Historians on Tour - St John's Castle

While on a canal boat trip through Odiham we found St John's Castle. It was a surprise I never expected and while the boat turned round we were given the chance to have a wander round the Castle, of course we were the first ones off the boat and wandering around. Even though the Castle is now a ruin it still contains a fair bit of history. Before we got to the Castle I tried to read up a little bit about the Castle's history so I roughly knew what to expect. Also seeing that I made a blog about our trip to Runnymede and the site where the Magna Carta was signed, I felt it was only fair that I had to write something about this Castle. 

Being the first ones off the boat meant that we were able to get round part of the Castle on our own and take a few pictures without anyone in the way. Only the keep of the Castle remains but it is still a huge site to see. We walked anti-clockwise round the outside of the Castle and found one of the information boards that showed a picture of what the remaining part of the Castle would have looked like, it was nice trying to line this up with my eyes so the ruins lined up with the picture. It was at this point that others from the boat started to walk towards us. 

We carried on walking around and found that there was an entrance way on the other side from the first information board. Inside there were three more information boards that told more of the history of the Castle and of those people that were connected to it. While looking round the inside of the keep could see where certain parts would have been like the beams that held up the floor as well as fireplaces, windows and doors. Even though there was bound to have been a staircase somewhere within the wall, it was hard to determine where they would have been placed as there were no signs to show their positions. While standing in places like this I like to shut my eyes for a few moments to try and picture what it would have looked like back when it was fully furnished and at its peak in history. 

We left the inside of the Castle and walked round the rest of the outside of the keep and noticed that a fair bit of it was overgrown and just left to ruin. It makes you wonder what is still to be discovered under all the foliage and where exactly certain parts of the Castle would have been. By the time we had walked all the way round and gained the pictures and information we needed it was time to get back on the boat. While it was fresh in my mind I started writing part of this blog on the boat as we went back to the starting point. I also found a little booklet about the Castle while on the boat and thought it would be useful to help me write parts of this blog. 

History 

Odiham Castle or St John's Castle was built on land that had been acquired by Robert the Parker, a local lord. He made adjustments to the river bank that surrounded the land meaning that he acquired more land so that a bigger Castle or lodging could be built.

The Castle would have taken about three years to build and complete and would have consisted of a basement and two upper floors, along with an inner moat, outer moat and two baileys. The basement can no longer be determined due to modern day disturbances. It's estimated that work started on the build in 1207 and possibly ended around 1214, this would have cost around £1,000 or £1,861,500 in today's money.

In 1215 it is believed that King John rode from St John's to Runnymede to meet with the barons to sign the Magna Carta with his seal. A year later the Castle was held under siege during the First Barons War, the siege lasted for two weeks and eventually the garrison of thirteen men surrendered to the French on the 9th July 1216. Over the next few years renovation work was carried out on the keep. It's also possible that it's at this time the mound the keep sat on was raised by five meters and an inner moat was added to the defences, but this may have already been in place before the siege took place in 1216.

In 1236, Odiham Castle had been newly renovated and restored, it was then granted to King John's daughter Eleanor, widow of the Earl of Pembroke, by her brother King Henry III. Eleanor was only twenty one years old and two years later she would marry Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. Simon carried out extensive improvements on the Castle, including a hall that was added to the North East corner of the current keep, as well as a kitchen over the inner moat. There was also another building built over the moat on the South Eastern side of the keep which was used as accommodation.

In 1256 Simon de Montfort rebelled against King Henry and lost his life in the Battle of Eversham. This caused his wife, Eleanor, to become exiled in France and Odiham Castle handed back to the King, who took great interest in the castle. King Edward soon added more weapons and would often stay at Odiham including Yuletide in 1302. Many years later the Castle also played a part in the rebellion that was orchestrated by the Despenser family against Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabella of France, wife of King Edward II. The estate surrounding the Castle known as Odiham Manor, which pre-dates the Castle, is believed to have held Parliament at least once in 1303. King David II of Scotland was held at Odiham Castle in 1346 after he was captured at the Battle of Neville's Cross. He remained at the Castle for eleven years under a light guard and was allowed to keep parts of his household. 

The Castle seemed to be used as a prison during much of both the thirteen and fourteenth century, any offender would have been expected to pass through the doors at Odiham. The local tenants of the Manor of Greywell were required to send guards every third night to watch over the prisoners held at the Castle. In the fifteen century the Castle was used mostly as a hunting lodge and by 1605 it has fallen into disrepair and ruin. In 1792 the Basingstoke Canal was built round the Southern corner of the bailey. 

The Castle Building

Odiham would have been a lavish Castle that would have been used as an important residence for the King whenever he wanted to visit. It was the only castle in England to have an octagonal keep and an inner moat that was seventeen feet wide and ten feet deep. With the steep bank on either side it would have proven a daunting obstacle for anybody that was looking to attack. The outer moat of the Castle is believed to have been around thirty feet wide and would have been crossed by a wooden bridge to the bailey. From the moment the moat was put in place it would have been full of fish that would have been useful for the diet at the time. Recent archaeological digs have found that there is no evidence of out-buildings, just the remains of fires that could have been made by the guards that were stationed at the castle. The out-houses that would have been expected at a Castle during this time may have been situated by the outer bailey. 

After the Castle was gifted to Eleanor and she remarried, improvements were made to the castle on the orders of Simon de Montfort. A new hall was added to the north-east corner of the keep and a kitchen that was suspended like a bridge over the inner moat that connected by passage to the hall. When Eleanor and Simon would have been in residence at Odiham the outer walls would have been around ten feet thick and would have been made of small ashlar blocks of stone. They would have also been whitewashed as was common with other castles at the time. Many of these blocks were possibly plundered when the Castle fell into ruin during the 1600's. While they were in residence Eleanor and Simon held many family gatherings, the last of which took place between March and April 1265. 

The interior of the castle would have been made up of a basement and two upper levels. The basement can no longer be determined due to the rise in the floor level in modern times. But it can be estimated that it would have been lower than the current floor lever and would have been used mostly as a store for food and wine as well as being used as a goal. Just like the outer walls of the Castle, the inner walls would have been made up of the same ashlar blocks. Odiham would have been a hub and would have seen many offenders being imprisoned within its walls. There would have been an opening at the south end of the south-western wall of the basement that would have had a stair-well, but evidence found in 1840 shows that a spiral stair-case would have been in the centre of the floor.

The two upper floors can easily be seen due to the recesses of where the floor boards would have been. The beams would have been radiating and not parallel which would have rested on a central post around a possible central stair-case. The first floor would have been about fifteen feet high with a grand fireplace on the south side of the room. On either side of the fireplace there would have been two large windows that may have been fitted with window seats as was the fashion of the time. All the windows would possibly have been glazed with stained glass and had painted wooden shutters on the inside. On the opposite side of the room there would have been a large recess that would have been used as a form of storage. The interior walls of the Castle would have been rendered in plaster except for around the door and the windows. As was the fashion of the time the plastered walls would have then been painted or decorated with shapes or floral patterns that would have come from history or from the Bible. 

This floor is thought to have been sectioned off into more than one room. One was possibly used as an audience chamber by the monarch, while others would have been used as bedrooms for the Lord and Lady when they were staying at the Castle. More accommodation would have been part of an extension that was placed on the east side of the keep. Many of the placements and furnishings inside the Castle wouldn't have been permanent and would have been moved from place to place whenever the Lord and Lady were in residence. The walls would have carried tapestries as well as a heavy table in the great hall where the Lord would have carried out his work. The floor would have been covered in rushes as a way to absorb dirt and dust, evidence from 1265 backs this up. The main entrance of the castle would have been on the east face just to the left of the large recess. It would have been reached by an outside staircase that had an enclosed porch. The shape of the stairs can still be seen on the exterior walls of the Castle today. A spiral staircase would have been on the north side of the south-east side which would have led to a short landing. The door would have had a draw-bar that can also still be seen to this day. There was possibly another entrance on the west side of the castle, but no evidence has been found to back this up.

The upper floor would have been around eighteen feet high and would have had another fireplace. The windows on this floor would have been in pairs, two on each wall. Again the floor may have been sectioned off for use by the Lord and Lady to use. There was also a small chapel that would have been used by the Lord and Lady when they were in residence. Documents prove that a chapel was in place from 1234, when the walls were whitewashed, fitted with an altar and had a painted panel of John the Baptist. Battlements were placed on the top of the tower on the orders of Henry III, none of these remain but would have been supported by carved stone. There would have been walkways and stairwells around the battlements that would have led to other parts of the castle including the basement. There are no remains of the kitchen, great hall or the chamber that was added to the east side. There would have been bridges around the Castle that would have also led over the Castle, evidence of some of these have been found by archaeologists. Inside the keep there may have been garderobes or lavatories, but it can't be known where exactly these were situated, but they would have been placed into the exterior walls of the castle so waste could fall directly into the moat. 

The first floor of the keep would have been restored and would have been fitted with a portable throne for whenever the King was in residence. Other restorations were made to the Castle by King Edward, this included the demolition of the chamber that had been built over the east side of the inner moat and was replaced with a much more lavish structure. These alterations were made for the use of Eleanor of Castile when Odiham was gifted to her. A new kitchen was also added in place of the old one as well as a few other rooms being renovated and restored. Edward had the moat cleared out and then parts filled in, this might have been ready for an extension to be made for more accommodation. Much of the waste that was removed from the moat was used on the land that surrounded the Castle. King Edward I gifted Odiham to his grandson Edward III and his wife Philippa of Hainault, who made more repairs to the castle. Philippa had a garden added just for her that led to the park. Odiham remained as a royal residence and fortress up until the 1440's. It then started to fall into disrepair and the inner moat was filled in, at the same time the outer bank was levelled out and planted with trees. 

Odiham remained a royal manor till the reign of King James I, at this point the Castle was abandoned and was never mentioned again. In 1792 the Basingstoke Canal was cut directly through the bailey without any consideration. Further archaeological excavations made in the 1980's many mysteries that surround Odiham have been discovered. Even though only a little bit of the site has been examined so far, there is hope that future examinations can be carried out to help answer more questions that surround the Castle. 

References - 

For some of the information used in the building section, I used a little booklet that I found, unfortunately I can't find the name of the publication or the person who wrote it. The picture below is also from the booklet. Please feel free to comment if you know the publication so I can properly reference it.