Well I had been looking forward to Friday 26th June for quite some time, having discovered a few months ago it was National Cream Tea day... like we need an excuse to devour delicious scones. It was also my birthday and I knew Chloe was arranging a special surprise. I was very much hoping this surprise would involve a castle, and was pleased when I discovered it did.
A trip to Portchester castle was on the agenda, how delightful! The castle is based in Hampshire near Portsmouth and Chichester. We haven't done many castles in Hampshire, and we've been missing a trick because there are loads.
I decided to get the train down and take the opportunity to start my new book, The Island by Victoria Hislop, which I'm reading as part of my book-club. So it was quite a leisurely journey. I met Chloe at Havant train station, though she was a little late thanks to activity taking place at Goodwood causing a huge traffic jam, blooming Goodwood. Anyway, once she arrived I hopped in and we headed to Portchester castle.
You could see the castle on the approach, across the sea. It was very majestic and clearly well positioned to fight off enemies approaching from the water.
We parked in the small car park by the gatehouse (which was free) and headed inside.
There is also a church and little tea room in the middle of the first bit of the castle (more on these later).
We decided to head for the main castle ruin and tower to start our day. This is the bit you have to pay for (Chloe treated me as it was a birthday present, but I give you the price at the end) and it was well worth the money. You walk through a sweet little gift shop, and get the tickets here.
The interior castle is surrounded by ruined arches and window frames, towers and segments of the castle where slaves were kept. There was lots to read about these parts of the castle, and a free audio guide you could obtain from reception.
There was a Roman Saxon shore fort built on the site in the 3rd century, and the castle itself followed in the 11th century. For a long time it was run by the Royals, and apparently King John used to hunt there. It can get very confusing with all the Kings being called Henry and John, so I'm not exactly sure which King John. I assume not the one that Robin Hood fought off...
Portchester castle is managed by English Heritage and they're doing a great job as it was in pretty good condition considering. I am always amazed how archways and window frames manage to hold their shape after all these years.
We then went into the main tower, which was huge with lots of things to read about the lives of the castle. It seemed to have been everything, a prison, a hunting fort, a house, a palace.
A few levels up we came across this wall which had fragments of red paint and writing. The information board told us that this was a mural which had been restored recently where teams of people stuck the flecks of paint back on. We couldn't really work out what it was, but clearly a lot of hard work had gone into it.
Once at the top of the tower we went out on to the roof and wandered round. It was a little scary as the walkway isn't very wide, but the views were incredible and well worth it.
On our descent we decided to take the spiral staircase which took us down a narrow tower.
I won't lie, it was a little precarious. But there was a handy rope that went all the way down which we clung on to for dear life.
To keep our spirits up on the way down, Chloe recreated the famous 'terrified dungeon' pose first displayed when we visited the London dungeon and were both scared out of our skin! Anyway, her recreation always makes me chuckle.... as a result I almost lost my balance and tumbled to my demise.
Next we decided to exit the old part of the castle and head back into the bit in the middle - inside the outer wall but outside the inner wall....
We wandered down to the far exit which overlooked the sea and harbour area. It was all very relaxing and we walked round the right hand side of the wall. A really calm and beautiful setting.
After our seaside jaunt we headed back into the castle and explored the sweet little church that sits inside the grounds. It's a functioning church and there was an event earlier in the day.
With it being National Cream tea day, I had to have a scone. I had also committed, in advance, to having one half jam first, and the other cream first to decide once and for all how I prefer my scones. I always acknowledge that I think cream first look prettier, but I normally eat mine jam first.
Portchester castle had a delightful little team room next to the church within the castle walls, so we headed there. Luckily for us there were two scones left. Perfect. I set up the experiment and then tasted each one in turn.
Drum roll please, the results are in! To be honest with you, they both tasted almost identical. Others may say differently, but I speak the truth. Though I acknowledge that a cream base with a red hint on top looks more appealing, i genuinely believe that jam was made to be spread and cream is more capable of being dollopped. So I will continue to have my scones jam first going forward.
Once the scone was devoured, we decided it was probably time to head home (sob sob) so headed for the car/train, but not before calling in on Chloe's grandparents (who conveniently live nearby) who served me a slice of birthday cake.
Cost: It was £6 each to go into the inner part of the castle, which I would say was well worth it for the tower alone, but there were other bits to explore, and an exhibition to look at.
Hints and tips: If you don't want to pay to go into the interior castle, you can have a really nice day out having a picnic in the outer part, walking along the harbour and devouring a slice of cake in the tiny cafe. I also wouldn't climb up or down the spiral staircase if you have any health issues, as it was quite narrow and quite a lot of steps. Go up the wooden steps in the tower instead.
Turret score: There weren't really any turrets to speak of so I will have to say N/A. However the tower was excellent.
Want to know why we visited Portchester castle? Check out my first blog.
