David Winter Cottages - Rochester Castle- New In Box L.E. 2500 - SALE PRICE

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. Rochester Castle- A limited Edition of 2,500In perfect condition with original box and certificate but please remember this piece has been in various storage facilities for many years so I expect the box to show signs of wear.By the time this castle was produced John Hine had left and so it was only ever issued with a generic certificateIt is one of only 2500 and the number of the piece and the edition size is shown on the box and on the Castle.A Brief History of Rochester CastleRochester Castle is a real castle located in Kent on the River Medway between London and Dover. Both medieval castle and the cathedral have a long, rich history and have resisted siege for more than 900 years.Originally Rochester was a walled Town built where Watling Street, bridges the River Medway. Going west along Watling Street leads to London and then on to other Roman settlements in Britain. Going East along Watling Street from Rochester leads to Canterbury and then on to Dover.The first actual Castle built at Rochester was built at the time of the Norman Conquest and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book(1086). Then it was rebuilt for William Rufus by Gundolf,Bishop of Rochester between 1087 and 1089,and was one of the earliest castles in this country fortified in stone.In about 1127 (Reign of King Henry I) the existing Keep was built by Archbishop William de Corbeil .There were 3 Sieges of Rochester Castle, In 1088,1215 and 1264.The most amazing of these Sieges was the Siege of 1215.Rebels seized Rochester and control of Rochester bridge. On hearing this King John came from Dover where he had been staying and his men managed to gain control of the Bridge. They then laid siege to the castle and it took about 2 months to capture the Castle.It is thought King John may have set up his command headquarters on Boley hill during this time.the forces erected 5 great Stone throwing engines to pound the defenses, as well as using small-arms, ( Bows and Arrows). However this wasn't enough and King John's men finally managed to gain entry into the Bailey (Castle grounds) by undermining the Castle wall. Meanwhile The defenders retreated into the Keep.King John ordered his men to dig a mine under the South-East angle of the keep. They shored up the undermined Keeps foundations with wooden pit props. This was in a time before Gunpowder and they used the fat of 40 Pigs to help burn the pit props. It was successful and a whole section of the South-Eastern Tower came crashing down. With the Keep breached King Johns men gained access. The Defenders withdrew behind the cross-wall of the Keep but were soon captured and tortured.In 1217 Henry III (King Johns Son) came to the the throne at the age of 9 and over the following years repairs and improvements were made to the Castle. Including digging a deep ditch outside the castle walls, building of a drum Tower at the junction of the South and East walls,and the rebuilding of the South-Eastern corner on the Keep of a cylindrical turret which was thought to be of a stronger design.There was another Siege in 1264 and the Castle started to deteriorate but eventually 100 years later repairs were made by Edward III.After the end of the 14th Century no more work was carried out on the Castle and by the 16th Century it was in a state of decay. The Castle remained in private hands up until the 1870s when the Corporation of Rochester obtained a lease of the castle grounds and turned them into a pleasure garden and then acquired the freehold in 1884 for about £6572. They carried out much needed work on the Keep and castle wall and even made a new entrance into the castle grounds via the North Bastion from the Esplanade. Since 1984 the Castle has been in the hands of English Heritage.Shipping within the Continental USA will be between $12 , international shipping is $60 read more

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