Castle Rising - Castle Rising, Norfolk (HS)
The village of Castle Rising is now a small and sleepy place, but its former importance is dramatically revealed by the beautiful mid-twelfth century keep built by William Albini to celebrate his marriage to the widow of Henry I, Queen Alice of Louvain in 1138. Though William's father had loyally served two former kings, it was this marriage directly into the Anglo-Norman aristocracy which proved the family had real status in England. The marriage also brought land and power, and the earldom first of Lincoln, then in1141, Sussex. The marriage saw the foundation not only of the Castle, but also the church nearby, which although restored in the nineteenth century, is still very interesting and reveals its Norman origins.
The existing stone and flint donjon, or keep, is enclosed within very impressive earthworks, and as you enter through the contemporary gatehouse, you can climb to the top of the first bank to wander right round the castle. There would have been many buildings within the bailey, as evidenced by the sixteenth-century surveys of the castle, listing hall, chambers, chapel, kitchen, buttery, pantry, constable's lodging, stables etc., although today few remains are visible. The main feature within the defensive bank, apart from the keep, is the old parish church, dismantled when the castle was built and half swallowed by the bank. This simple early church of local flint was uncovered in the early nineteenth century when the bailey was cleared of accumulated earth and debris. It probably dates from the late eleventh century, and would have been the parish church before the castle and the new church were built. Incorporated within its fabric are Roman tiles. The church was divided into three sections of nave, no aisles, with an apsidal east end.
The keep represented in solid form the power and status of the Earl, its strength and architectural finery reflecting both wealth and culture. The word 'donjon' is derived from the latin dominium, meaning lordship. Although an elaboration on the tower keep, its form is relatively simple - a basement for storage, an impressive stairway leading from the bailey directly to the first floor, through a carved Norman doorway into the Great Hall and Great Chamber on the first floor. There are several smaller rooms, a chapel for the private worship of the family, and a kitchen, which was vaulted above and below. Into the north west corner of the kitchen was built a great circular hearth and fireplace for cooking, and there are two tiers of ventilation loops. A floor-level drain, wall-cupboards (since broken through into the Hall) and in the south west corner of the room, an oven, show the extensive level of catering required by the castle's inhabitants.
The outside of the keep is richly decorated, with similarities to the keep at Norwich (now rebuilt). The fore-building, protecting the external stairs, has richly carved and arcaded stonework, and each side of the keep has shallow and plain pilaster buttresses. The corners are strengthened by angle buttresses of stone, which were once topped by turrets.
Built for a Queen, Castle Rising became a Queen's home once again in 1329. After reigning as Regent with her lover Roger Mortimer, in place of the deposed and murdered King Edward II, Queen Isabelle of France was granted Castle Rising by her son, Edward III when he seized power from her and had Mortimer killed. Isabelle remained here until her death, visited by the new king and only allowed to journey away with her son's permission.
The design of the keep seen today is very similar to that of Château Guillaume-le-Conquérant, the birth place of the most famous Norman of them all, William the Conquerer, which was built in the same period in the town of Falaise, Normandy, France.