. 



:-, ISLE OF. 



\VIQTON. 



I1M 



Carwtookc I* Mid to liar* beau at oba time the capital of Ui island, 

 bat to tv decmye.1 * Newport race into consequence. The chief 

 rtjcri of fetor*** u Carisbrooke Cutit, formerly the reddeoo* of the 

 loria of Wight, and subsequently of the governor of the bland, but 

 now a mrre rain. It u noticed more particularly at the end of this 

 article. There are aleo some slijrbt remain* of a Cistercian prior}-. 

 The pariah church i* a portion of the original priory church. There 

 are a I'rimitire MethodUt meeting house and an Infant school in the 

 Tillage. There are large corn mills on the river. Parkhurst Prison, 

 furmatory for Juvenile Offenders, is in Carisbrooke parish ; it is 

 an extenaive and well-arranged edifice. Near the Reformatory i* the 

 House of Industry, or workhouse for the whole of the Isle of Wight. 

 Near those, and alto in Carisbrooke parish, are the Albany infantry 

 barrack*. The scenery around Carisbrooke is very beautiful. Chatt, 

 population 628, j on the south side of the island, t the western 

 extremity of the Undercliff, about 9 miles a by W. from Newport. 

 It is an agricultural village, but is much reported to by tourists on 

 account of Black Gang Chine, one of the most remarkable of the 

 chine*, or narrow gorges, through which the streams of the island 

 find their way to the sea, and which form a peculiar natural feature 

 of the Isle of Wight The cliff over which the stream falls is only 

 bout 40 fe. t high, but the rocks behind it rise to a great altitude, and 

 the cliff scenery generally is here of a very bold aud picturesque 

 character. The church is of the reign of Henry I.; thero is an 

 Endowed parochial school. Freshwater, population 1393, is on the 

 left bank of the Yar, 3 miles S. by W. from Yarmouth. Th old 

 village consists of a few houses, situated by the church, near the head 

 of the (estuary of the Yar. The church is an ancient cruciform 

 structure, with a rather singular tower. The Wesleyan Methodists 

 have a chapel, and there is a Free school. Frtihieater Gate is a collec- 

 tion of new villas, lodging-houses, baths, &c., and is much resorted 

 to in summer for sea-bathing. The chalk-cliffs between Freshwater 

 Gate and the Needles are the loftiest in England. The Needles light- 

 house, erected on the summit of the cliff overlooking the Needles rocks, 

 is in Freshwater parish. Godthill, population 1316, is an agricultural 

 village built on the sides of an irregular hill, the summit of which is 

 crowned by the church, which is a handsome building, partly of the 

 decorated aud partly of the perpendicular period. There is a Free 

 school. In the parish is Appuldercombe, for a long period the most 

 celebrated mansion in the Isle of Wight It is a large and stately 

 edifice, standing in the midst of an extensive, well-wooded, and 

 picturesque |>ark. It was the family seat of the Worsleys, and con- 

 tained the rpleudid collection of pictures, books, and antiquities 

 collected during many years at a vast expense, and illustrated in a 

 well-known costly work, the ' Museum Worsleianum." Helen's, St., 

 population 1 948, is situated opposite the well-known roadstead, St. 

 Helen's lload, near the mouth of Brading Harbour, 4 miles E.S.E. 

 from Kyde. The old church of St Helen's stood close by the shore ; 

 but having become endangered by the incroacbments of the sea, it 

 was pulled down, except the tower, which has been strengthened, 

 and now serves a a sea-mark. A new church was in 1719 erected on 

 a more elevated rite; it was almost entirely rebuilt in li-31. A 

 dntrict church is at Oakfield. There are National schools. Many of 

 the inhabitants of St. Helen's are pilots, who mostly reside at Sea 

 View, which place is resorted to for wa-bathiug. *Vi?on, population 

 6S4, is near the south shore of the island, 8 miles 8. from Newport. 

 The church is anck-ut ; there are a Baptist chapel and a Free school. 

 A chalybeate spring of some reputation is at Sandrock. At St. Cathe- 

 rine's Point is a handsome lighthouse, erected in 1840 ; it is 125 feet 

 high to the top of the lantern. Sandmen is a hamlet in Bracing 

 parish ; the population i not returned separately. It stands facing 

 Saudown Bay, about a mile and a half S. by W. from Brading. 

 Within the last few years Sandown has been much resorted to by 

 summer visitors. The situation is eminently picturesque, and com- 

 mands a noble sea view. A new gothic church, a street of good shops, 

 and seveial excellent villa-residences have been erected. Shank! in, 

 population :;."..'i. is at the eastern extremity of the Undercliff, 4 miles 

 S. by W. from Bradiug. The villnge is chiefly dependent on the 

 numerous visitors who resort hero during the summer. The church 

 is very ancient The Independents have a place of worship. The 

 ncenery around Sbanklin is very beautiful ; but the chief attraction of 

 the place in Shanklin Chine, the most visited and moat picturesque of 

 the chines. It is a winding chasm or cleft in the rocks, which termi- 

 nates in a narrow fissure about half a mile from the shore ; at the 

 farther end a waterfall being formed by the stream, which has in 

 course of ages worn away the chasm. The sides of the chine are to a 

 great extent overgrown with trees and shrubs. PimftMr, population 

 i Ibfil, is beautifully situated on the Undercliff, about 9 miles 

 Irom NewjKjrt. Vcntnor has within the last 25 years increased 

 from a mere hamlet of a few rude cottages into a well-built watoring- 

 place. It was indebted for it* rise to having been recommended by 

 some eminent physicians as the most suitable part of the Underdid 

 for invalids and others requiring a mild climate. It now contains a 

 handsome gothic church with a spire ; places of worship for \\ 

 Methodists, Independents, Bible Chri-tiaus, and Plymouth Br 

 National and Uiitish schools; a literary and scientific institution, and 

 a mutual improvement society; handsome baths on the beach; several 

 excellent hotels; numerous villa-rwidencea, some of them of a superior 



class; a kind of park called Madeira Vale; some superior si. 

 branch bank of the National Provincial Bank of Kn rlunl : aud a 

 savings bank. An Improvement Act for Ventnor was obtai: 

 1844. \\'hii>]iinyham, population of tho pariah, which includes Hast 

 Cowea [notice 1 under COWES], 8100, is situated on the ri 

 the Medina, 3 miles N. by K. from Newport The church i< a neat 

 cruciform building of some antiquity. There is no vill:> 

 so called ; the only reason for noticing it here is that Oiborne, ti 

 of her Majesty, is at Whippingham, about three-quarter* of n mile 

 from the church. Oiborne, since it has become the posses-ion of her 

 Majesty, has been enlarged, and now presents an extend . 

 the Italian palazzo style, with a lofty campanile. Standing on. a con- 

 siderable elevation, it commands a magnificent pro/: 



Uutory and Antiquitiei. The Isla of Wight was conquered by 

 Claudius, A.D. 43. In 495 it was conquered by Cerdic tho Saxon, who 

 settled here many of his own countrymen. In 661 Wulfhere, 1, 

 Mercia, subdued it Not long afterwards it was subjected and eon 

 to embrace Christianity by Ceadwalla. From the Sth until early in the 

 ntury it was several times plundered by the Danes ; ami in 

 1052 Karl Godwin, who had been banished by Edward the Confessor, 

 made a descent on it, and plundered it William the Con 

 bestowed it on his kinsman William Fitz Osbornc, and creatt 

 Lord of the Isle of Wight A succession of Noruiau lords lu-ld it 

 till 1445, when Henry VI. created Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, King 

 of \\ i.'ht, and crowned him with his own hands. The kindly title 

 however was not continued, and the lost of the lords v. 

 Rivers, who was beheaded by Richard III. iu 1483. During the 

 period that it was held by these lords it was frequently threatened by 

 the French, and sometimes plundered by them. One of the last of 

 their actual descents was in the reign of Richard II., when they con- 

 quered all the island except Carisbrooke Castle, but retired on 

 receiving 1000 marks from the inhabitants. On the succession of 

 Henry VII., Sir Edward Widville, or Woodville, brother to th 

 Earl Rivers, was made captain of the Isle of Wight, and the title was 

 held by his successors for a considerable period. The last i 

 was the Earl of Portland, who was displaced by the Parl, 

 the Earl of Pembroke was appointed governor iu his place. 1 1 

 succeeded by Colonel Hammond, and during his governorship Cl: 

 fled to the Isle of Wight ufter his escape from Hampton Court. He 

 arrived there November 1st, 16i7. He was not strictly coufii 

 first, but was so afterwards, when he made several unsuccessful 

 attempts to escape. A conference between Charles and the Parlia- 

 ment was held in tho school-room of the Free school of Newport, 

 which lasted some weeks. On the 29th of November, 1649, he was 

 seized aud conveyed to Hurst Castle. The title aud office of governor 

 of the Isle of Wight is still continued. 



The Isle of Wight does not abound in antiquities. Barrows are 

 found on the downs, but there are no traces of Roman forts or < 

 or of Saxon warfare. Carisbrooke Castle is the only ancient f< 

 During the rule of the lords of Wight, whose power and prh 

 were almost regal, the present village of Carisbrooke was the i 

 of the island, aud Carisbrooke Castle was the residence of the 

 The castle stands on a lofty eminence, and the keep still higher on an 

 artificial mound. Fitz Osborne the Norman built the castl 

 included the keep within the ditch with which he surrounded the 

 whole. The castle was successively enlarged by subsequent lords. 

 Lord Widville, or Woodville, built the main gateway, which I 

 handsome, in the reign of Edward IV. ; the arms of Woodville a 

 on its front. There were several conventual establishments in the 

 island, but none of large size except Quarr Abbey, which was foim led 

 in 1132. It was dissolved by Henry VIII. It was bought by 

 chant of Southampton, who swept away everything except 

 masses of the long walls, which inclosed an area of 30 acres, a build- 

 ing which has been called the Refectory, but on no good authority, and 

 a few fragments of gables, arches, and doorways, which still remain. 

 Carisbrooke Priory is entirely demolished, except the church, 

 is now parochial. Some of the parochial churches are as old as the 

 Norman conquest. Yaverlaud church is one of the most ;i 

 The entrance-door is arched, and has some curious Norman, mouldings. 



W1GMORE. [HKHETOHDSHIKE.] 



W1GSTON-MAGNA. [LMKUJMBBMHSK.] 



WIGTON, Cumberland, a market-town and the seat of a Poor-Law 

 Union, in the parish of Wigton, is situated near the right bank 

 river Wiza, iu 54 49' N. lat., 3 9' W. long., distant 11 miles S.\V 

 from Carlisle, 303 miles N.N.W. from London by road, and 31ii mil .-: 

 by the North-Western and Lancaster and Carlisle railways. '!']] 

 population of the town in 1851 was 4244. The living is a vi 

 in the archdeaconry and diocese of Carlisle. Wigton Poor-Law Union 

 contains 81 parishes and townships, with an area of 176,529 acres, 

 nnd a population in 1851 of 23,061. 



Wilton consists chiefly of one long and tolerably wide street, 

 is lighted with gas and contains many well-built houses. The principal 

 manufactures arc checks, ginghams, and calicoes. Some linen is made. 

 Tanning, nail-making, brewing, and malting are carried on. The 

 parish church is a handsome edifice, erected in 1788. The Wi 

 Methodists, Independents, Quakers, and Roman Catholics, have places 

 of worship. There are a Grammar hchool, a British school. 

 liomau Catholic school; news-rooms; and parochial, diocesan, aiul 



