Rochester Castle

Have you ever wanted to go to Rochester Castle but your parents have denied you? This newspaper article has gotten you covered with information about the fortress stuck between Rochester cathedral and the River Medway.

Rochester Castle: An historical introduction

Rochester Castle stands within the walls of the Roman city above the River Medway in Kent. There has been an important crossing of the road to London since the first century AD, and it was the Normans - as they advanced across the country from the south coast, building strongholds of which exert their power over the locals - who first built a wooden castle here after the Battle of Hastings. Between 1087 and 1089 the castle was rebuilt in stone - one of the earliest such buildings in the country - by Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, and in 1127 the present keep was erected under Henry I, son of William the Conqueror. Rochester Castle endured the great siege by King John in 1215, and some years later the barons siege against his son Henry III. It has stood for nearly a thousand years, surviving the machinery of early warfare, fire, revolt and neglect, serving as the prison of Elizabeth, queen of the Scots, and becoming a visitor attraction in Victorian public gardens. It remains a towering ruin, confronting Rochester Cathedral at the heart of the city, a sight to remind visitors today, as it would have done in earlier times, of those two most powerful authorities in medieval England: the Church and the Crown.