Walls. Walls were generally built of stone within wooden frames designed to hold the stone in place while the mortar dried. For thick walls, the wall was usually constructed with a cavity that was filled with rubble rather than being solid stone.
What was inside castle walls?
Inside the castle walls there might have been a magnificent hall, comfortable chambers and a beautiful chapel. Larger castles had their own fish ponds, orchards and vineyards, as well as gardens which supplied vegetables and herbs. Cattle sheep and pigs were kept on surrounding farm land.
Why were castle walls so thick?
Defensive walls were often built thicker at the bottom. This made it more difficult for attackers in three ways.
Did medieval castles use mortar?
The trenches were first filled with a rubble and mortar mixture, then retaining walls were built on top to just below ground level and the space between them filled with more rubble and mortar. Castles usually contained two types of masonry, rubble and ashlar.
What stone are castle walls made of?
Limestone, Sandstone, and Granite are still sourced and used today for modern buildings just as they were for the Medieval structures that still linger in the landscape today. settle, which might explain why many sandstone castles have needed reinforcement and constant upkeep over the centuries.
How did people stay warm in castles?
Castles weren’t always cold and dark places to live.
But, in reality, the great hall of castle had a large open hearth to provide heat and light (at least until the late 12th century) and later it had wall fireplace. The hall would also have had tapestries which would have insulated the room against too much cold.
What did toilets look like in Medieval castles?
In the medieval period luxury castles were built with indoor toilets known as ‘garderobes’, and the waste dropped into a pit below.
What were castles built to withstand?
A castle was built to withstand attack from enemy. Castle builders added many defensive features to make their castles difficult to attack. Many castles were built on high ground with clear views of the surrounding land.
How were castles built so tall?
They use a wooden triangle with a line and plumb bob suspended from one angle as a level when placing stones. As the castle wall gets higher, new scaffolding must be placed in the wall and the old ones removed, leaving square holes in the walls.
Why do castle walls have holes?
Putlog holes or putlock holes are small holes made in the walls of structures to receive the ends of poles (small round logs) or beams, called putlogs or putlocks, to support a scaffolding. Putlog holes may extend through a wall to provide staging on both sides of the wall.
What was used before cement?
Around 3000 BC, the ancient Egyptians used mud mixed with straw to form bricks. Mud with straw is more similar to adobe than concrete. However, they also used gypsum and lime mortars in building the pyramids, although most of us think of mortar and concrete as two different materials.
Did Medieval castles use concrete?
There was no concrete in the medieval period, only lime mortar. The tools that the builders had access to were simple in form, and stonemasons found it easier to cut softer stone accurately into the shape and size required. However this meant that often the stone used for castles was easily weathered and eroded.
Did castles have concrete?
They didn’t use cement as we know it, they used lime mortar. This is made using lime, water and another component, usually sand.
What are old castle walls made of?
Walls. Walls were generally built of stone within wooden frames designed to hold the stone in place while the mortar dried. For thick walls, the wall was usually constructed with a cavity that was filled with rubble rather than being solid stone.
How thick were stone keep castle walls?
Medieval castle walls were usually very thick for both protection and structure, anywhere from ten to twenty feet in thickness. They were designed to be impenetrable from the outside, although that certainly did not stop outsiders from trying.
How thick were Medieval stone walls?
The height of walls varied widely by castle, but were often 2.5–6 m (8.2–19.7 ft) thick. They were usually topped with crenellation or parapets that offered protection to defenders.
How did toilets work in castles?
The toilets of a castle were usually built into the walls so that they projected out on corbels and any waste fell below and into the castle moat. Even better, waste went directly into a river as is the case of the latrines of one of the large stone halls at Chepstow Castle in Wales, built from the 11th century CE.
Were castles clean or dirty?
Castles were very difficult to keep clean. There was no running water, so even simple washing tasks meant carrying a lot of bucketfuls of water from a well or stream. Few people had the luxury of being able to bathe regularly; the community was generally more tolerant of smells and dirt.
How often did medieval nobles bathe?
Typically speaking, people bathed once a week during the Middle Ages. Private baths were extremely rare – basically nobody had them – but public bathhouses were actually quite common. People who didn’t have that or who couldn’t afford to use one, still lived near a river.
How did royalty go to the bathroom?
The royals don’t use a ‘bathroom’ or ‘toilet’
Members of Britain’s most famous family don’t use the word “toilet.” Where they relieve themselves is called a “loo.” House Beautiful noted that they don’t say the word “bathroom” either unless there is an actual bathtub inside.
Did medieval people not bathe?
So yes, medieval people, even regular old peasants were pretty clean types of people. In fact, they were so clean that for them bathing constituted a leisure activity. So the average person would likely wash daily at home, but once a week or so they would treat themselves to a bath at the communal bath house.