Rochester Castle

Rochester Castle dominates the Kentish landscape beside the River Medway, its 125-foot tall keep standing as one of Europe's most impressive surviving medieval structures. Built between 1087 and 1089 by Bishop Gundulf for King William Rufus, the fortress was substantially reinforced with an extraordinary great keep commissioned by Henry I in 1127. The castle occupies a strategically vital position controlling movement along Watling Street between London and southeastern England. Over its medieval lifetime, Rochester endured three major sieges, most famously when King John besieged it in 1215 and destroyed one corner of the keep. Though it became militarily obsolete by the late Middle Ages, the castle remains a Grade I listed building and enduring symbol of Norman power.