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A walk through the castle grounds
Enter the castle grounds through the gate in Bear Lane, the walls here are roughly the line of the castles outer walls, the lawns either side of you are part of the outer bailey (courtyard), walk down the slope past on your right the picnic area till you come to a grassed path on your left and right, in front of you is the high bank on which stood the middle wall of the castle a moat separated the outer bailey from the middle wall and the grassed path follows the line of it, turn to the right and walk about 75 metres along the path till you come to a large tower which is reputed to belong to the College of St Nicholas, the King's chapel in the castle. Walk up the steps on the left, keep to the right down the slope past the ruins of the summer house of a Victorian mansion. Part of the remains are from medieval times. In front of you is a modern wooden bridge, this bridge spans Castle Lane which is the line of the inner moat, while on the bridge look up at the Motte now covered with tall trees. Cross the bridge, up the steps and follow the path to the top. Cross to the south side overlooking the town. on the left can be seen the great bridge crossing the River Thames where William the Conquer forded the River in 1066 after his victory at Hastings.
The 18th century church of St Peters with its tall spire is to the right of the bridge. St Mary's church can also be seen to the right now sadly without its pinnacles. Turn around and walk to the North side of the mound. On the right a small section of wall can be seen amongst the trees being part of the Queens tower. In front of you is another fragment of stonework which marks the extent of the inner bailey. Beyond can be seen the outer fortifications. Walk back down to the wooden bridge noting the impressive earthworks on the right. Turn right, you are now in the middle bailey. Go up the steps in front of you, you are now standing on the bank on which once stood the middle wall of the great castle. Turn left and walk to the steps on your right which descend to where we came in.
The castle grounds are open 10am-6pm April-October and 10am-3pm in the winter months. © 2003 Tony Morris. |
