History of Portchester Castle   Portchester Castle (known in Latin as Portus Adurni - 'port at the hill') is a Roman fort at the northern end of Portsmouth harbour. It was originally a square enclosure with each corner having a bastion. In the centre of the west wall, there is a main gate, and on the east side again in the centre is a smaller water gate. Both gates are exactly opposite each other. As for the internal layout, it was probably similar to Bird Oswald fort on Hadrian's wall. Today it is an almost complete Roman fort. Almost all of the walls are intact apart from the loss of six of its original 'D'-shaped bastions. 

The Romans 270-300 AD The Romans Invaded Britain in 43AD. They came to Britain to take advantage of all the materials they could use for farming and trading. A Roman named Carausius was in charge of the construction of Portchester Fort. The Romans stayed for nearly 400 years. They eventually left Britain, then part of their Empire, when their homeland of Rome was, itself, being attacked. When Portchester was first built, it was known as a fort and was not as we see it today. They had created a huge perimeter wall with a ditch surrounding for defence. On the big surrounding wall, there were huge towers. The castle also had gate houses. During this time period, the Romans used Portchester Castle for

storage. Portchester Castle was built by the Romans to protect Roman Britain from the Saxon Invaders. This was an example of a Saxon Shore Fort. These were a series of stone-built forts along the southeast coast of England. At the same time people were progressing on Portchester, Pevensey fort was going through the same processors for the same reasons.  It was built as a small part of a big group to protect the shores of Britain, to protect the country from being attacked from foreign ships.

Saxons 600-1000 AD Between 410AD and 900AD, the site was probably occupied by settlers. People have uncovered evidence of this along with a small Saxon cemetery. No evidence or remains of their buildings have been found because they would have been constructed from wood. Around 904AD, Portchester became a defended burgh. A burgh is a walled

and fortified town. Very few other changes were made at Portchester at this time, the main ones were the construction of a stone tower and the rebuilding of the Watergate. These changes were all made by Edward the Elder of Wessex.  At first Portchester was not manned and only provided a safe place for settlers. During the 10th century England was under threat from Danish invaders so other alterations were needed. Other castles were also used for this purpose. The Saxons did use the castle for protection but it was also a place for people to live in peace.

The Normans 1080-1180 AD

In 1066 there was a Norman invasion of England led by William the Conqueror. The Saxon kingdom was defeated, and William became king of England. Portchester was listed, in 1086, as a manor rather than a castle in the Domesday Book. It was likely that, by 1100, the inner bailey had been constructed. Another very important change that was made at this time was the construction of the keep. These changes would have made the castle a

lot easier to defend and the keep with inner bailey would have provided good protection for any ‘visitors’ as the inner bailey walls would have created another obstacle for attackers and the keep would be strong. These changes were made by William Maudit, a supporter of King William who had given him the castle. After William Maudit’s death, William’s son Robert took charge of Portchester and heightened the keep to two storeys. Most of the changes the Normans made were for defensive reasons. The reason he was protecting the castle was because he was under orders from the king. He and his men thickened the bailey walls making it harder for soldiers to attack. We also know from this that Maudit’s son took over when he died, he gave the fort more height. Because the keep was higher people could look out a long way to see any enemies’ incoming and it was also easier to fire weapons at; with the enemies struggling to find places that were out of sight, the defence at Portchester during this time period was strong. Therefore the reason that the Normans used Portchester and the changes they made were strictly for defence reasons.When Henry II came to the throne in 1154 he took over the castle as a great royal strong hold, a role in which it continued throughout the high Middle Ages. This signalled a change towards the castle being used as an embarkation point for soldiers headed towards the continent to protect the king’s French lands. It was also used as a safe haven for shipping the treasury to France and as a prison for important captives.  King John 1200-1215 ADDuring the period of time between 1200 and 1215 AD there were very few changes made at Portchester Castle. King John often stayed at Portchester, although it was now declining as a town, with the new naval development at Portsmouth attracting settlers and workers. It was not until the fourteenth century that major repairs and alterations were made, probably in around 1322. A new forebuilding to the Keep, portcullises to the gateways and repairs to old walls and halls were completed. King Edward II visited several times and the constable's lodgings were improved.  The changes made by King John at this time were not made for defence, but because he wanted to use Portchester as a base for his hunting and so he would have wanted better accommodation. Therefore, the changes he made were a new chamber and latrine (public toilet) was added to the base of the keep. It was like a second home for John, but Portchester was neglected at this time. Edward II & Edward III 1320-1385ADEdward II was the first English prince to hold the title of the Prince of Wales. Many repairs and improvements were made at Portchester during this period of time. The first change came between 1320 and 1326 when halls, chambers, walls and gates were repaired to the cost of £1100. A kitchen was added to the hall and chambers were built along the west side of the inner bailey. As well as this, the east range was divided into two, the constable’s quarters were refurbished, and a chamber was built in the north-east corner of the inner bailey. These changes would have all been made for comfort and better living conditions. However, there were other changes made at Portchester, which would have been made for better security. These changes were that a new fore building was constructed, with a tower to control access to the keep, and that the gates were given similar portcullises and gateways. All of these changes were made during Edward II’s reign. He was followed by Edward III, who had to face the problem of the Hundred Years War between England and France. The war lasted for 116 years in total – from 1337 to 1453. Because of this, many 

other changes were required to improve Portchester’s defence. A crack in the keep wall was repaired, a wall was built at the Watergate, the earthwork was improved around the outer ditch, the springalds (large mounted crossbows) were readied and ammunition was ordered for them as well as the other crossbows, a garrison of ten men-at-arms and forty archers was brought in.Other changes were also made during Edward III’s reign as king, including the rebuilding of: the south-western hall as a two-storey building, the chamber against the west curtain wall, and the east range as two rooms and probably with a tower at the north-east corner. In 1362, the hall, chamber, and bake house were improved, a new chapel was built, the keep was re-leaded, and

the gatehouse was extended. He may have also heightened the keep even further during his reign. These changes were part of Edward’s ‘great building programme’ and were made to modernise Portchester and bring the castle up to date.Then, in 1360, the castle was, again, garrisoned, as there was a threat of invasion. This happened again in 1369 when the French burned Portsmouth, making the threat of an invasion more imminent. This

called for more improvements to be made concerning Portchester’s defence. The gates and walls were repaired, the Watergate was extended and a new portcullis made for it, and a round tower was constructed next to the church.In 1376, a fortified tower, which included a suite of rooms, was constructed in the north-east

corner of the inner bailey. The tower had gun ports in an enclosed gallery and gun ports in the chambers, possibly facing in all directions, therefore giving the tower all around protection. This was a new feature in castles as hand-held guns were only recently developed at that time. This tower was built by Sir Robert of Ashton and because of this is named Ashton’s Tower. This tower was probably constructed as another way of defending the castle from any attackers and would have been built because of the war with France. During Edward II and Edward III’s reign the castle went through a lot of change for both practical and defensive reasons.

Richard II 1396-1400ADMany changes were made at Portchester during this period of time as the castle was turned into a miniature palace. Storerooms and lodgings were built below a kitchen, great chamber, and hall

accessible by a vaulted porch with a tower over it. At one end of the hall was the great chamber leading to the king’s private chamber (along the west side), while, along the south wall of the keep, there was another chamber, which could be accessed, from the keep, by going through the chapel. Lastly, the Land gate was rebuilt, the Watergate was reroofed, the gatehouse was extended further, and the keep and Land gate had vaults added to them. These changes were all ordered by Richard II in 1396. During this year he had made peace with the French, and was marrying the

king of France’s daughter, Isabella. This is probably the reason why he wanted the changes as he may have wished to use the castle as a home for her.

The Early Tudors 1495-1545ADAt this time Portchester Castle became much less important as Portsmouth was developed as a permanent royal dockyard in 1495. The only records of repairs,

after Henry VIII’s visit to the castle in 1535, are of minor ones, the main one being what was recorded as ‘a new store house for the King’s ordnance and a quay within the castle’. This addition

would have been made for a place to store things when the king visited and would have had nothing to do with defence. Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn visited the castle while Elizabeth I was the last monarch to hold court there. During Elizabeth I’s reign, there was a threat to the country from the Spanish Armada. Even though this was so, Portchester still remained unchanged for the remainder of the sixteenth century. The threat did, however, present a reason for alterations to take place at Pevensey and Carisbrooke. Sir Thomas Cornwallis 1600-1610ADThe changes made at Portchester were made by a man named Sir Thomas Cornwallis. He was the last constable at the castle and was Groom Porter to Queen Elizabeth I. According to a later estimate, his adjustments and improvements cost £300. The east half of the castle was totally transformed and upper storeys were added to the east and south-east ranges. New windows were probably put in the north range and the last additions to the gatehouse were made. There is evidence to suggest that the castle was inhabited at this period of time, as excavations have uncovered pottery from the time, household waste, and fish bones. However, a survey by John Norden in 1609, suggests that the castle was in a state of disrepair and was more trouble than it was worth. These alterations were made because the castle needed to be modernised. This was a similar case for many other castles in England at that time.

The 17 th , 18 th , and 19 th centauries From 1665 to 1667, Portchester’s keep housed prisoners of war. These people were captured during the second Dutch War. This idea came from James, Duke of York. Not only was the castle used for holding prisoners during these wars, it also held POWs during the following wars:

The War of Spanish Succession – 1701-1712 The War With Spain and France – 1740-1749 The Seven Years War – 1756-1763 The French Revolutionary War/Napoleonic War – 1793-1815

During these wars, Portchester housed French, Spanish, and some Polish prisoners. Many complaints were made by the prisoners about the poorness of the conditions. To start with, just the inner bailey was used to hold the prisoners as the outer bailey defences were very poor and would not have been secure enough to keep the prisoners in. However, in 1745, this became too crowded and an ‘airing yard’ was constructed in the outer bailey. A later report made by Edward Gibbon, a captain in the Hampshire 

Militia, stated that the conditions were not very good for the prisoners but were ‘agreeable’ for the officers. Outside the gatehouse of the inner bailey was the mess room and guardhouse, and within the inner bailey were a well and pump.Eventually, all of the prisoners had been removed and, in 1814, the castle was converted into a hospital for any injured soldiers from the Duke of Wellington’s army.

Key: Choose a colour for each of these and highlight the answer in each period of Portchester’s history

Physical Features                                                     The purpose of Portchester