Pictures from Colchester, Essex, UK
In 1066, the English were defeated by the invading army of William, Duke of Normandy. After his victory at the battle of Hastings, William strengthened his hold on the defeated English by ordering castles to be built throughout the country.
Colchester was chosen for its port and its important military position controlling the southern access to East Anglia. In 1076 work began on Colchester Castle, the first royal stone castle to be built by William in England.
The castle was built around the ruins of the colossal Temple of Claudius using the Roman temple vaults as its base, parts of which can be seen to this day (in my pictures below). As a result, the castle is the largest ever built by the Normans.
It was constructed mainly of building material from Colchester's Roman ruins with some imported stone. Most of the red brick in the castle was taken from Roman buildings.
England, William's newly won possession, was soon under threat from another invader, King Cnut of Denmark. The castle had only been built to the first floor level when it had to be hastily strengthened with battlements.
The invasion never came, and work resumed on the castle which was finally completed to four stories in 1125.
The castle came under attack in 1216 when it was besieged for three months and eventually captured by King John after he broke his agreement with the rebellious nobles (Magna Carta). By 1350, however, its military importance had declined and the building was mainly used as a prison. By 1600 it was no longer defensible and by 1637 the hall roof had fallen in.
In 1629 the castle was sold by the crown and in 1683 came into the possession of John Wheeley, a local ironmonger. Wheeley partly demolished the castle and sold the stone to local builders. Fortunately this did not prove to be profitable and he stopped before the castle was totally destroyed.
In 1726, after a number of owners, Charles Gray, member of Parliament for Colchester acquired and began to restore and alter the battered castle. He added the tiled roof, the great dome, a study, library, the arches by the well, and on the first floor he enlarged the windows on the south wall facing the High Street.
In 1860 the crypt was opened to the public as a museum and in
1920 the castle was presented to the Burough of Colchester. In
1934/35 the castle keep was roofed over, beginning development of today's
museum.
This is the view out onto Queens Road from the fish and chips shop where I stopped to get fortification for my walk up to the castle.
This is a view of the castle from the southeast. The great dome is visible on the far left corner. The chapel is the large rounded porting just right of center and was located on the roof. Charles Gray's study is the structure above the roof line at the far right corner.
This is a view of the south side of the castle looking east along the wall. Notice all the red Roman brick mixed in with the imported stone. The bricks are nearly 2000 years old, the Roman temple having been built in 47 A.D.
This is another view of the south side of the castle.
This is the main entrance to the castle, also on the south side. There was a deep ditch built around the castle, sort of like a moat. Unfortunately, because of the sandy soil and high ground, the moat couldn't be filled with water. The castle walls go almost two stories underground to prevent tunneling by attacking armies.
As you pass through the main entrance you walk by the staircase down to the Roman vaults. More about this in a minute.
This large mosaic (about 20' x 20') is on display in the main entrance to the castle. It's made up of small tiles of roughly 1cm x 1cm. The guide said that, in those days one might have the mosaic flooring salesman come to their home with a book of patterns. One would select the pattern they liked and the installers would show up in a fortnight with bags of tiles. Of course, your home life was completely disrupted, they took three times as long as they said they would, and they drank you out of mead and ale.
Another very fine mosaic, roughly the same size but not as well preserved.
These are the stairs from the main entrance down to the Roman vaults. They weren't part of the Roman temple, but were added when the sand was removed to permit access to the vaults.
These vaults were originally filled with sand and made up part of the foundation to the Roman temple. The sand was only removed in the last 200 years. Load bearing walls were installed soon after. The vaults were used as bomb shelters by the local residents during WWII.
This is a good example of the construction of the vault wall. The walls were around 5' thick. Most of the building material is geologically compressed clay.
This is a passage cut through the vault walls. An adult can walk through bent over at the waste. It gives a good perspective of the walls' thickness.
These are Roman burial slabs from around the time of the construction of the temple. They weren't found on site, but were brought to the museum because someone thought it would be a good idea.
These are the stairs from the main entrance to the roof. The staircase is 16" across. The great dome, mentioned in the text above and shown in the next picture, covers the stiarcase.
The great dome on the southwest corner of the roof.
A view to the northwest corner of the roof from the southwest corner.
This is a reconstructed area which is in approximately the same location as the original castle chapel.
This is a view of the town looking west from the castle roof.
This is a view of the moat ditch from the east wall of the castle roof.
This is the largest fireplace I've ever seen. It's large enough for a man to stand up inside it. It's on the main floor and probably warmed the castle's main hall.
This is one of the dungeon cells where women who were accused of witchcraft were held and tortured until they confessed and named their familiars.
This is the cell door, and another cell immediately to its left. Jailers (gaolers) weren't paid a salary. They made their money by selling food, straw and less painful irons to the prisoners. If the prisoners had no money, no relatives and no affiliation with the local parish to pay for these things, then they starved to death sleeping on the stone floor wearing irons that were as painful as they could be made to be.
This is the view down Queens Road (most towns have one) walking back from the castle.