Three Different Castles.

[A.W.U.K.]

Does anyone like castles? I've been to three recently, see what you think.

Firstly, Warwick Castle. A hugely sucessful tourist operation managed by the Tussauds Group of waxworks fame. The Greville family, holders of the title Earl of Warwick sold the building in 1978.
The castle was first built in 1088, 22 years after the Norman Conquest and consisted of the usual earth bank and timber palisade, with a tall earth motte or mound at one end surmounted by a timber tower. The castle was constructed within the Anglo-Saxon fortified town or Burgh of Warwick and a number of tenements were demolished to make way for it.
In the 12th century the timber walls were replaced in stone and many modifications have been made since but the original motte and bailey plan is still evident.

In the 18th century, Capability Brown was employed to improve and landscape the gardens, which process involved removing a third of the remaining town of Warwick.

The castle was built in the highest part of Warwick, on an 80 foot high cliff over the river Avon. The lowest row of windows you can see are actually the undercroft or Basement. Over the centuries, the cliff itself has had to be revetted in stone due to erosion.
At the foot of the castle is the castle mill and just in front of that are the remains of the medieval bridge, which was decommissioned under Capability Brown. Photo taken from the current bridge.

The east front of the castle. The two corner towers and the centre gatehouse/barbican complex were constructed in the 14th century and represent the pinnacle of pre-gunpowder castle architecture.

Before passing through the gatehouse, one can take a path to the left of Caesar's Tower down to the Castle Mill. There you get a better view of the remains of the medieval bridge.

Mill wheel and weir.

Medieval mill-race. A turbine replaced the wheel on this side of the mill in 1904 in order to provide the castle with electrical light.

The gate passage and barbican from inside the gate tower. The barbican is a killing ground where an attacking force can be trapped between two portcullisses and wiped out from the galleries above.
Closer than the nearer portcullis you can see the rebate and hinge pins for the inner gate. Above and between the gate and the portcullis, in the stone vault, are 2 rows of murder holes through which could be rained down missiles, quicklime, etc. on anyone attempting to penetrate the gate. For good measure you could drop the portcullis behind them so they couldn't escape.

The gate tower and Caesar's Tower from the castle courtyard or bailey.

View from the top of Guy's Tower. South Warwickshire beyond the Avon.

View to the ground through a machicolation slot on Guy's Tower. Stones, quicklime, boiling water and even molten lead could be dropped on an enemy through here. Guy's Tower is 128 feet high.

View of Mill Street from Caesar's Tower.

 

[A.W.U.K.]

Wall walk, gate tower and Guy's Tower.

The mill and the weir

"The Kingmaker" exhibition, 15th century firearms.

The Earl of Warwick prepares for the Battle of Barnet, 1471.

Medieval en suite facilities.

The shaft leads down to a sewer flushed by the Avon.

Child armour in the Great Hall - there are only 3 sets in the world. It is expensive and children grow.

Death mask of Oliver Cromwell.

King Henry VIII

 

[A.W.U.K.]

In the Blue Boudoir, a clock that reputedly once belonged to Marie Antoinette. The images represent the Stations of the Cross.

Muskets

Edwardian Weekend Party: Winston Churchill.

Bed of around 1600

Lancelot and Mordred: Part of the Motte is visible behind.

Peacocks in the peacock garden.

The trebuchet: Beginning to wind down the arm.

Ready to shoot.

Loading with a fiery projectile. It's piddling down at this point.

 

[Triton]

Darn it. I can't see these pictures until I get home. (Stupid fire walls) I look forward to it though.

 

[A.W.U.K.]

Away she goes!

A catapult.

Next, to the nearby Kenilworth Castle!
Kenilworth is several times larger and was a far more formidable fortress in it's day than Warwick castle. Consequently the Parliamentary forces under Oliver Cromwell blew up the defences with gunpowder after the civil war. This process was known as slighting and was a fate suffered by many castles.
For most of it's history Kenilworth was a Royal castle. It was first built about 50 years after the Norman conquest in the traditional earth and timber motte and bailey format. Later, in the reign of King John, it was rebuilt in stone and extended. At the same time, the valley was dammed and flooded to create the Great Mere, which formed a water defence together with a wet moat.
In 1253 the castle was granted to Simon de Montfort who later led a Baronial revolt calling for reform. The castle was consequently besieged by the royal army in 1266 in the longest siege in English history. The King's forces failed to take the castle which only surrendered due to hunger and disease.
Queen Elizabeth I granted the castle to her favourite, Robert dudley, Earl of Leicester. He almost bankrupted himself on a massive building programme at the castle where he entertained the Queen on a lavish scale.

The outer curtain wall and the Leicester Building, built to accommodate Elizabeth. Picture taken from the Brays, an outer defence beyond the Great Mere.

The tiltyard dam - built to retain the Great Mere, the top of the dam was used for jousting in the middle ages. The mere was drained after the Civil War.

Inside the outer bailey: The Great Stable, built in the reign of King Henry VIII. The shape of the diagonal braces represents the ragged staff in the badge of Warwick.

A formal garden. The stone balls are actually trebuchet balls from the Great Siege of 1266.

Inside the keep. The Walls here are 20 feet thick. The right-hand wall was blown up after the civil war. The keep actually covers and encases the old earth motte so although this is the undercroft, it is about 20 feet above the surrounding ground. Upstairs can be seen the modifications made in the reign of Elizabeth: Larger windows and fireplaces.

This is a ventilation slot in the undercroft. Not an arrow loop! The slot is parallel-sided and does not allow for traverse.

The well shaft. The well was accessible from above too.

The castle was first converted to a grand palace by John of Gaunt in the late 14th century. This is his kitchen building. Beyond is the keep.

 

[A.W.U.K.]

During the Napoleonic Wars, the well-off British could no longer go on the Grand Tour, as continental Europe was closed to them. Consequently they began to explore the ancient ruins closer to home, an activity that has remained popular ever since. The soft sandstone of the castle is covered in grafitti.

The remains of Queen Elizabeth's bedroom in the Leicester Building.

A garderobe (latrine) shaft from the pit below. There was seating on 2 floor levels, each with 2 separate entrances - presumably male and female. This work is in John of Gaunt's palace.

Lord Leicester's Gatehouse with Castle Green beyond. There was a section of curtain wall here, removed after the civil war. The King's Trebuchets were placed on the green during the great siege.

Lunn's Tower and Castle Green.

Finally, north up into Derbyshire to Peveril Castle. This castle seems to have been an early all-stone castle and retains much Norman work, especially the keep. It has always been a royal castle and seems to have been built as a hunting base. Long after most of the castle fell into disrepair the keep was maintained and used as a courtroom.

Peveril Castle from Castleton. Yes, it's raining.

A model of the castle as it was. Note the gorge on the right and the bridge over the gap to the small outer bailey. The main part of the castle is approximately triangular.

A tower on the north wall facing the town. This tower is Norman, as shown by the shallow pilaster buttresses.

The remains of the town gate. This was a small postern gate only accessible on foot or horseback. The main gate was on the opposite side, next to the castle.

View across the bailey to the keep.

 

[A.W.U.K.]

The route up from the town is steep but the other two sides are practically vertical. The south side.

Looking south west.

The keep. Much of the smooth limestone facing stone has been stripped off for reuse elsewhere but more remains on the south side. The keep is a typical example of the style of a Norman keep but is much smaller than most. It was already in existence by the time of Henry II in 1176.

Inside the keep: A Norman Garderobe.

The garderobe window. Norman domestic buildings did not have glass in the windows.

Inside the keep, looking up from the undercroft. There is no ground level access to the undercroft, you had to go in through the first floor doorway then descend via a spiral starcase, which also went up to the roof level.
Not only was there no glass in the windows, there was no fireplace either. This chamber was still being used as a courtroom in Tudor times and the building seems to have remained almost entirely unaltered from when it was first built in the 12th century.

Inside the stair turret. Only the lower section survives.

A crack inside the keep has been repaired with re-used stone, including this piece of Norman chevron decoration, perhaps from a chapel.

Japanese tourists lark about in the rain on the remains of a building.

View over Castleton.

 

[A.W.U.K.]

The bridge to the outer bailey crossed this gap.

The bailey.

Vertical drop on the west side. The glow at the bottom is the entrance to Peak Cavern, a cave system open to the public.

A medieval quernstone has been re-used here.

It stopped raining!

The Hope Valley represents a geological divide. On the far (north) side is the Dark Peak, where the underlying rock is Millstone Grit. This side is the White Peak, where the underlying rock is limestone - hence the caverns and the finely finished masonry of the keep.
The left-hand wall here is the castle curtain wall; the right-hand wall is the north wall of the Great Hall.

Fireplace in the Great Hall.

This herringbone masonry indicates early work, perhaps 11th century.

Mam Tor (it means Mother Hill). on the top is the predecessor to Peveril Castle, a prehistoric Hillfort. It was first built in the Bronze Age, about 1500bc and refurbished in the Iron Age, about 500bc.

 

[Grim/Don]

Excellent pictures, excellent history. Thank you for sharing.

 

[UffDa]

Be careful what you post here. Someone in Arizona or Nevada might buy them and move them to Lake Havasu or Las Vegas.

 

[A.W.U.K.]

Be careful what you post here. Someone in Arizona or Nevada might buy them and move them to Lake Havasu or Las Vegas.

I'd be very surprised if they haven't been sold many times already!

 

[rdgarbo]

cool!

 

[LEGION 12]

Always look forward to your pictures hope someday i can see some of those places myself Thanks .

 

[gazz98]

I've always been a big fan of castles. I have several books on the subject. I love the architecture of them. Thanks for the pics.