Leicester Castle
 Castles |
Leicester Castle was originally a Saxon stronghold rebuilt by the Normans in 1068, but the earliest stone structure is believed to have been that built by Robert de Beaumont, 1 st Earl of Leicester, in 1107. Remains of the Norman motte, or central mound, can still be seen. The chief feature of de Beaumont's new 12 th century castle was the great hall; the remainder of the castle was enlarged in the 14 th century by the dukes of Lancaster, who made the castle a home. The great hall is now concealed within 18 th century brickwork and is employed today as the Crown Court. If Leicester Castle were still in existence, in its entirety, it would be one of England's most historic sites, for it has born witness to momentous scenes in Leicester's medieval story.
Here, in the castle, in 1201 was held a meeting of the barons, the first of many that had their climax in Magna Carta, 1215. In the 13 th century Simon de Montfort, the last Norman Earl of Leicester and French champion of English liberty held the Earldom of Leicester. In 1264 he entertained Henry III and his son the prince here; later, he was to lead the Baron's Revolt against the King and took the royal pair captive after victory in the Battle of Lewes. This eventually brought into being the first English parliament, which met at Leicester Castle in 1349. Simon de Montfort is commemorated in the 20 th century De Montfort Hall, the city's main centre for concerts.
The powerful John of Gaunt spent much of his time at the castle, but it was from the period when his son Henry of Bolingbroke came to the throne that the castle began to decay. By 1485 it is said to have been unfit to host Richard III, who stayed instead at the ancient Blue Boar Inn, now sadly demolished; over the shops in Highcross Street is a tablet telling of the king's visit. After a night or two here Richard rode out at sunrise on a white horse, his crown on his head, leading an army believed to have been the largest ever seen in old England. His ill-fated journey took him over ancient Bow Bridge and on to Bosworth Field to confront his destiny. There, amid the carnage, Richard lost his crown and his life, and his disabused corpse, head downward and with a halter round the neck, was brought back over Bow Bridge. After being exposed for two days, his body was buried in the church of the Grey Friars, but on the dissolution of the church in the following century his coffin was unearthed by the mob and his bones flung into the nearby river. They were later recovered and buried near the newly built Bow Bridge, which bears a tablet telling us that here is Richard's final resting place and of what befell the fated king.
During the siege of Leicester, when Prince Rupert of the Rhine successfully attacked the town at the head of his Royalist troops during the Civil War of 1642-9, the castle, despite its parlous state, is said to have been used by both sides. On the south wall of the churchyard of St Mary de Castro (this being the castle church) is a part of the old wall, which bounded the castle defences, and in it are holes said to have been pierced for cannon. St Mary de Castro was founded by Robert de Beaumont in about 1107 and extended several times during the following 200 years. With its splendid needle spire it dominates the castle hill and town below. Inside, near the altar are five stone sedilia , seats for the clergy, which date from 1180 and are regarded as the first of their kind in England.
On the south side of the castle is an extension called Newarke, the new work, a walled enclosure of about four acres built during the 14 th century. Within its confines stood the beautiful collegiate church of St Mary, now lost to us, together with its almshouses and infirmary, Trinity Hospital. These were founded by Henry, Earl of Lancaster and Leicester, who, after an eventful career, spent his last years at Leicester Castle. He greatly improved the fortress and in his day the great hall was the scene of much splendour and rejoicing. Henry built a church in the Newarke as a private chapel and mausoleum, and there he was laid to rest in 1345. The fame of this little church grew till it brought pilgrims from afar, but was destined to fall under the heavy hand of Henry VIII and was finally destroyed.
The biggest original relic of the Newarke is the lofty stone gateway on its eastern side, at the corner of Oxford Street, with three arches, a vaulted roof and square-headed windows adorned with faces. It was once used as the town's armoury, thus acquiring the familiar name of the Magazine Gateway; it now contains a museum tracing the history of the Leicestershire Regiment. At the corner leading from the Newarke to the Turret Gateway of the castle, stands the three-storied stone house built in 1512 by William Wyggeston, for the two priests who served the chantry he founded in the church of St Mary, where he was laid to rest. The 16 th century Chantry House forms a part of the Newarke Houses Museum, with exhibits relating to social history including a life-size mid-Victorian street scene.