Accordingly Rochester Castle offered no resistance when a baronial force under William de Aubigny and Robert Fitzwalter occupied it. As soon as he heard of the capture of Rochester Castle, King John moved his forces to recover it. However, the castle's garrison remained defiant forcing the King to besiege the fortification.
Having tried and failed to storm the castle or to destroy its walls with siege machines, the Royal army concentrated on undermining the structure. The mine had been constructed by late November as John instructed his Justiciar to send him "40 pigs too fat for eating, to raise a fire under the tower".
The fat from these animals was used to burn the timber props that had been placed under the castle's masonry. The resultant destruction included the collapse of the western corner of the Great Keep, one of the outer towers and a portion of the curtain wall.
Despite the catastrophic destruction of their castle, the rebels retreated into the undamaged portion of the Keep but their supplies were limited and they surrendered a few days later. The King was initially minded to execute every rebel within but was dissuaded from doing so on the basis it would set a precedent of brutality that would inevitably have been copied by the rebels.
Instead, he executed just one person, a crossbowman, whom King John had known since childhood. The repairs were timely for in , during the Second Barons' War, the castle was besieged once again. This time a pro-Royalist garrison was in situ and rebel army under Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester attempted to capture it.
In conjunction with his ally - Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester - he launched a two pronged attack that successfully seized the Bailey. The defenders retreated into the Keep and burnt the buildings in the bailey as they withdrew including the Great Hall. They successfully held out until Montfort's force had to withdraw but, later in , Henry III was defeated at the Battle of Lewes and Rochester Castle was handed over to the rebels.
It remained in their custody until the defeat of the rebellion the following year. Repairs were made following the Second Barons' War but the Great Hall was not rebuilt and, unusually, the Great Keep became the main residential area in the castle. This made it a less attractive residence and in the subsequent century the Royal manor at Gravesend was often used instead of Rochester.
However, in the collapse of Rochester bridge and the storming of the old castle by an angry mob, prompted Richard II to invest in the site.
A new bridge was built and the castle received a new North-West bastion which was fitted with artillery to command the new crossing. By the mid-sixteenth century the River Medway was becoming increasingly important as a port and anchorage for the Royal Navy. To protect the river, Upnor Castle was built downstream. Stone was robbed from Rochester Castle to support the construction effort.
At some point thereafter Rochester Castle was gutted by fire and was never rebuilt. The structure drifted into ruin but it was purchased by Rochester Corporation in and opened to the public. Ashbee, J Rochester Castle. English Heritage, London. Creighton, O. H Equinox, Bristol. Douglas, D. C and Greeaway, G. W ed English Historical Documents Vol 2 Routledge, London. C and Rothwell, H ed English Historical Documents Vol 3 C and Myers, A.
R ed English Historical Documents Vol 4 Eales, R Royal Power and Castles in Norman England. Flight, C and Harrison, A The Roman and Medieval Defences of Rochester. Harvey, A Castles and Walled Towns of England. Methuen, London. King, C. J Castellarium anglicanum: an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the Islands.
Kraus International Publications. Renn, D This could perhaps have been a result of their proximity to Europe and important trade routes, and the subsequent mingling of culture and language. In fact, the name 'Rochester' was derived by the Romans from 'Hroffe's Castre', which in turn was derived from the fortified house of a warrior chieftain, Hroffe, who once lived in the area.
Castle facts: Rochester Castle is known as one of the preserved and finest examples of Norman architecture in England. With its great keep, square and massive and one of the tallest in the country, made of stone, measuring feet 35m high, the tallest in England, and is 70 feet 22m square.
It is an excellent example of Norman military building. The walls of the Castle are between 11 and 13 feet 3. A circular staircase leads up to the battlements from which there is an astounding view of the Kent countryside. History: It was constructed by the Bishop of Rochester in around in the angle of the Roman town wall. The four-squared towers were added by Archbishop William de Corbell in Rochester Castle was fortified against the King John and soon became a stronghold and headquarters for the rebels.
King John lay siege to the castle in and took it after two long months. He finally undermined the south east tower and burned the props with the "fat of forty pigs" causing the tower to collapse. John tried to prise the castle from the local barons, using diplomatic techniques to transfer ownership.
However, despite drawing up an agreement to cede control of the castle to the crown as part of the Magna Carta, the barons reneged on their commitment to John and seized the castle for themselves.
They locked themselves inside, with ample provisions, and declared a state of siege. Hearing that Rochester Castle was held in siege, King John rushed to the castle, arriving on 13 October. From then, he and his forces began pelting the castle Keep and the curtain walls with mighty stones and ammunition from their trebuchet siege-engines.
But the Keep was made of stern stuff. Despite pelting it with vast rocks, it stood firm, protecting all those who lay siege inside.
Instead, John tried mining under the south-west corner in order to collapse the Keep. It was unsuccessful. Quite fantastically though, he had another trick up his sleeve.
In a word before gun-powder, pig-fat was used as an explosive and as a fire-starter. The pig-fat created a fire strong enough to burn through the mine-shaft beneath the tower, and collapse part of the castle.
But the rebels within were undeterred. As the keep is effectively divided into two parts, they scurried to the other side of the tower to continue their siege. However, in early December, the game was up. The remaining rebels were near-starved and exhausted, and surrendered to the King.
King John showed clemency, and all — except one — were spared their lives. Wrapped in a cosy curtain wall, the main keep of Rochester Castle is nowadays open to visitors. The castle is essentially a stout walled, square based building. Some of the stairs in a couple of the turrets are — sadly- badly worn away.
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