Castles Essays - Castle Architecture, Castle, Great Hall, Keep

Castles Essays - Castle Architecture, Castle, Great Hall, Keep Castles Whether on the mote, inside the walls of the keep, or as a separate building, the living space of a castle were very basic. The hall, was a large one room structure with a loft ceiling, the hall was sometimes on the 1st floor, but sometimes it was raised to the second story for greater security. Early halls were ailed like a church, with rows of wooden posts or stone pillars supporting the timber roof. Windows had wooden shutters held on by an iron bar, but in the 11th and 12th centuries were rarely glazed. By the 13th century a king or great baron might have colored glass in some of his windows. In a ground floor hall the floor was packed dirt, stone or plaster, when the hall was elevated to the upper floor the floor was always timber, supported either by a row of wooden pillars in the basement below, or by stone vaulting. Carpets, also used on walls, tables, and benches, were not used as flooring in England and northwest Europe until the 14th century. Entrance to the hall was in a sidewall near the lowest end of the hall. An outside staircase next to the wall of the keep reached when the hall was on an upper story. The castle family sat on a stage of stone or wood at the upper end of the hall at the other end than the door to keep away from drafts. The lord sat in a huge chair. Everyone else sat on benches. Most dining tables were set on temporary stages that were taken between meals. A permanent table was another sign of wealth. But all tables were covered with white cloths. Candles made of animal fat lighted the hall. The fireplace provided heat throughout the whole castle. What was used instead of a fireplace was the central open pit, used in ground level halls. Square and circular the fire pits were surrounded by stone or tile and sometimes had a back of brick or stone. Smoke rose through a hole in the roof with side openings that were covered with sloped boards not letting in rain or snow, the hole could be closed by pulling strings. A fire cover made of tile was placed over the fire pit at night to reduce the chance of a fire. Kitchen In the 13th century the castle kitchen was made of timber, with a central pit or several fireplaces where meat could be cooked. Forks and knives were washed in a bucket outside. Temporary extra kitchens were set up for feasts. In the bailey near the kitchen the castle garden was usually planted with fruit trees and vines at one end, and flowers like; roses, lilies, violets, poppies, daffodils, and irises. There might also be a fishpond, stocked with fish. Bedrooms In the earliest castles the family slept at the tallest end of the hall, only a curtain separated the sleeping quarters. These second-floor chambers were sometimes equipped with squints, peepholes in wall decorations by which the owner could keep an eye on what went on below. The lord and lady's chamber, when it was on the upper floor, was called the solar. Its furniture was a huge bed with a heavy wooden frame and springs made of ropes or strips of leather, with a feather mattress, sheets, quilts, fur blankets, and pillows. Beds could be taken apart and taken along on the trips a great lord made to his castles. The bed was curtained, with curtains hanging that pulled back in the daytime and closed at night to give privacy as well as protection from drafts. Servants might sleep in the lord's chamber on a pallet or cot, or on a bench. Chests for garments or wooden pegs for clothes and a stool made up the remainder of the furnishings. Sometimes a small room called the wardrobe joined the chamber a storeroom where cloth, jewels, spices and plates were stored in chests, and where dressing was done. In the early Middle Ages not only servants but military slept in towers or in basements, or in the hall, or in lean-to structures, knights performing castle guard slept near their assigned posts. Later, when larger watch groups