Military Road (Isle of Wight)

The A3055 follows the cliff tops of the Isle of Wight’s south-west coast from Freshwater Bay to Chale, fast and open with views across the Channel, on a line that coastal erosion has already forced it to move.

From Freshwater Bay the Military Road climbs out along the cliffs above Compton Bay, and as far as Brook it is a clearway where you may stop only in the five car parks. The bends are most interesting around Brook, while the long run east past Brighstone to Chale is open and very fast, with views across the English Channel. The surface is patchy in places, better in the west than the east, and there are many farm entrances. The road began around 1860 as a gated military track linking forts and barracks, was given to the island council around 1930 and rebuilt further inland, with the last section opened in March 1936. Erosion has since brought the cliff edge within a few metres of the carriageway near Brook and Afton, a sign near Compton Farm can be lit to close the road in a landslip, and the council calls its lifespan uncertain. The suggested time to drive it is early evening in late spring or early summer, when the verges are full of wildflowers.