Base of the Tower Flashcards
Alright Kings, Queens, Knights, Prisoners…
welcome to Oxford Castle and Prison, my name is Tommy wearing a 17th century Parliamentarian Prisoner of War costume and I will be your tour guide today taking you on a journey, up 101 steps to the top of our Saxon tower, down into our Norman Crypt and along the original prison cells to tell you a story that goes back 1000 years
Given this is…
a historical tour it would probably make a lot of sense to start at the very beginning. Oxford was originally a small Anglo Saxon town called Oxenforde. It was protected by 4 stone towers, one at the North Gate, another at the East Gate, another at the South Gate and another at, you guessed it, the West Gate, which is where we are standing now
You are…
currently in St George’s Tower. This tower is over 1000 years old, and is the oldest Secular Building in Oxford. It was built by the Anglo Saxons to defend the west gate of Oxford from the Vikings. It stood here before the prison, and even before the castle
In 1066,
William the Conqueror, also known as the Duke of Normandy, invaded England and defeated King Harold at the battle of Hastings. William gave Oxford to one of his barons, Robert D’Oilly, and in 1071 the castle was built around this tower. The castle started as a simple motte and bailey, and was constructed using forced saxon slave labor, taking 240 slaves 8 months to build
On top of…
the mound, or motte, stood a 10-sided tower called a keep intended to protect the inhabitants of the castle if it was attacked. The keep was originally wooden but it was rebuilt in stone in 1073, two years after the castle was built. Castles were built for defense and used thick, high walls to keep people out. The walls of this tower are 3 meters thick
But if a castle…
is good for keeping people out, it is also good for keeping people in! By 1216 the castle started to be used as a gaol. In fact, it was first used to lock up the drunken and naughty students of Oxford. As a resident of Oxford, it is safe to say that, unfortunately, their drunk and rowdy behaviour hasn’t changed much since. If only they were locked up for it nowadays, what a peaceful world it would be
From 1216…
right up until 1996, Oxford Castle continued to be used as a working prison. One of the hardest times to be a prisoner was during the Victoria Era, when prisoners were forced to do hard labor as a punishment for their crimes. This acted as a deterrent for others in society
Here at Oxford Castle…
we have the only known surviving example of the effects of a particularly punishing form of hard labor known as the Capstan Wheel. A wheel like this would have normally been found on a ship and was used to raise the anchor, but here it was used to raise water from the Castle Mill Stream to the water tanks high up in the Tower. 16 male prisoners in 8 rows would turn this wheel for 8 hours every day. The solid oak floor boards you can see in front of you have been worn down over the years by the miserable hard labor that took place
Now it is…
time to do some hard labour of our own, climbing up the 101 steps needed to venture up to the very top of St George’s Tower, but don’t worry there is a break in the middle. The doorways are very small so please do mind your heads as you are going up and if you could keep hold of the handrails so then you and the people behind you do not slip down the tower like falling dominoes. If you would prefer not to climb the tower or are unable to do so because you have an under 5 with you then never fear, there is a projector here that shows you a 15 minute video that informs you more about the castle’s vast history. If you would like to follow me so we can make our way up to the top now
