Cambridge Castle

In 1068, 2 years after Hastings, William the Conqueror built a castle on the hill.

It was part of a series of castles the Normans put up immediately after the conquest and was one of three across the east of England, on the route north to York.

It went up the fast Norman way - an earth mound with a wooden tower on top, raised in weeks rather than years.

The castle then saw real fighting.

The Anarchy, in the 12th century, between Empress Matilda (King Henry I's daughter) and his nephew, Stephen of Blois.

Then the First Barons' War, in the 13th century, when King John refused to abide by Magna Carta and rebel barons invited the French prince Louis to take the throne.

Then the Second Barons' War, also in the 13th century, when Simon de Montfort attempted to force King Henry III to rule through a council rather than his favourites.

Edward I then turned it into a fortress - but it was never quite finished, and by the 15th century it was a ruin and largely irrelevant.

Henry VI ordered that part of its hall be pulled down so that the stone could go into King's College and Trinity's chapel - so a good deal of the Castle is still present, but distributed across the walls of the colleges.

Fun fact : the mound is still there and open to the public.

In a city as flat as Cambridge, it remains one of the few places people can climb to look out over the colleges and rooftops - and is especially popular during Bonfire Night and the May Ball fireworks in June.