A sanctuary that gave elderly horses a peaceful retirement for 55 years was forced to close on this day in 1976 because of the soaring cost of crossing the Solent.
On 23rd October 1976, 50 years ago today, Islanders learned that the Wyndham Cottle Home of Rest for Animals at Ningwood was to close after more than 5 decades.
The RSPCA, which ran the 50-acre home at Ningwood Manor, said transporting horses and animal feed across the Solent had become too expensive. At the time, 25 elderly horses were being cared for there.
Unlike cattle and other farm animals, the retired horses contributed nothing towards their upkeep, which was funded entirely by charity. The RSPCA argued that moving to the mainland was justified if the savings enabled it to care for even one additional horse each year.
The sanctuary owed its existence to Dr Ernest Wyndham Cottle, a wealthy Harley Street skin specialist who inherited Ningwood Manor in 1895.
When Dr Cottle died in 1919, he left the manor and his other Shalfleet property to create a home where animals could end their days. He also provided £15,000 – roughly £650,000 today – to establish and maintain it.
His own horses, dogs, cats and cattle were to be accommodated there, together with other animals recommended by the RSPCA. Dr Cottle stipulated that they must be:
Well and kindly taken care of, and in no circumstances to be sold or parted with.
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Most of his remaining estate went to animal welfare charities, while substantial sums were left to the Royal Isle of Wight County Hospital and a convalescent home in Ryde.
His wife received rather less. Dr Cottle left her his parrot and an annuity of £20 a year – approximately £865 in today’s money.
The Ningwood home opened around 1921 and principally cared for elderly horses. Its residents included retired police horses, pit ponies, half-blind horses and animals which had suffered mistreatment.
To finance the move from the Island, the RSPCA auctioned a collection of relics and antiques in London. The sale raised £18,852 – about £123,000 today and almost twice the expected amount.
Among the lots was some of Queen Victoria’s underwear. A lace-trimmed nightdress sold for £105, while a Stoke-on-Trent publican paid £75 for a pair of the Queen’s black stockings to display in his bar.
The highest price was £1,000 for a 19th-century German Polyphon mechanical music machine.
The horses were moved to Manor Farm at Newton Longville near Milton Keynes in 1977. Although the Wyndham Cottle charity continued its work on the mainland, the move ended more than half a century of care for old horses at Ningwood.
