Winchester Castle is located in the city of Winchester in county Hampshire, England. It was built in 1067 and was the seat of government for over a century before the government moved to London. From 1222 to 1235 King Henry III and King Edward II extended the castle. Henry built the Great Hall, which is built in a double cube design.
Royal and Notorious Events
Winchester Castle was the site of many historical events. In 1302 Edward and his second wife, Margaret of France, narrowly escaped after the royal apartments in the castle were destroyed by fire. In April 1472, King Edward IV’s fifth child, Margaret of York was born at the castle. She died eight months later. In 1603 Sir Walter Raleigh went on trial for treason in the Great Hall for his part in the Main Plot. The Main Plot was a conspiracy by English Catholics to replace King James I with his cousin Arabella Stuart. Many historians, however, believe that the event was the result of an overreaction of James.
During the Civil War, Winchester Castle was used by the Royalists, but fell to the Parliamentarians in 1646 and Oliver Cromwell ordered the castle’s destruction. After the Restoration, King Charles II commissioned Christopher Wren to design a palace that would rival France’s Palace of Versailles, but the project was abandoned by King James II.
In 1953 the Winchester’s Great Hall was the site of another notorious trial when Edward Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu went on trial with Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood, who were both Royal Air Force servicemen, on charges of indecency. Montagu was charged with performing ‘gross offences’ with Pitt-Rivers and Wildeblood. The three men were imprisoned for ‘consensual homosexual offenses.’
Winchester Castle Today
Today only Henry III’s Great Hall survives. At one end of the hall is a huge round table that is reputed to be King Arthur’s famous Round Table, at which he and his knights met. The table, however, has been proven to have been built during the 13th century. It was repainted during the reign of King Henry VIII. Behind the hall is Queen Eleanor’s Garden, a recreation of a medieval garden.
Attached to the Great Hall is a small museum the depicts the history of Winchester. Since 1889 Winchester Castle has been the seat of the Hampshire County Council. The council’s offices are located near the Great Hall.
Sources:
Britain Express “ Winchester Castle ” (accessed August 13, 2010)
Hampshire County Council “Great Hall” (accessed August 13, 2010)
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