Dover Castle

Dover Castle

Dover Castle is a medieval castle in the town of the same name in the English county of Kent. It was founded in the 12th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. It is the largest castle in England. Originally the site may have been fortified with earthworks in the Iron Age or earlier, before the Romans invaded in AD43. This is suggested on the basis of the unusual pattern of the earthworks which does not seem to be a perfect fit for the medieval castle, although archaeological excavation at the Castle has found no evidence of prehistoric activity.

After the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, William the Conqueror and his forces marched to Westminster Abbey for his coronation. They took a roundabout route via Romney, Dover, Canterbury, Surrey and Berkshire. From the Cinque Ports foundation in 1050, Dover has always been a chief member—it may also have been this that first attracted William's attention, and got Kent the motto of Invicta. In the words of William of Poitiers: "Then he marched to Dover, which had been reported impregnable and held by a large force. The English, stricken with fear at his approach had confidence neither in their ramparts nor in the numbers of their troops" ... While the inhabitants were preparing to surrender unconditionally, the Normans, greedy for money, set the castle on fire and the great part of it was soon enveloped in flames... William then paid for the repair and having taken possession of the castle, the Duke spent eight days adding new fortifications to it.

The Fortress of Minas Morgul

The Fortress of Minas Morgul

A Fantasy Creation based on reality; A Minor Lair of Evil Southwest of Mordor

The Keep at Corfe Castle

The Keep at Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle has dominated the skyline of the Isle of Purbeck for the past thousand years. From its inception, it was designed to protect from invasion from the coast, with its passage through the Purbeck Hills from Swanage to Wareham. Corfe Castle was a ring and bailey castle built in early Norman times during the era of William the Conqueror. Prior to the Normans, there was a fortification on this site, and there may have been a Roman military presence here as well. William the Conqueror rebuilt the fortification with stone to insure its durability for use as a royal fortress. (Purbeck Stone is considered the finest limestone in England). In the 13th century King John improved the castle defences and also erected a hall, a chapel and some domestic buildings. Following that, Henry III had additional walls, towers and gatehouses constructed.

Ironically, although fortified to be impregnable, the skeletal ruins that stand today were destroyed from within. This fascinating ruin, which attracts millions of visitors, was caused by a "turncoat" during the civil war, who gave entry into the castle from the inside, thereby allowing Cromwell's army to enter the castle to destroy everything in their path. Today, the skeletal remains reveal evidence of a stronghold that predated the Norman Conquest, and the site of the assassination of Edward the Martyr in March 978. The surviving structure of the later castle dates to the 11th century.

Cromwell's army fought the most remarkable Lady Bankes, a Royalist, who cared for the castle while her husband, Sir John was called away by Charles I, earning her the name "Brave Dame Mary" as well as the respect of the Parliamentary commander; who was so impressed with her courage that he allowed her to leave the castle with her garrison and the keys to the castle once the Roundheads finally persuaded her to surrender.

Arundel Castle

Arundel Castle

Arundel Castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England is a restored medieval castle. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067. Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War and then restored in the 18th and 19th centuries. From the 11th century onward, the castle has served as a hereditary stately home and has been in the family of the Duke of Norfolk for over 400 years. It is still the principal seat of the Norfolk family.

Arundel Seen Through A Country Glade

Arundel Seen Through A Country Glade

Apart from the occasional reversion to the Crown, Arundel Castle has descended directly from 1138 to the present day, carried by female heiresses from the d'Albinis to the Fitzalans in the 13th century and then from the Fitzalans to the Howards in the 16th century and it has been the seat of the Dukes of Norfolk and their ancestors for over 850 years. From the 15th to the 17th centuries the Howards were at the forefront of English history, from the Wars of the Roses, through the Tudor period to the Civil War. Among the famous members of the Howard family are the 2nd Duke of Norfolk (1443-1524), the victor of Flodden, Lord Howard of Effingham, who with Sir Francis Drake repelled the Armada in 1588, the Earl of Surrey, the Tudor poet and courtier, and the 3rd Duke of Norfolk (1473-1554), uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom became wives of King Henry VIII (1491-1547).

Midnight Watch on the Keep

Midnight Watch on the Keep

A keep was a self-sufficient structure that castle defenders could retreat to as a last resort during a battle. The keep was originally called a donjon or great tower. In medieval documents the great tower is referred to as "magna turris", and the word "keep" didn't come along in the English literature until the later half of the 16th century. Sometimes the basement of the keep served as a prison, so the word dungeon soon developed as slang for the keep.

There were two basic shapes of a keep, square and round. Almost all early keeps were square or rectangular, and were the easiest and fastest to erect. Square keeps had one major drawback. They could easily be damaged at the corners by undermining or bombardment.

Then came the development of the round keep. They were very difficult to successfully undermine. Arrows and rocks glanced off the rounded walls. Even in later times, after the invention of cannon, the cannon balls also glanced off the keep walls. The earliest round keep in Great Britain was at New Buckingham Castle, built in 1150.

Even after the military importance of castles changed, keeps were still being built. The role of the keep changed from a last resort stronghold to only a lord's private residence or chamber.

Another type of keep was the hall-keep. These were longer than they were high, and had very thick walls. They combined the castle keep, hall, solar and other chambers. One of the first stone keeps to be built in Great Britain, during the medieval period, was at Chepstow Castle. This was a hall-keep erected in about 1070.

A shell keep was a masonry building completely surrounding the summit of a motte. They were round or polygonal and originated as a replacement of a wooden palisade crowning the motte. These types of keeps were hollow because mottes were not strong enough to bear the weight of a solid tower. The walls varied in height from 20-25ft, and were from 8-10ft thick, strengthened by a buttress and, sometimes, wall-towers.

The interior was usually an open court with surrounding buildings backing onto the walls, and the domestic buildings of the lord were usually placed within the circular enclosure of the shell keep. By the 13th century, these types of keeps had generally replaced the wooden tower on the motte, and often an additional stone gatehouse and towers were inserted into the shell keep. Examples of shell keeps are at: Arundel, Berkhamsted, Brecon, Wiston, Cardiff, Restormel, and other castles.

Yet another type of keep developed, this being the keep-gatehouse. Complete control for the entrance of the castle was gained by combining the gatehouse and keep into one structure. The inner gates were open and closed from within the gate passage, and not from the castle courtyards, providing isolation from the rest of the castle. The living quarters were in the upper floors. Some of the castles having a keep-gatehouse are Richmond, Ludlow, and Newark.

The House Keep, or strong house, became common in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was a high rectangular structure, and often had towers on each corner. The pele tower and Scottish tower houses are simular in looks. The stables, or barn, would be located on the bottom floor, or basement. The living quarters would be on the upper floors, and could only be accessed by a removable wooden ladder. The upper floors would also have very small and narrow windows so that no one could enter via a window.

Castle keeps varied in size. The round keep at Pembroke Castle is four stories, over 53 feet in diameter, 80 feet in height, and has walls 16 feet thick. It is one of the greatest keeps ever built. Here are some other heights and thickness of keeps:

    * Castle Rising Castle: 50 feet high with walls 7 feet thick.
    * Dover Castle: 83 feet high with walls 12 feet thick.
    * Newcastle Castle: 75 feet high with walls 18 feet thick.
    * Norham Castle: 90 feet high with walls 15 feet thick.
    * Kenilworth Castle: 80 feet high with walls 14 feet thick.

The earliest known stone keep built in Great Britain is at Chepstow Castle, built in 1068.

The Keep at Corfe Castle

The Keep at Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle is a fortification in the English county of Dorset. It stands above the village of the same name. The castle dates back to the 11th century, and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage.