A wheat field with Compton Bay and the white cliffs of Tennyson Down behind — Wild flowers and wheat by the coast | © National Trust / Chuck Eccleston ARPS

Isle of Wight

A Mottistone meander: south to the sea

On this easy walking trail, you'll explore the farmed countryside stretching south from Mottistone Gardens to the coastal cliffs at Sudmoor Point. Along the way, enjoy sea views and the chance to encounter rare wildlife.

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Total steps: 6

Start point

Mottistone Gardens National Trust car park, grid ref: SZ405838

Step 1

Take the path down the steps from the car park towards the entrance to Mottistone Gardens. Cross the road, enter the churchyard by the lych gate. Leave by the south gate, turn right into Ridget Lane and follow it for 80yds (75m).

Mottistone Gardens

This attractive garden is set in the grounds of an Elizabethan Manor House. The present layout of the garden was initiated by Lady Vivien Nicholson who lived at Mottistone from 1947. Plants from subtropical climate zones have been introduced to take advantage of the garden’s southerly location. In addition to the colourful herbaceous borders, there is an organic kitchen garden and a traditional tea garden. Plants, gifts and second-hand books are for sale at the Mottistone Gardens shop.

Step 2

Turn right along the track signposted BS74 towards Mottistone Manor Farm, but take the stile on the left just before the farm yard to continue along BS74. When the track opens out just after a pond, bear left and follow the boundary keeping the trees to the left.

Mottistone Manor Farmhouse

Mottistone Manor Farmhouse opened as a National Trust holiday cottage in May 2015 – our sixteenth on the Isle of Wight. The farmhouse was originally built in the 18th century and has been sympathetically restored to a high standard for up to 14 people. The other holiday cottages are spread all over the Island, in exciting locations such as the old coastguard cottages at the Needles and the old golf clubhouse on St Helens Duver.

Step 3

Turn right at the T-junction where a hedgerow crosses. Bear left before the trees, keeping the wood and a small stream on the right. At the end of the wood, the path bears right over a plank bridge and stile. Follow the meandering path across the meadow. Cross the stile at the end of the field by a fingerpost and turn left through a farm gate onto the Military Road.

Wildlife

We farm Mottistone Manor Farm in an environmentally sensitive way to provide food, shelter and nesting habitats for wildlife. Wide grass margins are left around the arable fields for hares and birds. Stubble provides winter food for birds such as chaffinch, linnet, meadow pipit and yellow hammer. The network of hedges and copses provide wildlife corridors. Neighbouring farmland at Dunsbury will also allow us to extend the sort of sustainable farming that will be both productive and good for wildlife.

Step 4

Turn right at this road and walk along the right-hand verge. Just after passing two cottages, cross the road and go over a stile opposite onto a permissive path. The path crosses a wooden footbridge then follows the field edge with hedges on the left to reach a stile almost in the corner of the field. Cross the stile and the next field, keeping close to the fence on the left until reaching the cliffs.

Crumbling cliffs

The cliffs at Sudmoor are eroding quite rapidly but are home to rare insects, including the Glanville fritillary butterfly. This beautiful butterfly, with its orange and brown chequered patterning, is named after Lady Eleanor Glanville, a 17th century butterfly enthusiast who first discovered it in Lincolnshire. It collects nectar from cliff-top flowers and lays its eggs on ribwort plantain right on the edge. The butterflies emerge in May and June. The Isle of Wight is the stronghold in the UK for this rare butterfly.

Step 5

Turn left onto the coast path. Follow the cliff-top path, passing through a kissing gate near an eroded section of cliff with a few steps on the far side, and continue onwards.

The Back of the Wight

The coastal area south of the line of the chalk hills between Compton Bay and St. Catherine’s, known as The Back of the Wight, is beautiful but it can be wild too. It provides very little shelter for sailing vessels and ledges of rock extending underwater cause unpredictable water conditions. Strong prevailing winds have caused many shipwrecks, and the timbers from one, the wreck of the 'Cedrine', form part of Mottistone church and one of the timber supports at Mottistone Gardens shop.

Step 6

At the sign marked “Public Footpath” go through the kissing gate on the left and follow the field edge with the fence on the left to the field corner. Go through another kissing gate then cross the busy Military Road to join the byway BS100. This is a hedge-lined farm track which leads straight back to Mottistone. At the top of this track bear right and then left past the church to reach the road and the entrance to the car park.

Mottistone church

The historic parish church of Mottistone was built in the 12th century by Brian de Insula, Lord of Mottistone Manor. The Cheke family, 15th century Lords of the Manor, rebuilt and extended it. It was extensively restored in the 19th century by the Seely family, who added many Victorian High Church features. The chancel roof was lined with cedar salvaged from the wreck of the Cedrine, which went aground off Brighstone in 1862. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch was married in the church on Valentine's Day 2015.

The lovely Mottistone parish church with its lych gate — St Peter and St Paul's church, Mottistone | © National Trust / Sue Oldham

End point

Mottistone Gardens National Trust car park, grid ref: SZ405838

Trail map

Dusk over Mottistone Common and the sea at Mottistone Estate, Isle of Wight

Trail

A climb to the common at Mottistone

The views from the heather-covered Mottistone Common are the highlight of this walk, which also takes in a mysterious ancient monument.

Mottistone, near Brighstone, Isle of Wight, PO30 4ED

01983741302

mottistonegardens@nationaltrust.org.uk

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A Mottistone meander: south to the sea

Total steps: 6