Homes in Medieval Times

Homes in Medieval Times

Motte and Bailey Castles	Stones Castles	Manor Houses
Motte and Bailey Castles: Motte and Bailey Castles: When the Normans captured an area they built a fort or castle where they would be safe. The first forts were made from wood. They could be built in a few months. They were called motte and bailey forts and they were often built on a river bend or near a large town. They were usually built on high ground where they had a good view of the surrounding countryside. They were located near one another so that the Normans in one fort could send signals to their neighbours nearby. First a large amount of earth was dug up and raised into a great mound. This mound was called the motte. It had a flat top. A simple wooden house with two or three rooms was built on the flat top. This was called a tower-house or keep. The lord and his family lived here. It was surrounded by a wooden fence. The bailey was at the base of the motte. It had many buildings. The lord's workers, soldiers and craftspeople lived here. It also contained workshops and stables. The bailey was also surrounded by a strong wooden fence. The motte and bailey was surrounded by a wide ditch full of water. This was called a moat. It had a drawbridge. Stone Castles: Click here to see a picture of a stone castle. When the Normans had settled in an area they abandoned the motte and bailey forts and built stone castles. They were very strong and almost impossible to capture and destroy, but they took many years to build. They were damp, cold, draughty places. Over time castles grew more comfortable, but they were still chilly places. The only heat came from an open fire. Only the really rich took baths but not often and not in special bathrooms. They sat and soaked in a wooden tub in their chamber instead. Toilets were called garderobes and they were built into the castle walls. Everything dropped down into the moat or a cesspit. The smelly job of cleaning out the cesspit was done by men called gong farmers. Many of them, now almost eight hundred years old, are still standing today. Building a Stone Castle: Choosing a Site: The Normans would have to have a good view of the countryside, roads and rivers so that it would be easy to defend the castle. They needed water to fill the moat and also for cooking and cleaning. They would need a large supply of timber and they would need a huge supply of stone to build the castle. They would need hundreds of people to build the castle. Castles were large heavy buildings so the site had to have solid rock underneath. A castle could not be built on soft soil. The site had to be easy to defend. You could not build a castle near a high hill in case your enemies would attack you. Sometimes castles were built on the bend of a river. How the Stone Castle was built: It took many years and cost a lot of money to build a stone castle. Building the castle was very hard work. It was slow and dangerous. Many of the workers were forced to work. Engineers planned what the castle would look like. Click here to view a plan of a stone castle. All trees and houses around the site were cleared away. Usually the keep, a great tower, was built first. This was the lord's family home. It was rectangular in shape. The windows were narrow and had no glass but they were built so that an archer could fire arrows out through them. The keep was surrounded by a curtain wall. This could have several towers. Outside the curtain wall was a moat. The area between the keep and the curtain wall was called the bailey. This contained buildings such as stables and sheds. Visitors entered the bailey through the gatehouse after crossing a drawbridge. When the castle was under attack, the drawbridge was raised and an iron grille called a portcullis was lowered. Stonecutters worked at the stone quarry. They cut out blocks of stone and shaped them for building. They numbered the stones so that the masons could fit them together easily. The stones were taken to the castle. The stone masons put them into place. Workers burned lime and mixed it with sand and water to make mortar. This was used to stick the stones together. The walls of the castle could be five or six metres thick. The centre of the walls was packed with loose stones and mortar. The outside and the inside of these walls were made of cut stone. The walls of a stone castle could be over sixty metres high so wooden scaffolding was needed to carry up stones and mortar and to work on. Carpenters built this scaffolding. The carpenters also made the wooden roof. It was covered with lead. The Keep or Great Tower: The Rooms in the Keep: The basement contained store-rooms and dungeons where prisoners were kept. A spiral staircase led from the basement to the battlements around the roof. Soldiers kept watch over the surrounding countryside from here. The entrance to the keep was on the ground floor. This was the guard room and the kitchen. The soldiers and servants spent most of their day here. They slept here, on the floor, at night. On the first floor was the great hall. The lord conducted his business from here. He also held court and banquets here. The top floor contained the lord and lady's private chapel and the great chamber. This was the lord's private room and it was more than just a bedroom. (Their beds were very comfortable. They had linen sheets and woollen blankets and the mattresses were filled with feathers.) The lord's wife, the lady, spent much of her day here. This is where she met visitors and gave orders to the steward, the man who managed the castle household. The great chamber was also a private space, where the lady and her ladies-in-waiting would embroider, make music or play chess. Click here to learn more about stone castles. The Manor House: A Norman lord, who lived in a castle, controlled a vast area of land, sometimes as much as two counties. He could not farm it himself. He divided it into smaller estates called manors. Each estate was given to a lesser lord. He was sometimes called the lord of the manor. The lord of the manor would give his loyalty and his service to the overlord in exchange for the estate. The Manor House: The lord of the manor built the manor house. It usually had a tower and a look-out post. Farm buildings, such as stables, barns and cow byres, were built close by.