Castles, forts, hillforts, fortifications and other similar attractions and places in Britain. They may have been primarily built for defence – but may also be symbols of power.
It’s almost worth the journey to Richmond Castle in Yorkshire, just to get some photos. It was a dubious bonus to meet someone who could have been transported there by aliens, and odd to discover that it had to wait until the 20th century to become really famous. Richmond Castle is a massive fortress built […]
Good question. You can see for yourself that there’s very little of it left. True, there’s a fine motte, traces of a few fireplaces, site of a kitchen, with an attractive gap-toothed inner curtain wall built mainly of local flint – and a well. But that’s about it – and the massive moats, which would
Why visit Berkhamsted Castle? Read More »
Toki lost his lands when the Normans came. The new foreign aristocracy following Harold’s defeat at Hastings in 1066 swept aside Anglo-Saxon landowners, and poor Toki was one of the casualties. He was a thegn – which could mean a variety of things – but in any event a man of property in the settlement
The Castle at Castle Acre Read More »
Robin Hood is one of England’s enduring legendary heroes. Deprived of his rightful inheritance and outlawed, Robert of Locksley (or Loxley) shelters in the King’s forest of Sherwood, where he assumes natural leadership over the vagabonds and other outlaws in hiding there, all victims of medieval England’s harsh laws and brutal penalties for infringement. Robert
In search of Robin Hood Read More »
Threave Castle was the stronghold of the Black Douglases and built by the 3rd Earl, Archibald the Grim. If that isn’t romantic enough for you, it stands on an island in the middle of the River Dee and, unless you think you can navigate your way safely across an ancient underwater causeway, the only way
