Carisbrooke Castle Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte - and - bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke , near Newport , Isle of Wight , England . Charles I was imprisoned at the castle in the months prior to his trial . Early history . The site of Carisbrooke Castle may have been occupied in pre - Roman times . The existence of a ruined wall suggests that there was a building there in late Roman times . The Anglo - Saxon Chronicle mentions that Wihtgar , nephew of king Cynric , died in AD 544 , and was buried there . The Jutes may have taken over the fort by the late 7th century . An Anglo - Saxon stronghold occupied the site during the 8th century . Around 1000 , a wall was built around the hill as a defence against Viking raids . Later history . From 1100 The castle remained in the possession of Richard de Redvers ' family , and over the next two hundred years his descendants improved the castle with stone walls , towers and a keep . This was until 1293 , when Countess Isabella de Fortibus , the last Redvers resident sold it to Edward I , after which the government was entrusted to wardens as representatives of the crown . In the reign of Richard II it was unsuccessfully attacked by the French ( 1377 ) The castle was reputedly saved by local hero Peter de Heyno who shot the French commander . Anthony Woodville , Lord Scales , later Earl Rivers , obtained a grant of the castle and rights of Lordship in 1467 . He was responsible for the addition of the Woodville Gate , now known as the Entrance Gate . Woodville was killed by Richard III in 1483 , but his brother Edward Woodville was given control of the castle on the accession of Henry VII in 1485 . The keep was added to the castle in the reign of Henry I , and in the reign of Elizabeth I ; when the Spanish Armada was expected , it was surrounded by an elaborate pentagonal fortification by Sir George Carey . Charles I was imprisoned here for fourteen months before his execution in 1649 . Afterwards his two youngest children were confined in the castle , and the Princess Elizabeth died there . Most recently it was the home of The Princess Beatrice , daughter of Queen Victoria , as Governor of the Isle of Wight , 1896 – 1944 . It is now under control of English Heritage . The castle is located above , and to the south of Carisbrooke village centre . In 2007 , English Heritage opened a holiday flat inside the castle , in converted former staff quarters . The Flat is situated above the museum near the room in which the king was kept captive . A balcony going across the Kings prison room is adjoined to the flat of which is currently long – term rented by English heritage staff . According to figures released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions nearly 120 , 000 people visited Carisbrooke Castle in 2010 . Description . Carisbrooke was the strongest castle on the Island ; though it is visible from some distance , it does not dominate the countryside like many other castles . There are traces of a Roman fort underneath the later buildings . Seventy - one steps lead up to the keep ; the reward is a fine view . In the centre of the castle enclosure are the domestic buildings ; these are mostly of the 13th century , with upper parts of the 16th century . Some are in ruins , but the main rooms were used as the official residence of the Governor of the Isle of Wight until the 1940s , and they remain in good repair . The Great Hall , Great Chamber and several smaller rooms are open to the public , and an upper room houses the Isle of Wight Museum . Most rooms are partly furnished . One of the main subjects of the museum is King Charles I . He tried to escape from the castle in 1648 , but was unable to get through the bars of his window . The name of the castle is echoed in a very different structure on the other side of the world . A visit to the castle by James Macandrew , one of the founders of the New Zealand city of Dunedin , led to him naming his estate " Carisbrook " . The name of the estate was later used for Dunedin ' s main sporting venue . The Main Gate . The gateway tower was erected by Lord Scales who was lord of the castle at the time in 1464 . The Chapel . The chapel is located next to the main gate . In 1904 the chapel of St Nicholas in the castle was reopened and re - consecrate d , having been rebuilt as a national memorial of Charles I . Within the walls is a well 200 feet deep and another in the centre of the keep is reputed to have been still deeper . The Well - House . Near the domestic buildings is the well - house with its working donkey wheel . As it is still operated by donkeys , the wheel is a great attraction and creates long queues . The well is also famous as the hiding place of the Mohune diamond , in the 1898 adventure novel " Moonfleet " , by J . Meade Falkner . Wyndham Lewis , who lived on the Isle of Wight as a child , cites the donkey wheel at Carisbrooke as an image for the way machines impose a way of life on human beings ( ' Inferior Religions ' , published 1917 ) . The Constable ' s Chamber . The Constable ' s Chamber is a large room located in the castle ' s medieval section . It was the bedroom of Charles I when he was imprisoned in the castle , and Princess Beatrice used it as a dining room . It is now home to Charles I bed as well as Princess Beatrice ' s large collection of stag and antelope heads . This room was used as the castle ' s education centre up until recently . Earthworks . Surrounding the whole castle are large earthworks , designed by the Italian Federigo Gianibelli , and begun in the year before the Spanish Armada . They were finished in the 1590s . The outer gate has the date 1598 and the arms of Elizabeth I .