Rochester

#8 & #49 The Keep of Rochester Castle
Kent, England
1127+
This is NOT an official Lego site

There is mention of a motte castle at Rochester in the 1087-8 section of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as well as The Domesday Book (1086), and the wall of a Roman city was discovered at the castle in 2007. The first stone castle at Rochester was begun about 1088, with Henry I's Great Tower started by William of Corbell, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1127. The construction took 10-15 years. The keep is 125 feet tall to the top of the battlemented turrets. The walls at the base are 12 feet thick. The entrance is on the first floor with layers of protection including a three story forebuilding which also houses the chapel.

The castle was successfully seiged in 1215 when King John undermined and collapsed the square southeastern corner tower. It was rebuilt about ten years later solid and cylindrical, not matching the rest of the magnificent donjon (see right). Henry III's men successfully defended another seige by Simon de Montfort in 1264, and the castle remained in royal hands until the seventeenth century. Rochester keep has been roofless for about 400 years and deterioration has been slow but relentless. A major restoration and roofing effort is preparing to launch on June 19, 2010. You can learn more at www.restorerochestercastle.co.uk and even assist in the effort if you'd like!


Model of the Castle	Cutaway	3D Model by Mark Needham


Plan of the Castle	Ground Floor Plan	First Floor Plan	Second Floor Plan	Third Floor Plan


Section Looking East	Section Looking West	North Section Looking North	North Section Looking South

Photos of the Lego Model Built November 1993

First Attempt in November 1986	North View	West View

South View	Southwest View with Banquet Hall	Forebuilding View with lit torch