Oxford Castle & Prison
Norman castle (1071) and former Victorian prison — the medieval mound, St George's Tower, and 1,000 years of overlapping use.
The 18-metre St George's Tower (the white square tower) is the oldest surviving building in Oxford — c. 1074. The mound (motte) gives a panoramic view in 5 minutes' climb. The Malmaison hotel next door is the converted Victorian prison; you can have a drink in the bar without booking a tour.
Oxford Castle was built in 1071 by Robert D'Oyly the Elder, a Norman baron who arrived with William the Conqueror, on the site of an earlier Saxon stronghold defending the river crossing at the western edge of the town. The original castle was a typical motte-and-bailey: an earth mound topped by a wooden keep (long gone), surrounded by a defensive ditch and walled enclosure.
Two structures from the Norman castle survive: the steep grass-covered mound, and the 18-metre St George's Tower, built around 1074, which is the oldest standing building in Oxford. The mound is open to climb. By the medieval period the castle had become more administrative than military, and from the 18th century onwards it was used primarily as a county gaol — Oxford Prison — until its closure in 1996.
The Victorian prison buildings have since been converted into the Malmaison hotel, restaurants, and the Oxford Castle & Prison visitor attraction, which runs guided tours covering the Norman castle, the medieval crypt, and the prison cells.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
