Newport & Carisbrooke Castle

Our third day on the Isle we decided to head inland to Newport and the village of Carisbrooke, I had read in one of the pamphlets that there was a castle there that was supposed to be pretty nifty. We took the bus into Newport and wandered around town. It was so cute and still had many of it's original narrow roads and large squares.

After wandering around Newport for an hour or two we decided to walk over to Carisbrooke to check out the castle. From a distance we could only see the Motte (a large tower built up on an artificial hill), because of this I assumed that the castle was in ruins. Turns out I was wrong about that! The castle was originally built by the Normans around 1100 and gradually built up and improved upon throughout the years and lived in all the was up until 1944. Charles the first was famously imprisoned here in the 1600s and Princess Beatrice (daughter of Queen Victoria) made the castle her home until her death in 1944. The castle was massive and once reaching the top walls and the top of the Motte we had the most amazing views of the countryside!

View of the castle from afar (the motte in the background and the military fortifications built up on the sides)

Up on top of the castle walls!

View back into the innards of the castle (the biggest building to the left is the manor house of Princess Beatrice)

Stairs of death up to the Motte

The Gatehouse and entrance to the castle

I had an amazing time and definitely suggest that anyone heading to England check out the south...especially the Isle of Wight! I'm heading back to work on Monday....but stay tuned, I have a long weekend off in May and am heading to Paris!