Leicester Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Leicester Castle occupies the east bank of the canalised River Soar, in the heart of the old town. It is not a single fortress but a group of scattered remains: a lowered motte, the medieval Great Hall, the Turret Gateway, the Magazine Gateway of the Newarke, a vaulted undercroft known as John of Gaunt's Cellar and the church of St Mary de Castro, the former castle chapel. Founded around 1068 in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest, the site became the seat of the honour of Leicester. The Beaumont earls rebuilt it in stone in the 12th century; the Great Hall attributed to Robert the Hunchback is reputed to be one of the oldest surviving aisled timber halls in Europe. The castle then passed to Simon de Montfort and later to the Lancasters, who extended it with the Newarke. After the accession of Henry IV, the complex lost its role as a major residence, and the Great Hall was long used for justice as a county court, until 1990. Now protected as a scheduled monument and, for several of its elements, listed Grade I, it forms with the Newarke one of Leicester's densest heritage quarters.