Set in the grounds of the Old Vicarage the Model Village in Godshill is a timeless place to escape the busy world outside. As Kevin McCloud of Channel 4’s Grand Designs said “If you really do want to indulge in a uniquely Fifties Isle of Wight experience replete with bathing huts, vintage buses and a slower pace of life, then there is only one destination for you: Godshill Model Village”.

The Model Village first opened to the public in 1952 after Mr Dams created models of Shanklin to populate the top section of the Old Vicarage gardens. The lower half of the garden (the first section you will see when you arrive) contains models of Godshill (the village we are situated in) that Robin Thwaites made with help of model makers at Pinewood – this was the sixties remember with Thunderbirds and Lady Penelope at the top of their game!

All Saints Church sits proudly overlooking the other cottages and houses just like the real church up on the hill. If you stand in the right spot you can see the real church, the model church, the model of the model church and then the model of the model of the model and even a titchy model of the model of the model of the model…