Portchester Castle

Portchester Castle's commanding location has made it a major factor in the Solent's defences for hundreds of years.

The most impressive and best- preserved of the Roman 'Saxon Shore' forts, Portchester Castle was originally built in the late 3rd century. Covering an area of nearly ten acres, it is the only Roman stronghold in northern Europe whose walls still mainly stand to their full 6 metre height, complete with most of their originally twenty towers. Subsequently housing a Saxon settlement, the huge waterside fortress became a Norman castle in the 12th century, when a formidable tower-keep was built in one corner.

Portchester Castle was in the front line throughout the Hundred Years War, serving as a staging-post for expeditions to France and repelling cross- Channel raids. Richard II transformed part of the castle into a palace in 1396, and Henry V used it as an embarkation point for the Agincourt campaign in 1415. Thereafter it saw little action, but was used to house troops in the Civil War, and prisoners of war during the Dutch and Napoleonic Wars and the Anglo-American War of 1812-14.

An exhibition in the keep interprets the history of the castle and Portchester village, and displays finds excavated on site. The inclusive audio tour explains life in the castle over the centuries, from the point of view of some of the people who worked or were incarcerated there.