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
Isle of Wight Constabulary Roy Spicer. Isle of Wight Constabulary The Isle of Wight Constabulary was a local police force on the Isle of Wight The first separate police force on the island was set up in 1837 with the formation of the Newport Borough Police. The rest of the island was policed by the Hampshire Constabulary with the exception, from 1869, of Ryde, which had a borough force of its own, from 1869-1922. In 1890 the island was granted administrative county status under the Local Government Act 1888. The Newport force area was enlarged and the force renamed to become the Isle of