The walls were not the castle’s only defence however, the brook was dammed at the tiltyard to create a huge artificial lake. The mere was 1.2km long and in places 152m wide and defended the Castle on two sides, creating a moat on the others. These formidable defences proved their worth in 1266 by keeping Henry’s siege engines at distance and forcing an unsuccessful night-time assault using barges hauled overland.
In later times the mere became more of a royal pleasure lake for boating, hosting regattas, all sorts of water-borne festivities and as a backdrop to firework displays.
Turn right along the track and continue through two fields to reach the Pleasance.
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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