12895
Looking out from the ruins of Leicester Castle, in Leicester, Leicestershire. The castle was probably built around in 1070 (soon after the Norman Conquest in 1066. The remains now consist of a mound, along with ruins. In the 14th century King Edward I and Edward II both stayed in the castle and John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile both died there.
Eventually, however, it was used mainly as a courthouse rather than a residence.
Apart from being used for Assize Courts, the Great Hall was also used for sessions of the Parliament of England most notably the Parliament of Bats in 1426, when the conditions in London were not suitable. (The parliament is so-called because members were not allowed to carry swords by the Duke of Gloucester, and so armed themselves with clubs, or bats.)
The Castle, the Turret Gateway, the Great Hall and 'John of Gaunt's Cellar' (erroneously called a dungeon) are all Scheduled Ancient Monuments, and are variously listed buildings also.
A section of the castle wall, adjacent to the Turret Gateway, has gun loops (holes) that were poked through the medieval wall to use as firing ports by the city's residents when parliamentarian Leicester was besieged, captured, and ransacked, by the royalist army in the 1640s during the English civil war.
12895
Looking out from the ruins of Leicester Castle, in Leicester, Leicestershire. The castle was probably built around in 1070 (soon after the Norman Conquest in 1066. The remains now consist of a mound, along with ruins. In the 14th century King Edward I and Edward II both stayed in the castle and John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile both died there.
Eventually, however, it was used mainly as a courthouse rather than a residence.
Apart from being used for Assize Courts, the Great Hall was also used for sessions of the Parliament of England most notably the Parliament of Bats in 1426, when the conditions in London were not suitable. (The parliament is so-called because members were not allowed to carry swords by the Duke of Gloucester, and so armed themselves with clubs, or bats.)
The Castle, the Turret Gateway, the Great Hall and 'John of Gaunt's Cellar' (erroneously called a dungeon) are all Scheduled Ancient Monuments, and are variously listed buildings also.
A section of the castle wall, adjacent to the Turret Gateway, has gun loops (holes) that were poked through the medieval wall to use as firing ports by the city's residents when parliamentarian Leicester was besieged, captured, and ransacked, by the royalist army in the 1640s during the English civil war.