The Quartermasters

Let’s imagine, for a moment, the opening of Golden Hill Fort in 1869, when the officers threw open its gates for a grand ball, inviting the island’s elite to mark the occasion. Silk dresses swept the flagstones, candlelight flickered across the freshly laid brickwork, and music and laughter drifted out across the West Wight countryside in an evening of pure Victorian opulence. It was the first chapter in the story of one of the Isle of Wight’s most fascinating buildings.

Over the following century the fort housed Royal Artillery gunners, saw thousands of troops trained at the site during both World Wars and continued as a working military base until 1962. Today, all that history forms the backdrop to The Quartermasters – one of 18 carefully converted private homes within the fort’s hexagonal barracks.

Inside, The Quartermasters is every bit as characterful as its setting. With gilded paintings and plush velvet sofas in the spacious sitting room, and bedrooms where the original brickwork arches overhead, the whole space has the feel of a well-loved bolthole.

Sleeping eight across three bedrooms, with three bathrooms and a fully equipped kitchen, The Quartermasters is easy to settle into. Two dogs are welcome to stay, and the surrounding country park is right on the doorstep for morning walks. From the communal roof gardens, 360-degree views extend from the Solent to Tennyson Down and the Needles, spectacular at sunrise and sunset. There’s also a shared barbecue area for long summer evenings.

Yarmouth (for the Lymington ferry), Freshwater village and peaceful Colwell Bay are all within easy reach. If you’re arriving from Portsmouth, the Fishbourne ferry terminal is around 30 minutes by car.
However you get here, a stay at The Quartermasters is a chance to sleep inside history.