National Gazetteer (1868) - Carisbrooke

CARISBROOKE, a parish in the liberty of West Medina, Isle of Wight, in the county of Southampton, 1 mile to the S.W. of Newport. The village, seated in a picturesque wooded dell under the hill on which the castle stands, was formerly a market town, and the capital of the island. In Domesday Book it is called Boncombe, a name still retained by the manor. The parish includes the liberty of Parkhurst Forest, the hamlet of Bowcombe, and part of the tything of Chillerton. Carisbrooke Castle, from which the place derived its importance, is one of the oldest in England, and is chiefly a Norman structure, although most probably erected on the site, and even embracing some portions, of a much more ancient fortress. Its erection is attributed to William Fitz-Osborne, who became lord of the island soon after the Norman Conquest. The original walls enclosed a square area of 12 acres. It was enlarged in the reigns of Richard II. and Edward IV., and in the reign of Queen Elizabeth extensive additions were made, the walls then erected by Genebella, an Italian engineer, enclosed an area of 20 acres.

The remains include the keep, the Mountjoy Tower, the fine western gateway, flanked by round towers, the barracks, chapel, and two very deep wells. The keep stands on a mound considerably higher than the general level of the fortress, and is entered by a flight of 74 steps. The ancient well in the keep is about 150 feet deep, and the water is drawn up by means of a tread-wheel turned by an ass. One ass is recorded to have performed this service for 40 years. The other well is in the castle-yard, and is 200 feet deep. The walls of the Mountjoy Tower are in one part 18 feet thick. The chapel was rebuilt by George II., in 1738. The view from the keep is remarkably fine, embracing the village immediately below, with its pretty church and steeple; and beyond, the waters of the Solent and the coast of Hampshire; to the E., Newport, the river Medina, Cowes; the sea; to the S., St. Catherine's Hill.

Carisbrooke Castle was chosen by the parliament as the place of confinement for Charles I. The window is shown by which he attempted unsuccessfully to escape in 1648. After the death of the king, his children, the Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Elizabeth, were confined here; the latter soon after died in the castle, and was interred at Newport. The castle was afterwards made a state prison, and among its inmates was Sir William Davenant, the poet. It is now the seat of the governor of the island. Here was anciently a priory for monks of the Cistercian order, which owed its origin to Fitz-Osborne, founder of the castle. It stood near the church, and was given with the latter to the Norman abbey of Lyra, and subsequently to the monastery of Sheen, in Surrey. The remains of the conventual buildings are insignificant, and have been converted into farm-buildings.

The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Winchester, value with the perpetual curacy of Northwood annexed, £900, in the patronage of the Provost and Fellows of Queen's College, Oxford. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. It is an interesting old edifice, partly Norman, and contains several ancient monuments. The castle chapel is dedicated to St. Nicholas, and the curacy, worth £24, is in the gift of the governor. There is another church, dedicated to St. John, the living of which is a curacy* in the patronage of the Rev. R. Hollings. The charitable endowments of the parish amount to £30 a year. Near Carisbrooke are the great Government prison or reformatory of Parkhurst, the Albany Barracks, founded in 1778, and the House of Industry for the island. In 1859 a Roman villa was discovered on the S. slope of the hill adjacent to the new vicarage. The remains of this villa, which are exposed to view, are the most considerable memorial of the Roman occupation that have been discovered in the island, and occupy a space of about 120 feet by 50. The apartments are paved with tesseræ or fragments of roofing tile; the chief room is floored with a rich mosaic pavement. Attached to the villa are the remains of a semicircular bath and hypocaust.

ST. NICHOLAS-CASTLE HOLD, a parish in the liberty of West Medina, Isle of Wight, county Hants, adjacent to the town of Newport, within which borough it is partly included. The parish is of small extent. The living is a discharged vicarage in the diocese of Winchester, value £25, in the patronage of the Governor of Carisbrook Castle, to which it was attached. See Newport.

BOWCOMBE, a hamlet in the parish of Carisbrooke, liberty of West Medina, Isle of Wight, in the county of Southampton, not far from Newport.

CHILLERTON, a tything in the parishes of Wootton and Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight, in the county of Hants, 3 miles S. of Newport.

CLATTERFORD, (or Chatterford), a village in the parish of Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight, in the county of Hants, 1 mile S.W. of Newport.

MARWELL, (or Merewell), a hamlet in the parish of Carisbrooke, liberty of West Medina, Isle of Wight, county Hants, 1 mile S. of Newport. Here was anciently a college for priests, founded by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester.

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]