CARISBROOKE, a parish in the liberty of WEST-MEDINA,
Isle of Wight division of the county of SOUTHAMPTON,
1 mile (W. S. W.) from Newport, comprising
the hamlets of Billingham, Bowcomb, and Carisbrooke,
and part of the environs of the borough of Newport,
and containing 4670 inhabitants. The living is a vi-
carage, with the perpetual curacies of Newport and
Northwood annexed, in the archdeaconry and diocese of
Winchester, rated in the king's books at £23. 8. If.,
and in the patronage of the Provost and Fellows of
Queen's College, Oxford. The church is dedicated to
St. Mary j the tower is in the later style of English'architecture.
This place derives its principal importance
from its castle, or fortress, which stands on a commanding
conical eminence rising above the village of
Carisbrooke, and occupying about twenty acres. Its
foundation is of very remote antiquity: the Saxon
annals state that it was besieged and taken by Cerdric
in 530; it received considerable additions immediately
after the Conquest, and at subsequent periods: some
state it to have been founded by the Romans, as a few of
their- coins have been discovered in the neighbourhood;
but' the appearance of it, especially the keep, clearly
shews it has been principally a Norman erection. The
whole was greatly improved in the time of Elizabeth,
and surrounded by an extensive fortification, with five
bastions and a deep moat, to which is attached a terracewalk
of three quarters of a mile in length: these works
were raised by the inhabitants, and those who did not
labour were obliged to contribute pecuniary aid. The
ancient fortress, a rectangular parallelogram including
the-keep, an irregular polygon, occupies about an acre
and a-half of ground, the latter being raised on an artificial
mound, to which there is an ascent of seventytwo
steps, and from its summit an extensive and beautiful
prospect, embracing a great portion of the island,
and parts of the New Forest and Portsdown hills
opposite. Here, on days of public rejoicing, and during
the residence of the governor, the British flag is
displayed. Within the castle are the ruins of an ancient
guard-house, and the chapel of St. Nicholas,
built in 1738, on the site of a more ancient one, in
which the mayor and high constables of Newport are
sworn into office annually. The castle was attacked
and taken by Stephen, in 1136, when Baldwin, Earl of
Devonshire, took refuge there, after declaring in favour
of the Empress Maud; and in the reign of Richard II:,
it successfully resisted an attack of the French, who
plundered the island. Carisbrooke Castle is, however,
most'remarkable for being the place in which Charles I.
was confined for thirteen months, previously to his
being delivered up to the parliamentary forces, and
whence he made one or two unsuccessful attempts to
escape: his children were also subsequently imprisoned
m it.. It has always been the residence of the governor
of the Isle of Wight, and generally contains a strong
garrison. Opposite to it, on a rising ground, stands
the church, also an ancient structure, with an embattled
tower, to which was formerly annexed -a
monastery Of Cistercian monks, founded by William
Fitz-Osborn, marshal to the Conqueror, who captured
the island, at the same time that William. conquered
the kingdom; but the remains of the monastery have
been converted into .a farm-house, still called, the
Priory. On the banks of a rivulet, at the bottom of the
castle hill, the village of Carisbrooke is pleasantly
situated; but it was of much more consequence formerly
than it is at present, having been a market-town,
and considered the capital of the island.