Isle of Wight Heritage

Dominican nuns from Carisbrooke Priory Dominican Nuns were 'greeted' with hoots and jeers when they first disembarked at Cowes on 10th December 1866 on their way to take up residence at Carisbrooke Priory. England has been a Protestant country ever...

On the day of the World Cup Quarter Final between England and France, Island Echo recalls the last occasion the French attempted to conquer the Isle of Wight in 1545. France has had a long history of attacking the Isle...

On this day in 1859, 2 ships  - the Mirabita and the Sentinel - sank on the back of the Wight coast in a Force 8 gale, with the loss of at least 12 lives. The Mirabita was a small...

Radovan Karadžić, the Butcher of Bosnia In the 3rd of our series on Parkhurst prisoners, Island Echo examines the case of Radovan Karadžić, the Butcher of Bosnia, who is currently incarcerated at HMP Isle of Wight. Genocide was never supposed...

On this day in 1901, representatives of Isle of Wight cricket clubs met with the intention of forming an Isle of Wight Cricket Club at the invitation of Mr H.C. Damant of Cowes. The proposal was enthusiastically agreed and a...

In the first of our new series, Made on the Isle of Wight, we look at the story of 3 ill-fated airship gondolas made in the Sam Saunders yard in East Cowes. The 1st effective air raids in Britain were...

Albert William Ketèlbey – who was 1 of the most celebrated British composers of the 20th century – died on this day in Cowes in 1959. Albert Ketèlbey was born in Birmingham in 1875. He competed for a scholarship at Trinity College of...

Rev Greenshield (Image: Carisbrooke Castle museum) Edgar William Tyler Greenshield - who devoted his life to evangelising the Eskimos - was born on this day in 1877. Edgar grew up in St John's Place in Newport close to the church...

In 1881, dangerous prisoner Giles Hutchings was apprehended near Newport after being at large for 2 years - incarcerated in the police station he helped build. In November 1876, policeman Nathaniel Cox was killed by 4 poachers in the West...

This Halloween Island Echo looks at the history of Betty Haunt Lane and legends associated with 1 of the Isle of Wight’s oldest pubs that is situated nearby. The Blacksmith’s Arms - at the junction of Betty Haunt Lane and...