Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight

Setting the scene

Carisbrooke Castle is every inch a medieval fortress. When the original Norman castle was granted to Richard de Redvers in 1100, the creation of a mighty fortified baronial seat began. Almost 200 years later when the castle passed to Edward I the fortifications and the defences were strengthened as the Island, and the south of England, felt vulnerable to the threat of invasion by France and Spain.