Vauclair castle, also Vauclerc castle (French: Château Vauclair) was a castle built at La Rochelle,[1] by Henry II of England in the 12th century.
The castle was located in the area defined by the current Place de Verdun (formally called Place du Chateau).[2]
It was incorporated in the fortifications of the city built by William X of Aquitaine, father of Alienor of Aquitaine, in 1130.
The castle consisted in four large towers connected by high walls. It was destroyed at the request of Charles V of France between 1372 and 1375, after the Siege of La Rochelle (1372), and its stones were used to build a new fortification wall at Le Gabut.[3]
The name Vauclair comes from the Latin valde clarum (greatly light, luminous or white), as it was built in the white calcerous sandstone of the region.