Outside at Carisbrooke Castle

Once I had used up my roll of HP5 on the inside attractions in the castle, I loaded in a roll of Ilford Delta 100 and enjoyed the outside! The history here is long, there is thought to have been Roman occupation here but nothing on the site of the castle has been found to prove this. 3 graves from the Anglo-Saxon period have been found, dating from the 6th Century. About 1000, there was an Anglo-Saxon burh here. This stone wall and timber building helped provide shelter against Viking invasion. The main part of the castle visible today is Norman, the Keep (left) is thought to date from then. Under the reign of Henry 1st, the Isle of Wight was under the lordship of Baldwin de Redvers, one of his greatest supporters. Most of the remaining buildings of interest date from the time of the last Redvers – Countess Isabella de Fortibus. She built the great hall and most of the other building around the inner courtyard (below).

Delta 100 turned out to be a good choice for the outside work. It turned out to be a bright sunny day, uncharacteristically for March! Some of the lighter stones reflecting the bright sun down to some of the darker stones in the shadows were a challenge to keep detail in. I developed the film in FX21, which did a pretty good job. For example in the photo above above, the courtyard on the left is in shadow but there is still detail there while there is also detail in brightly lit stonework on the far left. The climb up to the keep is quite an effort but the view from the top is worth it once you get up there!

I’ve already mentioned that Charles 1st was imprisoned here after his defeat in the Civil War, and showed some of his possessions in the museum. To the right is the widow that he tried to escape from. Not the most exciting photo I’ll grant, but of historic interest none the less!

I’d been here many years ago filming a documentary called “Royal Prisoner” charting Charles 1sts exploits from arrest to execution. Three decades pass quickly for humans, perhaps not so fast for the stones of history.