thumb|Griggs Farm, KnightonKnighton is a largely deserted hamlet near Newchurch on the Isle of Wight, about 2 miles NW of Sandown. The name should be pronounced as Kay-nighton to avoid confusion with the larger village of Niton, near Ventnor. To the south is Knighton Sandpit Ltd which is an aggregate extraction company. The pit is also used for off-road driving events. This is however, a little way from the main residential area.
Name
The name means 'the farmstead or estate of the young thanes or retainers', from Old English cniht (genitive plural cnihta) and tūn. There are other places called Knighton with similar origins.
1086 (Domesday Book): Chenistone
1193-1217: Cnihtaton
1255: Knyttetone
1316: Knyghteton
1327: Knightone
Knighton Gorges Manor
thumb|Gateposts of [[Knighton Gorges Manor|left]]Knighton Gorges Manor in Knighton was one of the grandest manor houses on the Isle of Wight. But when the owner's daughter married against his will, he had it demolished, rather than allowing her to inherit it.
Hugh De Morville, one of the knights responsible for the murder of Thomas Becket, fled to Knighton Gorges. The story is that the ghost of Sir Tristram rides a ghostly horse each year on the anniversary of his death, which occurred on 7 July 1721. The most famous haunting is said to take place on New Year's Eve when, it is claimed, the old house "re-appears", many people often gather at the spot on 31 December to try to witness the apparition.