“We have castles within castles within castles”, says the helpful assistant on the door, proudly.

Originally built around 290 AD by the Romans, the Normans added to the structure with a wooden fort in 1066, with a medieval stone keep within the roman walls added later. A Tudor gun emplacement was added in time for the Spanish Armada, and finally, in WWII, camouflaged pillboxes were added to the castle to strengthen fortifications along the south cost.

Walking the site, the Roman construction of the outer walls becomes apparent, with their distinctive stripes of red tile. Touching the stonework, the walls practically sing with the history of the place.

Standing on top of the walls and look out over the channel, you can feel the power in the defences, and you can see everything for miles around, especially over the channel. It feels impregnable, and there’s an excitement knowing that you’re walking on the same ground as the Romans and William the Conqueror and his army, even if I usually imagine myself as a peasant staring up at the castle walls from the outside.

Here’s the track: