Around 1210 King John built the outer walls and towers, with stone from the quarry up on the hill behind you. The defences were further reinforced by raised earthworks (known as the Brays) on this side of the causeway to the castle. Whilst stone towers were added (likely in Robert Dudley’s time, for ornamental reasons), the early medieval earthworks were likely topped with a wooden palisade.
In 1266 after the death of the rebel Simon de Montfort, Sir Henry de Hastings refused to surrender the Castle, holding it in the name of Simon’s wife and son. In response King Henry III laid siege to the Castle for six entire months. Trebuchets hurled 300lbs stones against the walls, although they would prove ineffective against the sturdy defences.
Continue west on the footpath through three gates.
These trails follow the same route as the leaflets but provide more detailed and deeper information at each point of interest (and we will keep adding more as we go!).
Please note – these trails are developed and optimised for a mobile experience so may not work effectively on bigger screen sizes.
Important – Using these trails and clicking their links will require mobile data (no more than accessing web pages), please ensure you are aware of your data limits and costs before using them.
Each point contains everything you need to locate it, as well as links to mapping services for its location.
At each point you will find further information pages and links to help interpret where you are and what you are looking at.
If you spot a mistake or encounter a problem please let us know by providing your feedback on the dedicated form linked below.
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