Niton is a village on the Isle of Wight, west of Ventnor, with a population of 2,082. It has two pubs, several churches, a pottery workshop/shop, a pharmacy, a busy volunteer-run library, a medical centre and two local shops including a post office. The post office includes a pub and café that serves as a local meeting place. The village also offers a primary school with a co-located pre-school and nursery. Geography Niton village is split in half by a break in the inner cliff of the Undercliff, through which passes the main road. Upper Niton lies in a hollow and is set around a crossroads. The lower part of the village, below the inner cliff and above Reeth Bay, is known as Niton Undercliff, and was a small fishing hamlet up until the 19th Century. This part of Niton then flourished in Victorian times due to the popularity of Ventnor as a health resort, and many mansions and holiday cottages were built there. Mount Cleves House was originally constructed in the late 1700s, and substantially remodelled in the early 1800s. Its residents included a Mr Kirkpatrick who owned the Isle of Wight Bank at the time and the owner of the Mortimer Foundry in Newport. The road along the Undercliff continues east towards Ventnor, but a major landslip in February 2014 has closed it to vehicular traffic between Niton and Ventnor, although it remains open for walkers and riders. The Undercliff at Niton includes the most southerly point of the Isle of Wight, St. Catherine's Point and St. Catherine's Lighthouse. That is also where the Navtex transmitting station is located. The source of the Eastern Yar is in the parish, just north of the village. Niton together with Whitwell is a civil parish. History Prehistoric lithic implements dating to the lower Palaeolithic constitute the oldest evidence of occupation of the area by hominids at some point in the early to mid Pleistocene. These are namely Acheulean handaxes, that have been discovered on the Undercliff coastline beneath the village. Later prehistoric findspots show evidence of mesolithic and neolithic activity. Bronze Age round barrows are situated at several points on St Catherine's Down. These were used as burial monuments and perhaps territorial markers by Bronze Age communities. The historical parish boundary with Chale to the north follows these barrows, tentatively suggesting this is an ancient boundary between neighbouring communities that has