Bordering on Appuldurcombe Park, is a populous village, chiefly remarkable for the very picturesque situation of the Church, a large and venerable pile, which stands upon a steep hill in the centre of the village,—­commanding such an extensive and beautiful prospect as will of itself repay the tourist for the trouble of ascending.  The interior of the church is enriched by several interesting monuments, ancient and modern, in memory of the various possessors of the Appuldurcombe estates,—­the most sumptuous being that to Sir J. Leigh and his lady, whose marble effigies are canopied by a beautifully ornamented arch; and the massive tomb of Sir Richard Worsley, which occupies the south transept, where a colored window is placed to give it greater effect.—­Godshill has a small country inn called the Griffin.

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The distance from Ventnor to Godshill is four miles:—­and thence to Newport, six:  the country is well-cultivated, but presents no object to call for particular notice:  we pass the hamlet of ROOKLEY:  and the villas of PIDFORD and STANDEN.

WHITWELL is a very retired village, winding between Godshill and Niton:  and having a church of some antiquity.

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Returned to the Undercliff, the next place in our route which boasts of superior scenic beauty is ...

STEEPHILL,

[Illustration:  STEEPHILL, UNDERCLIFF, ISLE OF WIGHT.]

Where a splendid CASTLE was erected in the year 1833, by J. Hambrough, esq. (thence often called after his name), on a broad terrace of rock that rises almost perpendicularly from the present road:  and here it may not be quite uninteresting to state—­at least to some of our friends who used to visit the island years ago, that the castle occupies the very site of the once-noted Cottage of the late Earl Dysart, and which was for many years that nobleman’s favorite retreat.  Steephill was then a most charming rural hamlet; but the cottages are removed (much to the advantage of the tenants), to afford a scope in the grounds corresponding with the dignity of the new mansion.  Rustic simplicity and the wilder graces have given way to elegance and polished decoration:  but whether the alteration

    “Adds beauties to what Nature plann’d before,”

Is merely a question of taste, on which we shall not presume to decide:  various are the opinions,

          —­“And many a stranger stops,
    With curious eye, to censure or admire.”

As the public are now excluded from the garden and pleasure-grounds, it is rather difficult to get a good view of the castle; the best places however are ... a lofty knoll or promontory on the opposite side of the road,—­and a rocky mound near THE CAVE, which is in the face of the sea-cliffs, marked by a flag-staff; and there is, close by, a path to the beach.  Half an hour’s saunter would be quite sufficient to enable a visitor to judge of the beauty of the scene—­which at one time procured it the title of Queen of the Undercliff.  If but five minutes can be spared, the tourist ought to quit his vehicle, and reach the brow of the promontory above alluded to, were it only for the sake of the delightful prospect which it affords.