Walk 49 Ventnor to Godshill - 3.3 miles

One way to go from Ventnor to Godshill is over Stenbury Down, but this is the lower and relatively flat route. You can start from anywhere in Ventnor but I have started from the number 3 bus stop outside the Island Free School in Upper Ventnor. Where the road bends left, Rew Lane runs behind the main road to rejoin it in Wroxall.

Just past Span Farm is Span Lodge where Rew Lane bears right to lead down into Wroxall village, but take the path that runs straight ahead around Span Farm.

Soon, hopefully avoiding cows, the path leads along the back of Appuldurcombe House, the seat of the Worsley family.

The roofless mansion sits in what were once fine grounds laid out by Capability Brown and, at present, although owned by English Heritage, it is free to wander round the ruins of this grand home. Closed Saturdays. Historic England, in its entry on Appuldurcombe, calls the house a "masterpiece of English Baroque" and records that Henry VIII visited Sir James Worsley at Appuldurcombe in 1538.

The house was once a Norman priory, then a convent, and then home to the Elizabethan Leigh family, connected by marriage to the powerful Worsley family, who became Governors and Captains of the Isle of Wight. From 1701, Sir Robert, the 4th Baronet, began rebuilding the Tudor mansion into a grand country house in Palladian style with Corinthian capitals.

While it was owned by Richard Worsley, the 7th Baronet was the subject of one of the great scandals of his day. He completed the mansion, filled it with Greek marbles and a fine art collection and married the wealthy heiress, Seymour Dorothy Fleming. But the marriage was not a success and Lady Worsley was rumoured to have had 27 lovers, one of them her husband's close friend George Bisset. Lord Worsley brought a criminal case against Bisset, but, scandalised by the revelations, the court awarded him only one shilling in damages, destroying his reputation.

The affair is the subject of the book, The Scandalous Lady W. by Halle Rubenhold, which was turned into a BBC TV film starring Natalie Dormer.

 

As you return through the main entrance turn left to join the track you left earlier to proceed across fields to pass through Freemantle Gate, which was once the entrance to the Appuldurcombe estate, added in the 1770s in Neo-Classical style.

Pass through the gate and take the path leading in 1 mile to Godshill, passing horses and alpacas en route. You pass Godshill Manor Farm and return to the main road opposite Moor Farm, turning left to walk into Godshill Village.

Walk Details
Start: Bus stop by Island Free School School,  Rew Lane
Finish: Godshill
Time: 3 hours                                                                                                                           Distance:3.3 miles
Refreshments: Godshill village cafes.
WC: Godshill Car Park Public Toilets and in The Old Smith shop/cafe                                    Bus: No 3