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When
William the Conqueror overcame King Harold and his Saxons at
the Battle of Hastings, one of his first acts was to establish
three powerful castles in the southeast of his new realm, at
Canterbury, Dover, and Rochester. His new castle at Canterbury
is what is now called Dane John, a corruption of the French
word for donjon, or keep.
The castle saw the first in a long line of historical dramas
in 1087 when monks of St Augustine's Abbey refused to accept a
new Norman abbot. Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury, had
the ringleaders of the monks imprisoned in the castle and the
others expelled.
The new keep was begun in the reign of William II and
completed about 1120 by Henry I. This stolid stone structure
stood 80 feet high and measured about 98 by 85 feet. The walls
were massively thick, about 13 feet in places, and the
building could only be entered by a stone stair to a
first-floor door on the northwest side. The first floor had a
great hall and kitchen. Below this was a basement, originally
used only for storage, but later adapted to use as a dungeon.
In 1216 Louis, Dauphin of France, captured Canterbury Castle
but later retreated. In 1277 Jewish citizens of Canterbury
were held in the castle before being expelled from England as
part of Edward I's policy. In 1303 a group of 23 prisoners who
were being held for murder were released on condition that
they join the king's fleet in Scotland and returned to face
trial after the conflict was over.
In 1380 Wat Tyler's rebellion raised the peasants and
townsfolk of Kent and the southeast. A mob stormed the castle
and forced the constable to publically burn financial and
legal records and release prisoners. There was further discord
during the Reformation when Henry VIII's advisor, Thomas
Cromwell, had two priests held at the castle for 'permitting
the Bishop of Rome's name in their books'.
But that was nothing to what was to follow. Henry's daughter,
Queen Mary, had 42 people imprisoned at Canterbury Castle and
put to death for their refusal to follow her Catholic faith.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves ....
After Henry II built his new castle at Dover, Canterbury
Castle declined in importance and became used primarily as a
prison, under the control of the Sheriff of Kent. By the 13th
century, a new ground-level gate was created on the south-east
side.
By the 17th century, the castle had fallen into ruin. In 1609
James I granted it to Sir Anthony Weldon, and in 1730 a new
County Session House was built on the site of the medieval
great hall.
In 1825 the castle was used by the Canterbury Gas Light and
Coke Company as a storage depot for coal and coke, and later a
large water tank was set up on the ruins of the keep. In 1901
the castle was described as 'a most miserable discoloured
ruin, its Cyclopean walls begrimed with soot and filth.'
Thankfully the castle was purchased by Canterbury City
Council, who have restored it to its current condition.
The builders of the keep walls made heavy use of old Roman
tiles and bricks, in addition to local flint. Note the
decorated courses of the walls; these are made from Quarr
stone, a distinctive stone from the Isle of Wight. Stores of
Quarr were depleted by the 12th century and can only be found
in early Norman buildings.
Near the southwest corner of the keep is a small section of
the 3rd-century Roman town wall.
Little remains in the interior, though the foundations of
inner chambers can be seen, and the recesses which held the
floor timbers. One tower stair still rises to the full height
of the castle, allowing excellent views of the interior and
across the city.
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