Isle of Wight

A Mottistone meander: south to the sea

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

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.

Near to

Mottistone Gardens and Estate

Start point

Mottistone Gardens National Trust car park, grid ref: SZ405838

Trail information

View route

Print trail

Difficulty*

Accessibility**

Full trail

DistanceMiles: 2.8 (km: 4.48)

Duration1 hour 30 mins to 2 hours

Dog friendly***

*Follows farmland and coastal paths. For further details, see section marked Terrain.
**This walk includes several gates, stiles and steps. For further details, see section marked Access.
***Dogs should be kept on a lead around livestock. For further details, see section marked Access.

Address
Mottistone Gardens National Trust car park, Mottistone, Isle of Wight.
Directions via Google Maps
On foot
Mottistone lies approximately 1 mile (1.5km) north of the Isle of Wight Coast Path. The Isle of Wight coastal path is followed between points 5 and 6 on the map.
Cycling
'Round the Island' Sustrans regional route 67 passes along the B3399 through Mottistone.
Visit Round the Island cycle route website
By bus
Southern Vectis (tel: 01983 827000) No. 12 service from Newport to Totland passes by Mottistone Gardens. Alight at the green. Mainly 2-hourly.
Visit Southern Vectis website
By ferry
Yarmouth-Lymington 7 miles (11km), Fishbourne-Portsmouth 14 miles (22km) (Wightlink tel: 0871 3761000)
Visit Wightlink website
East Cowes-Southampton 15 miles (24km) (Red Funnel tel: 0844 8449988).
Visit Red Funnel website
By road
Mottistone lies on the B3399, between Brighstone and Brook. Mottistone Gardens car park is to the west of the property. The nearest postcode is PO30 4ED.
Dogs
Dogs welcome, but please keep them on a lead around wildlife and livestock, and take any dog waste home with you. There is a dog bin in the car park.
Car park
Car park at Mottistone Gardens (National Trust).
Toilet
When open, Mottistone Gardens (free to National Trust members) has refreshments and toilets.
Tea-room
There is a tea garden within Mottistone Gardens that serves sandwiches, snacks, cakes and drinks (subject to the gardens being open and admission charges apply).
Total stages: 6
Total stages: 6
Start point
Mottistone Gardens National Trust car park, grid ref: SZ405838
Stage 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.
Enjoy a stroll through the herbaceous border | © National Trust Images / John Miller
Stage 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.
Stage 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.
Stage 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.
Stage 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.
Stage 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.
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
A Mottistone meander, south to the sea walking trail map | © Crown copyright and database rights 2015 Ordnance Survey
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Mottistone, near Brighstone, Isle of Wight, PO30 4ED

01983741302

mottistonegardens@nationaltrust.org.uk

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Near to

Start point

Trail information

Difficulty*

Accessibility**

Full trail

Getting here

Facilities

Accessibility

Terrain and elevation

Trail route

Total stages: 6

Total stages: 6

Start point

Stage 1

Point of interest

Stage 2

Point of interest

Stage 3

Point of interest

Stage 4

Point of interest

Stage 5

Point of interest

Stage 6

Point of interest

End point

Trail map

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