Rochester Castle stands on the east bank of the River Medway in Rochester, Kent, South East England. The first castle at Rochester was founded in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest. It was given to Bishop Odo, probably by his half-brother William the Conqueror. In 1127 King Henry I granted the castle to the Archbishop of Canterbury in perpetuity. William de Corbeil built the massive keep that still dominates the castle today.
About Rochester Castle in brief
Rochester Castle stands on the east bank of the River Medway in Rochester, Kent, South East England. The 12th-century keep or stone tower is one of the best preserved in England or France. The first castle at Rochester was founded in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest. It was given to Bishop Odo, probably by his half-brother William the Conqueror. In 1127 King Henry I granted the castle to the Archbishop of Canterbury in perpetuity. William de Corbeil built the massive keep that still dominates the castle today. The castle is protected as a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Monument. Today the ruins are in the guardianship of English Heritage and open to the public. Rochester was an important city, built on the site of a Roman town at the junction of the Medway and Watling Street, a Roman road. It has long been assumed that the first castle was located next to the river, just outside the south-west corner of the town walls. The conjectural site of the early castle may have been known as Boley Hill, which became known as Rochester Castle in later years. It may also have been built to contain a large number of troops in hostile territory. According to the Domesday Book of 1086, Rochester was given land valued at 4d 4s 4d in Aylesford, Kent. Of the 48castles mentioned in the survey, only Rochester is the only one of which was taken to build the castle. From the 11thcentury the castle-guarding castles was a feudal obligation in England.
This often took the form of garrisoning knights for their service in the service of their lords. During the late medieval period it helped protect England’s south-east coast from invasion. The castle saw military action for the last time in 1381 when it was captured and ransacked during the Peasants’ Revolt. As Rochester Castle fell out of use its materials were reused elsewhere and custodianship relinquished by the Crown. It is now in the hands of the English Heritage charity English Heritage, which runs the castle as a public park for the public to enjoy the ruins of the castle and its grounds. The ruins of Rochester Castle are on display at English Heritage’s Rochester Castle Museum, which is open from 9am to 5pm daily. For more information, visit English Heritage’s Rochester Castle website or the Rochester Castle Heritage Trust’S Rochester Castle Gallery, which also includes the nearby Rochester Museum and Art Gallery, and the Rochester Museum & Art Centre, which are open from 10am to 4pm daily, or visit the Rochester Castle Facebook page. For more details on the Rochester castle, visit English Heritage’s Roc Rochester Castle and Art gallery, which is open between 9am and 5pm every day, or the National Gallery of England and Wales, or the National Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which is open between 10am and 4pm on weekdays.
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This page is based on the article Rochester Castle published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 08, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
