Appuldurcombe House

The current Appuldurcombe House was built in the early 1700s, and is now mostly a shell but it was once the grandest house on the Isle of Wight. Explore its ruins, including the cellar, plus landscaped gardens.

You used to have to pay to get into this place, but it’s now free. The ruins and cellars are a great place for kids to explore and play hide-and-seek, and the gardens would be a nice spot for a picnic.

Capability Brown was commissioned in 1779 to design the ornamental grounds.

On 7 February 1943, a German plane that was engaged in a mine-laying mission turned inland and dropped its final mine very close to the house, before crashing into St Martin’s Down. The resulting hole in the roof was left unrepaired, and after the war much of the remainder of the roof and the interiors were removed and sold off.

The ruins of Appuldurcombe House are rumoured to be haunted.