Bloodshed, Boudicca, royalty and witches – Colchester Castle has seen it all
Words: Sybilla Hart / Illustration: wisdomartprints.co.uk
Colchester Castle is a Norman construction that dates all the way back to the 11th century. A Grade I listed building and scheduled monument, Colchester Castle has seen its fair share of history. The keep (or central tower) is the largest in Europe and still in pretty good order given how ancient it is.
The keep’s large footprint is due to the fact that Colchester Castle was built on the foundations of the vast Roman Temple of Claudius by King William I of England around 1076. This meant that not only could the Norman build benefit from the Roman stone in an area where there was little natural stone but also from the ready-made foundations. Furthermore, the Normans liked to think of themselves as imperial successors to the Romans; William the Conqueror’s biographer, William of Poitiers, often compared him to Julius Caesar.
The Roman Temple of Claudius was built in Colchester (or Camulodunum as the Romans called it) between 49 and 60 AD. It was the most important building in Roman Britain, which is why it was destroyed by Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni Tribe, during her rebellion against the Romans. They went on to destroy London and St Albans and thousands were killed before Boudicca is thought to have poisoned herself to avoid capture in 61 AD.
The keep at Colchester Castle is often likened to the White Tower, now the heart of the Tower of London, as they are similar in terms of construction and both commissioned by King William I of England.
In 1101, Colchester Castle was given to Eudo Dapifer, the Royal Steward of Normandy, by King Henry I. Eudo was involved in the castle’s construction and served Henry and William the Conqueror as well as his son William II Rufus. On Eudo’s death in 1120, the castle reverted back to the crown.
Caretaker constables ruled the castle on behalf of the Crown for around 100 years. The last of these governors was William de Lanvellai. King John came to Colchester Castle, most likely in a bid to win over de Lanvellai. When this attempt failed (William de Lanvellai went on to join other rebel barons in Bury St Edmunds), the King sent Stephen Harengood, most likely a Flemish mercenary, to guard the castle.
The barons later marched to London from Bury St Edmunds, forcing King John to accept the Magna Carta at Runnymede in June 1215, which stipulated that Colchester be returned to Lanvellai. The Magna Carta, as Richard Cavendish says on historytoday.com, ‘formally placed limits of royal power for the first time.’
Within months, King John had refused to be bound by the terms of the charter and as a result the First Barons' War broke out. The rebel barons requested the assistance of Louis VIII who lent his help gladly in the form of an army, much to the chagrin of his own father King Philip II of France and that of the Pope.
In response, King John sent another expensive army led by a French mercenary to guard Colchester Castle. As a result of this conflict, Colchester Castle was under siege for three months from January to March in 1216. Before King John could be deposed, he died of dysentery at Newark Castle in Nottinghamshire in late October 1216.
William Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke, as described by Stephen Langton the Archbishop of Canterbury as ‘the best Knight that ever lived,’ was most likely with the king when he passed away on a very stormy night. It is probably down to the Earl Pembroke’s wisdom that King Henry III, a mere child, was accepted as king and Prince Louis was sent packing back to France – complete with a bribe of course. This was known as the Treaty of Lambeth and signed in 1217 marking the official end of the First Barons War.
Safe to say that King John’s rule had not been a successful one. As documented by Charles Phillips in his book The Kings & Queens of Britain, ‘The final event of King John’s reign was a characteristically bungled manoeuvre in which King John lost the crown jewels in quicksand while crossing the Wash, a tidal estuary in eastern England.’
As a result, at the coronation of nine-year-old Henry III, a bracelet belonging to his mother, Queen Isabella, was used in place of the crown, owing to the fact that his father had lost the crown jewels. Following the Treaty of Lambeth, the Bishop of London became the constable of Colchester Castle.
By the 17th century, Colchester Castle had fallen into disrepair and some of the bailey walls had collapsed as well as some of the upper parts of the keep. The jury is still out on the original height of the castle – opinions seem to differ.
In 1645, the self-styled witchfinder Matthew Hopkins incarcerated various women at the castle whom he believed to be witches. He and his colleagues put to death more 100 supposed witches in the space of two years.
In 1648, during the Second English Civil War the Royalist leaders Sir Charles Lucas and Sir John Lisle were executed on a grassy patch to the rear of the castle. Rumour has it that no grass has grown since on the spot where they died. An obelisk now stands on this very place.
In 1705, Sir Isaac Rebow, MP for Colchester, purchased the castle. Rebow lived at Wivenhoe House and left the castle to his grandson Charles Chamberlain Rebow in 1726. A year later, the castle was bought by Mary Webster for her daughter Sarah who married Charles Gray, MP for Colchester.
Gray leased the keep to a grain merchant and the east side of the castle was leased to the county and used as a prison. Gray also made several landscaping improvements around the grounds of the castle, creating a garden pavilion and a summer house in the shape of a Roman temple perched on the old Norman castle earthworks that are still visible today. Gray also made improvements, particularly to the southern front of the castle itself and his step-grandson, James Round, who inherited the castle from him continued his restoration works.
The castle was used as a prison for some time until it was bought by Colchester Borough Council in 1922 thanks to a large endowment from the local MP Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray.
Colchester Castle was given a facelift to the tune of more than £4 million several years ago, and it is well worth a visit. Don’t miss the presence of the sycamore tree on top of the southwest tower, which is said to have been planted by Mary Ann Smith, daughter of the jailer John Smith. Mary lived her whole life at Colchester Castle and planted the tree in 1815, the year of the Battle of Waterloo and also the same year her father passed away.
Nowadays, a visit to the castle involves checking out its fascinating exhibits and interactive displays, a trip down to the Roman vaults and a chance to climb to the top of the castle for wonderful views across the town and Castle Park. You can even get married here!
