Introduction
In this lesson I present some of my findings from my research about castles in Great Britain and their changing role.
The lesson will take 30 minutes.
At the end of this lesson, students:
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are familiar with the definition of “castle”
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know what a surviving castle is according to my research
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Are familiar with the present day functions of castles in Great Britain
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know what to look for when trying to determine whether a castle is a medieval surviving castle
Drawing based on St Michael's Mount (in Cornwall)
In class
I class we will discuss the definition of the word "castle," the definition of a surviving castle and the characteristics of different time periods with regard to castles.
Here you can find the presentation used in class: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BEf1_-SaZQk7d0cpL1Z4Rugkwq9jTDRXFBZQgyYhzH8/edit?usp=sharing
Exercise: Caernarfon Castle
We are going to watch a short video about Caernarfon Castle.
Please listen closely and answer the following questions:
1) When was the castle built?
2) Why were the curtain walls unique at the time they were built?
3) Which purposes of the castle were mentioned in the video?
4) What is the difference between how people viewed the castle in the Middle Ages and how people view it today?
5) Would you consider this castle a surviving medieval castle or not? Why?
Castle building through the ages
This text is taken from my research "Castles in Great Britain."
You can read it as a reference while doing the homework assignment or to deepen your understanding of the subject.
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An English castle around 1150 would most probably be enclosed, have few towers, a keep, a gatehouse and no arrow slits. The enclosure would be irregular or curvilinear. A castle built in or after 1200 would have arrow slits. In fact, all levels of the castle could be used for archery whether it would concern habitable floors or rooms or not. Another thing that castles from 1200 onwards did have and earlier castles didn’t is the portcullis or strong iron gate. This type of castle would have been designed into a polygon or a square and its keep would have been polygonal or cylindrical (not square). In some cases the castle would not have a keep, for the costs of the new type of defence would be too high. (King, 1988)
The thirteenth century, especially the period of the great building campaigns of Edward I, is regarded as the most successful period of English castle-building. It is the time of a growing desire for symmetrical castles. They could still have a motte with a tower in this era, with the tower functioning as its keep, according to King (1988). Although not provable, according to Thompson (1987) it is reasonable to assume the building of mottes was discontinued around 1200 unless they were fortified with stone and had become useless by the end of the fourteenth century. (Thompson, 1987)
At the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth more complex towers were on the rise. Round towers on top of a square, rectangular or polygonal base stem from this period. Most towers would be large enough to provide comfortable chambers which could be equipped with a fireplace and a kind of toilet (latrine). Towers were essential to the defence of the castle. (King, 1988) People began adapting castles for the use of gunpowder and a sort of gun from about 1370.
Thirteenth-century castles look like they were primarily built as defences with houses as some sort of afterthought, according to King (1988). Fourteenth-century castles with their defences and internal buildings, on the other hand, seem to be a planned whole. They were usually built on low and level ground. In the south of England castles were typically built by the head of an emerging family and in the north castles were usually built by established nobles. Moats became an important part of castle's defences in this century and continued to be used in the fifteenth century.
In the fifteenth century castles in England were on the decline. The scale at which new castles were built was much smaller and their quality was less. Fifteenth-century castles looked a lot like castles from the previous century; architects didn't experiment as much and the castle did not really evolve, except for the greater use of machicolations. (King, 1988) According to the page on castle architecture in the online version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (Britannica, Castle Architecture, n.d.) machicolations were openings in roofs of passages, walls or gates through which missiles could be dropped, thrown or shot.
Homework
To do
- Find a medieval castle in England, Wales or Scotland that should be classifiable as a surviving castle.
- Give 2 or more arguments why you classify this as a surviving castle.
- Describe the history and current use of the castle you chose.
- Use at least two different sources and mention them.
Form
You can choose how to present your homework assignment. You can hand this in, in one of the following forms: written document, website, video
Tip
These are a few examples of websites you can use:
http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/
http://www.britainirelandcastles.com/
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
http://cadw.gov.wales/?skip=1&lang=en
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/
