Colchester Castle

Colchester Castle
Colchester, Essex, England
Colchester Castle keep from the south, showing the main entrance
Colchester Castle
Coordinates	51°53′26″N 0°54′11″E / 51.890589°N 0.903047°E / 51.890589; 0.903047
Type	Norman castle
Site information
Owner	Borough of Colchester
Controlled by	Colchester & Ipswich Museums
Condition	Keep is largely intact.
Site history
Built	circa 1076
Built by	William I of England
Demolished	Bailey wall and keep battlements, 17th century
Events	1216 siege in the First Barons' War 1648 capture in the Siege of Colchester

Colchester Castle is a Norman castle in Colchester, Essex, England, dating from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep of the castle is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe, due to its being built on the foundations of the Roman Temple of Claudius, Colchester. The castle endured a three-month siege in 1216, but had fallen into disrepair by the seventeenth century when the curtain walls and some of the keep's upper parts were demolished; its original height is debated. The remaining structure was used as a prison and was partially restored as a large garden pavilion, but was purchased by Colchester Borough Council in 1922. The castle has since 1860 housed Colchester Museum, which has an important collection of Roman exhibits. It is a scheduled monument^[1] and a Grade I listed building.^[2]