Our Centenary

November 8th 2019 saw our 100th birthday and marked the start of a year long programme of Centenary Celebrations for The Society. The first meeting of the IWNHAS as we know it took place in Newport on November 8th 1919 with around 50 people attending – read more about our inaugural heritage here.

Read more about some of the events and activities that were able to take place to celebrate our Centenary in 2020, we are hoping to revisit some of the postponed events throughout 2021.

What the Society is for

The Society was set up to fulfil two purposes, for the benefit of the public. These are to promote the study of natural history and archaeology, especially in relation to the Isle of Wight, and to promote, in every possible way, the conservation of the flora and fauna of the Isle of Wight, and the proper preservation of all objects of special archaeological and geological interest.

How we do it

We do this by holding regular and wide-ranging indoor and outdoor meetings where members can learn about nature, geology and archaeology, together with occasional public meetings to promote the objects of the Society. We also carry out specialist recording, produce publications and hold an extensive Island database of species records, all of which is used to promote and to better understand the natural history of the Island and to inform decision makers.