This vintage real photo postcard shows the famous donkey wheel at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. The image captures one of the castle’s best-known traditions, where donkeys were used to turn a large wooden tread wheel to raise water from the deep castle well.
The postcard is titled “The Donkey in the Wheel, Carisbrooke” and was published by Nigh of Ventnor, a well-known Isle of Wight postcard publisher. The reverse is marked “Real Photo Postcard,” indicating that the card was produced using a photographic process rather than printed artwork.
Carisbrooke Castle’s donkey wheel dates back centuries and became one of the Isle of Wight’s most recognisable tourist attractions. Donkeys were traditionally used to operate the wheel and draw water from the castle well, a practice linked to the castle since at least the late seventeenth century. The tradition still survives today through demonstration donkeys at the castle.
Real photo postcards featuring unusual historical subjects such as the Carisbrooke donkey wheel remain popular with collectors of Isle of Wight postcards, social history, castles, and animal-themed postcards.
This example is an unused postcard with divided back and remains a fascinating snapshot of one of the Isle of Wight’s most distinctive historic attractions.
