Porchester Castle - a medieval castle located south of the market town of Farhema in Hampshire, England. In the III century BC on the site of the castle housed a Roman military settlement, built on the orders of the Emperor Diocletian to protect the British coast from pirate attacks. In the X century Porchester passed into the possession of King Edward the Elder and became a strategic military point of guarding the country from the invasion of the Vikings.

Time of construction of the castle is not known exactly, but presumably it happened at the end of XI century, when William was transferred Porchester DITT, an ally of William the Conqueror. Unknown and original appearance of the castle, but most likely the castle was protected by a wooden fence and a moat and stone walls remaining from the Roman settlement. In the first half of the XII century castle Porchester departed William Pont de l'Arshu and around the same time the castle was rebuilt in stone, as evidenced by the similarity of masonry castle with a laying of the parish church of the Virgin Mary, built on the grounds of the castle in the 1130's respectively. The church was designed for a small Augustinian monastery, but there was no trace of the other monastic buildings.

The first written mention of the castle belongs to 1153, when Henry Plantagenet handed Porchester Castle Henry DITT. However, immediately after his accession to the throne of Henry II, the castle passed into the ownership back to the king. At the beginning of the XIII century the castle served as a hunting residence of the son of Henry - King John. In 1216 the castle was besieged and captured by French troops. In the XIV century the castle was in a pretty poor condition and in 1340-1350 years. by order of King Edward III underwent a small reconstruction and restructuring, and in the years 1396-1399. royal apartments were built for Richard II, from which at the moment were the ruins.

In the XV century Porchester ceased to be a strategically important military objective, and since then began a period of decline, but even during the occupation by British troops Havre (1562-1563 gg.) In the castle a military hospital. By 1609 on the orders of Queen Elizabeth's castle repaired, and since 1632 Porchester Castle ceased to be a royal property.

Since the end of XVII century the castle was used exclusively as a prison where the prisoners were kept during the various wars, including Napoleon. Prisoners Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667 gg.) Kept even in the church, which is due to the burning of rebuilt only after 40 years.

Porchester Castle is now popular among tourists - the castle is a museum, and in the marine waters are found perch and flounder. Rumor has it that there are ghosts in the castle - one of the employees of the museum claimed to have seen the ghost horse, passing through the wall.