The 1588 Armada trail

The 1588 Armada Trail has been created in collaboration with David Baldwin and Ventnor Town Council to mark the coastal route facing the Spanish Armada's putative invasion of the Isle of Wight in 1588.

The 4.2 mile route follows the coastal path along the southeastern tip of our island from St Lawrence towards Ventnor and Bonchurch. The trail features heritage boards giving further information at strategic locations.

A glimpse into the past

Along the route you will see churches, cliffs, coastline and views that are similar if not the same as they were when the Battle of Dunnose took place over 18 miles of the English Channel between the English Fleet and over 100 vessels of the Spanish Armada.

The heritage boards display bespoke literature and interactive links which deliver a plethora of detail regarding locations along the Coastal and Downs trails. The evidence displayed comes from charts, chroniclers aboard vessels, unreferenced Spanish accounts and playwrights, revealing the stories of ships, spies, marine archaeology and local heroes.

The Battle of Dunnose

On the morning of 25 July 1588, over 130 Spanish ships were spotted off the coast of Chale as they sailed up the English Channel with the real potential of making landfall along the south coast of the Isle of Wight occupying it as a last resort according to the King of Spain’s written instructions.

Thanks to the network of beacons and the ringing of church bells on our island and the rest of the south coast, news of the Armada informed local commanders and Queen Elizabeth in London. Intelligence of its sailing from Lisbon having reached Portsmouth earlier on the 5 July through the covert spying voyage of a local pirate operating from the Isle of Wight, Gilbert Lee, captaining the ‘Rat o’ Wight’ which carried news that resulted directly in the strategic dispatch of the English fleet along the South Coast from Plymouth to Dover in response.

The encounter lasted 10 hours, from when the ships were first spied at 5am until they disappeared past Selsey Bill in Chichester at 3pm. The main engagements took place between 5am - 10am starting off the coast of Niton and spanning 6 leagues (18 miles) up towards Culver, coming to a head off an area between Bonchurch and Luccombe known as Dunnose.

The Spanish originally intended to determine whether they could put ashore or shelter within havens around the Isle of Wight, but were frustrated by Gilbert Lee’s news reaching Queen Elizabeth that the Spanish were on their way and the English fleet and shore militia were mobilised around our island to stop any invasion. 

1588 Armada trail leaflet

1588 Armada trail map

About the author

After taking an introductory class on the Spanish Armada at the City of London School in 1970, David Baldwin, began researching how the Isle of Wight played a part in defending England. He discovered that previous historians had misinterpreted a letter by George Carey, Captain & Governor of the Isle of Wight, and thus worked with Ventnor Town Council to plot the actual route of this previously understudied Battle of international importance.