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In 1080 William the
Conqueror sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, to Northumberland to
defend his English kingdom against the Scots. Robert soon settled
in Monkchester ['place where the monks live'] where he began building a
New Castle, a timber motte and bailey structure of which nothing now
remains. In 1095 the Earl of Northumberland, on behalf of Robert,
rose up against King William II, who attained the English throne when
William I died in 1087. William II aka Rufus ['the Red'] was the
Conqueror's third son, and one wonders why Robert was not crowned king
instead of William. In any case William II's army was successful,
and Newcastle became a crown property. In 1168 Henry II
commissioned Maurice the Builder, renowned for his castle at Dover, to
design and build a stone castle at Newcastle. Construction of the
62 x 56 foor Great Tower began in 1172 and took six years. The
project also included a many-sided timber curtain with
rectangular towers, and additional buildings along the
curtain. Often attacked because of its location in the
northern counties of England, the imposing tower is the
major remnant of the castle.
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