Saint
The hermit of Culver
He saw the poison, and the sea saw him.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- Chalk cliff top with monument
- Legend from
- Elder's Tales (1839)
- Tone
- Eerie
A cliff-top hermit who saw the future, and a cave you can no longer reach.
Culver Cliff is a white chalk headland at the eastern end of the island. Wikipedia says a hermit lived on the cliff in the 14th century. Abraham Elder's 1839 Tales and Legends tells his story in full. The hermit warned that the well at Wolverton would be poisoned, which came true. He later drowned in a great storm. His cave, the Hermit's Hole, is said to be in the cliff face, and could once be reached by a dangerous path. Today the downs are open National Trust grassland with wide sea views.