CARISBROOKE

carisbrooke, a town in the isle of wight, england, 1 m. s. of newport. pop. (1901) 3993. the valley of the lugley brook separates the village from the steep conical hill crowned by the castle, the existence of which has given carisbrooke its chief fame. there are remains of a roman villa in the valley, but no reliable mention of carisbrooke occurs in saxon times, though it has commonly been identified with the saxon _wihtgaraburh_ captured by cerdic in 530. carisbrooke is not mentioned by name in the domesday survey, but bowcombe, its principal manor, was a dependency of the royal manor of amesbury, and was obtained from the king by william fitz osbern in exchange for three wiltshire manors. the castle is mentioned in the survey under alvington, and was probably raised by william fitz osbern, who was made first lord of the isle of wight. from this date lordship of the isle of wight was always associated with ownership of the castle, which thus became the seat of government of the island. henry i. bestowed it on richard de redvers, in whose family it continued until isabella de fortibus sold it to edward