Five Famous Occupants of Carisbrooke Castle

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My post is about Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight.

One famous inhabitant was Charles I, imprisoned at Carisbrooke during the English Civil War – but can you name another four famous occupants?

 If not, read on…(in fact, even if you can –read on!)
PS GIVEWAY DETAILS AT THE END OF THIS POST!

Isabella de Fortibus

In the 1260’s Isabella was one of the greatest landowners in England  and that she was a woman made this all the more unusual. She came to her wealth through marriage and inheritance. The first by the death of her husband, William de Fortibus, when she was just 23. The second the murder of her brother, Baldwin de Redvers, who was possibly poisoned. When in 1262 she inherited his lands in the Devon, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Isabella became extraordinarily wealthy and powerful.

Isabella's window in the present day
(Author's own photo)

Isabella decided against marrying again and took up her brother’s lordship of the Isle of Wight to live at Carisbrooke Castle, new Newport, IOW. She used the castle as her main residence from which she oversaw the running of her southern estates. In addition she invested in improvements to the castle itself, adding expensive details such as a stunning window – the remains of which can be seen today as “Isabella’s window”. She reorded the principal apartments, built a chapel of St Peter, apartments for the constable, a new kitchen, a herb garden, a prison and a fish pond!

Sir George Carey

Sir George Carey was the grandson of Mary Boleyn, (Anne Boleyn’s sister) , and therefore a cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. in 1583 he was appointed captain of the Isle of Wight –overseeing maritime law, controlling shipping around the island,  and fighting piracy.

Sir George Carey

 

Part of his work was to protect the island from invasion (see also: Invading the Isle ofWight). To do this he trained militia, fortified defences and refurbished the chain of beacons that would be lit as a warning should the Spanish invade.

View from the ramparts of the ruin of Sir George Carey's house.
(Author's own photo)

In unsettled times, with the threat from Spain, the Isle of Wight would have given an invading navy a huge strategic advantage. With this in mind Carey fortified Carisbrooke Castle with the addition of small bastions, a large outwork and earthworks, in order to make the castle withstand a Spanish artillery attack. (Ultimately, the Spanish Armada arrived off the south coast in 1588, but sailed straight past the Isle of Wight)

Charles I

From 22 November 1647 to 6 September 1648, Charles I was a prisoner at Carisbrooke Castle. During this time, the aim was for him to negotiate with Parliament and the Scots to find a settlement that would return some power to him. At first he was held as a guest, with considerable freedom and many luxuries – such as the bowling green created for on the eastern outwork (previous a drilling ground for militia). However, when no progress was made, his attendants were removed and he was imprisoned more strictly.


View from the ramparts of Charles I's bowling green (with the white marquee on it)
(Author's own photo)

He continued to plot via secret messages carried by servants and on the night of 20 March 1648, Charles tried to escape. He climbed out of his bedchamber window but became stuck in the bars! After this he was removed to more secure quarters but even so, he plotted another escape but was thwarted when someone betrayed him and extra sentries were posted beneath his window.

The window through which Charles I tried to escape
(Author's own photo)

Eventually, Charles was moved to London and put on trial. He was executed in Whitehall on 30 January 1649.

Princess Beatrice

Queen Victoria’s loved the Isle of Wight and bought Osborne House as a private family retreat.

Princess Beatrice with her mother, Queen Victoria.

Her youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice seems to have inherited this love and spent the early part of her married life to Prince Henry of Battenburg, living at Osborne. Queen Victoria appointed Prince Henry as governor of the Isle of Wight, and when Henry died, Beatrice inherited this role.

The garden created by Princess Beatrice,
within the grounds of Carisbrooke Castle.
(Author's own photo.)

Some while later, in 1913, Princes Beatrice revived the lapsed custom that governors of the Isle of Wight resided in Carisbrooke Castle. She made some alterations, to bring it up to date, and spent many of her summer at Carisbrooke until her death in 1944.

And finally…the donkeys!

For any castle, in order to withstand a siege, a reliable source of water is essential. To this end a decent well is essential. Carisbrooke Castle has a courtyard well that is 49 meters deep, the lower part cut through chalk and the upper lined with masonry. In Isabella’s time a house was built over the well with a tread wheel to raise buckets of water. The current well-house was erected by Sir George Carey in 1587.

Postcard of the donkey working the treadmill at Carisbrooke Castle

It seems likely the treadmill was originally powered by prisoners, but in 1696 a visitor recorded:

“Water was drawn by a horse or ass.” From then on specially trained donkeys were kept at the castle, to walk inside the wheel and winch up buckets of water. To this day, tourists can visit the well house and watch the donkeys at work (although, in case you were wondering, the castle is now connected to the mains.)

*****

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