These early castles were mainly of motte and bailey type. These timber castles were quite cheap and very quick to build. However, the timber castles did have disadvantages. They were very vulnerable to attacks using fire and the wood would eventually start to rot. Due to these disadvantages, King William ordered that castles should be built in stone. Many of the original timber castles were replaced with stone castles. Over time, stone castles were built in different architectural styles as builders experimented with castle-building techniques.
In their infancy, castles were primarily military fortifications used to defend conquered territories from attack. The strategic location of the castle was paramount.
However, once the Normans began to consolidate their control over England, castles began to take on a variety of different roles. Castles could serve as a centre for local government, administration and justice. They were also used by powerful lords to display their wealth and power through lavish architectural styles and decoration. Castles were not only built and used by the crown. In fact, the majority of castles were granted by the king to his loyal lords and nobles along with large areas of land.
In return for these grants, the king expected his nobles to control and administer these lands on his behalf. The castle itself also represented a whole group of people who contributed to its function from constables, masons, blacksmiths and servants to name a few.
Use this lesson with original documents to find out more about the role of Framlingham, Portchester, Stokesay, Berwick, Alnwick, and Pevensey castles in medieval society. The purpose of this enquiry is to allow students to explore documents relating to the general function of castles. Long, streaming flags called banners showed the symbol of the lord of the castle. The way signs and symbols were used to identify noble families and knights in medieval times is called heraldry.
The castle had vegetable gardens and orchards, and sometimes these were inside the castle walls. Some animals were kept close to the castle kitchens to provide fresh meat. The lord and his family had private rooms in the highest, lightest, and most comfortable part of the castle, known as the solar.
They then drive a line of holes into the stone and then pound corners into the holes, which makes shock waves go through the stone and break it. Workers use horse-drawn wagons to haul the stones from the quarry to the building site. Stone masons then chisel the raw stone into blocks.
Workers use man-powered cranes to lift the finished stones to the scaffolding on the castle wall. Other workers make mortar on the site from lime, soil and water. The masons on the wall fit the stones together and use the mortar to hold the blocks together. Workers use traditional tools to measure and lay out castle pieces.
For example, craftsmen use a long rope with knots placed every meter to measure wood beams and layout pieces. They also use wooden right angles and calipers for measurements.
They use a wooden triangle with a line and plumb bob suspended from one angle as a level when placing stones. Castle-building was a luxury that very few members of the nobility could afford. The progression from the motte and bailey design to stone was an expensive one. While the wooden structures of the former were cheap, swift and easy-to-build, the latter involved having to pay for stonemasons, expensive stone, transportation, mining and a larger construction force. Once a stone castle was built, its owner would then have to spend a vast sum on furnishing and decorating it.
The interior walls were usually plastered and painted, often with elaborate frescos and bright, expensive colours. Inside the garderobe was a toilet hole through which people released waste into a shoot. This shoot then fell into the moat surrounding the castle. Clothes were kept close to the toilet in a bid to prevent insects from damaging them — the idea being that the odour would act as a deterrant.
The garderobe at Peveril Castle in Derbyshire, as seen from the outside. It is true that one unpleasant way of breaking into a castle was by crawling through the waste shoot and into the garderobe.
The most famous example of this allegedly took place during the siege of Chateau Gaillard in According to legend, two soldiers climbed up the latrine chute and into the castle where they set light to the chapel.
A constant feature in the design of medieval castles was that staircases were built in a spiralling form and always turned clockwise. If incoming attackers were able to infiltrate a castle then the majority would struggle to use their sword arms as they ascended any staircase. Of course, this would have no impact on any soldier who wielded a sword in his left hand.
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