Guildford Castle

Guildford Castle stands on a low hill in the centre of Guildford, a town in Surrey. Built soon after the Norman Conquest, it began as a wooden fort on a mound with a ditch and palisade. The stone shell keep and later quadrangular tower were added in the 12th century, using local Bargate stone. The keep’s walls are over three metres thick at the base and taper upwards, with a lead roof and whitewashed plaster inside. A chapel, latrines and private chambers occupied its two floors, reached by an external first-floor door for defence. The castle served as a royal residence and fortress through the 12th and 13th centuries. Henry III improved the great hall with coloured glass and paintings, added marble columns and created a walled garden. Though never besieged, it was strengthened during Stephen’s civil war and Edward I’s campaigns. Constables and sheriffs ran the castle, which also housed Surrey’s and Sussex’s main prison until the late 15th century. After falling into disuse, the tower became a cockpit and farmland before restoration in the 19th century. Today the castle grounds are pleasure gardens with bright bedding plants and a statue of Alice from Lewis Carroll’s stories. The 12th-century keep has been conserved and now holds a visitor centre with panels and a model of the castle as it looked around 1300. A staircase leads to the roof for views across Guildford, while the old gatehouse forms part of the town’s museum, displaying local history and needlework.