Culture of the Isle of Wight Isle of Wight has an active branch of the Pagan Federation (many of whom style themselves as "Druids" and of inmates in Parkhurst Prison, paganism makes up the third most popular religion (according to the Isle of Wight County Press. The Isle of Wight was the last area of English paganism until 686CE when, according to Bede, Cædwalla of Wessex conquered the island, killing its inhabitants and installing Christians in their place. A "sheela-na-gig" is preserved in the gateway to Holy Cross Church in Binstead. Historically several women were alleged to be witches (such as the nineteenth-century Bembridge woman Molly
Newport railway station (Isle of Wight Central Railway) the Ryde and Newport Railway, and the Isle of Wight (Newport Junction) Railway were merged to form the Isle of Wight Central Railway (IWCR). A major employer on the island, it was noted for its busy and purposeful camaraderie. Closed in 1966, the station served as a base for the Wight Locomotive Society until January 1971, when the site was demolished by scrap merchants. The station site is now built over with much of it now lost under the A3054, Medina Way. The trains of the Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway's terminated at the IWCR station from the opening of