St Catherine's Oratory

The Pepperpot on St. Catherine's Down on the southern tip of the Isle of Wight, is an ancient example of a lighthouse technology. Dating from about 1320, it was erected by Walter de Godeton as an act of penance for plundering wine from the wreck of St. Marie of Bayonne in Chale Bay. Fires were lit in the tower to warn shipping away from the dangerous shore below, and to this day the Oratory serves as a seamark.