Editing Isle of Wight (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of the Isle of Wight}}

===Stone Age ===
During [[Pleistocene]] [[glacial period]]s sea levels were lower than at present, and the area that today forms the Solent was part of the valley of the now extinct [[River Solent|Solent River]]. The river flowed eastward from Dorset, following the course of the modern Solent strait. The river travelled east of the Isle of Wight before flowing southwest towards the major Channel River system. At these times, extensive gravel terraces associated with the Solent River and the forerunners of the island's modern rivers were deposited. During warmer interglacial periods, silts, beach gravels, clays, and muds of marine and estuarine origin were deposited due to higher sea levels, suggesting similar marine or estuary conditions to those experienced today. 

[[File:Upper Palaeolithic Flint Handaxe (FindID 402440).jpg|thumb|right|A flint [[hand axe]] from the [[Paleolithic]], {{circa|500,000}} [[Before Present|BP]], found on the island in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/402440 |title= Finds record for: IOW-11AE37 |author= Basford, F |access-date= 29 August 2022 |publisher= The Portable Antiquities Scheme}}</ref>]]
The earliest clear evidence of [[Lower Paleolithic|Lower Palaeolithic]] archaic human occupation on what is now the Isle of Wight is found close to [[Priory Bay]]. More than 300 [[Acheulean|acheulean handaxes]] have been recovered from the beach and cliff slopes, originating from a sequence of Pleistocene gravels dating approximately to [[Marine Isotope Stage 11|MIS 11]]-[[Marine Isotope Stage 9|MIS 9]] (424,000–374,000 years ago).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wenban-Smith |first=Francis |date=January 2009 |title=The Pleistocene sequence at Priory Bay, Isle of Wight (SZ 635 900) |url=https://www.academia.edu/1794967 |journal=Field Meeting of the Quaternary Research Association |language=en}}</ref> Reworked and abraded artefacts found at the site may be considerably older however, closer to 500,000 years old. The identity of the hominids who produced these tools is unknown. However, sites and fossils of the same age range in Europe are often attributed to ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'' or early populations of [[Neanderthal]]s.

A [[Middle Paleolithic|Middle Palaeolithic]] [[Mousterian]] flint assemblage, consisting of 50 handaxes and debitage, has been recovered from Great Pan Farm in the Medina Valley near Newport. Gravel sequences at the site have been dated to the [[MIS 3|MIS 3 interstadial]] during the [[Last Glacial Period|last glacial period]] ({{circa|50,000 years}} ago). These tools are associated with the late Neanderthal occupation, and evidence of late Neanderthal presence is seen across Britain at this time.

No significant evidence of [[Upper Paleolithic|Upper Palaeolithic]] activity exists on the Isle of Wight. This period is associated with the expansion and establishment of populations of [[Human|modern human]] (''Homo sapiens'') [[hunter-gatherer]]s in Europe, beginning around 45,000 years ago. However, evidence of late Upper Palaeolithic activity has been found at nearby sites on the mainland, notably [[Hengistbury Head]] in Dorset, dating to just before the onset of the [[Holocene]] and the end of the last glacial period {{circa|11,700 years}} ago. [[File:Neolithic Arrowhead (hollow based) (FindID 453951).jpg|thumb|right|A [[Neolithic]] arrowhead from {{circa|2500|2100}} [[Common Era|BCE]], found on the island in 2011<ref>{{cite web |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/453951 |title= Finds record for: IOW-EF8E93 |author= Basford, F |access-date= 29 August 2022 |publisher= The Portable Antiquities Scheme}}</ref>]]
Evidence of [[Mesolithic]] hunter-gatherer occupation on the island is generally found along the river valleys, particularly along the Solent coastline of the island and in the former catchment of the western Yar. Other key terrestrial sites are found at Newtown Creek, Werrar, and Wootton-Quarr.

A submerged escarpment {{convert|11|metres|abbr=off}} below sea level off [[Bouldnor Cliff]] on the island's Solent coastline has yielded an internationally significant mesolithic archaeological site. The Bouldnor Cliff site exhibits evidence of seasonal occupation by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers dating to {{circa|6050 BC}}. Finds include flint tools, burnt flint, worked timbers, wooden platforms, and pits. The worked wood shows evidence of splitting large planks from oak trunks, interpreted as being intended for use as dug-out canoes. DNA analysis of sediments at the site yielded [[wheat]] DNA, not found in Britain until 2,000 years after the occupation at Bouldnor Cliff. It has been suggested this is evidence of wide-reaching trade in Mesolithic Europe; however, the contemporaneity of the wheat with the Mesolithic occupation has been contested. Owing to lower sea levels during the Mesolithic the hunter-gatherer site was located on a river bank surrounded by wetlands and woodland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/8000-year-old-boat-building-platform-found-coast-britain-180972989/|title=An 8,000-Year-Old Platform in Britain Could Be the Oldest Boat-Building Site Ever Discovered|first=Jason|last=Daley|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref> As sea levels rose throughout the early Holocene the Solent flooded, submerging the site.

From {{circa|6,000 years}} ago migrations of farming populations to Britain from northwest Europe brought the onset of the [[Neolithic]], largely replacing and assimilating previous mesolithic hunter-gatherer populations. On the Isle of Wight Neolithic occupation is attested to by flint tool finds, pottery and monuments. The Isle of Wight's neolithic communities were agriculturalists, farming livestock and crops. The Isle of Wight's most recognisable neolithic site is the Longstone at [[Mottistone]], the remains of an early Neolithic [[long barrow]]. Initially constructed with two standing stones at the entrance, only one remains upright today. The site would have likely served as a communal tomb and ritual site for nearby farming communities. A Neolithic mortuary enclosure has also been identified on [[Tennyson Down]] near [[Freshwater, Isle of Wight|Freshwater]].

===Bronze Age and Iron Age===
From {{circa|4,400|4,200 years}} ago Britain experienced a new wave of migrations from continental Europe, linked to the [[Bell Beaker culture|Bell Beaker Culture]]. Bell beaker migrants are typically thought to have introduced metal-working to Britain marking the beginning of the [[Bronze Age]]. Evidence of early Bronze Age occupation on the Isle of Wight include distinctive bell beaker pots, flint tools, occupation sites and finds of bronze weapons and tools, occurring either individually or in [[hoard]] deposits such as the famous [[Arreton]] hoard. Highly visible evidence of early Bronze Age activity on the Isle of Wight comes in the form of the [[Tumulus|barrow monuments]] present across the island's chalk downland.  It is likely these barrows were high-status burial sites, and often occur in 'cemeteries' a notable example being Five Barrows near [[Brook, Isle of Wight|Brook.]]  [[File:Early Bronze Age Developed Flat Axehead (Arreton Down Type) (FindID 441752).jpg|thumb|right|An [[British Bronze Age|early Bronze Age]] axehead from {{circa|2000|1700}} [[Common Era|BCE]], found on the island in 2011<ref>{{cite web |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/441752 |title= Finds record for: IOW-ADA318 |author= Basford, F |access-date= 29 August 2022 |publisher= The Portable Antiquities Scheme}}</ref>]]
[[Bronze Age Britain]] had large tin reserves in Cornwall and Devon areas, which was necessary to [[Smelting|smelt]] [[bronze]]. At that time, the sea level was much lower, and carts of tin were brought across the [[Solent]] at low tide<ref name="Adams 1877">{{cite book|last1=Adams|first1=William Henry Davenport|title=Nelsons' hand-book to the Isle of Wight|date=1877|publisher=Oxford University|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQoHAAAAQAAJ&q=Cotentin+Peninsula+trade+Isle+of+Wight|access-date=16 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="Hawkes 1984"/> for export, possibly on the [[Ferriby Boats]]. Anthony Snodgrass<ref>{{cite book|last1=Snodgrass|first1=A. M.|title=Arms and Armour of the Greeks|date=1966|publisher=Thames & Hudson, London}}</ref><ref name="Snodgrass 1971">{{cite book|last1=Snodgrass|first1=A. M.|title=The Dark Age of Greece|date=1971|publisher=Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh}}</ref> suggests that a shortage of tin, as a part of the [[Bronze Age]] Collapse and trade disruptions in the Mediterranean around 1300 BC, forced metalworkers to seek an alternative to bronze. 

From the 7th century BC, during the [[Late Iron Age]], the Isle of Wight, like the rest of Great Britain, was occupied by the [[Celtic Britons]], in the form of the [[Durotriges]] tribe, as attested by finds of their coins, for example, the South Wight Hoard,<ref>Williams, Jonathan; Hill, J.D.[http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/216933], Portable Antiquities Scheme,  Record ID: IOW-38B400.</ref><ref>The Isle of Wight Ingot Hoard [http://www.artfund.org/what-we-do/art-weve-helped-buy/artwork/9645/the-isle-of-wight-ingot-hoard] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223307/http://www.artfund.org/what-we-do/art-weve-helped-buy/artwork/9645/the-isle-of-wight-ingot-hoard|date=2 December 2013}} The Art Fund</ref> and the Shalfleet Hoard.<ref>Leins, Ian; Joy, Jody; Basford, Frank [http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/267811], Portable Antiquities Scheme, Record ID: IOW-EAAFE2.</ref> The island was known as ''Ynys Weith'' in [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic Celtic]].<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/EnglandWight.htm|title=Kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons - Wight (Isle of Wight)|website=www.historyfiles.co.uk}}</ref> Southeastern Britain experienced significant immigration, which is reflected in the current residents' genetic makeup.<ref name="Leslie, et al. 2015">{{cite journal|last1=Leslie, et al. 2015|first1=Stephen|title=The fine-scale genetic structure of the British population|journal=Nature|volume=519|issue=March 2015|pages=309–314|doi=10.1038/nature14230|pmid=25788095|pmc=4632200|year=2015|bibcode=2015Natur.519..309.}}</ref> As the [[Iron Age]] began, tin value likely dropped sharply, greatly changing the Isle of Wight's economy. Trade, however, continued, as evidenced by the local abundance of European Iron Age coins.<ref name="Wellington 2001">{{cite journal|last1=Wellington|first1=Imogen|title=Iron Age Coinage on the Isle of Wight|journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology|date=February 2001|volume=20|issue=1|pages=39–57|doi=10.1111/1468-0092.00122}}</ref><ref name="Crawford 1912">{{cite journal|last1=Crawford|first1=Osbert Guy Stanhope|title=The distribution of early bronze age settlements in Britain|journal=Geographical Journal|date=1912|volume=1912|issue=2|pages=184–197|doi=10.2307/1778466|jstor=1778466|bibcode=1912GeogJ..40..184C |url=https://zenodo.org/record/2469772}}</ref>

===Roman period===
[[Julius Caesar]] reported that the [[Belgae]] took the Isle of Wight in about 85&nbsp;BC<ref>{{cite book|last1=Adams|first1=William Henry Davenport|title=Nelson's Hand-book to the Isle of Wight|date=1877|publisher=Oxford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQoHAAAAQAAJ&q=Cotentin+Peninsula+trade+Isle+of+Wight}}</ref> and recognised the culture of this general region as "Belgic" but made no reference to Vectis.<ref name="Vectis Insvla">{{cite web|title=Roman Vectis|url=https://wiki.imperivm-romanvm.com/wiki/Vectis#Rome|website=Imperivm Romanvm Wiki - Vectis|access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref> The Roman historian [[Suetonius]] mentions that the island was captured by the commander [[Vespasian]]. The Romans built no towns on the island, but the remains of at least seven [[Roman villa]]s have been found, indicating the prosperity of local agriculture.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Journal of the British Archaeological Association|date=December 1866|url=http://www.bradingromanvilla.org.uk/friends/pdf/gurnard_1866.pdf|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129021608/http://www.bradingromanvilla.org.uk/friends/pdf/gurnard_1866.pdf|archive-date=29 November 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> First-century exports were principally hides, enslaved people, hunting dogs, grain, cattle, silver, gold, and iron.<ref name="Vectis Insvla"/>

===Early medieval period===
[[File:IOW-738404 Early-Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) Pin (FindID 482515).jpg|thumb|right|upright|An [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] copper-alloy pin, dating from {{circa|700|900}}, found on the island in 2012<ref>{{cite web |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/482515 |title= Finds record for: IOW-2A1571 |author= Basford, F |access-date=29 August 2022 |publisher= The Portable Antiquities Scheme}}</ref>]]
There are indications that the island had vast trading links, with a port at [[Bouldnor Cliff|Bouldnor]],<ref name="Smith et al. 2015">{{cite journal|last1=Smith|display-authors=etal|first1=Oliver|title=Sedimentary DNA from a submerged site reveals wheat in the British Isles 8000 years ago|journal=Science|date=27 February 2015|volume=347|issue=6225|pages=998–1001|doi=10.1126/science.1261278|pmid=25722413|bibcode=2015Sci...347..998S|hdl=10454/9405|s2cid=1167101|url=https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/bitstream/10454/9405/1/Science_DNA.pdf|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Cunliffe 2008">{{cite book|last1=Cunliffe|first1=Barry |title=A Companion to Roman Britain: Britain and the continent: networks of interaction |publisher=John Wiley & Sons|date=2008|pages=1–11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PPfZCqRytugC&q=Cotentin+Peninsula+trade+Isle+of+Wight|isbn=9780470998854 }}</ref><ref name="Balter 2015">{{cite web|last1=Balter|first1=Michael|title=DNA recovered from underwater British site may rewrite history of farming in Europe|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/dna-recovered-underwater-british-site-may-rewrite-history-farming-europe|publisher=Science|access-date=17 March 2015|date=26 February 2015}}</ref> evidence of Bronze Age tin trading,<ref name="Hawkes 1984">{{cite journal|last1=Hawkes|first1=C.&nbsp;F.&nbsp;C.|title=Ictis disentangled, and the British tin trade|journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology|date=July 1984|volume=3|issue=2|pages=211–233|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230323962|access-date=16 March 2015|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0092.1984.tb00327.x}}</ref> and finds of [[Late Iron Age]] coins.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Isle of Wight Ingot Hoard|url=http://www.artfund.org/what-we-do/art-weve-helped-buy/artwork/9645/the-isle-of-wight-ingot-hoard|publisher=The Art Fund|access-date=24 November 2013|archive-date=2 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223307/http://www.artfund.org/what-we-do/art-weve-helped-buy/artwork/9645/the-isle-of-wight-ingot-hoard|url-status=dead}}</ref> Starting in AD 449, the 5th and 6th centuries saw groups of [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]-speaking peoples from Northern Europe crossing the English Channel and gradually set about conquering the region.<ref name="McMahon">{{cite web|last1=McMahon|first1=Rob|title=Why Populations|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258343375|website=McMahon|access-date=28 January 2018}}</ref>

During the [[Early Middle Ages]], the island was settled by [[Jutes]] as the [[Anglo-Saxon paganism|heathen]] kingdom of the [[Wihtwara]]. In [[Asser]]’s [[Life of King Alfred|''Life of Alfred'']], he states that the [[List of monarchs of Wessex|West Saxon kings]] [[Cerdic]] and [[Cynric]] granted lordship of Wight to two brothers, Stuf and Wihtgar, said to be of Jutish and [[Goths|Gothic]] origin and cousins of Cynric. The brothers then set about exterminating the native [[Celtic Britons|Britons]], either killing them or driving them into exile.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asser's Life of King Alfred, by Albert S. Cook—A Project Gutenberg eBook |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/63384/63384-h/63384-h.htm |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref> According to [[Bede]], in 685, Wight was invaded by King [[Cædwalla of Wessex|Cædwalla]] of [[Wessex]], who attempted to violently replace the Jutish inhabitants with his own followers. In 686, the native King [[Arwald]] was killed in battle, and the island became the last part of English lands to be [[Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England|converted to Christianity]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=church&book=english&story=christian|title=The English Accept Christianity|website=The Story of England|first=Samuel B.|last=Harding}}</ref>

It suffered especially from [[Vikings|Viking]] raids<ref>{{cite book|title=The Anglo Saxon Chronicle|date=1116|url=http://www.hampshire-history.com/king-alfreds-navy}}</ref> and was often used as a winter base by Viking raiders when they could not reach Normandy.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.h2g2.com/edited_entry/A599691 | title=Anglo-Saxon Isle of Wight: 900 – 1066 AD | date=2012 | access-date=30 November 2016}}</ref> Later, both [[Tostig Godwinson|Earl Tostig]] and his brother [[Harold Godwinson]] (who became King Harold II) held manors on the island.<ref name="british-history.ac.uk1912">{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42066|title=Victoria County History|date=1912|publisher=British History Online, University of London & History of Parliament Trust|access-date=30 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol5/pp156-170#h3-0021| title=Victoria County History|date=1912|publisher=British History Online, University of London & History of Parliament Trust|access-date=30 November 2016}}</ref>

===Norman Conquest to 18th century===
[[File:Carisbrooke front gate.jpg|thumb|[[Carisbrooke Castle]]]]

The Norman Conquest of 1066 created the position of [[Lord of the Isle of Wight]]; the island was given by [[William the Conqueror]] to his kinsman [[William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford|William FitzOsbern]]. [[Carisbrooke Priory]] and the fort of [[Carisbrooke Castle]] were then founded. Allegiance was sworn to FitzOsbern rather than the king; the Lordship was subsequently granted to the [[Richard de Redvers|de Redvers]] family by Henry I after his succession in 1100.

[[File:IOW-778213 Medieval Coin, Penny of Edward I (FindID 432899).jpg|thumb|right|A silver [[penny (English coin)|penny]] of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]], minted 1300-1305, found on the island in 2011<ref>{{cite web |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/432899 |title= Finds record for: IOW-778213 |author= Basford, F |access-date=29 August 2022 |publisher= The Portable Antiquities Scheme}}</ref>]]
For nearly 200 years the island was a semi-independent feudal fiefdom, with the de Redvers family ruling from Carisbrooke. The final private owner was the Countess [[Isabel de Forz, suo jure 8th Countess of Devon|Isabella de Fortibus]], who, on her deathbed in 1293, was persuaded to sell it to [[Edward I of England|Edward I]]. Subsequently, the island was under the control of the English Crown<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/medieval-part-1/isabella-de-fortibus|title=Isabella de Fortibus, "Queen of the Wight" |author=English Heritage|website= English Heritage Story of England |access-date=28 November 2016}}</ref> and its Lordship a royal appointment.

The island continued to be attacked from the continent: it was raided in 1374 by the fleet of [[Crown of Castile|Castile]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Cesáreo |last=Fernández Duro |title=La Marina de Castilla|location=Madrid|isbn=978-84-86228-04-0|date=1995}}</ref> and in 1377 by French raiders who burned several towns, including [[Newtown, Isle of Wight|Newtown]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iwhistory.org.uk/newtown/   |title=Newtown|publisher=Isle of Wight History| access-date=31 January 2022}}</ref>

Under [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]], who developed the [[Royal Navy]] and its [[Portsmouth]] base, the island was fortified at [[Yarmouth, Isle of Wight|Yarmouth]], Cowes, East Cowes, and [[Sandown]].

The [[French invasion of the Isle of Wight|French invasion]] on 21 July 1545 (famous for the sinking of the ''[[Mary Rose]]'' on the 19th) was repulsed by local [[militia]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Wight, Isle of |volume= 28 |pages = 626&ndash;627; see page 627, "History" midway down second para|quote=A more formidable raid was attempted in 1545 when a French fleet of 150 large ships, 25 galleys, and 50 smaller vessels drew up off Brading Harbour...}}</ref>

On 1 May 1647, Swedish and English ships clashed in a [[Skirmish at the Isle of Wight|brief skirmish off the island]], ending in the Swedish fleet being able to escape.<ref>{{Cite book |last=B |first=R. |url=https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A76338.0001.001 |title=A true and full relation of the late sea fight, betwixt a squadron of ships belonging to the Parliament of England, and the Queene of Swethlands fleet |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] |year=1647 }}</ref>

During the [[English Civil War]], [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] fled to the Isle of Wight, believing he would receive sympathy from  Governor [[Robert Hammond (English army officer)|Robert Hammond]]. Still, Hammond imprisoned the king in Carisbrooke Castle.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/stuarts/ |title=An Introduction to Stuart England (1603–1714) |access-date=20 May 2021 |website=English Heritage}}</ref>

[[File:Osborne-house1.jpg|thumb|[[Osborne House]] and its grounds are now open to the public.]]
[[File:Berthe Morisot - Eugène Manet à l'île de Wight.jpg|thumb|''[[Eugene Manet]] on the Isle of Wight'', 1875 painting by [[Berthe Morisot]]]]
During the [[Great Britain in the Seven Years' War|Seven Years' War]], the island was a staging post for British troops departing on expeditions against the French coast, such as the [[Raid on Rochefort]]. During 1759, with a [[Planned French Invasion of Britain (1759)|planned French invasion imminent]], a large force of soldiers was stationed there. The French called off their invasion following the [[Battle of Quiberon Bay]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Longmate |first=Norman |title=Island Fortress: The Defence of Great Britain, 1603–1945 |location=London |date=2001 |pages=186–188}}{{ISBN missing}}</ref>

===19th century===

In the spring of 1817, the twenty-one year old [[John Keats]] spent time in Carisbrooke and Shanklin, where he found inspiration in the countryside and coast, and worked on his long poem ''[[Endymion (poem)|Endymion]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mapping Keats's Progress: 16-23 April 1817: Endymion, On the Sea, & Eternal Poetry: Picturing Young Keats on the Isle of Wight |url=https://johnkeats.uvic.ca/1817-04-16.html |access-date=31 July 2023 |website=johnkeats.uvic.ca}}</ref>

In the mid-1840s, [[Phytophthora infestans|potato blight]] was first found in the UK on the island, having arrived from Belgium. It was later transmitted to Ireland.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=102367 | title=The Potato Blight - Its Origin Historical Marker }}</ref>

In the 1860s, what remains in real terms the most expensive ever government spending project saw fortifications built on the island and in the Solent, as well as elsewhere along the south coast, including the [[Palmerston Forts]], [[The Needles Batteries]], and [[Fort Victoria (Isle of Wight)|Fort Victoria]], because of fears about possible French invasion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.armouries.org.uk/collections/history-of-the-collection/museum-history/fort-nelson-history|title=Fort Nelson History|work=Royal Armouries|access-date=8 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120073521/http://www.armouries.org.uk/collections/history-of-the-collection/museum-history/fort-nelson-history|archive-date=20 November 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The future [[Queen Victoria]] spent childhood holidays on the island and became fond of it. When she became queen, she made [[Osborne House]] her winter home. Subsequently, the island became a fashionable holiday resort for many, including [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]], [[Julia Margaret Cameron]], and [[Charles Dickens]] (who wrote much of ''[[David Copperfield (novel)|David Copperfield]]'' there), as well as the French painter [[Berthe Morisot]] and members of European royalty.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitisleofwight.co.uk/things-to-do/attractions/history-and-heritage | title=Isle of Wight history and heritage|work=visitisleofwight.co.uk |access-date=28 November 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Queen Victoria&#039;s Bathing Machine. - panoramio.jpg|thumb|Queen Victoria's [[bathing machine]], preserved at Queen Victoria's Beach east of [[Osborne House]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/osborne/things-to-do/queen-victorias-beach/ |title=Queen Victoria's Beach |publisher=[[English Heritage]] |access-date=6 February 2021}}</ref>]]

Until the queen's example, the island had been rural, with most people employed in farming, fishing, or boat-building. The boom in tourism, spurred by growing wealth and leisure time and by Victoria's presence, led to the significant urban development of the island's coastal resorts. As one report summarises, "The Queen's regular presence on the island helped put the Isle of Wight 'on the map' as a Victorian holiday and wellness destination ... and her former residence Osborne House is now one of the most visited attractions on the island."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://independenttravelcats.com/visiting-the-isle-of-wight-queen-victoria-trail-victorian-sites/|title=Isle of Wight Travel Guide: Following the Queen Victoria Trail|date=28 November 2017|website=Independent Travel Cats}}</ref> While on the island, the queen used a [[bathing machine]] that could be wheeled into the water on Osborne Beach; inside the small wooden hut, she could undress and then bathe, without being visible to others.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/queen-victoria-bathing-machine/|title=Why does the Queen use a "bathing machine" to go swimming in ITV's Victoria?|website=Radio Times}}</ref> Her machine had a changing room and a WC with plumbing. The refurbished machine is now displayed at the beach.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.victorianweb.org/history/victoria/7.html|title=The Queen's Bathing Machine at Osborne|website=www.victorianweb.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/victoria-s-plunge-queen-s-beach-open-public-7946869.html|title=Victoria's plunge: Queen's beach to open to public|date=17 July 2012|website=The Independent}}</ref>

On 14 January 1878, [[Alexander Graham Bell]] demonstrated an early version of the telephone to the queen,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.islandecho.co.uk/140-years-since-first-telephone-call-queen-victoria-isle-wight/ |title=140 Years Since First Telephone Call to Queen Victoria on the Isle of Wight |date=14 January 2018 |publisher=Island Echo |access-date=14 January 2020 |quote=He made the UK's first publicly-witnessed long distance calls, calling Cowes, Southampton and London from Osborne House. Queen Victoria liked the telephone so much she wanted to buy it.}}</ref> placing calls to Cowes, Southampton, and London. These were the first publicly-witnessed long-distance telephone calls in the [[UK]]. The queen tried the device and considered the process to be "quite extraordinary" although the sound was "rather faint".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/connecting-britain/alexander-graham-bell-unveils-telephone/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/connecting-britain/alexander-graham-bell-unveils-telephone/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates the newly invented telephone |date=13 January 2017 |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=14 January 2020 |quote=one of the Queen’s staff wrote to Professor Bell to inform him "how much gratified and surprised the Queen was at the exhibition of the Telephone"}}{{cbignore}}</ref> She later asked to buy the equipment that was used, but Bell offered to make "a set of telephones" specifically for her.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/magbell.30000106/ |title=pdf, Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Sir Thomas Biddulph, February 1, 1878 |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=14 January 2020 |quote="The instruments at present in Osborne are merely those supplied for ordinary commercial purposes, and it will afford me much pleasure to be permitted to offer to the Queen a set of Telephones to be made expressly for her Majesty's use."}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ross |first=Stewart |title=Alexander Graham Bell |series=(Scientists who Made History) |location=New York |publisher=Raintree Steck-Vaughn |date=2001 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/alexandergrahamb00ross/page/21 21–22] |isbn=978-0-7398-4415-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergrahamb00ross/page/21}}</ref>

The world's first radio station was set up by [[Guglielmo Marconi]] in 1897, during her reign, at [[the Needles Battery]], at the western tip of the island.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lee|first=Eric|title=How internet radio can change the world: an activist's handbook|date=2005|publisher=iUniversr, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=9780595349654 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Md0aYx9jql8C&q=The+world%27s+first+radio+station+on+the+Isle+of+Wight&pg=PA7 |access-date=22 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Connected Earth |url=http://www.connected-earth.com/Journeys/Firstgenerationtechnologies/Awirelessworld/Theoriginsofradio/index.htm |access-date=22 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110146/http://www.connected-earth.com/Journeys/Firstgenerationtechnologies/Awirelessworld/Theoriginsofradio/index.htm |archive-date= 2 April 2015 }}</ref> A {{convert|168|ft|adj=on}} high mast was erected near the Royal Needles Hotel as part of an experiment on communicating with ships at sea. That location is now the site of the Marconi Monument.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theneedles.co.uk/landmarks/marconi-statue/|title=The Needles Marconi Statue|website=www.theneedles.co.uk}}</ref> In 1898 the first paid wireless telegram (called a "Marconigram") was sent from this station, and the island was for some time<ref name="vintage-radio.net">{{cite web | url=https://vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=85074 | title=What happened to the National Wireless Museum? | access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref> the home of the National Wireless Museum near Ryde.<ref name="Miscellany">{{cite book | title=Isle of Wight: A Miscellany | author=Julia Skinner | publisher=Francis Frith Collect | date=2012 |isbn=978-1-84589-683-6}}</ref>

Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on 22 January 1901 at 81.

===20th century and later===

During the [[Second World War]], the island was frequently bombed. With its proximity to German-occupied France, the island hosted observation stations, transmitters, and the [[RAF Ventnor|RAF radar station at Ventnor]]. [[Adolf Hitler]] personally suggested an invasion of the Isle of Wight as a supplementary operation for [[Operation Sealion]], and the possibility of an invasion was incorporated into [[Fuhrer Directive]] 16. Field Marshal [[Alan Brooke]], in charge of defending the UK during 1940, was sceptical about being able to hold the island in the face of an invasion, instead considering that British forces would retreat to the western side of the island rather than commit forces against what might be a diversionary landing. In the end no invasion of the island was carried out as German naval commanders feared any invasion force might be cut off by British naval forces, particularly Royal Navy submarines.<ref name="Harvey 2017">{{cite news |last1=Harvey |first1=Ian |title=Hitler Considered Occupying The Small English Isle of Wight in WWII – It Could Have Changed History |url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/isle-of-wight.html?chrome=1&Exc_D_LessThanPoint002_p1=1 |access-date=26 April 2023 |work=War History Online |date=27 November 2017}}</ref>

The island was the starting point for one of the earlier [[Operation Pluto]] pipelines to feed fuel to Europe after the [[Normandy landings]].<ref name="Ddaymuseum">{{cite web | url=http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/d-dayonyourdoorstep/details/pluto-pumping-station-sandown-isle-of-wight | title=PLUTO pumping station, Sandown, Isle of Wight | publisher=D-Day Museum and Overlord Embroidery | access-date=16 February 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216215300/http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/d-dayonyourdoorstep/details/pluto-pumping-station-sandown-isle-of-wight | archive-date=16 February 2015 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The [[Needles Battery]] was used to develop and test the [[Black Arrow]] and [[Black Knight (rocket)|Black Knight]] space rockets, which were subsequently launched from [[Woomera Test Facility|Woomera]], Australia.<ref name="Standard">{{cite news | url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/welcome-to-britains-secret-cape-canaveral--on-the-isle-of-wight-7255168.html | title=Welcome to Britain's secret Cape Canaveral (... on the Isle of Wight) | newspaper=London Evening Standard | date=31 March 2007 | access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Jimi Hendrix statue outside Dimbola Lodge.JPG|thumb|upright|Statue of [[Jimi Hendrix]] outside Dimbola Lodge]]

The [[Isle of Wight Festival 1970|Isle of Wight Festival]] was a large [[rock festival]] near [[Afton Down]], West Wight, in August 1970, following two smaller events in 1968 [[Isle of Wight Festival 1969|and 1969]]. The 1970 show was one of the last public performances by [[Jimi Hendrix]] and attracted somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000 attendees.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=32552 |title=Movies |publisher=Movies.msn.com |access-date=25 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109173009/http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=32552 |archive-date=9 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The festival was revived in 2002 in a different format and is now an annual event.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.isleofwightguru.co.uk/isle-of-wight-festival-history.html | title=Isle of Wight Festival History 1968 to Today| publisher=isleofwightguru.com| access-date=28 November 2016}}</ref>

On 26 October 2020, an oil tanker, the ''Nave Andromeda'', suspected to have been [[Nave Andromeda incident|hijacked by Nigerian stowaways]], was stormed southeast of the island by the [[Special Boat Service]]. Seven people believed to be Nigerians seeking UK asylum were handed over to Hampshire Police.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-54687379|title=Tanker stowaways: 'Hijacking' ends after special forces storm ship|work=BBC News|date=26 October 2020|access-date=26 October 2020}}</ref>