Nowadays, after the subsequent construction of housing estates on both sides of Gunville Road, there are no signs left whatsoever that there was ever a bridge or a railway line running through the centre of Gunville. John Dennett, together with his son Horatio, form one of the most noteworthy families of the Gunville area, being a rocket inventor, who manufactured his rockets in a workshop in Gunville Lane. Whilst little is known about John's early life, he was born on 25 September 1780, with his family established in the Carisbrooke area. At one time, he described himself as being an engineer and surveyor of "New Village, in the Isle of Wight". New Village, was a "street of genteel and comfortable houses" around The Mall/Castle Road district, laying between Newport and Carisbrooke. The name now being virtually forgotten, as the two larger towns inevitably absorbed all of the smaller villages around them. It is thought likely that Dennett started making military rockets and mortars for use in the Napoleonic wars, but what he became famous for was the development of life-saving rockets, for use at sea. Fired with a line attached, a strong rope could then be hauled from ship-to-shore or ship-to-ship, establishing a means of bringing survivors of stricken vessels to safety. By 1826, he was experimenting with these rockets, with his designs capable of carrying a line more than 300 yards, even against strong winds. This then made them very successful, as it is thought to be a much greater distance than the majority of shipwrecks were from the shore. Over the years, he refined and perfected these rockets. In 1832, a Dennett rocket was used to rescue 19 seamen at Atherfield on the island, from the wreck of the 430 ton vessel Bainbridge, laying stricken on rocks. Four unsuccessful attempts had been made to secure a line over the ship by firing a conventional Manby Mortar, failing due to the great distance (nearly 500 yards). However, a single Dennett's rocket was then used, saving the day and earning John Dennett national media coverage. One of the saved passengers wrote of John Dennett, "I consider you as the instrument, under Almighty God, by which the lives of all on board have been preserved." Eminent witnesses to the event wrote at the time to testify of the "demonstrated superiority of the Island rocket" and the "most perfect and beautiful manner in which communication between the shore and the ship was established by one of Mr Dennett's rockets, which, in defiance of the wind, went directly over the midships the very first fire."