Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Colchester Castle is a Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, due to its being built on the foundations of the Roman Temple of Claudius .
The Temple of Claudius (Lat. Templum Claudii) or Temple of the Deified Claudius (Lat. Templum Divi Claudii) was a large octastyle temple built in Camulodunum, the modern Colchester in Essex. [1] [2] The main building was constructed between 49 and 60 AD, although additions were built throughout the Roman-era. [3]
The Normans referred to the Temple as King Coel's Palace and to the barbican of Balkerne Gate as Colkyng's Castle, reflecting a myth that continued into the medieval period, and was recorded in the Colchester Chronicle (written in the 13th or early 14th century at St John's Abbey), that the Roman town was founded by a warlord called Coel.
In 1078 King William used Gundulf's skill in the construction of the White Tower: the keep of the Tower of London, he was described as "competent and skilled at building in stone and was the principle overseer and surveyor of the White Tower of London"; [4] also the castle at Colchester which was started around 1080.
Medieval Colchester's main landmark is Colchester Castle, which is an 11th-century Norman keep, and built on top of the vaults of the old Roman temple. There are notable medieval ruins in Colchester, including the surviving gateway of the Benedictine abbey of St John the Baptist (known locally as "St John's Abbey"), and the ruins of the ...
"The city of Colchester is placed in the eastern part of Britain, a city near to a port, pleasantly situated, watered on every side by abundant springs, with a very healthy air, built with very strong walls; a city to be reckoned amongst the most eminent, had not time, fires, floods, incursions of pirates, and various strokes of misfortune ...
A "Burh" was built on the site in 914, [45] replaced by a motte and bailey, in turn replaced by a stone keep by King Henry II (1154–89). Newcastle Castle: Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England 1172 The Castle Keep, which constitutes the oldest of the surviving structures, was built between 1172 and 1177 on the site of an older wooden ...
The White Tower in London and the keep of Colchester Castle were the only stone castles to be built in England immediately after the conquest, both with the characteristic square Norman keep. [35] Both these castles were built in the Romanesque style and were intended to impress as well as provide military protection. [35]