Norman castles in England

Norman castles in England

An interactive map of the Norman's castles in England

In this presentation I'm going to show you one magnificent castle in particular. But first...

If you're curious and you want to know more...

Just click on the little red dot in the middle of the map and find out what happen!!

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Europe

The Normans were populations (Danish, Swedes, Norwegians) that inhabitated the Northern Europe in the High Middle Age. In fact, the term Nordmanni, the name used by Western chroniclers to indicate them, means 'men of the North'. But we're talking about England, right? Then how did the Normans got in England?? Click on the red dot to find out.

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The Norman Conquest (1066)

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The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, French, Flemish, and Breton troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror.

The consequences of the conquest

Inside England the most radical change was the introduction of land tenure and military service. While tenure of land in return for services had existed in England before the conquest, William revolutionized the upper ranks of English society by dividing the country among about 180 Norman tenants-in-chief and innumerable mesne (intermediate) tenants, all holding their fiefs by knight service. The result, the almost total replacement of the English aristocracy with a Norman one, was paralleled by similar changes of personnel among the upper clergy and administrative officers.

To know more about the beautiful castle we're going to talk about today, we'll have to go on the east bank of the River Medway in Rochester, Kent, South East England.

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The 12th-century stone tower, it's the castle's most prominent feature, is one of the best preserved of its time in England or France. Situated on the River Medway and Watling Street, Rochester was a strategically important royal castle. During the late medieval period, it helped protect England's south-east coast from invasion. This imposing fortress has a complex history of destruction and rebuilding. Today it stands as a proud reminder of the history of Rochester, along with the cathedral and cobbled streets.

the Architecture

Its Norman stone tower of Kentish ragstone was built about 1127 by William of Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury. Little is known about the design of the first castle at Rochester as it has since vanished, and even the exact site is uncertain. It most likely took the form of a motte-and-bailey castle, with a mound and an outer enclosure defended by a timber palisade and earthen banks. Boley Hill has been suggested as the site of the first castle, an outwork reinforcing the castle's defences, or an abandoned siege castle like those documented in the 1088 siege. Boley Hill is a natural outcrop of rock, and could have acted as a motte.

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The Exterior

This medieval castle's height is 38 metres (125 feet). The main exterior walling consists of courses of irregular Kentish ragstone, but the corners of the building and the arched windows were made of finely shaped Caen stone from Normandy. Though many window mouldings have been eroded, enough survive to show that the windows at the higher levels were larger and more elaborate, with distinctive chevron carvings around the arches, than those lower down. These differences reflected the relative importance of the different floors. The south-east turret of the keep is circular in plan, unlike the square turrets on the other corners. It was rebuilt in the 1220s, after the original square tower collapsed during the siege of 1215. The entrance to the keep was on the first floor, in a rectangular turret or forebuilding against the north front. The entrance door stood at the head of an external stair. This door opened on to a waiting room, from which an inner door, protected by a portcullis, led into the main part of the keep.

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The Interior

The interior of the keep has stood since the 17th century as a vast, roofless space. An east–west spine wall divides the interior into two halves and contains the shaft of the keep’s well. Deep sockets indicate the levels of the missing timber floors, and the external walls contain the remains of windows, latrines and fireplaces. There were spiral stairs in the north-east and south-west turrets. The principal state rooms in the keep lay on the second floor, above storerooms in the basement and two ground-floor rooms (probably for the garrison). The second floor is subdivided by an elegant arcade with circular columns, scallop capitals and round-headed arches with chevron decoration. Documents of the 14th century mention a ‘hall’ inside the keep, which was presumably one of these rooms, or perhaps the whole storey was designed as a hall comprising two aisles.[2] This form of building has no direct parallels in English castle architecture. A gallery runs within the thickness of the exterior walls at second-floor level. Changes in its level in the south-east corner suggest the presence of a tall niche in this wall, probably containing a throne or table for the king, before the siege of 1215.[3] To the north stands a chapel. It is unusually devoid of sculptural ornament but was probably originally decorated with wall-paintings. The floor above, originally directly under the roofs, probably served as private chambers for the king, complementing the more public hall on the second floor. The wall-walk at the level of the battlements provides fine views over the city of Rochester and the surrounding area.

Kent's map

Rochester's map

Between the 8th and 11th centuries, the men of the North landed in many countries in search of rich loots: Ireland, England, Iceland, Greenland, Russia, Italy, Scotland, France, Greece, Slavic countries, Middle East, North Africa.