Portchester Castle

Russell and I set off to explore this morning - Portchester Castle, just around the bay from Portsmouth. It's a beautiful castle - or what remains of it. The exterior walls date back to Roman times, 290 AD. At around 2000 years old, the walls are in amazing condition! And what adds to the charm is a small moat surrounding the castle.

Various forts and rooms were built over the next few centuries to accomodate Kings such as John, Edward III, Richard II, and Henry V.

The castle was last used in the 19th century as a jail for prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars. The castle housed around 7000 prisioners at once, 3000 of which were held in the main fort alone. And after being inside the fort and walking up the tiny winding stairs, it's hard to imagine so many people squashed up in there at once.

In one of the halls inside this fort, it was thought it was used as a theatre. You can still see reminants of paintings on the wall, thought to be painted in 1830-40. And there are carvings on beams and walls in the fort, supposedly made by the prisoners housed here. One such carving reads '1860'.

Such an amazing place, right on the sea front. And to think that people really lived here more than 2000 years ago...

See my other photos here...