Colchester’s Keep is the biggest ever built in the United Kingdom and is the largest that remains in existence throughout Europe. At 152 x 112 feet it is one and a half times the size of the “White Tower” at the “Tower of London. Debates have continued through history as to the original height of the Keep. It has been theorised that at one time it had as many as four storeys, however due to factors such as the peaceful region of the Castle and the shortage in local stone it is widely believed that it in fact had only two or three.
William the Conqueror ordered the build of this castle somewhere between 1069 and 1076 and it believed to be the design of Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester. It has been constructed on the foundations of a prior Roman Temple of Claudius (somewhere between 54AD and 60AD), which with their immense vaults can now be viewed on a Castle Tour.
The build is believed to have been completed in 1100 and took longer than expected as work had to cease in 1080 due to the threat of an invasion by the Vikings.
Since it ended its reign as a Royal Castle it has had various uses including a County Prison where in 1645 the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins imprisoned and questioned suspected witches. Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle (Royalist Leaders) were executed at the Castle in 1648 during the Second English Civil War and local legend has it that the spot where they lost their lives no longer allows grass to grow. This point is now marked by a small obelisk.
The castle was condemned in a Parliament Survey in 1650 and at this time the value of the castles stone was set at five pounds. John Wheely, an ironmonger was given license in 1683 to pull down the castle, however after he succeeded in demolishing much of the upper structure he gave up with the project as it had become unprofitable.
Mary Webster purchased the castle in 1727 for her daughter Sarah who was married to the Member of Parliament for Colchester, Charles Gray. At first a local grain merchant leased out the Keep and county leased the east side as a prison. Then in the 1740’s Charles Gray began to restore the castle. He added the façade and tower which can be seen today and he created the private parks around the castle.
In 1922 Colchester Castle and the parks surrounding it were given to the town of Colchester and remain as we see them today, with the general public being able to enjoy the parks and the facilities they have to offer and the Castle is now a public museum.
Built late C11 on the site of the great Roman Claudian Temple (the foundations still exist under the castle), almost entirely of Roman tiles and septaria. It was probably built in circa 1080 for William the Conqueror as an important defensive work. It was much larger and more massive than any other Norman Castle built in England - possibly partly because it had to enclose the great Roman foundations still existing on the site. It had 3 storeys or more and is now probably less than half its original height, though still a most imposing structure and a most important example of mediaeval military architecture. Demolition was begun in 1693, the height being reduced. Considerable restoration took place in the mid C18 for Charles Grey. The dome over the great staircase was added by James Deane in 1760.