The great castle at the heart of the Isle of Wight, where Charles I was held prisoner and got stuck escaping through a window
Open to visitorsan English Heritage site — check opening times and admission before you go
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
Carisbrooke Castle stands on a ridge above the village of the same name, near the middle of the Isle of Wight. There has been a stronghold here since Saxon times — the castle grew from a burh, a fortified Saxon settlement — and the Normans raised the great earth mound, or motte, with a shell keep (a ring of stone wall round the top) that you can still climb up to. What most people come for is the Charles I story. After losing the Civil War the king was held here from 1647 to 1648, and he twice tried to escape; on one attempt he got wedged between the bars of his window and could not get through. From Carisbrooke he was taken to London and executed. The other thing to see is the well house, where donkeys walk a big wooden treadwheel to raise water from a deep well, and visitors have come to watch them for centuries. English Heritage runs the castle now. It is a short drive from Newport, and Queen Victoria’s seaside home at Osborne is over on the north coast.
More at the National Heritage List entry
