This small but fascinating
village lies below the 444ft Arreton Down and
boasts a 1,000-year-old church which has, among
other items, a Saxon doorway, Tudor porch and no
less than eight Saxon windows. A carved table made
during the reign of Elizabeth I lies in the south
chapel together with two brasses, one of which has
a poem by William Serle, who died in 1595. The
Down itself holds the remains of Saxon
settlements.
A local farmhouse dates back
to Jacobean times and there are several manor
houses nearby. Arreton Manor is one of the
island’s most historic houses, standing on the
site of earlier dwellings dating to 872AD. The
house was once owned by Edward the Confessor.
Charles I stayed in it before being imprisoned at
CarisbrookeCastle.
