Isle of Wight ferry services War four of the SW&BRCSPS paddle steamers were commandeered by the Royal Navy as minesweepers leaving only two behind. The PS "Duchess of Richmond" was lost to a mine in the Mediterranean Sea. On 1 January 1923 the SW&BRCSPS was taken over by Southern Railway which had been created in the Grouping ordered by the Railways Act 1921. Isle of Wight ferry services There are currently three different ferry companies that operate vessels carrying passengers and, on certain routes, vehicles across the Solent, the stretch of sea that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England. These are Wightlink, Red
History of the Isle of Wight are retained in the county archaeological centre. From about 685-686 the island can be considered part of Wessex, and after the West Saxon kings ruled all England, then part of England. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle tells how "Wiht-land" suffered from Viking raids: ""And then another time they lay in the Isle of Wight, and meanwhile ate out of Hampshire and of Sussex"". Alfred the Great's navy defeated the Danes in 871 after they had "ravaged Devon and the Isle of Wight". Around 900 the kingdom was divided into shires, and the island became part of the shire of Hampshire. During