The Island's Ghost Ship

Thu 24 July 2025 - Fri 25 July 2025

The Magical Tale of HMS Eurydice On 24th March 1878, HMS Eurydice—a Royal Navy training ship—was returning to Portsmouth after a long voyage to the West Indies. As she rounded Dunnose Point on the Isle of Wight, a sudden snow squall struck. In minutes, she keeled over and sank, taking more than 300 souls with her. The tragedy was one of the worst peacetime naval disasters in British history. But the story didn’t end there. Over the years, sailors, fishermen, and islanders have reported eerie sightings of a ghostly ship drifting silently off the coast—always in the same place, always vanishing without trace. Even Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, is said to have glimpsed her spectral sails. So what really happened to HMS Eurydice… and is she still out there? Part magic show, part historical lecture, and part chilling eyewitness account, The Magical Tale of HMS Eurydice is a spellbinding theatrical experience that brings together illusion, storytelling, and maritime mystery. This captivating one-man show is presented by Ian Vallance, an Associate Member of the Inner Magic Circle—one of the world’s most prestigious societies for magicians—and the Education Officer of the Shipwreck Centre in Arreton, where the wrecks and relics of the past are kept alive through expert interpretation. With sleight-of-hand, historical insight, and a few unexplained surprises, Ian will lead you through the true story of HMS Eurydice’s tragic final voyage—and her ghostly reappearances. This is an evening designed to entertain, inform, and leave you questioning whether seeing really is believing. Prepare for mystery. Prepare for magic. And prepare to meet a ship that refuses to be forgotten.