*In 1601, Queen Elizabeth I, perhaps England's best queen ever, was entertained at the Castle. (I briefly wrote about Elizabeth I in my article titled "Westminster Abbey II.")

During the Civil War of the mid-16th, the castle was used to house dragoons & 4,000 horses in 1644, but no action took place here unlike in the other, smaller castle [forts] nearby.

Repeatedly during the late 17th & early 18th centuries, Portchester was used to house prisoners of war & this role came to the fore during the Napoleonic Wars in the late 18th & early 19th century.

By 1810, 7,000 men were held & cramped here, guarded by regiments of local militia. Barrack blocks were built and the Keep was divided up into numerous floors, with even a theatre.

By May 1814, all the French prisoners had gone, the barracks were demolished and the castle gradually fell into disrepair.