When was the first fortification built on the site, and why was it chosen by the Romans?

The Romans decided to build a series of ‘Saxon shore forts’ to defend the south coast from the Saxons. Evidence shows (mainly from coins) that Portchester castle was built at the end of 3rd Century AD. Portchester was a perfect place for the Romans to build a fort for many reasons. Portchester Castle was built on a promontory. This was perfect for the Romans because it would dramatically slim the chances of the Saxons invading. The Castle sticks out into the sea with a good view. The only way and invaders could invade would either be to cross the marsh that was Portsmouth or from in-land. Another reason Portchester was built where it was because of the extremely deep harbour. The deep harbour was perfect for the Royal Navy’s fleet to dock. At present time, the harbour is not deep at all because of silt. Over many hundreds of years Portchester harbour has silted up and become un-useable.

The Saxon shore forts were dotted along the south-east coast of England. A table follows of the Roman names of the ‘Saxon shore forts’

*I could not find any information on the Roman name of Walton Castle.

Portchester Castle

The materials used by the Romans to build the fort were very typical of the Roman castle building technique. The Roman wall was built with Flint cement and tiles. Another typical thing is that the gate has 4 posterns.

Despite the fact that Portchester Castle was built to defend Britain against the Saxons, the Saxons took over the castle. The Saxons took over the castle as a result of the collapse of the Roman Empire. Things were looking bad in the heart of the Roman Empire so Rome drew all its troops to Rome to defend them. Unfortunately, the Roman Empire completely collapsed so the Saxon shore forts were left for anyone.

How and why did the site develop after the Romans left?

After the Romans left, the walls and buildings inside were ready made for the local population but because the Romans had left Britain, the Saxons used this opportunity and came into Britain. During the seventh to ninth centuries, timber houses started to be constructed along with things such as rubbish pits and wells. These were still protected by the walls and towers although at the end of the ninth century, there appears to have been a break in occupation (according to archeological evidence). By 904AD, Portchester belonged to King and it became one of the burghs, a protected stronghold looked after by the local population along very organized rules. The burghs now protected against Viking raids. Around 1000AD, the Roman Watergate was rebuilt, with a stone gatehouse attached and there was also by this time another stone building inside the complex. The main reason Portchester was developed in this era was to protect the south coast from Viking raiders. I believe another reason Portchester castle was developed (Watergate rebuilt) was to make the local population look strong and powerful because they withheld their own castle from anyone else and could defend their area between them.

How and why did the site develop in early Medieval times (1066 to 1200)?

This is a preview of the whole essay

How and why did the site develop in early Medieval times (1066 to 1200)?

When William the first was in control of Portchester castle, he used the site regularly. The English did not accept foreign rule without a struggle. William met the opposition, which was particularly violent in the north and west, with strong measures; he was responsible for the devastation of great areas of the country, particularly in Yorkshire, where Danish forces had arrived to aid the Saxon rebels. As a result of that, William used Portchester castle to defend England against the Saxon rebels for a long time. Throughout the reigns of Henry the second and Richard the first, Portchester was in the full blow of the action. Portchester castle was defending these monarchs and our country. This factor proves how much Portchester castle has helped Britain.

After the Norman invasion in 1066, Portchester castle and the surrounding land was given to William Mauduit, one of King William's supporters. By the time William Mauduit died (around1100), Portchester had acquired an inner bailey and the first stage of the Keep, across the landward corner of the Roman perimeter walls. The Keep was probably raised to two later on by the order of William Mauduit’s son, Robert. Robert was surprisingly drowned along with King Henry I's son in 1120 and Portchester was given to the Crown. Because King Henry the first now was in control of the site, he found it of great use to cross the English Channel from. Surprisingly, there is no mention at all of Portchester castle in the doomsday book. At this time, Portsmouth was founded and was growing rapidly as a town. Because Portsmouth was nearer the coast and was new, Portchester started to become detached. I believe this is the reason why the castle had improvements made on it, because Portchester needed to rise above Portsmouth. Portchester castle had many typical features of the early medieval times. These typical features are as followed-

The only very drastic atypical thing about Portchester castle is the fact that the keep is not in the centre of the Bailey which defies the average Motte and Bailey castle. Although there is no real evidence of an early Motte and Bailey castle, there is a rough idea of what many motte and bailey castles looked like. Motte and Bailey castles varied but in the case of Portchester, this is a variation.

A typical Motte and Bailey castle

(Picture from )

How and why did the site change during the thirteenth century (the reigns of King John and Henry III)?

King John often stayed at Portchester, although the area was now used much less as a town, with the new navel development at Portsmouth attracting workers and future residents. When King John was King, the barons revolted and French associates captured the castle for a time. Portchester was repaired after the war, but declined in importance as a royal residence, belonging to a succession of Queens.

The main reason not much was changed was properly due to the reason of Portsmouth. It wasn’t just Portchester that wasn’t changed much; it was most castles across Britain. The reason for this was Britain and its people were improving economically and socially. This did not last for long as the result of many factors coming into action i.e. the war with France.

Many castles in this time were concentric but Portchester wasn’t concentric because of its Roman Fort skeleton. Concentric castles were the hallmark of and his castle builder, . The design, which created identical or nearly identical curtain walls and towers, created a symmetry that made the castle easily defensible by a surprisingly small number of men. The idea of a concentric castle was that there are 2 sets of walls, the outer wall being lower. When the enemy got past the first wall, the archers could then kill them easily…This was called the ‘Killing ground’.

http://www.castlewales.com/concen.html

Beaumaris Castle in north Wales is considered the ultimate castle of this type.

How and why did the site change during the fourteenth century (the hundred year’s war)?

Because of the need to defend Britain more, the things that were built and repaired are as followed:-

A new building to the Keep
Portcullises to the gateways
Repairs to old walls
Repairs to the halls
The constable's lodgings were improved.

These factors were needed because of the great need to defend the castle in the war.

During the Hundred Year's War, more repairs were made at Portchester over the space of about 9 years. This happened before Edward III came here while getting together his army of 15,000 men, ready to sail to France and to victory at Crecy. The next major improvement made to the castle is as followed-A new Hall was built in 1356 and improvements were made to the south coastal defenses. In 1360, there were scares about an invasion by the French. The result of this was a large amount of supplies being brought into the castle. After this, Portsmouth was burned by the French so further defensive strengthening took place. When Sir Robert of Ashton was in charge, Castle, the Cinque Ports and Portchester Castle acquired a new tower. The tower in Portchester is now known as Ashton's Tower. Ashton’s tower had a suite of private chambers inside fortified walls. The special thing about Portchester castle was it was the first structure in England with gun-ports providing all-round protection and defense. This building alone shows how the nature of war-fare had changed (As early as the 1380's!)

How and why did the site change during the reign of Richard II?

In 1396, Richard II made peace with France and money became available for renovating old castles with newer comforts. Because there was no need for money to be put into war, the castle’s defenses weren’t improved, but the appearance. The King married Isabella, daughter of the King of France-I believe this made the connection between France and England stronger. Improvements that were made are as followed-

Western side of the inner bailey courtyard rebuilt
Large glazed windows
Beautiful carved stone
Tracery

Picture source- (http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/portchester/portchester_photos.php#main)

A work-force of around 250 men worked on the new palace for the long space of 3 years, but just as it was getting close to completion, King Richard III died.

How and why did the site change during the fifteenth century?

The castle was the site of a big departure in 1415 when Henry V departed for Agincourt and uncovered the 'Southampton plot'. Apart from this historical event though, the whole purpose of the castle gradually fell more and more un-used and taken over by the growth of Portsmouth. This was a vicious circle and was why the castle was getting used less, faster. Henry V decided he would not bother wasting money on Portchester castle because of Portsmouth. For basically the whole of the fifteenth century, the castle was in a bad state. This was a result of Henry V moving everything to the Portsmouth site. Henry VIII did visit in 1535 and a new store house for his supplies was built (This was the first main use of the castle for a very long time). The new set of forts around the south coast built by Henry, such as and were small, modern and built for the modern guns. Unfortunately, as a result of this, Portchester's defenses had become pointless and had no longer use. Because of this, Henry VIII decided he’d leave the castle all in all and not re-fortify.

Conclusion

Over time, Portchester had been frozen in a vicious circle as a direct result of Portsmouth’s rapidly growing superiority over Portchester. I believe that this coursework may be useful to someone wanting to know anything about Portchester castle. The most important thing to remember is that Portchester is very different compared to many other castles. The thing is basically the true soul of Portchester ‘castle’ is a Roman fort. The question may pop up that if Portchester castle was built after the Romans…What would it have been like? Would the profile of the castle be so high? Would Portchester Castle be concentric? Well of coarse nobody will ever be able to answer these questions but they spring a thoughtful idea to your mind. If you look back through history, the fastest period of time has got to be the 100 years war. Of coarse the ‘100’ years war was not actually 100 years exactly but is just called that for catchy name. During the hundred year’s war, the most changes were made to Portchester over the space of about 9 years. This happened before Edward III came here while getting together his army of 15,000 men, ready to sail to France and to victory at Crecy. The next major improvement made to the castle is as followed-A new Hall was built in 1356 and improvements were made to the south coastal defenses. All of this happened because Edward the third was basically very scared about the French. Because the French had burnt Portsmouth, he didn’t want the same to happen to hid pride castle. In changing the castle as much as he good for defense purposes, it was made sure that the defenses were supreme. Over history, a lot has happened to Portchester and it has been in many hands. If you think how at one point nearly all the money was going into defense then at another point it was a palace to impress a wife, you can see the deep contrast of its existence.

Matthew Roberts.