Isle Of Wight Accommodation

Designed in the style of an Italian villa by Thomas Cubitt, with a little help from Prince Albert, the new Osborne House was built as a ‘modest country home’ between 1845 and 1850. The Prince had remarked that the view from Osborne reminded him of the Bay of Naples and so the designs for the house took the style of a Neapolitan villa and the scale and grandeur of what was to become Queen Victoria’s favourite country house is very [...]

St. Catherine’s Point, one of the wildest parts of the island, lies to the southwest of the village of Niton, and from here the steps lead down to St. Catherine’s Lighthouse, which is situated at the island’s most southerly point. The lighthouse dates from 1840 and there are guided tours of this historic building. Meanwhile, a path leads up to the summit of St. Catherine’s Hill, where the remains of a much older lighthouse, known as the Pepperpot, can be [...]

Mottistone Manor Garden (National Trust) lies beneath a common from which there are superb views out to sea. The gardens are set alongside an Elizabethan manor house (privately leased) and they contain a recently restored organic kitchen garden, a wonderful herbacious border and there is a 1930′s architect’s office that is affectionately known as The Shack. The Mottistone estate extends from Mottistone Down, in th north to the coast and, along with being a walkers’ paradise, it also contains the [...]

9 miles northwest of Ventnor on the B3399, Brightstone is one of the prettiest villages on the island. Once notorious as the home of smugglers and wreckers, the villagers asembled a lifeboat crew in the late 19th century whose first skipper was a smuggler, forced to serve 5 years in the Royal Navy as punishment for his crimes. In the heart of the village is a pretty row of thatched cottages that are home to the Village Museum. The island [...]

Near Brightstone, the Dinosaur Farm Museum came into being in 1992 following the unearthing of the skeleton of a branchiosaurus, the island’s largest and most spectacular dinosaur discovery. Billed as ‘The Working Museum in the Heart of Dinosaur Country”, this unique attraction follows the tale – still unfolding – of the original skeleton and of the exciting fossil discoveries that are still being made on the island. It is the only museum in Britain where visitors can see the bones [...]

On the B3401 between Newport and Freshwater, the Water Mill is one of many attractions on a 10-acre landscaped valley site. A mill on the site was metioned in the Domesday Book and a fine example of a 17th century Water Mill is still working today. In 1963 it was opened as a tourist attraction by the family that had owned the mill since 1878 and the site’s historic importance has been continually developed since then. The Domesday Book records [...]

The most enchanting part of this picturesque village of thatched cottages is Barrington Row, usually known as Winkle Street – a row of charming old cottages that stand opposite the village stream (the Caul Burn) and an ancient sheepwash. The village’s All Saints’ Church dates from the 13th century and its treasures include a handsome 16th century brass of William Montacute, son of the Earl of Salisbury. The grandest building in the area is historic Swainston Manor, which is now [...]

Osborne House lies to the north of the village of Whippingham and Queen Victoria also acquired Barton Manor here as a peaceful retreat. The estate of Barton is first mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086, and later an Augustinian oratory was founded. That fell into gradual decline, and from the 15to the 19th centuries the estate was run as a farm. When Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Osborne House, Barton Manor and its estate became their home farm [...]