Christchurch Castle

Christchurch Castle

Christchurch was in the beginning called Twineham and Richard de Redvers, Earl of Devon, in all probability founded its castle in the region of 1100. The town is noted for its priory church, a gem of Norman architecture, but close by stands the Norman House, which is as well of great interest. This ruined building contained the hall and solar of the castle, both apartments standing higher than an unvaulted undercroft.

The original doorway, once upon a time reached by an outside staircase, marks the junction flanked by the two rooms, which were only divided by a wooden dividing wall. A number of two light windows enriched with chevron ornament lighted the hall. Two of them pierce the wall in front of a stream, for example, the outside wall of the castle. In the face of the fact that positioned at first floor level they are too near to the ground and too large for real defense.

Flanked by these two windows is a tall, circular chimney - one of the very oldest in existence in England. The architecture of the hall looks a lot like that of the 1600s, making it the work of Richard de Redvers, the grandson of the founder, or his son Baldwin. The only other remnant of the castle is the motte, bearing two featureless walls of a square tower. It may possibly have been a Norman keep, despite the fact that the canted corners suggest at least a remodeling in the later Middle Ages at what time the castle belonged to the Montagu earls of Salisbury. In 1645, the derelict castle became the very last way out of some Roundhead armed forces, who managed to hold out here at what time the Royalists attacked the town. Afterwards, the coastal defenses were destroyed by order of Parliament.