The Pepperpot

The Pepperpot, or St. Catherines Oratory as it is formally known, is a small tower that sits atop of St. Catherines Down at the Southern end of the Island. The tower is all that is left of an Oratory that was originally built on the site. This is a great photography location as it works for Sunrise, Sunset and Astro Photography throughout the Year. Its elevated position means you get wonderful views along the Southern Coast of the Island and across West Wight. On a clear day you can see across to the Purbecks and even as far as Portland on occasion. There is a fairly steep walk up to the Pepperpot from the closest car park but it is a relatively short walk and the rewards when you reach the top are definitely worth the walk.

Getting there:

From Newport the easiest route is to head towards Niton, which can be reached by taking the A3020 from Newport towards Sandown, to reach the Blackwater Junction. There turn right to continue on the A3020 towards Rookley at Godshill.

On reaching Rookley turn right onto Niton Road (Signposted Niton, Chale, Blackgang) and follow the road right to Niton.

On reaching the village centre there is small one way section, turn right at the T Junction by the village pub and head towards Blackgang and Chale. The road climbs up the side of St. Catherines down and shortly after the road starts to descend there is a car park on the left hand side (Free Parking). The Car Park has a wonderful view along the South Coast of the Island and can get quite busy, but it is a large car park and there is normally space available.

From the Car Park cross the road and climb a few steps and through a gate. There is a well established path up the Down to the Pepperpot. The first section is fairly easy but there is a steep section. The Area does have a herd of Cows that roam through the fields, but they are pretty used to people and tend to ignore you as you walk past.

What to Shoot:

Once at top the Down the Pepperpot becomes obvious and is the only real reason to climb the Down from a Photography stand point. It makes a striking subject for a photo with the view across the west of the Island falling away into the Distance.

Options for composition are many and varied, there are earthworks from where the Oratory stood that can be used as leading lines and to provide foreground interest, in addition the area has many gorse bushes and pathways that can be combined to form interesting compositions.

There is also a fence and gate just beyond the tower at the start of a footpath across a field heading east from the pepperpot that can be used as foreground. This works quite well in Portrait format to.

The area can be prone to low cloud as it is the highest point around and can catch the weather, however even in fog the tower itself still makes for an interesting and atmospheric shot and the weather tends not to hang around for too long so it is worth waiting a while to see if the view appears.

Other Options:

Other then the tower itself options are fairly limited at this end of the Down. There is a nice walk northwards along the ridge of the Down which brings you to Hoy Monument. In Spring this area is covered in a carpet of Bluebells and has a lovely view north over the Island. Along the ridge of the downs there are options for shooting east and west using the trees and bushes on the ridge as foreground options. Once back at the car park there is a path that leads out from the car park onto the cliff tops and the view over Blackgang Chine and along the West Coast of the Island is worth shooting, especially in Spring when the cling edges are filled with the pinks of the Sea Thrift flowers.