The Isle of Wight

by G. E. Mitton

Are those that owe my bounty for their bread."

Once in the month of March, 1648, and again in the May following, he made attempts at escape abortively. The first time he found the window through which he tried to pass too narrow for his head, and the second time, though the obstructing bars had been sawn through, it was of no avail, for the plot had been revealed, and guards were waiting below. The small window which was the scene of both attempts is one of the principal details of interest for visitors.

Towards the end of the same year the King had a long conference with the representatives of the Parliament at Newport, but the issue had been predetermined, and the commission might have borne as its motto the celebrated words of the tyrant to his victim: "You will be tried and convicted." Eventually the King was seized and carried over to the mainland, there, on the last day of January, 1649, to meet his death at Whitehall.

In the following August there arrived at Carisbrooke two pathetic little figures, the Princess Elizabeth, then fifteen years old, and her brother Henry, Duke of Gloucester, aged ten. The Princess was described as "a lady of excellent parts, great observation, and an early understanding." Already she was delicate in health, and deformed in figure, owing to the complaint of "rickets"; no doubt the shock of her father's terrible death had preyed upon her mind, and she was in a state to succumb rapidly to any malady. The opportunity soon came: she caught a chill at a game of bowls, which acted quickly on her enfeebled constitution, and less than a month after her arrival she was found lying dead with her face resting on an open Bible, a gift from that beloved father she had so soon followed. Thus, sculptured by Baron Marochetti, the tender attitude in which death found her remains fixed in marble in Newport Church, where she was buried. Her little brother Henry was kept two years longer at Carisbrooke before being sent abroad to join the elder members of the family. He died of smallpox at the age of twenty. The children seem both to have been well treated during their imprisonment—a fact which is to the credit of the Parliamentarians. Among other prisoners the castle has held are two especially well known, Sir William Davenant and Sir Harry Vane.

One of the most impressive features of the castle is the great Norman keep, one of the oldest existing parts, which stands on an eminence, and is a prominent feature for miles around. It is reached by a flight of seventy-one steps. In interest and architectural grandeur it is rivalled by the gate-tower, chiefly the work of Earl Rivers, though he was beheaded before the building was completed. Like all historic places, the castle belongs to all ages, and is the result of slow growth, here a bit and there a bit, with added wings and walls, with rebuilding and accretions. It offers pictures from almost every standpoint, and the crumbling bits of masonry, seen in a setting of trees or brushwood, carry continual delight to the observant eye. Carisbrooke well deserves the homage it receives.

The tiny priory of Carisbrooke formed a cell to a more important monastery. The monks were French Benedictines, with which Order the island has always been popular. Its ancient connection with France, combined with its own peacefulness, seems to have drawn them irresistibly. Of these settlements, those at Quarr, near Ryde, and Appuldurcombe are the most famous. Quarr was founded by the same Baldwin de Redvers who built the well at Carisbrooke, and so richly endowed was the abbey that the abbot became a personage of great consequence and dignity. By licence of Edward III. a sea-wall was built, enclosing an area of 40 acres; the wall was designed to prevent the unwelcome visits of sea-pirates, who at one time were a scourge. Many distinguished persons were buried in the abbey, including a daughter of Edward IV. At present Quarr is a farm, and among the farm-buildings many parts of the ancient abbey walls may easily be traced; it is said, indeed, that the barn was the monks' refectory.

Appuldurcombe (curiously pronounced with a strong accent on the last syllable) was a Benedictine abbey of importance also. After the dissolution of the religious houses it fell into the possession of the Worsleys by marriage with an heiress. The name of this family is indelibly written in the annals of the island, because for three centuries its leading men took part in all public movements; many of them also were Members of Parliament in the happy days before the Reform Bill, when the island sent six members to represent its opinions, instead of one as at present! Several of the Worsleys succeeded one another in the office of Governor of the island. The first owner of Appuldurcombe was James Worsley, who married its heiress in 1510. His son entertained King Henry VIII. and Cromwell at Appuldurcombe, and two years later, when Cromwell was beheaded, the office of Constable of the island, which he had held, was bestowed upon Worsley. The great mansion belonging to the family was built in 1710. It stands in a fine park, where there is on the crest of the hill a gigantic obelisk, put up in 1774 to the memory of Sir Robert Worsley by his descendant Sir Richard. This is still conspicuous, though it was shattered by lightning, and the huge blocks hurled hither and thither. It is chiefly notable as marking a spot from which one of the finest views in the island may be seen—a view embracing Freshwater on one side and Culver on the other.

THE UNDERCLIFF. Page 53.
Is a beautiful portion of the coast stretching from Ventnor to St. Catherine's Point.