Richard de Redvers’s castle

A Norman knight, Richard de Redvers, built the castle on eastern side of the Saxon burh, probably in the early 1100s. De Redvers was a loyal supporter of William the Conqueror’s youngest son, Henry, who in 1100 succeeded his brother William Rufus as King of England, despite the claims to the throne of their elder brother, Duke Robert of Normandy. Henry rewarded his supporters, giving de Redvers the estates of Christchurch, Plympton (Devon) and Carisbrooke (Isle of Wight).

Richard started building castles to control these estates, with Carisbrooke becoming the family’s main home. At Christchurch, he created an earth and timber castle surrounded by deep ditches. At the west end of the earthworks, he piled up the spoil from the ditches to create the typical symbol of Norman power – a high mound or motte, with a timber tower or keep on top. The rest of the castle was a larger enclosure, the bailey, defended by a ditch, bank and timber palisade.

When Richard de Redvers died in 1107, his son Baldwin inherited the castle, and may have completed its fortifications.

The old earth and timber castle had probably been damaged during the battle of 1147/8, but it seems to have been some decades later that one of Baldwin’s successors decided to build a new keep on the motte and a chamber block in the bailey.

This chamber block, now ruined and known as the Norman House, was an impressive architectural statement. As in many high-status medieval buildings, the upper floor was the main space. The larger northern room was probably a great chamber – a grand but private space for the lord when he was in residence. The room was painted white with red ‘mortar’ lines to suggest fine stonework. It was warmed by a huge fireplace on the east wall and lit by five windows, including a particularly fine window in the end wall.

The smaller room at the other end may have been a bedchamber or even a small chapel. There may have been a separate second-floor chamber above, lit by a circular window in the gable and warmed by a fireplace. A buttress to support a chimney stack survives on the outer face of the east wall.

The ground floor must have been divided into two chambers, perhaps for servants or storage. A combination of external timber stairs (on the west and south walls) and one internal wall stair (in the north-east corner) provided access to the various rooms.

Features such as the elaborate Norman arch over the first-floor end window suggest a date in the second half of the 12th century, but it is difficult to work out which Earl of Devon carried out these works. The early deaths of two earls during this time led to prolonged ‘minorities’ – during which the young earls were unlikely to carry out building projects. This makes the most likely builders and dates to have been either Baldwin, 3rd Earl of Devon, in the 1180s or William, the 5th Earl, in the 1190s.

A two-storey garderobe (lavatory) block was added on the east side of the building in the 13th century, discharging directly into the mill stream and moat.

Lords, ladies and constables

For the de Redvers earls of Devon, Christchurch was a stopping-off point between their main home at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight and their Devon lands at Plympton and Tiverton. There are few records of these family visits but in the early 1150s, for example, Baldwin, 1st Earl of Devon, stayed at the castle and issued a charter granting privileges to the townspeople.

In the 13th century Isabella de Fortibus was the last member of the de Redvers family to hold the Earldom of Devon. Widowed in 1260 on the death of her husband, William de Fortibus (or Forz), she became Countess of Devon in her own right on the death of her brother, Baldwin, Earl of Devon, in 1262. She held the family lands in Christchurch, Carisbrooke and Devon until her death in 1293, when Edward I acquired some of her lands, including Christchurch. As a donor to Christchurch Priory she certainly visited and stayed at the castle.

But the usual occupants of the castle were the stewards or constables who looked after it while the lord and lady were elsewhere. The late 12th-century chamber block (the Norman House) became known as the Constable’s House – it was no longer associated with the lord of the castle but the steward or constable who ran it from day to day. These stewards managed the castle over the following centuries, as the lordship of Christchurch passed from the de Redvers to Edward I and then to other aristocrats such as Richard Neville (1428–71), Earl of Warwick.

Restoring the ruins

By the late 18th century the castle was an urban garden with a bowling green and medieval ruins, much as it is today. In addition to the roofless Norman House and the keep, a few buildings including a brewhouse and a stable survived between Castle Street and the bowling green. One of these was probably the medieval gatehouse leading into the bailey.

By the 19th century the ruined Norman House and keep were covered in ivy. The Office of Works, a predecessor of English Heritage, surveyed the Norman House in 1906 and the building was brought into state guardianship in 1946, with ivy removal and conservation works taking place over the following five years. The keep and motte were taken into state guardianship slightly later, in 1954, with conservation works taking place in 1957.

English Heritage has looked after the Norman House and castle keep since 1984.