Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke


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. The site of Carisbrooke Castle may have been occupied in pre-Roman times. The existence of a ruined wall suggests that there was a building there in late Roman times. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions that Wihtgar, nephew of king Cynric, died in AD 544, and was buried there. The Jutes may have taken over the fort by the late 7th century. An Anglo-Saxon stronghold occupied the site during the 8th century. Around 1000, a wall was built around the hill as a defence against Viking raids. From 1100 The castle remained in the possession of Richard de Redvers' family, and over the next two hundred years his descendants improved the castle with stone walls, towers and a keep. This was until 1293, when Countess Isabella de Fortibus, the last Redvers resident sold it to Edward I, after which the government was entrusted to wardens as representatives of the crown. In the reign of Richard II it was unsuccessfully attacked by the French (1377) The castle was reputedly saved by local hero Peter de Heyno who shot the French commander. Anthony Woodville, Lord Scales, later Earl Rivers, obtained a grant of the castle and rights of Lordship in 1467. He was responsible for the addition of the Woodville Gate, now known as the Entrance Gate. Woodville was killed by Richard III in 1483, but his brother Edward Woodville was given control of the castle on the accession of Henry VII in 1485. The keep was added to the castle in the reign of Henry I, and in the reign of Elizabeth I; when the Spanish Armada was expected, it was surrounded by an elaborate pentagonal fortification by Sir George Carey. Charles I was imprisoned here for fourteen months before his execution in 1649. Afterwards his two youngest children were confined in the castle, and the Princess Elizabeth died there.


Size: 5376px × 2917px
Location: Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke
Photo credit: © Rik Hamilton / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., 544, 1000, 1100, 1293, 7th, 8th, ad, anglo-saxon, building, built, buried, carisbrooke, castle, century., charles, chronicle, countess, crown, cynric, de, defence, descendants, died, edward, england., entrusted, existence, family, fort, fortibus, government, hill, historic, imprisoned, improved, isabella, isle, jutes, king, late, located, mentions, months, motte--bailey, nephew, newport, occupied, possession, pre-roman, prior, , raids., redvers, remained, representatives, resident, richard, roman, ruined, site, sold, stone, stronghold, suggests, times, times., towers, trial., viking, village, wall, walls, wardens, wight, wihtgar, years