To the west of Newport is Carisbrooke that is dominated by the famous castle which today has expanded along with modern housing but the village has still retained its charm. Carisbrooke castle is one of the best Norman castles in the south and its massive stone walls hide a favourite item of the tourists itinerary  that is the famous well which has a donkey drawing the water up by walking inside of a giant wheel.

Carisbrooke Castle Photo courtesy of IOWCAM

Carisbrooke Castle from Whitcombe Cross Photo courtesy of IOWCAM

The church has a 15th century tower with a spire that soars into the sky for 100 ft, the tower has a turret and rows of gargoyles and halfway up are two people holding a book with the date 1471 inscribed on it, Among the treasures of the church is a silver processional cross that is decorated with scenes from the Bible and is said to be around 500 years old and was made in Venice. This was borne by pilgrims to the Holy land and brought back to Italy where it was donated to the church by Princess Beatrice.

Another unusual cross is one that has military buttons set in it instead of jewels lies on the altar, this was given in memory of a First World War soldier by his brother Sir Victor Corkran, the buttons are from the uniform.

The Parish and Priory Church of St Mary The Virgin, Carisbrooke Photo kindly submitted by Alice Benson, Lakeside, California, USA		The Priory which is located near Carisbrooke  Castle Photo kindly submitted by Alice Benson, Lakeside, California, USA

Near to the church was a priory but all that remains are a few scribbles done by some scholars inside the church and are kept in two recesses on the outer wall of the nave, there are also drawings of the head of a woman looking like a ship and a fleur de lys and these are all that is left of the priory. It was constructed by a relative of William the Conqueror, William Fitzobern and it was he that laid the foundations of the castle on what was a Roman fort. And it is here that William the Conqueror is said to have arrested Odo his own brother as he was leaving for Rome to become a pope.

The main attraction though is as mentioned above, the huge oak wheel which has a diameter of about 50 feet alongside the 800 year old well, it was built in 1587 and when the castle is open there are times when a donkey is let in to walk inside the wheel drawing up a bucket of water.