Carisbrooke
Encyclopedia
Carisbrooke is a village on the south western outskirts of Newport
, Isle of Wight
. It is best known as the site of Carisbrooke Castle
. 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
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 also a Roman Villa
which was discovered in the Victorian era
; this is on the site of the old vicarage and has now been converted into private residences.
buses on route 6
, route 7
and route 12
operating to Freshwater
, Newport
, Yarmouth
and Ventnor
, as well as some smaller villages. There is also a local bus route, numbered 38. It was served by nearby Carisbrooke railway station
until it closed in 1953. It is also the starting point of the Tennyson Trail
, leading to Alum Bay.
(formerly Archbishop King Middle and Trinity Middle Schools) and Carisbrooke High School. The fourth school is St Thomas of Canterbury RC Primary School, which is located on Carisbrooke High Street next to the doctors surgery. There is also the village allotments, situated next to the ford in Castle Street.
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" to the "House of Windsor
" and renounced all German titles, the title of Marquess of Carisbrooke
was created for the erstwhile German Prince Alexander of Battenberg
.
was originally a Roman fort. The castle is located at the top of Castle Hill, accessed by Carisbrooke High Street, then bear right at Cedar Hill.It was built soon after William the Conqueror came to England. The William FitzOsbern, 1st 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
granted the castle in the first year of his reign to Richard de Redvers
. The Redvers family owned the castle for much of the Medieval period, only ending in November 1293 when the last Redvers, Isabel died. In 1136, Baldwin de Redvers took refuge in the castle on the run from King Stephen of England
. Unfortunately 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. Isabella de Fortibus
, 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 and the crown.
In 1355 Edward III
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
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 resently restored. She established the museum in the centre of the bailey.
Newport, Isle of Wight
Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...
, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. It is best known as the site of 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:...
. It also has a medieval parish church. St. Mary's Church
St. Mary's Church, Carisbrooke
St. Mary's Church, Carisbrooke is a parish church in the Church of England located in Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight.-History:The church is medieval dating from the Norman period.The tower contains a ring of 10 bells...
(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 of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
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 also a Roman Villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
which was discovered in the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
; this is on the site of the old vicarage and has now been converted into private residences.
Transport
It is served by Southern VectisSouthern Vectis
The Southern Vectis Omnibus Company Limited is the dominant bus operator on the Isle of Wight. It was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group in 2005 and is a part of the company's Go South Coast division. The firm employs 299 staff, with 105 single deck, double deck and open-top buses and coaches...
buses on route 6
Southern Vectis route 6
Southern Vectis route 6 is a bus service operated on the Isle of Wight by Southern Vectis between Newport, Blackgang and Ventnor. It also runs via Carisbrooke, Chillerton, Chale Green, Chale, Niton, St Lawrence and Whitwell. Five journeys are made in each direction Monday to Saturday, with four on...
, route 7
Southern Vectis route 7
Southern Vectis route 7 is a bus service operated by Southern Vectis between Newport and Alum Bay via Yarmouth, Freshwater and Totland. The general daytime frequency of the route is every hour each direction. There has been significant local concern over the withdrawal of route 7 from some villages...
and route 12
Southern Vectis route 12
Southern Vectis route 12 is a bus service operated by Southern Vectis between Newport and Totland via Shorwell, Brighstone and Freshwater.- West Wight Route :...
operating to Freshwater
Freshwater, Isle of Wight
Freshwater is a large village and civil parish at the western end of the Isle of Wight, England. Freshwater Bay is a small cove on the south coast of the Island which also gives its name to the nearby part of Freshwater....
, Newport
Newport, Isle of Wight
Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...
, Yarmouth
Yarmouth, Isle of Wight
Yarmouth is a port and civil parish in the western part of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of mainland England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river...
and Ventnor
Ventnor
Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea...
, as well as some smaller villages. There is also a local bus route, numbered 38. It was served by nearby Carisbrooke railway station
Carisbrooke (Isle of Wight) railway station
Carisbrooke Station was an intermediate station on the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway ,situated near the village of Carisbrooke just outside Newport. It was a busy station for the nearby castle until the advent of the bus routes, but little used thereafter...
until it closed in 1953. It is also the starting point of the Tennyson Trail
Tennyson Trail
The Tennyson Trail is a 15 mile walk from Carisbrooke Castle to The Needles on the Isle of Wight. The route follows across Bowcombe Down, through Brighstone Forest, across Mottistone Down, Brook Down & Afton Down to Freshwater Bay, then onto Tennyson Down & across West High Down to Alum Bay...
, leading to Alum Bay.
Local Amenities
It has two pubs - the Waverley and the Eight Bells, an Italian restaurant called Valentino's and a motorcycle dealership called Dave Death Motorcycles. Its founder was killed in a motorcycle crash. There are several shops on the High Street including a Co-Op, Hair Salon and Vintage Clothing Shop. The village also has a cafe called Number 44. The village also has four schools, three of which are along Wellington Road. These are Carisbrooke CE Primary School, Christ the King CollegeChrist the King College, Isle of Wight
Christ the King College, is a joint Church of England and Catholic college located in Newport on the Isle of Wight. It was created in September 2008 by amalgamating two older schools, Archbishop King Middle School and Trinity Middle School. As such, the school is on two separate campuses, both...
(formerly Archbishop King Middle and Trinity Middle Schools) and Carisbrooke High School. The fourth school is St Thomas of Canterbury RC Primary School, which is located on Carisbrooke High Street next to the doctors surgery. There is also the village allotments, situated next to the ford in Castle Street.
History
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
Alexander Ross (writer)
Alexander Ross was a prolific Scottish writer and controversialist. He was Chaplain-in-Ordinary to Charles I.-Life:He was born in Aberdeen, and entered King's College, Aberdeen, in 1604. About 1616 he succeeded Thomas Parker in the mastership of the free school at Southampton, an appointment which...
, prolific Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
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" to the "House of Windsor
House of Windsor
The House of Windsor is the royal house of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V by royal proclamation on the 17 July 1917, when he changed the name of his family from the German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the English Windsor, due to the anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom...
" and renounced all German titles, the title of Marquess of Carisbrooke
Marquess of Carisbrooke
The title of Marquess of Carisbrooke was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1917 for Prince Alexander of Battenberg, eldest son of Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry of Battenberg...
was created for the erstwhile German Prince Alexander of Battenberg
Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke
Alexander Albert Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke, GCB, GCVO, GJStJ was a member of the Hessian princely Battenberg family and the extended British Royal Family, a grandson of Queen Victoria...
.
Carisbrooke Castle
Carisbrooke CastleCarisbrooke 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:...
was originally a Roman fort. The castle is located at the top of Castle Hill, accessed by Carisbrooke High Street, then bear right at Cedar Hill.It was built soon after William the Conqueror came to England. The William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
William Fitzosbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
William FitzOsbern , Lord of Breteuil, in Normandy, was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England...
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 of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
granted the castle in the first year of his reign to Richard de Redvers
Richard de Redvers
Richard de Redvers was a Norman nobleman, from Reviers in Normandy, who may have been one of the companions of William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England from 1066...
. The Redvers family owned the castle for much of the Medieval period, only ending in November 1293 when the last Redvers, Isabel died. In 1136, Baldwin de Redvers took refuge in the castle on the run from King Stephen of England
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
. Unfortunately 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
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
became king. Baldwin, the last male in the line, died in 1216 poisoned, it is said by Peter II of Savoy. Isabella de Fortibus
Isabella de Fortibus
Isabella de Fortibus was the eldest daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon. At the age of 11 or 12 she became the second wife of William de Fortibus who owned land in Yorkshire and Cumberland and was the count of Aumale in Normandy. When he died in 1260 part of his estates were...
, 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 and the crown.
In 1355 Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
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 of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
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 resently restored. She established the museum in the centre of the bailey.