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 View from Fort Victoria by budapest8
Forts on the Isle of Wight
In the late 1850s onwards, following the threatened invasion from France,
several forts were also built on the Isle of Wight. These include:
* Old Needles Battery - a museum owned by the National Trust.
* New Needles Battery - also owned by the National Trust,
but as it isn't a pretty cottage that can be used as a picture on the
front of a box of fudge they don't care about it.
* Hatherwood Point Battery
* Warden Point Battery
* Fort Albert - now flats.
* Cliff End Battery
* Fort Victoria - contains a planetarium, Britain's largest model railway,
an aquarium, sunken History Museum and a large country park.
* Golden Hill Fort - put up for sale in January 2002 - asking price: £1,000,000.
* Freshwater Redoubt - a very nice café.
* Bouldner Battery
* Sandown Barrack Battery - now part of the Battery Gardens park,
with the Barracks now part of the Heights swimming pool.
* Sandown Fort - part of the PLUTO pump network during the
Second World War, pumping petrol to France, now Sandown Zoo.
My Great Uncle Jack (Hutchings) was responsible for building PLUTO and I remember
visiting him at Osbourne House which one wing served
as a home for retired ex servicemen.
* Yaverland Battery - no longer exists.
* Redcliff Battery - very little remains.
* Bembridge Fort - owned by the National Trust but leased to industry.
* Culver Battery - still survives (just) despite being owned by the National Trust.
* Steynewood Battery
* Nodes Point Battery
* Puckpool Mortar Battery - a park, containing a radio museum
that contains some of Marconi's experimental equipment. Leave a Comment
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 Osbourne House by budapest8
Palaces on the Isle of Wight
There have also been Palaces on the Island as well. In the 1790s, two castles were built at East Cowes. One was called East Cowes Castle and was more of a mansion than a castle; it should not be confused with the original castle. It was built by John Nash, the famous architect who designed Regent Street and Regent's Park in London. Sadly, it no longer exists.
The other, Norris Castle, does still exist. It is a romantic castle featuring both square and round towers. Although designed as an imitation castle and not a real one, it is still impressive, especially with the enormous cellars below, and the spectacular sea view.
They were palaces for the wealthy, and not royalty, yet there is a Royal Palace in the form of Osborne House. Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901), despite having Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Brighton Pavilion to live in, did not rate any of them to be suitable as a family home. In 1845, she purchased the original Osborne House and an estate of 342 acres from Lady Isabella Blachford. This was too small so Thomas Cubitt was contracted to build a new Osborne House on the site, to the design of Victoria's husband Prince Albert. In June 1845 the foundation of the new pavilion wing was laid, and it was occupied in 1846. The household wing was completed in 1848, and work was started on demolishing the remainder of the old house and building the main wing in its place. By 1851 all the construction work was complete, except for the Durbar wing which was finished in 1891.
Queen Victoria lived here as often as she could, and found that the Isle of Wight's ambience and weather were similar to the Bay of Naples in Italy. The house was three stories high, with a 90ft clock tower and a 107ft flag tower. The estate soon grew to be over 2000 acres, and included a summer house, Swiss cottage, a museum and a mock fort. It was here thatQueen Victoria died on 22 January, 1901. Leave a Comment
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Cowes Castle
Cowes Castle, on the other hand, has a long and distinctive history involved in yachting, being the home of the Royal Yacht Squadron. It was from Cowes Castle that the original America's Cup in 1851 started. Only once did it fire its guns in anger: during the English Civil War in 1642. The canon now begins the races that take place there, including the Admiral's Cup and the Round-the-Island Yacht Race. In 1650, Sir William D'Avenant was held in Cowes Castle. He was the godson of William Shakespeare and was Poet Laureate after Ben Jonson, and rumours at the time suggested that he was Shakespeare's son, .
There are three ways to enter the Royal Yacht Squadron's headquarters:
1. Be royalty.
2. Be a multi-millionaire who owns several yachts and knows how to sail them.
3. Be able to sail to the local standard.
However, the local standard not only includes Ellen MacArthur MBE, but Cowes also hosts several Olympic Gold Medalists (won in the Sydney Olympics) and the America's Cup GBR Challenge team...
The painting in the picture is
East Cowes Castle, the seat of J.Nash Esq.
by William Westall
Published by R.Ackermann in "Repository of Arts" in May, 1826. Leave a Comment
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 Early Arial postcard of
Yarmouth Harbour by budapest8, 2 more photos
Yarmouth Castle
Yarmouth Castle was built to defend the port of Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, and originally was built as a square, walled enclosure surrounded by a ditch, with a triangular bastion on the south-eastern corner. It was expanded in the 1560s, but it is the earliest surviving angle-bastioned fortification in the British Isles and is open to the public. It costs £2.20 for adults, £1.10 for children. It is next to the Wightlink ferry in Yarmouth.
Yarmouth castle is quite a nice castle, but it has one feature which is outstanding, the roof. Whilst everyone else on the island was crammed on the coast, to see the America's Cup round the island race this summer, I was sitting on the battlements (think that's what they are called) with a perfect view. For only £2.20 or whatever I must have had one of the best views of the closing stages of the race. (I also got sunburned). There was the added advantage of the castle which had displays on the history of castles on the south coast and some very nice comparison paintings of now and 'olden times'. Leave a Comment
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 Sandown Castle by budapest8
The Isle of Wight has many fine castles - a necessity considering the amount of time that it was under constant attack from the 'foul forces of France'.
Carisbrooke Castle
Carisbrooke Castle in particular is a very fine castle, with Saxon/Roman roots, and a fine history including:
* Being under siege in the Civil War between King Stephen and Empress Matilda in 1136.
* Being besieged by the French in 1377.
* Holding King Charles I captive between 1647 and September 1649, where he made 3 failed attempts to escape.
* Being where his daughter, Princess Elizabeth, died in on 8 September, 1650.
The castle also houses a donkey-powered well, and was central to the plot of the classic novel Moonfleet by J Meade Faulkner. Carisbrooke Castle is near Newport; follow the signs from there. It costs £4.50 for adults, and £2.30 for children.
Sandown Castle
Henry VIII also built castles on the Isle of Wight to defend it from the French, including Sandown Castle, East Cowes Castle and Cowes Castle and Yarmouth Castle.
Sandown Castle, while still being built, was attacked by the same French force that attacked the Mary Rose. It was later rebuilt, and the successive Sandown Castle was attacked during the American War of Independence by American privateers - most of whom died in the attempt. Leave a Comment
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Go across the channel to Portsmouth on a Hovercraft and see the Royal Navies first iron clad war ship, and tons of other Nautical history! Leave a Comment
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• Carisbrooke Castle – The most important castle on the Island. Founded in the fist century if you can believe that! Leave a Comment
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• Osborn House – Queen Victoria’s summer palace, and the place where she died in 1891. Leave a Comment
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When you've been walking a lot and all you want to do is rest for a couple of hours, go to the Cineworld Cinema in Newport. It's only 4 quid to catch a movie! Address: Newport
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