Carisbrooke

Carisbrooke village is a charming place delightfully situated in the centre of the island. The castle (the charge for entering is 4d.) stands on a wooded hill at an elevation of 150 feet. The summit of the hill forms a level plateau about 20 acres in extent, all enclosed by the castle walls. Sir Walter Scott is said to have had this castle in his mind when writing Marmion. Beyond the great interest attached to the fact that it was here that Charles I. was confined, the castle does not figure very prominently in history. The fact, however, that this unfortunate monarch was imprisoned here in 1647 by the Parliament will be always sufficient to give its ancient walls and battlements a never-dying interest. When Charles was brought to the castle he was treated more as a guest than a prisoner, but after his attempted escape the king was much more closely watched and his pleasures curtailed. The story of the king attempting in vain to get through his bedroom window is known to all. Everything was in readiness, the details of rescue were all carefully prepared. Captain Titus and others of the guard had been won over to assist the king, and had King Charles negotiated the narrow window, in all probability the escape would have been a success. In 1650, the year after Charles I. was beheaded, Henry Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Elizabeth were brought to the castle. Shortly after her arrival the princess, who was of a sickly constitution, took a severe chill and was found one morning by her attendants lying dead on a couch. Queen Victoria had a beautiful monument erected to her memory in Newport Church. The Well House, where the water is drawn from the depth of 150 feet by a clever donkey and draw-wheel, is an interesting feature of the castle. Princess Beatrice is the present Governor of the Island.