The history of the isle of wight

Isle of Wight Flag The Isle of Wight is a palaeontological heaven. Much of the land now making up the Isle of Wight was deposited during the late Cretaceous, at times part of a large river valley complex which consisted of much of the current southern coast of England. The swamps and ponds of the region at that time made the island excellent for the preservation of fossils, which means that it is now one of the richest locations for finding dinosaurs in Europe.

Isle of Wight Map The iow became an island sometime after the end of the last Ice Age. This was because recovery from the last ice age has caused areas that were under the ice to rebound, but neighbouring regions to subside. The iow was located in an ice-free region, so in that area local relative sea level rose, flooding the Solent and separating the iow from the mainland.

Carisbrooke Castle The island was part of the Celtic British Isles and, known to the Romans as Vectis, was captured by Vespasian in the Roman invasion. After the Roman era, the Isle of Wight was settled by the Jutes, a Germanic tribe, in the early stages of the Anglo-Saxon invasions. The latter's corruption of Vectis into Wiht (the Latin v was pronounced [w]) is the root of the island's name. Later, in 686, the island was conquered by the West Saxons, who brought Christianity with them. This bloody episode was recorded by the Northumbrian scholar Bede.In 686 AD, the Isle of Wight became the last part of the British Isles to convert to Christianity, almost a century after the rest of Great Britain.

The Norman Conquest created the position of Lord of the Isle of Wight. Carisbrooke Priory and the fort of Carisbrooke Castle were founded. The island did not come under full control of the crown until it was sold by the dying last Norman Lord, Lady Isabella de Fortibus, to Edward I in 1293. The Lordship thereafter became a Royal appointment, with a brief interruption when Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick was crowned King of the Isle of Wight, King Henry VI assisting in person at the ceremony, placing the crown on his head. He died in 1445, aged 22. With no male heir, his regal title expired with him.

Henry VIII, who developed the Royal Navy and its permanent base at Portsmouth, fortified the island at Yarmouth, East & West Cowes and Sandown, sometimes re-using stone from dissolved monasteries as building material. Sir Richard Worsley, Captain of the island at this time, successfully commanded the resistance to the last of the French attacks in 1545. Much later on, after the Spanish Armada in 1588, the threat of Spanish attacks remained and the outer fortifications of Carisbrooke Castle were built, between 1597 and 1602. During the English Civil War King Charles fled to the Isle of Wight, believing he would receive sympathy from the governor Robert Hammond. Hammond was appalled, and incarcerated the king in Carisbrooke Castle.

Queen Victoria made Osborne House on the Isle of Wight her summer home for many years and, as a result, it became a major holiday resort for members of European royalty, whose many houses could later claim descent from her, through the widely flung marriages of her offspring. During her reign, in 1897, the World's first radio station was set up by Marconi, at the Needles battery, at the western tip of the island.