the building at the expense of Sir Richard Worsley in the 17th century.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Catherine%27s_Oratory

• http://www.invectis.co.uk/iow/archae.htm#stc