Parkhurst, Isle of Wight Parkhurst, Isle of Wight Parkhurst is a neighbourhood northwest of the town of Newport, Isle of Wight. It has few amenities, but a large residential population. It is notable for housing H.M.P. Isle of Wight, on three sites, formerly three separate prisons: the well-known Parkhurst Prison itself, Camp Hill, and Albany. Parkhurst and Albany were once amongst the few top-security prisons in the United Kingdom, but were downgraded in the 1990s. A number of well-known criminals were accommodated in the Parkhurst prisons, including John Duddy, Graham Young, the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and the Kray twins. The prisons caused the
Railways on the Isle of Wight extension of its main line to reach Ventnor in 1866. In 1871, the Ryde tramway was extended to meet the railway line at Ryde St John's Road. The Ryde & Newport Railway opened in December 1875, with operations controlled by the Cowes & Newport company. In 1875, the Isle of Wight (Newport Junction) Railway opened the main part of its 10-mile Sandown to Newport line, planned in 1868. It would have opened sooner, but failed official inspections. In February 1875, the line was opened between Shide, a suburb of Newport, and the IWR station at Sandown. Eight months later the