The town lies on a picturesque stretch of Solent coastline with views of the Isle of Wight and its 'Needles' rocks.

Its position on the south coast gives it a climate with milder winters than inland areas, and less rainfall than locations further west.

When the area became a more popular tourist destination in the Victorian era, Slop Pond was renamed Newtown.

Between 1831 and 1835, Lord Stuart de Rothesay built Highcliffe Castle, a Gothic Revival home, near the site of High Cliff House, his father's Georgian estate.

The design, by William Donthorne, a founder member of RIBA, incorporated large quantities of carved Medieval stonework salvaged from the Norman Benedictine Abbey of St Peter at Jumièges in northwest France and the Grande Maison des Andelys.

The castle featured in Mr Selfridge, a TV series charting the life of the department store magnate.

Captain Frederick Marryat, author of The Children of The New Forest, was a regular visitor to the house on the Chewton estate (now the Chewton Glen Hotel, Spa and Country Club); and the adventure story author Colonel R.W.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency's national training centre was formerly located at Steamer Point.