For more than nine centuries Carisbrooke Castle has stood firm against attack, and is probably best known as the castle where Charles I was imprisoned prior to his execution. Not much is known of its earliest history, although one remaining ruined wall suggests there was some sort of building on the site in late Roman times. The remaining earthworks date back to the end of the 11th and early 12th centuries, including the motte and bailey – a shell keep on a mound and a curtain wall round a courtyard. The chapel dates back to the 13th century and was finally restored during the last century having fallen into ruin and the governor’s house, with its medieval Great Hall, now houses the castle museum. The large gatehouse dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. The castle is reputed to have a number of ghosts, befitting its long history. In the famous well-house where donkeys work the wooden treadwheel, the disembodied face of a long-dead girl, Elizabeth Ruffin, who drowned in the 160ft deep well, has been seen in the well water. A mysterious figure in a long cloak, with four dainty lap dogs, is also said to walk the castle grounds, while the ghost of a young man wearing brown jerkin and trousers is seen near the moat. Other phantoms include a Victorian lady in grey and a ‘presence’ in the Castle gatehouse.