This postern gate or side entrance is all that remains of a once impressive royal residence, Northampton Castle. Medieval kings held parliaments here. In 1164 the trial of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury took place in the castle. After the civil war it was made uninhabitable on the orders of Charles II. Following centuries of neglect the site was cleared in 1879 to make way for Northampton Railway Station. The postern gate was dismantled and rebuilt here in the early 1880s as a monument to the castle.
