Carisbrooke with its castle was for many centuries, in the early medieval period, the capital of the Isle of Wight.

On August 4th 1914, the news was that Great Britain was at war!

On the 7th June 1866 John Stuart Mill M.P presented a petition to Parliament signed by some 1521 people, submitted by Emily Davies and Elizabeth Garrett. This was the first bill to represent women’s right to vote.

On a summer’s day in 1813, a deadly quarrel unfolded atCarisbrooke Castle.

There is a lot of misinformation around the tragic young chimney sweep Valentine Gray and his death. Thanks to Roger Fruen’s research and Graham Bebbington’s book ‘A Brief Life’, more is now known about Valentine’s sad story.

On the 26th September 1881 a fire of such fury broke out that it reached the pages of The Tablet, a Catholic journal in the proprietorship of the Archbishop of Westminster.

Ghost signs are remnants of past advertisements on buildings, often a nostalgic glimpse into the history and culture of an area. They're like time capsules preserved on brick and mortar.

Wandering through St. Mary’s Churchyard the other day, I was struck by the variety of grave markers, & unlike the local cemeteries, the lack of crosses. So, I decided to do some metaphorical digging.