#Arreton a village on the Isle of Wight

Yesterday we walked around the east Wight village of Arreton. It was only 3 or 4 miles. It was a stroll - not hard in any way - a chatting walk - ha! It was a perfect early spring afternoon - bright, clear and both cool and warm at the same time (if you know what I mean.)

Arreton is a linear village with a busyish road running through it (Sandown - Newport) - so I was not that hopeful for the walk we had chosen (because of traffic noise) - despite Arreton's history and it's location in an extremely fertile and otherwise quiet valley.

However our walk route took us both south and north of the busy through road. It might have been part wind direction - but I think mainly topography - but traffic noise did not carry in either direction. Walk away from the road and it became very quiet and peaceful very quickly. It was a lovely walk as a result - much more than expected. Normally we would end up in a pub but of course we are still in lockdown - so we had a BYO and sat in the sun on the foot of the Downs. Simple pleasures are usually best - ha!

Here are a few snippets about Arreton :

Arreton is a village and civil parish in the central eastern part of the Isle of Wight, England. It is about 3 miles south east of Newport.

The settlement has had different names and different spellings over the years. For example, the village was called Adrintone in the 11th century, Arreton in the 12th century, Artone in the 13th century, Atherton and Adherton in the 14th century, Adderton in the 16th century, and Aireton in the 17th century.

St George's Church Arreton is renowned. The war memorial was designed by local architect, Percy Stone (1856–1934).On the road to the church is the 17th century Stile Cottage which was previously used to store ales for the church.

Arreton Manor, the local manor house, was rebuilt between 1595 and 1612 by Sir Humphrey Barnet. Arreton Manor is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) and has been owned by at least eight monarchs, the earliest being King Alfred the Great who left it in his will to his youngest son Aethelweard. King Charles I reviewed troops on the lawn in 1629, and Queen Victoria planted a tree in the garden.

Evidence of habitation during Bronze Age Britain are the "two round barrows, the larger, some 9 feet high, known locally as Michael Morey's Hump".

The Arreton church of St. George was first begun in the Norman era. The monks of Quarr helped to extend the Church of St. George around 1160. A tower was added in 1299. In the fourteenth century, a brass effigy of Harry Hawles, Steward of the Island on behalf of Montecute, Earl of Salisbury, was added to the church's interior. The brass effigy is missing its head and also the coat of arms.

There is a note marking Hawle's resting place that reads:

Here is ybried under this grave
Harry Hawles, his soul god save
Long tyme steward of the yle of wyght
have m'cy on hym, god ful of myght.

A renowned bowling green in Arreton Parish flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries. "I have seen," wrote Sir John Oglander (1595–1648), "with my Lord Southampton at St. George's Down at bowls some thirty or forty knights and gentlemen, where our meeting was then twice every week, Tuesday and Thursday, and we had an ordinary there and card-tables."

Arreton appears as the central location, fictionalised as "Arden", in the 1889 Maxwell Gray novel, The Reproach of Annesley.

The parish of Arreton was at one time one of the largest on the Isle of Wight. In 1894, Arreton was divided into the parishes of North Arreton and South Arreton. In 1898, part of South Arreton was transferred to Godshill, and part of Godshill was transferred to South Arreton in return. North Arreton was absorbed into Whippingham in 1907.

Here are a few mob photos to give you an idea :