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Description: | A Castle dating from the post-Conquest period but with earlier origins. The western curtain wall overlies an earlier Roman wall making it likely that this area of the castle was once within the Roman town of Durobreve. The earliest reference to the castle is in the Domesday Book and the first fortification of the site in stone is accredited to Bishop Gundulf after the seige of 1088. The four-storeyed stone keep is one of the largest in England. To the north of the keep an irregular bailey is all that can be seen of the 1088 construction. At the east end a section of wall with drum towers, the work of Henry III, survives. In 1127 Henry I gave the custody of the castle to the Archbishop of Canterbury and his successors and shortly afterwards construction of the stone keep began in the southern part of the bailey. The castle was strengthened during the reign of Richard I and during the seige of 1215 the curtain wall and south east corner of the keep were undermined by King John's engineers. It was repaired between 1221-2. In 1264 the castle was the subject of another seige. Outer defences were breached but the keep held strong. 1367 to 1370 the castle was rebuilt. A new angle tower was built 1378-83 with further works taking place circa 1872. Scheduled. | Subjects: | Curtain Wall Defence Bailey Castle Angle Tower Keep | Source: | English Heritage - Viewfinder | Creator: | National Monuments Record | Identifier: | http://pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk... | Language: | en | Go to resource |
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