PORTCHESTER CASTLE

ABOUT THIS MONUMENT

+ / -

EH Visitor Information
Related Monuments
Related Text
Investigation History

More Pictures
Modern Map
Old Map
Aerial Photograph

Monument Types
Sources
Thesaurus
Description

DESCRIPTION

+ / -

Portchester Castle was originally constructed as a shore fort in the late Roman period, being reused in the Saxon period as a settlement and becoming a defensive burh from the 10th century. In the late 11th century a tower keep castle was constructed within the shore fort walls. The Roman fort was built in the late 3rd century AD, possibly being identified as "Portus Adurni". The outer walls of this fort stand to a height of up to 6 metres with 12 surviving semicircular bastions. The Norman castle lies in the north-west corner of the Roman fort, utilising part of its western and northern walls. The rectangular keep is built across the demolished Roman wall and corner bastion. The remaining sides of the castle are defined by a curtain wall, and by a gatehouse to the south. The inner bailey of the castle contains ranges of domestic buildings. Richard II's palace forms the south and west ranges, the great hall to the south. The Constable's House forms the north range and includes Ashton's Tower, added to its eastern end at a later date, while the east range was later converted into a substantial house. Excavations inside the fort have shown evidence of settlement from the mid 5th and the 7th-9th centuries AD. Sunken-floored huts, timber houses and a late Saxon inhumation cemetery were found. After being acquired by Edward the Elder in 904 AD, Portchester became a defended burh. After the Norman Conquest the manor was granted to William Mauduit, by the time of whose death, circa 1100, the inner bailey had been created. Circa 1130, the castle was acquired by William Pont de l'Arche, who may have built the curtain wall of the bailey and doubled the height of the keep. After major works 1320-26, the buildings on the west of the inner bailey became a self-contained palace, rebuilt by Richard II between 1396-99. By 1441 the castle was considered ruinous. In the 16th century it was in use as a storehouse. Listed Grade II, scheduled and in guardianship.

PICTURES

+ / -

DETAIL

+ / -

MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES

+ / -

(Centred SU 62480456) Roman Fort (remains of)
Portchester Castle [NR] (1)

See attached MOW Booklet. (2-3)

No change. Published 1:1250 survey correct, except for minor revision on SU 6204 NW. Under excavation by Prof Cunliffe. (4)

PORTUS ARDAONI or ARDAONIUM (?) Probably the Roman Fort at Portchester. (5)

Scheduled No 4. (6)

Grade I. (7)

Without further evidence the Roman name of Portchester remains unknown; the location of Portus Adurni is uncertain. Coin and other evidence suggests that the Portchester defences were erected early in the reign of Carausius, probably 286-290,and abandoned not long afterwards. The walls, forward-projecting bastions, gates and ditches of Portchester are contemporary with similar structures in Britain and Europe in the late 3rd century AD. However, occupation seems to have been continuous throughout the 4th century AD into the early 5th century. Pottery finds, though meagre, suggest occupation throughout the period 400-700 AD. From the late 7th or early 8th century, post-built houses were built, the community becoming wealthier in the 9th and 10th centuries. The King acquired Portchester in 904. The final phase of Saxon building was the late 10th century. Throughout the 12th century after the building of the Norman keep, the castle was a frontline defence and the village outside began to take shape. The outer earthwork was probably constructed in 1320-40. In 1396-99 the castle was converted to a Royal residence. Full summaries and synthesis by major period. (8-10)

Concise architectural report. (11)

Dendrochronological examination of the Anglo-Saxon well timbers has shown that the lower well timbers date to circa 602 +- 2 AD, but the upper timbers date to 750 AD, indicating a later re-lining of the well. (12)

Additional references relating to the excavations at Portchester Castle between 1969-1971. Only one-eighth of the total area of the enclosure was excavated. Summaries and syntheses of each major period are presented in authorities 17 and 19. (13-24)

Listed by Cathcart King. (25)

The castle is first documented in 1153 when it was restored to William Mauduit, but on his accession in 1154, Henry II took it into royal possession, where it remained thereafter. It occupies the north-west corner of the Saxon Shore Fort, and has a rectangular bailey occupying 8 acres. The Land Gate is on the west side and the Watergate on the east of the Saxon Shore Fort. In the 12th century the Roman wall was broken through to build the rectangular tower-keep which projects beyond the line of the Roman wall.

In June 1216 the castle surrendered to Louis of France but was recovered by the following April when Oliver d'Aubeny was ordered to level it, or failing that, fire the keep. After the expulsion of Louis' army, it was further repaired and maintained.

From 1396-9, Richard II rebuilt the great hall as a new set of apartments along the South and East sides of the bailey, the ruins of which still remain. By 1441 the castle was regarded as ruinous and feeble, and despite a 10 year renovation programme, the money was not enough to remedy the decay. (26)

During the 16th century it was useful as a military depot, a buttressed storehouse 240 feet long and 30 feet wide being built near the south-west angle of the outer ward. This was moved to Portsmouth in the late 16th century. The Navy considered turning it into a hospital, but it was considered better to build such a building afresh. (27)

There are 6 late 14th century gunports in Assheton's Tower and 3 in the curtain wall south of the keep. (28)

A wall painting survives on the second floor of the Norman keep. The painting consists of two large decorative lozenges framed by swags in grand rococo style, between which is a roundel containing a depiction of the castle. Originally the painting was thought to have been painted by prisoners of war interned during the period 1794-1810; however, recent technical examination has shown the original colour range includes French ultramarine, which was not commerically available in England until about 1830. Graffiti has also been found etched within the area of painting dated 1840. It is now thought the painting was executed during the 19th century, when the castle was privately owned by Mr Sutton, who used the keep to stage plays. (29)

A late Saxon inhumation cemetery was also excavated on the site (not previously noted in the indexing but included following PastScape feedback (26/03/2007)). This included 21 burials most of which appeared to be paired. This may suggest that there was a family relationship between the individuals in each pair. See Cunliffe, 1976, page 60-61. [9]

The Cunliffe excavation archive (paper and material), 627567, and the 1930s excavation material, 627566, and the CAU archive for 1992, are all held at Fort Brockhurst by English Heritage curatorial staff. (30)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1962

( 2) General reference

Portchester Castle MOW 1965

( 3) Vertical aerial photograph reference number

RAF 1938 5NC16597 H

( 4) Field Investigators Comments

F1 ASP 22-JAN-1969

( 5) by A L F Rivet and Colin Smith 1979 The place-names of Roman Britain

Page(s)441-2

( 6) by Department of the Environment, Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings London 1978 List of ancient monuments in England: Volume 1, Northern England; Volume 2, Southern England; Volume 3, East Anglia and the Midlands

Page(s)101

( 7) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

District of Fareham: 22-OCT-1976 899 Page(s)14

( 8) by Barry Cunliffe 1975 Excavations at Portchester Castle, volume 1 : Roman

Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of LondonNo.1 (1913) - 32 Page(s)1-453

( 9) by Barry Cunliffe 1976 Excavations at Portchester Castle, volume 2 : saxon

Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of LondonNo.1 (1913) - 33 Page(s)1-323

(10) by Barry Cunliffe 1977 Excavations at Portchester Castle, volume 3 : medieval, the outer bailey and its defences

Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of LondonNo.1 (1913) - 34 Page(s)1-253

(11) by Geo T Clark 1884 Medieval military architecture in England. Volume 2

Page(s)388-401

(12) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

28 (1984) Page(s)119-121

(13) by Barry Cunliffe 1970 The Saxon culture-sequence at Portchester Castle [Hampshire]

The Antiquaries journal : journal of the Society of Antiquaries of Londonno 1 (1921) - 50 (1970) Page(s)67-85

(14) by Barry Cunliffe 1969 Excavations at Portchester Castle, Hants, 1966-68; third interim report

The Antiquaries journal : journal of the Society of Antiquaries of Londonno 1 (1921) - 49 (1969) Page(s)62-74

(15) by B W Cunliffe 1972 The Tudor storehouse at Portchester Castle, Hampshire

Post-medieval archaeology : the journal of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeologyvol 1 (1967) - 5 (1972) Page(s)188-190

(16) by Barry Cunliffe 1972 Excavations at Portchester Castle, Hampshire, 1969-1971: fourth interim report [3rd- to 19th-century occupation]

The Antiquaries journal : journal of the Society of Antiquaries of Londonno 1 (1921) - 52 (1972) Page(s)70-83

(17) by Barry Cunliffe and Julian Munby 1985 Excavations at Portchester Castle, volume 4 : Medieval, the inner bailey

Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of LondonNo.1 (1913) - no.43

(18) by J M Fletcher, A Dabrowska 1976 Tree-ring examination of timbers from the 6th-century well at Portchester Castle

Archaeometry : the bulletin of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford UniversityVol 1 (1958) - vol 19 (1977)

(19) by Barry Cunliffe and Beverley Garratt; with contributions by W Cocroft and M T Thornhill 1994 Excavations at Portchester Castle, volume 5 : post medieval 1609-1819

Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of LondonNo.1 (1913) - no.52

(20) by J T Munby 1990 Portchester Castle, Hampshire [official guide]

(21) Scheduled Monument Notification

26-FEB-1998

(22) by Stephen Johnson 1976 The Roman forts of the Saxon Shore

Page(s)59-62

(23) by Audrey Meaney 1964 A gazetteer of early Anglo-Saxon burial sites

Page(s)97

(24) edited by Peter Furtado et al 1988 Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain

Page(s)25

(25) by David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Volume I : Anglesey - Montgomery

1 Page(s)192

(26) R Allen Brown, H M Colvin and A J Taylor 1963 The history of the King's Works, volume 2 : the Middle Ages

Page(s)783-92

(27) by H M Colvin, D R Ransome and John Summerson 1975 The history of the King's Works, volume 3 : 1485-1660 (part 1)

Page(s)291-2

(28) Fortress Study Group Fort : the international journal of fortification and military architecture

4, 1977 Page(s)83

(29) Caroline Babington, Tracy Manning and Sophie Stewart 1999 Our painted past : wall paintings of English Heritage

(30) Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments

RELATED MONUMENTS

+ / -

Monument Name/No

Resources

Description

CHURCH OF ST MARY
FAREHAM

Monument Pictures
Monument Maps
Monument Investigation
Monument Sources
EH Visitor Information

The monument includes the Church of St Mary's situated within the walls od Portchester Castle (SU 60 SW 1). It was built for a priory of Augustinian ...

MONUMENT TYPES

+ / -

COMMENTS

+ / -

Please help us keep our information accurate let us know if you see any errors on this page.

Further information about monuments may be obtained by contacting NMR Enquiry and Research Services , through the English Heritage website.

EH Prints
English Heritage
Heritage Explorer
Heritage Gateway
Images of England
NMR
ViewFinder