Guest Chamber of King Henry II, Great Tower of Dover Castle, Kent, UK

A view of the Guest Chamber on the first-floor of the Keep, or Great Tower (night view), of Dover Castle after "a major transformation by English Heritage to re-create the splendour of a royal court in the late 12th century" (1):


(Click this Palace Guest Chamber text link to see the largest size)

Entry to this representation of a medieval royal palace is via the Forebuilding and King's Hall on the second-floor. Adjacent to the King's Hall (Great Hall) is the King's Chamber (bedroom, or solar). The Guest Hall is on the floor below the King's Hall, and the Guest Chamber is below the King's Chamber.

Embroidered textiles throughout the four-room complex are by the Royal School of Needlework (RSN).

Above the chest at bottom-left is a bed on top of which lie a patchwork blanket, bolster, and two pillows. Next is the main bed which can be completely enclosed by drawing the hanging curtains along their rail. There are two other beds set against the far wall.

The beds are quite small by modern standards which I immediately put down to the average height being less in the 12th Century than it is today. A 2007 newspaper report, however, suggests otherwise (2):

Guest Hall of King Henry II in the Great Tower of Dover Castle, Kent, UK

A view of the Guest Hall on the first-floor of the Keep, or Great Tower (night view), of Dover Castle after "a major transformation by English Heritage to re-create the splendour of a royal court in the late 12th century" (1):


(Click this Palace Guest Hall text link to see the largest size)

The Guest Hall, or lower hall, is shown being prepared for a feast, although it would have been a multi-purpose room (see below). Leading off this hall are the pantry and the buttery (2).

The Guest Hall backcloth above the 'high table', a powerful reminder to the guests of whose palace they are visiting, shows the mounted King Henry II (Curtmantle), ready for battle in mail, although without helmet so that all might see his face, wearing his crown and holding his sword aloft (3). The backcloth was made by the Royal School of Needlework (RSN):

2009 for the re-presentation of The Great Hall, Dover Castle. Six large pieces were produced in an extremely short timescale including the King’s Hall backcloth; a canopy and tester; the Guest Hall backcloth and a standard and altar frontal. These were completed with the help of volunteers from the RSN Certificate Course (4).

As part of the re-presentation of the Norman Keep, Alexandra Buckle, a junior research fellow in the Music Faculty at Oxford University, was employed by English Heritage as a music consultant for the project (5):

"Henry II was married to Eleanore of Aquitaine, a lifelong patron of the troubadours (composers and performers of Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages, 1100-1350) and someone who is credited with spreading the influence of the troubadours to England. Therefore we hear troubadour music in the Guest Hall, reflecting this." (The female equivalent of a troubadour is a trobairitz)

At other times:

The Keep, or Great Tower, of Dover Castle from the King's Gateway, Kent, UK

The north-western face of Dover Castle's Keep, or Great Tower, with the North Tower on the left and the West Tower on the right:


(Click this Great Tower of Dover Castle text link to see the largest size)

Dover Castle Keep at Night

The 12th Century Norman Keep was built in the 1180s with AD 1180-1185 often being the range quoted.

The length of the sides and height of the corner towers vary, but the Keep is approximately 100 feet square, over 80 feet high, and has walls up to 21 feet thick. It was designed by Henry II’s architect, 'Maurice the Engineer' (or mason; Latin: Ingeniator).

The North Tower and South Tower (or Flag Tower) both have spiral staircases leading from ground level up to the roof; the East Tower and West Tower do not.

To the left of the North Tower, and about two-thirds of its height, is the Forebuilding (main entrance), the largest of the period in England.

The Keep has three floors (ground, first, and second) that now contain a 2010 English Heritage representation of a medieval Royal Palace and Royal Court.

The largest pair of windows - in line with the top of the Forebuilding - are those of the second floor:

The King's Chamber of Henry II in the Great Tower of Dover Castle, Kent, UK

A view of the King's Chamber on the second-floor of the Keep, or Great Tower (night view), of Dover Castle after "a major transformation by English Heritage to re-create the splendour of a royal court in the late 12th century" (1):


(Click this Palace King's Chamber text link to see the largest size)

An explanation for the size of King Henry II's bed was given by Steven Lang (Head Custodian of Dover Castle) at a meeting held in 2010 (2):

The beds seem unusual and are small by today's standards. In Henry's reign people would not lie down to sleep. They were afraid that if they fell asleep and their mouths opened the devil would enter their bodies. With a shorter bed they could sleep in more of a sitting position and this would not happen.

An additional reason given by a Dover Castle English Heritage guide (Keith Ashley-Thomas) is that sleeping sitting up reduced wood smoke inhalation - but only for those who could afford such a luxury at night, of course!

As well as being a bedroom, the King's Chamber is where Henry II could have had private meetings and audiences. It was also known as a "Solar" (3):

The Throne of Henry II in King's Hall, Great Tower of Dover Castle, Kent, UK

A view of the King's Hall on the second-floor of the Keep, or Great Tower (night view), of Dover Castle after "a major transformation by English Heritage to re-create the splendour of a royal court in the late 12th century" (1):


(Click this Palace King's Hall text link to see the largest size)

The middle throne is in blue and gold and stands about 1.5 metres (five feet) tall, while the gold-on-red backcloth is five metres (16 feet) high. Topping the whole thing off is a canopy.

Keith Ashley-Thomas, an English Heritage guide who appears in the original Trebuchet Siege Engine photo (not yet uploaded), said the canopy contains stars of gilded leather and had been made by the Royal School of Needlework. A little research found this entry (2):

2009 for the re-presentation of The Great Hall, Dover Castle. Six large pieces were produced in an extremely short timescale including the King’s Hall backcloth; a canopy and tester; the Guest Hall backcloth and a standard and altar frontal. These were completed with the help of volunteers from the RSN Certificate Course.

On the left of Henry II's throne is a smaller one whose original would have been used principally by Prince John (later King John (Lackland): see the Knights Templar Ruins photo when uploaded) as another son, Prince Richard (later Richard I, Coeur de Lion, or Richard the Lionheart), spent much of his time abroad.

The seat to the right of King Henry II's throne was for Princess Alice of France (or Alys, Countess of the Vexin) who appears to have been more than just the ward of Henry II.