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Carisbrooke is a village on the south western outskirts of Newport,
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
and is best known as the site of
Carisbrooke Castle Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke (near Newport), Isle of Wight, England. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial. Early history The site of Carisbro ...
. It also has a medieval parish church. St Mary's Church (overlooking Carisbrooke High Street with views to the castle), began life as part of a Benedictine priory, established by French monks about 1150. The priory was dissolved by King
Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hu ...
in 1415 during the French Wars. Neglect over the centuries took its toll, but in 1907 the church was restored to its full glory. Its most striking feature is the 14th century tower, rising in five stages with a turret at one corner and a battlemented and pinnacled crown. There is a Roman Villa discovered in the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...
on the site of the old vicarage.


Transport

It is served by
Southern Vectis Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight. The company was founded in 1921 as "Dodson and Campbell" and became the "Vectis Bus Company" in 1923. The company was purchased by the Southern Railway (Great Britain), Southern Railway b ...
buses operating to
Freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does inclu ...
, Newport, Yarmouth and
Ventnor Ventnor () is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the se ...
, as well as some smaller villages. It was served by nearby Carisbrooke railway station until it closed in 1953. It is the starting point of the
Tennyson Trail The Tennyson Trail is a 14-mile walk from Carisbrooke to The Needles on the Isle of Wight. The route goes through Bowcombe Down, Brighstone Forest, Mottistone Down, Brook Down, Afton Down, Freshwater Bay, Tennyson Down, and West High Down t ...
, leading to Alum Bay.


Local Amenities

It has two pubs - the Waverley and the Eight Bells, a café, an Italian restaurant and a motorcycle dealership. There are several shops on the High Street. The village has four schools, three of which are along Wellington Road. These are Carisbrooke CE Primary School, Christ the King College (formerly Archbishop King Roman Catholic Middle and Trinity CE Middle Schools) and
Carisbrooke College Carisbrooke College is a foundation trust-supported secondary school in Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight, formerly ''Carisbrooke High School''. Sixth form students are based at the Island Innovation sixth form Campus, in Newport, a shared sixth f ...
. The fourth school is St Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Primary School, which is on Carisbrooke High Street next to the doctors surgery. There are allotments, next to the ford in Castle Street.


History

Carisbrooke Church Carisbrooke was for centuries the island 's capital and was once called Buccombe or Beaucombe, and means the ' fair valley'. The Governor of Newport once lived at Landscape House, at the upper part of Carisbrooke High Street in the Victorian era. Alexander Ross, prolific Scottish writer and controversialist, was vicar of Carisbrooke from 1634 until his death in 1654. The site of the old Carisbrooke railway station lies on the grounds of Christ the King College in the lower part of the field, which is at the end of Purdy Road. The bank is all that remains of the old line. When in 1917 the British royal family changed its name from the "House of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present- ...
" to the "
House of Windsor The House of Windsor is the reigning royal house of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. In 1901, a line of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (itself a cadet branch of the House of Wettin) succeeded the House of Hanover to th ...
" and renounced all German titles, the title of
Marquess of Carisbrooke Marquess of Carisbrooke was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1917 for Prince Alexander of Battenberg, eldest son of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (youngest daughter of Queen Victoria) and Prince Henry of ...
was created for the erstwhile German Prince Alexander of Battenberg.


Carisbrooke Castle

Carisbrooke Castle Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke (near Newport), Isle of Wight, England. Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial. Early history The site of Carisbro ...
was originally a Roman fort. The castle is at the top of Castle Hill. It was built soon after
William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...
came to England. The
William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Breteuil ( 1011 – 22 February 1071), was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. FitzOsbern was created Earl of Hereford ...
may have been responsible for its construction, but he was killed in battle during 1071 and so would have had little opportunity to oversee the construction. Osbern's son, Roger, is more likely to have built or refortified the castle. It was at Carisbrooke Castle that William arrested his own half brother, Odo for acts of treason. King
Henry I of England Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...
granted the castle in the first year of his reign to
Richard de Redvers Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...
. The Redvers family owned the castle for much of the
Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
period, only ending in November 1293 when the last Redvers, Isabel died. In 1136,
Baldwin de Redvers Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon (died 4 June 1155), feudal baron of Plympton in Devon, was the son of Richard de Redvers and his wife Adeline Peverel. He was one of the first to rebel against King Stephen, and was the only first rank magnat ...
took refuge in the castle on the run from King
Stephen of England Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne ''jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 unt ...
. The wells on the island ran dry and Baldwin gave up the land in exchange for his head. Baldwin's land was restored to him in 1153 when Henry II became king. Baldwin, the last male in the line, died in 1216 poisoned, it is said by
Peter II of Savoy Peter II (120315 May 1268), called the Little Charlemagne, held the Honour of Richmond, Yorkshire, England (but not the Earldom), from April 1240 until his death, holder of the Honour of l’Aigle, and was Count of Savoy (now part of France, Swi ...
.
Isabella de Fortibus Isabel de Forz (July 1237 – 10 November 1293) (or Isabel de Redvers, Latinized to Isabella de Fortibus) was the eldest daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon (1217–1245). On the death of her brother Baldwin de Redvers, 7th Earl ...
, Baldwin's sister took control of the castle and successfully ran it until her death in 1293. After the death of Isabella de Fortibus in 1293 the castle became the property of
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...
and the crown. In 1355
Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...
granted the ownership of the castle to his daughter Isabel. In 1377 The French landed on the Isle of Wight and attacked Carisbrooke castle. The castle did not fall to the French. Later in 1647
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
took refuge at Carisbrooke but the castle later turned out to be his prison from where he attempted several times to escape but failed. His daughter princess Elizabeth later died there aged 14. It later became the royal residence of Princess Beatrice the 9th daughter of Queen Victoria who put in the gardens which have been recently restored. She established the museum in the centre of the bailey.


Cultural references

Carisbrooke appears as "Chalkburne" in the 1886 novel ''
The Silence of Dean Maitland ''The Silence of Dean Maitland'' is an 1886 novel by Maxwell Gray (the pen name of Mary Gleed Tuttiett). Set in a fictionalized Isle of Wight, particularly around Calbourne, it concerns an ambitious clergyman who accidentally kills the father ...
'' by
Maxwell Gray Mary Gleed Tuttiett (11 December 1846 – 21 September 1923), better known by the pen name Maxwell Gray, was an English novelist and poet best known for her 1886 novel ''The Silence of Dean Maitland''. Life Tuttiett was born and brought up in ...
.'A pictorial and descriptive guide to the Isle of Wight in six sections', Ward Lock and Company, 1900


References


External links


''Carisbrooke Church from Blacks Guide to the Isle of Wight, 1870''''Carisbrooke Priory website''
{{authority control Villages on the Isle of Wight Burial sites of the Seymour family Former civil parishes in the Isle of Wight