Cowes

Sister cities

• Deauville

History

On 1 April 1933 East Cowes urban district was abolished and merged with Cowes, parts of the parishes of Northwood and Whippingham from the Isle of Wight Rural District were also moved to Cowes. On 1 April 1974 the district and parish were abolished and became part of Medina non-metropolitan district in the non-metropolitan and ceremonial county of the Isle of Wight. No successor parish was formed so it became unparished. On 1 April 1985 the parishes of Cowes and Gurnard were formed from part of the unparished area. In 1995 Medina district was merged with South Wight and Cowes became part of the Isle of Wight unitary authority area, in 1998 the parish of East Cowes was formed from part of the unparished area, on 1 April 2008 the rest of the unparished area was parished as Northwood and Whippingham. Both Cowes and East Cowes were originally named from Estcowe and Westcowe, two sandbanks on each side of the estuary of the River Medina, named from their resemblance to cows. Other coastal features are also named from animals: Horse Ledge near Shanklin, Cow Ledge near Little Atherfield and Bouldnor Cliffs. In ~1539, when Henry VIII built two blockades or forts to defend from French and Spanish invaders, they were known as the Est Cow and the West Cow, recorded in The Itinerary of John Leland (1535-1543). The plural name The Cowes was given to both Cowes and East Cowes until 1769, as their modern names were given to them then. An older name may have been Shamelord, recorded in the 13th century. It still survives today, in the name Shambler's Copse, from Old English sceamol (shelf, ledge) and ord (point, spit of land) Whilst the name Cowes has become well established on infrastructure related to the town (including maps, road signage and postal addresses), the name West…