Isle of Wight Coastal Photographs
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A local legend suggests the tall stone was thrown by St Catherine Hulverstone is not a village but a hamlet, and in the past was a small from her hill to the east challenging the devil for control of the Island, collection of cottages tied to Hulverstone Farm, used by the families but his smaller stone failed to achieve the greater distance. His employed on the land. It originally had a post office, a school which was stone lies on its side to offer a seat for weary travellers, while hers originally a barn, and the 400 year old local inn had historical smuggling symbolises the triumph of good over evil. connections. It served not only the people of Hulverstone, Brook and Mottistone for over 200 years, but also a much wider community. Some 200 metres west of the Longstone is a single bowl barrow, which forms a small complex of ancient sites with the Longstone, MOTTISTONE Castle Hill and Black Barrow all visible. To the east is a defended hill settlement square in shape, with small boundary ditches and banks. The village of Mottistone lies in the centre of the 650 acre estate, An old boundary hedge marks the eastern end, with a small reservoir bequeathed to the National Trust by the second Lord Mottistone in in the south-east corner. 1965, consisting of scattered cottages along the road from Shorwell to Freshwater. In the Domesday Book it was called Modrestan, and HULVERSTONE means ‘The stone of the speaker or speakers at a meeting’ from Old English motere and stan. This name was originally given by the The name means ‘the farmstead or estate belonging to a man called Jutes or Saxons to the large menhir (Longstone), and was probably Hunfrith’ from a combination of tun and a personal name in Old English, transferred to the settlement here long before its appearance in the and can probably be identified with the Domesday Book manor of Domesday Book. The stone was already 3,000 years old when it Vlvredestune in 1086. At the end of the 13th century the manor held a was so named, and became an important meeting place during the quarter of a knights fee, and in 1346 the whole estate belonged to the Anglo-Saxon period, for certain judicial or official procedures. Lord of Brook. It now forms part of Brook Parish, having been transferred from Shalfleet in 1889. The soil is light loam with a subsoil of clay and sand, and originally produced crops of wheat, barley, oats, peas and roots. Mottistone Down is part of the Island’s chalk downland, one of the richest and most distinctive wildlife habitats in England. Many species of plants and invertebrates are restricted to this habitat, with areas being grazed by Highland cattle to conserve and encourage biodiversity. It is a key habitat for several species including the Skylark, Brown Hare, Adonis Blue, and Stripe-winged grasshopper. The Island has a nationally significant chalk grassland resource, with Mottistone Down containing a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and a candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) for its internationally important population of Early Gentian. Another interesting feature of the Mottistone estate is the large number of ancient tracks and hollow ways, with more than one such feature being cut through by later features or tracks. These ultimately lead out on to the Common, whose profusion of prehistoric and later earthworks suggest long-term continuity of use. 4 5 Further tracks can be shown to have served various quarrying pillars and Norman arches on each side, and narrow north and south activities, with parallel linear spoil mounds indicating specific aisles outside. Only the arches on the north side of the nave remain, quarrying techniques not previously identified on the Island. Near and form the oldest part of the existing building. the eastern end of the Down a chalk pit cuts through a hollow way servicing an earlier quarry, and this activity continued into the early Some restoration took place in 1852, when the north arcade was years of the twentieth century. unblocked, the aisle rebuilt and the porch destroyed. The windows of the chancel were replaced by lancets, large late ‘decorated’ windows The settlement pattern of the estate is one of dispersed hamlets, inserted in the south aisle walls, a lancet window placed over the pulpit which gradually began shrinking from around 1900, when a number and the 13th century doorway rebuilt in the western face of the tower. All of single-roomed stone cottages were abandoned. The small hamlet these innovations make the history of the church a difficult matter to of Fernfield, which originally comprised five cottages, is now read, especially as the soft local stone ages rapidly in this damp climate. completely deserted. THE LONGSTONE MOTTISTONE MANOR Situated near Mottistone, this impressive standing stone and its smaller recumbent companion, is one of only three surviving field monuments of The manor’s existence was recorded before the Norman Conquest, the Neolithic (New Stone Age) era on the Island. Archaeologists believe and was valued at six pounds in the Domesday Book. The present the Longstone was an earthen long barrow, with a stone revetted house dates largely from the 15th century, consisting of a main block entrance. The actual burial mound is now very insignificant, but the two built of squared local green sandstone with a long wing of earlier large blocks of local greensand which are the remains of the entrance date. The Cheke family owned the manor from 1426 until the early façade, are still very spectacular. The smaller stone is reported to have 18th century, and above the wide arched fireplace in the hall is a been moved from its original position by a nineteenth century squire panel on which are cut the arms of Cheke and the initials TC and IC. anxious to see what lay underneath, but found nothing. 6 3 STEPPING STONES MMottistone Church ______________________________________________________ CCompiler of leaflet Carrie McDowell, AONB Assistant FFor further information about the work of the Isle of Wight AONB Partnership, please contact the AONB Unit, Seaclose Offices, Fairlee Road, Newport PO30 2QS. Telephone 01983 823855; e-mail [email protected]; Website www.wightaonb.org.uk The Isle of Wight Partnership is jointly supported by Natural England and the Isle of Wight Council BRIGHSTONE The manor came into the ownership of the Seely family in around The village name has changed many times, from Weristetone in 1086 1870 when it was sold to Charles Seely, father of the present owner. (Domesday Book) to Brykston in 1550. It means the farmstead or estate belonging to a man called Beorhtwig, from Old English tun and an Old The best known member of the family was General Jack Seely, who English personal name. The parish was formerly included in Calbourne, developed very close ties with the Isle of Wight, and was created a but was separated ecclesiastically in the 13th century, with Brighstone Baron in 1933 when he took the title of Lord Mottistone. He and his wife were inspired by their architect son John, to dig out the back Parish being formed in 1644. th part of the house submerged by an 18 century landslide, and so The village lies on the road from Shorwell to Freshwater, and originally discovered the old Tudor walls and windows in a fine state of consisted of one long street of scattered houses many of which had preservation. The manor house has been restored internally and thatched roofs, with fuchsia, myrtle and veronica flourishing in the open. externally over a number of years, including the hillside garden. In the 18th and 19th centuries a major occupation was smuggling, with some of the perpetrators rowing across to France and the Channel MOTTISTONE CHURCH Islands in long boats. Some of the stone buildings still have carvings of a small old square rigged sailing ship, which it was said was a symbol of The church of St Peter and St Paul adjoins the south side of the road being a safe house to store contraband. from Shorwell to Freshwater, and dates from the 12th century. It consists of a nave with narrow aisles, a chancel with a north chapel, and a small tower at the east end containing one bell, not inscribed but ancient. The details of the nave arcades with pointed double splayed arches, curious capitals, octagonal shafts and spurred basses, are dated c. 1250-1260, and are an addition to the early chapel of the manor. The north aisle was probably added in the late 13th or early 14th century, with the tower added to the west end dated dating from the 15th century. It is built of small slate-like stones found in abundance on the shore, and has a projecting string-course seven feet from the top supporting an embattled parapet, finished with an octagonal spire. When the chancel was rebuilt towards the end of the 15th century, its large dimensions dwarfed the earlier nave, with the Cheke family adding a chantry to the north side, and square-headed windows being inserted in the north and south walls of the nave. The church contains an octagonal oak pulpit of the 17th century, and an altar tomb to Jane Freake wife of Sir Robert Dillington, lord of the manor, in the easternmost bay of the chancel The church of St Mary stands to the south of the main road, consisting of arcade. Much restoration took place in 1863, with the early 12th century a nave with north and south aisles, chancel with south chapel, a western doorway, the west wall and the original chancel arch being replaced by tower with wooden spire and a south porch.