Bishop Gundulf of Rochester built the present castle between 1087 and 1089 for William Rufus, at a cost of about 60 pounds against an estimate of 40. William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury, built the keep from about 1127, finishing it before 1141. The keep is Romanesque, of Kentish Ragstone faced with Caen stone.
It is square, about 70 feet (21 m) on each side, with walls 12 feet (3.7 m) thick at the base. The infobox gives its height as 113 feet (34 m), and the text gives 125 feet (38 m) to the tops of the turrets. Mining brought down its south-east corner in the siege of 1215.
Rochester Corporation leased the castle in 1870 and opened it as a park in 1872. English Heritage took guardianship in 1984. It is open to the public, but access to the keep is restricted because of its condition.
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