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Religious Education

The great majority of the population of the Island is of English decent and the religious buildings on the Isle of Wight are of the Christian Faith.

Many of these buildings are very old and contain evidence of the ritual of the church and the beliefs of the people that they have served both past and present. At Quarr the ruins of the old Abbey, destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries can be seen next to the Abbey which was built in 1907.

All Saints Church at Freshwater dates back to Saxon times, whereas the neighbouring church of St Agnes was not built until 1905. However this church, which has links with the family of Alfred Lord Tennyson, is unusual in that it has a thatched roof.

The churches at Gatcombe, Godshill, Bonchurch, Binstead, Newchurch, Shorwell, Brighstone, Arreton, Brading, St Lawrence, Carisbrooke and Chale all date back to the 11th and 12th centuries, and are full of religious relics. Many are also linked to famous Island families who were connected to royalty; The Oglanders at Brading with Charles I, the Worsleys at Appuldurcombe with Henry VIII. The church at Chale has a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Clarendon Shipwreck and their grave is in the adjacent churchyard.

St Mildred's at Whippingham has connections with Osborne House at nearby East Cowes. It was designed by Prince Albert and has many close links with Queen Victoria and her children. In the churchyard can be found the graves of Prince Louis of

Battenburg and Princess Victoria of Hesse who were the grandparents of HRH Prince Phillip.

The church of St Thomas in Newport which was built in the 19th century is relatively new, but it contains many interesting relics. Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of King Charles I, died in captivity in Carisbrooke Castle and was buried in the Newport church. When the church was rebuilt her remains were re-interred under the altar and there is a memorial dedicated to her.

The Roman Catholic church of St. Thomas of Canterbury, also in Newport, was built in 1791. It was the first Roman Catholic church to be built in Hampshire after the reformation; by law it had to be built in the style of a meeting house with no bell or spire.