Colchester Castle
Set amidst a lovely picturesque garden, Colchester Castle is one of the best and most authentic examples of Norman medieval architecture in England. Colchester Castle is situated in the English city which is located in the eastern county of Essex, close to the coast of Britain.
Colchester Castle was built by the Normans, from Normandy in France around 1076 as part of their defense system, which they began to build after their invasion in British territories in 1066.
Colchester Castle is an imposing structure that constitutes the largest Norman fortification ever built in a stranger land. Colchester Castle is the first fortress built by the legendary William the Conqueror.
Construction of the castle Colchester was guided by the royal court member - Eudo de Rie. It is believed that the original fort at this location was erected at the site of a significant ancient Roman temple of Claudius. In the vicinity of the fortress had remained the ever ancient Roman settlement of about 54 years. Even today the ruins can be seen at the periphery of the castle.
It is believed that Gundulph, who was Bishop of Rochester is responsible for the design of the White Tower, which had borrowed from the central part of the Tower of London, with which these two buildings are only in Britain with the same ground plan. The construction of Colchester Castle lasted about 50 years. The basic structure of the castle consists of a rectangular block with one designed tower at each corner and one semi-circular apse at the south end of the east at the castle.
Colchester Castle is distinguished by its pinnacles, erected on the lowest level, which suggest that they were built fairly quickly, during a raid by the Danes.
The main views are that at this time Colchester Castle had four storeys, but both were lost in the course of time and events. In 1726 the fort property passes to Charles Gray, who was a member of parliament for Colchester .
He undertook a significant restoration of the castle. Mr Gray had interest for the Italian architecture of the façade with its towers, then the aristocrats thought that this was an original Romanesque style. Parallel are the beautiful gardens around the castle and Gray even included within the decor a rich library. He also constructed the red-tiled roofs of Colchester Castle.
Today Colchester is named as a first class building and is also considered as an interesting historical museum. The last major restoration of the castle was completed in 1992 and since then there are houses all over the Essex Museum, which tells of the nearly 2000-year history of the area.
