Odiham Castle

In 1215 it was from either Odiham or Windsor that King John rode out to Runnymede, where he met the barons and attached his seal to Magna Carta. A year later Odiham Castle was captured by the French after a two-week siege during the First Barons' War in 1216. It has been suggested that at the same time the mound on which the keep sat was raised by 5 metres and an inner moat surrounding the keep was added to the defences. However, the inner moat was likely in place prior to the siege. In 1238 Simon de Montfort married King John's daughter Eleanor just two years after she had been granted Odiham by her brother, King Henry III. In the following year a kitchen was added on a bridge over the…

Odiham Castle was built on 20 acre of land acquired from the local lord, Robert the Parker, by modifying a bend in the River Whitewater. The castle, which took seven years to complete, had a three-storey stone keep, an inner round moat and an outer square moat, as well as two moated baileys. There were also raised banking and palisades. Notably, the stronghold also had a domus regis or king's house. Scrolls held by the Public Record Office indicate that total expenditure between the start of work in 1207 and 1214, when work ceased, amounted to £1,000 ().