Isle of Wight

A climb to the common at Mottistone

Visit a mysterious ancient monument and enjoy fine views over the Mottistone Estate and down to the sea from the heather-covered common that's rich in wildlife.

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Total steps: 8

Start point

Mottistone Gardens National Trust car park, grid ref: SZ405838

Step 1

Take the path down from the car park towards the entrance to Mottistone Gardens. Turn left and go up the sunken path (BS43), then take the right fork signposted 'Footpath to the Long Stone and the Downs'. Follow the path upwards, skirting Mottistone Gardens on the right. Cross the track at the top of the stone steps through a kissing gate, and continue uphill to the Long Stone.

The Long Stone

Dating from Neolithic times, the mysterious Long Stone is one of the oldest monuments on the island. It consists of a 13ft-high sandstone pillar with a second smaller stone at its base. According to legend, the position of these stones is the result of a wager between St Catherine and the Devil. Each threw a stone, the Devil’s fell short and is now dominated by St Catherine’s larger stone, said to represent the triumph of good over evil.

Step 2

Follow the track round to the right. After 30 yards (25m) take the path on the left by a wooden bench and interpretation panel, which has more information about the history of the Long Stone. Follow the grassy path gently uphill, with the mounds of Castle Hill on the left near the top of the rise.

Step 3

Where the path opens out by a fenced tank and wooden bench, turn left towards a line of trees, then diagonally right down the field to a five-bar gate near the right edge of a copse. Turn right through the side gate and follow the path as far as the tarmac road (Strawberry Lane).

Step 4

Turn left and follow the road for 750 yards (675m) to a lime kiln on the left, just after the road begins to climb. Continue up the road to the T-junction. Turn left along the roadside for 30 yards (25m) then turn left again.

Lime kiln

Look out for the lime kiln which is visible from Strawberry Lane. It was still in use up to the 1930s and the brickwork has recently been restored. Lime kilns were common in the 18th and 19th centuries for burning local chalk. The lime was then applied by farmers to neutralise acid soil. There is now only one other lime kiln still standing on the Isle of Wight, at Idlecombe, although they were once common features of the countryside.

Step 5

Go through the gate and follow the track upwards onto Mottistone Down, noticing a number of Bronze Age barrows on the right. Cross over the summit by the prominent Harborough barrow and descend again.

Downland archaeology

You can see Bronze Age burial mounds on the down and the common. Individual burial mounds or barrows replaced the communal long barrows of the Neolithic period. These smaller round barrows were sited high up to demonstrate status. Harborough Barrow, at the very top of Mottistone Down, has an interesting history because of its prime location. It was used as a beacon in the Middle Ages, but is now flat-topped, having served as an observation post in the Second World War.

One of a number of Bronze Age barrows on Mottistone Down — Bronze Age burial barrow close to Mottistone's Jubilee car park | © National Trust / Sue Oldham

Step 6

Turn left by a Tennyson Trail wooden fingerpost, shortly before two metal gates. Almost immediately, turn left again and follow the public bridleway. This grassy path gently rises and then descends. Enter a wood through a metal gate and follow the bridleway downwards, keeping to the left edge of the wood.

Wildlife on the down

The top of Mottistone Down has a cap of clay with flints. Gorse thrives on the acid soils and is burnt or cut in patches to create a special habitat for birds such as the Dartford warbler, skylark and meadow pipit, that nest on the ground. The low, dense bushes offer protection from predators, and the grassland between the bushes has plenty of insects for the birds. The down truly comes alive in spring with the sound of birdsong.

Step 7

Turn right onto a track at the next gate. There are fine views across the Mottistone Estate down to the sea, and you can see another Bronze Age barrow on the right. Around 130 yards (120m) after a memorial bench, and shortly before a sharp right bend, turn diagonally left down a path.

Nightjars on the common

Nightjars are migrant visitors to the common. They're nocturnal, and can be seen hawking for food at dusk and dawn in summer, using their large eyes for good night vision and wide 'frog' mouths to catch moths. They have long wings like a falcon, but weigh only as much as a starling, and have a similar shape to a kestrel or cuckoo. Their grey-brown mottled and streaked plumage provides ideal camouflage during the daytime. They have a distinctive chirring call.

Mottistone Common's bronze age barrow sits in glorious isolation, and a resting nightjar — The fine bronze age barrow on Mottistone Common, with camoflauged nesting nightjar inset | © National Trust / Sue Oldham and National Trust Images / Dougie Holden (nightjar)

Step 8

Head downwards to a wider crossing path. Ignoring the gate on the right, turn left for 15 yards (15m) then right through a kissing gate and continue downhill and back to the car park.

Mottistone Common

From the top of Mottistone Common you can look out over the whole Mottistone Estate, stretching from the top of Mottistone Down to the crumbling cliffs on the coast at Sudmoor. Part of Mottistone Common was planted with conifers in the 1920s, but cleared in 1998 to restore the heathland. Heather has now spread and insects such as digger wasps burrow in areas of bare sand. The Bronze Age barrow is well worth a close look.

End point

Mottistone Gardens National Trust car park, grid ref: SZ405838

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

01983741302

mottistonegardens@nationaltrust.org.uk

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Mottistone Gardens and Estate A Climb to the Common walk GPX file

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Total steps: 8

Total steps: 8

Start point

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End point

Trail map