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Englesqueville-la-Percée
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Founded: 12th centuryCategory: Ruins in France
Historical period: Birth of Capetian dynasty (France)
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Château de Beaumont-le-Richard is named after Richard du Hommet (1115-1180), who built the castle. With the decline of the seigniory, the castle was replaced by a farm, which functioned up until World War II. Today everything but the chapel is in ruins. The private chapel was dedicated in 1640 and other farm buildings were built in the 17th and 18th centuries. The castle and the surrounding terrain is private property, but it can be viewed from the public road.
References:Built around AD 90 to entertain the legionaries stationed at the fort of Caerleon (Isca), the impressive amphitheatre was the Roman equivalent of today’s multiplex cinema. Wooden benches provided seating for up to 6,000 spectators, who would gather to watch bloodthirsty displays featuring gladiatorial combat and exotic wild animals.
Long after the Romans left, the amphitheatre took on a new life in Arthurian legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth, the somewhat imaginative 12th-century scholar, wrote in his History of the Kings of Britain that Arthur was crowned in Caerleon and that the ruined amphitheatre was actually the remains of King Arthur’s Round Table.
Today it is the most complete Roman amphitheatre in Britain.