Skip to Content

Rochester castle commanded an important river crossing. It was besieged by King John after being seized by rebel barons. John’s miners brought down a corner of the keep using the fat of 40 pigs to help burn down the props of their tunnel. (The corner was later rebuilt with a curved not square tower). The keep had a cross wall so rebels retired into the undamaged half but were eventually starved out.

Featured Article

Lord Woolf

Lord Woolf

790 years ago, John,the King of England was having a little local difficulty with his barons. His attempts to defend his extensive dominions across the Channel, including Normandy and a considerable portion of western France, had been a disaster...

Read on...

Recent Articles

See more...

Stay updated

If you would like to keep informed about the work of the Magna Carta Trust and our partners, please sign up to the newsletter below.