Christchurch Castle Ruins

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Christchurch Castle was built in the late 11thC to protect the town's and river access to the interior of Wessex. It was built inside the Saxon fort whose walls were probably used to build the castle mound or motte. The luxurious Contable's Hall was built around 1150. The stone keep, (slighted after 1650), replaced a wooden structure about 1300. The castle saw action in the Anarchy about 1147 and in the Civil War in 1645.