William le Gros, Count of Aumale, built a wooden fortification here in 1138, though the infobox credits him with the castle as a whole. Henry II rebuilt it in stone from about 1157. The three-storey keep followed between 1159 and 1169, with walls 11 to 15 feet (3.4 to 4.6 m) thick. The article gives the keep's height as 49 feet (15 m) in the infobox but 86 feet (26 m) in the text. King John built the west and south curtain walls from 1202 to 1212.
The castle stands on cliffs about 300 feet (91 m) high. Piers Gaveston was held here in 1312, and the five-month siege of 1645 ended in surrender.
German naval bombardment damaged it in 1914, and it served as a secret listening post in the Second World War. English Heritage has managed it since 1984.
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