Mottistone

"MOTTISTON, a parish in the Isle of Wight, liberty of West Medina, county Hants, 6 miles S.E. of Yarmouth, its post town, and 8 S.W. of Newport. The village, which is small in extent, is situated near Brixton Bay, in the south-western part of the island, and is wholly agricultural. The parish includes the hamlet of Chilton, and commands extensive views of the country and the English Channel. It is mentioned in Domesday Survey as Messetone, and formerly belonged to the Lisles, Chekes, Leighs, &c. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £200. The living is a rectory* with the vicarage of Shorwell annexed, in the diocese of Winchester, value £403. The church, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, is a small, ancient, but partly modernised structure, with a square tower. The interior of the church contains inscriptions to the Bassett family. Pitt Place is the principal. residence, near which is a Druid stone. Foundations of great extent, and other remains, have been discovered here. Sir John Cheke, tutor of Edward VI., was born at the Manor House in 1614. The chalk cliffs at Mottiston Down are 698 feet in height, affording a prospect of the surrounding country. "

[From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]