On Saturday I visited Oxford Castle which is a partly ruined Norman medieval castle which is just to the west of Oxford City Centre. It is a motte and bailey castle with a lot of history, it is approximately 1000 years old, we took a guided tour which I would thoroughly recommend. The guides dress in character and explain a lot of the history of the castle, which until quite recently was an HM Prison.
View of the motte
The motte was constructed by forced Saxon labour, the removed earth then constructed the moat, this castle originally had two moats.
View showing part of the prsison wing
The castle was an important place in the English Civil War as the Royalists made Oxford their base and held many of their prisoners at the castle.
St Georges Tower with shop entrance
As I mentioned earlier the castle was used as a prison and also held executions, one famous inmate was the Black Panther (Not the Marvel one) Donald Neilson.
St Georges tower is the only remaining tower at the castle and you can reach the top by climbing a very steep spiral staircase, it is well worth it as there are some good views across the city from the top. Most of the castle was unfortunately destroyed in the English Civil War, all but one tower was blown up with explosives.
View from top of the Tower
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