Bembridge is a village on the Isle of Wight. It is the village which is farthest to the east on the island. According to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom it had a population of 3,848.[1] The large population (for a village) means that some people have said that it has the biggest population of any village in the United Kingdom.[2] Many of the most rich people who live on the Isle of Wight live in Bembridge.
The villages of Bembridge and Yaverland were once a separate island, off the coast of the rest of the Isle of Wight. There was a channel of water called Brading Haven, which separated the two islands. Before the time in which Queen Victoria was the queen of the United Kingdom, the village of Bembridge only had a few huts and farm houses. It was only when a church was built in 1827 that the village started to grow.
The most old buildings in the village are found close to the church in the north of the village. In this part of the village there are a number of shops, pubs (places to buy and drink alcohol), and restaurants (places to buy food). There is also the village hall (a place for meetings, sales and events).
In the south of the village there is an area which is called 'Lane End'. It is a more modern part of the village and has its own shops. In this part of the village there is a lifeboat station. There are two schools in Bembridge, one is for children of ages 4–8, and the other is for children of ages 9–13.