Qualla: Portchester Castle https://qualla.com/portchester-castle en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:21 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/portchester-castle-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Portchester Castle https://qualla.com/portchester-castle Portchester Castle: Introduction https://qualla.com/portchester-castle/ Photo credit Matthew Folley from UK, CC BY 2.0. When Elizabeth I arrived at Portchester Castle on 30 August 1591, the floors of the state chambers were so rotten she had to eat dinner in the keeper's bedchamber, freshened not with her customary perfumes but with rue and hyssop. The indignity was fitting for a fortress that had already endured 1,300 years of use and abuse -- from Roman fleet base to Norman stronghold, from royal embarkation port to Napoleonic prison. Portchester's walls have held more of England's story than almost any other single structure.

Read more: Portchester Castle on Qualla

Image: Matthew Folley from UK | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/portchester-castle-wp/gcp1-portchester-castle-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Portchester Castle: Roman Walls, Saxon Kings https://qualla.com/portchester-castle/ Photo credit Steve Daniels, CC BY-SA 2.0. The outer walls of Portchester Castle are Roman. Built between 285 and 290 AD, probably by Marcus Aurelius Carausius on the orders of Emperor Diocletian, the fort was one of several Saxon Shore installations designed to combat pirate raids along the British coast. It likely serve...

Read more: Portchester Castle on Qualla

Image: Steve Daniels | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/portchester-castle-wp/gcp1-portchester-castle-roman-walls-saxon-kings.mp3 0:06 2 full Portchester Castle: The Shakespeare Connection https://qualla.com/portchester-castle/ Photo credit Basher Eyre, CC BY-SA 2.0. After the Norman Conquest, a medieval castle was built within the Roman walls, eventually passing to royal control under Henry II in 1154. King John favored Portchester as a hunting lodge, and the French captured it briefly in 1216 during their intervention in the First Barons' W...

Read more: Portchester Castle on Qualla

Image: Basher Eyre | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/portchester-castle-wp/gcp1-portchester-castle-the-shakespeare-connection.mp3 0:06 3 full Portchester Castle: Prison and Decline https://qualla.com/portchester-castle/ Photo credit Kő Cloch, CC BY-SA 4.0. By the 15th century, nearby Portsmouth had eclipsed Portchester as a port and military center. A survey from 1441 described the castle as "right ruinous and feeble." It lingered through centuries of sporadic repair and neglect, used variously as a military hospital during conflic...

Read more: Portchester Castle on Qualla

Image: Kő Cloch | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/portchester-castle-wp/gcp1-portchester-castle-prison-and-decline.mp3 0:06 4 full Portchester Castle: Seventeen Centuries and Counting https://qualla.com/portchester-castle/ Photo credit user:geni, CC BY-SA 4.0. Today Portchester Castle is managed by English Heritage, its Norman church of St Mary still standing in the southeast corner of the Roman walls -- an active place of worship within the Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth. The inner castle accommodates displays and exhibits, while the ...

Read more: Portchester Castle on Qualla

Image: user:geni | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/1/portchester-castle-wp/gcp1-portchester-castle-seventeen-centuries-and-counting.mp3 0:06 5 full