| BRIGHTSTONE (Brighstone) | ||
This is said to be one of the prettiest villages to be found on the Isle of Wight and it gives a backdrop of beauty for those that love the countryside, with its breathtaking views across sweeping downs and wooded glades, and all this with a stunning coastline three quarters of a mile away, and which can be seen from the high points. The village has a notorious past though, right from the 13th century to the end of the 19th this was a village of wreckers and smugglers! And what was ironic was that the lifeboat came here and to nearby Brook and the first coxswain of the Brightstone lifeboat was a smuggler by the name of James Buckett who had just finished serving five years of compulsory Naval duty as a punishment for his misdemeanours. The pub is The Three Bishops and it takes its name from there being three rectors of Brightstone that were eventually appointed bishops. The Brightstone Village Museum has a fine display of smuggling paraphenalia and this can be found in an old thatched cottage which lies off of the main road, relics of the lifeboat can be found here as well as mementos of early schooldays. Nearby is the Military Road and here there is a farm on whose land was found the fossilised skeleton of a plant eating dinosaur and you can watch as the archaeologists work here in the summer months. The tiny church has a mass clock on one of its walls and a 14th century tower and the two chairs in the sanctuary were given by Charlotte Yonge who helped the churches in Hampshire with the proceeds from her writings HISTORY OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN CHURCH
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