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
Education reforms on the Isle of Wight urgency at the start of 2008, when three 'key options' were put forward by the Isle of Wight Council for public consultation, each of which meant the closure of at least half of the Island's primary schools. On 14 January 2008, the Council announced that at least 23 primary schools and one middle school (expected to be Nodehill Middle School) would be closed, whichever education pathway was chosen in March. The 'biggest protest the Island has ever seen' occurred outside County Hall in Newport on 26 January 2008 at 10:00am lasting an hour until 11:00am, led by Isle of Wight