Site types in the Gatehouse listings
Medieval fortifications, like many medieval buildings were multi-functional.
They were also highly symbolic. Simple definitions of a castle, such as
'a fortified dwelling of a lord', do not in anyway explain the vast range
of forms and functions of medieval 'castles' and the associated types of buildings.
The different site types in this listing, which are based on the descriptions
given by various authorities, are crude (as are all such categories). There
are many questions and areas of discussion regarding medieval fortifications
which need to be addressed.
The
boundary between a castle and a fortified manor house is a difficult one to
define. Basically virtually all such sites are manor houses with fortifications,
the larger, higher status, more flamboyantly fortified buildings are castles.
The smaller lower status and more clearly domestic houses are 'fortified manor
houses' but some very modest status sites of early date in the Welsh Marches
are routinely called castles (see Minor Castles).
There are also high status but less fortified buildings called 'palaces' (some
grand buildings, others very modest timber houses.). The existence of the word 'castle' in a site or building name is not a reliable indication of the form or function of that building.
The more military minded
castle authorities looked at defining castles in terms of strength of defences
and strategic considerations whereas the more social minded historians of
more recent times tend to define castles in term of social status and function.
For the military minded a castle is basically defined as a private residences
of a lord with fortifications which make it capable of withstanding, at least
for a while, an assault by a contemporary army of a likely enemy. The minimum
defence would be a continuous parapet (A wall-walk around the entire site)
but most would also have at least one tower and a gatehouse (in stone or earthworks
and timber). For such authors landscape, where considered, is about tactical consideration as to protection
from attack, strategic consideration such as protecting passes and river crossings
and, occasionally, some consideration for domestic accessibility and civil administration.
For the more socially minded castles are manorial centres, that is centres
of local administration, built in a fortified style but
not necessarily a military building. A number of castles have been found
to been built on, or very near to, the site of existing Saxon manorial centres
and show a continuity of function and status. For such minded historians the
most important function of all castles was as symbols of lordly status and
power to the local inhabitants, near neighbours and the lords peer group (Put
by Lucy Marten-Holden as "the
concept of dominion, not military domination"). For such authors landscape is often about nobles pleasures and pursuits and the presence of deer parks, fish ponds, religious foundations, market boroughs and other such are important considerations.
Charles Coulson has shown that medieval people used the term castle in various, different and nuanced ways and medieval documentary reference to castles should not be automatically taken to refer to fortified residences. (see Castles in Medieval Society and also Abigail Wheatley's The Idea of the Castle.)
The truth
is that castles are complex both individually, in having many functions, and
across the group, in being very diverse in form and in the balance of functions.
Some were certainly military garrisons but most used a military architectural style to show the status of their owners in a time where warriors were seen to be the 'natural' ruling elite. There may well be no such thing as a 'castle' but a variety of many building forms and functions which go under this title, not always consistently. There may have been considerable difference between the number and variety of castles and fortified buildings in different areas and at different times over the 600 years covered in the listing in this web site.
Surprisingly
few minor castle sites have been properly or fully excavated, some of these will
undoubtedly be discovered to have been masonry castles if they ever are excavated
whilst others will be discovered to have never been castles. Equally many
earthworks now considered to be tumuli or mill mounds could be discovered
to have been castles. Many prehistoric tumuli could have had some medieval reuse, far from all of these will have been identified as such. Identification of the age of sites on the bases of a few scant pottery shards has been a practice in the past but is now, hopefully, subject to more sophisticated critical assessment. Many smaller
mottes were quite low mounds and could have readily been converted and modified
into fashionable square moated manor houses in the 13th or 14th century. How
many such moated manors started out as mottes may never been known. Unrealistic expectations of what a 'castle' is supposed to look like prevents some people from recognising some sites as castles. A simplistic belief that castle are military fortifications and that military fortification should be on high ground (both untrue) leads to much misidentification.
The understanding of the castle is
a complex and evolving aspect of serious study and reference should be made to
texts such as those listed in the bibliography
of this site. The paradigm of the castle, which includes an understanding
of the politico-social environment, is an even more debatable field of study
as looking at works on the subject of feudalism, a core component of
the model of the castle in former times, will show. It should be be clearly understood that the idea of the castle was always highly charged with symbolic and psychological meaning and that some seemingly serious textbooks about castles, and most popular castle books, are written to serve the psychological needs of some modern readers–sometimes by authors who are naive and don't recognise their own motivations and sometimes by authors who are fairly cynical in exploiting a popular market. (see Crenellating the Ego)
The existing definitions for the various forms of medieval fortifications
have problems in my view (click here for further information and discussion),
some monuments of identical social status and function (i.e. Mottes and Ringworks)
are spilt into many different subgroups whereas some monuments of very different
social status and function are lumped together in one group (Towerhouses including
Pele Towers with high status manorial Tower Houses).
In this web site the site
'types' are defined as:
Timber Castles
These are the earthwork and timber castles of the motte and
bailey or ringwork form which where the vast majority of castles of the early
conquest period, of the Marches in the 11th and 12th centuries and of the period
during the reign of Stephen known as the Anarchy. They could be fairly
short lived, although some such castles survived for centuries, with the timber
buildings and defences being replaced on occasions sometimes in timber and
sometimes in Masonry (Alderton
Castle in Northamptonshire was shown in a Time Team excavation to have been
built about 1070 and to still have been having high status visitors in the C15-a
fine piece of enamels horse harness being found in the gatehouse). Some of the
smaller low mottes may have been adapted into moated manor houses, whilst others
where abandoned and replaced by manor houses of a more comfortable and domestic
nature. Timber castles varied greatly in size with some being massive constructions
clearly deserving the term castle, whilst other were small mounds of minor knights
and had a similar size, function and social status as the later pele towers.
These small mottes are called 'castle' but this could be considered a rather
loose use of the term.
Masonry Castle
These
include castles designed from the outset to have masonry defences and timber
castles where the fortifications or significant building have been replaced
in stone. This includes all the classic castle types such as Shell Keep, Great
Tower and bailey, Enclosure, Concentric castles etc. These are the buildings
which are what are generally thought of as castles and are well described in
many books, web sites etc. Masonry is stonework bounded with mortar. A few castles
have dry-stone walls, these are listed under earthwork castles, since the dry-stone
walling basically requires a similar level of expense and skill as earthwork
defences.
Siege Works
Temporary earthwork and timber fortifications built as a secure
base and possibly temporary lordly base during the besieging of a castle or town.
Siege works are often called siege castles, because of the similarity to earthwork
castles, but their residential function was minimal. The distinct tendency to over emphasis military history means where there has been a recorded historical siege or battle earthworks of various sorts may be incorrectly attributed as siege works and particular caution is required when attributing a classification as a siege work.
Fortified Manor House
A
high status fortified residence not capable of withstanding an army but able
to resist an armed band. They are generally moated and have a gatehouse with
loops and crenellations. They tend to be sited with much less consideration for
tactical and strategic defence and with domestic considerations, such as ease
of access, to the fore. The difference between a small castles and a fortified
manor house is a subjective one and may well be an artificial division in that
for contemporary medieval citizens it may not have existed. David King did not
use this term and preferred the term Strong House, since not all fortified high
status houses were manorial, but use of his term Strong House has not been widely
adopted possible because it is widely used as a synonym for bastle. Such buildings
did not require a licence to crenellate and having a licence to crenellate does
not mean a building was certainly fortified. However, I have recorded all buildings
issued a licence to crenellate under this group since they clearly were at least
intended to be [re]constructed in a fortified style.
Palace
A high status manor house. That is a fundamentally domestic building of a
high status person usual a bishop or member of the royal family. Usually more
elaborate that a fortified manor but a small bishops palace, such as the one
at Lyddington might be quite modest compared to a large fortified manor. All
these high status building had some fortifications, if only to keep out thieves,
but were probably not seen, even by the contemporary people, as being military
buildings. Included in this definition, for the purposes of this site, are
Royal hunting lodges. These could vary from sizable buildings, even castles,
with courts and gaols to simple timber building providing short term accommodation.
Towerhouse
The term Towerhouse is much used and loosely defined, some authors use it
for any type of tower house, including pele towers, and there is, indeed, a
continuum in size and status between these buildings. However, I more closely
define a Towerhouse as a form of Fortified Manor House where all the accommodation
is in one tower, often has a parapet along the top of the tower, turrets and
other defensive features. Although the residential buildings form one tower this
would usually have had a court of ancillary buildings. This is a high status
building and usually a manorial centre. Unsurprisingly for high status buildings
these sites are often named castle.
Pele Towers
Also called peel towers. A form of fortified farmhouse or house
of a significant, but not noble, person, such as a vicar or local knight, built
with some defensive features both for genuine protection from raiding bands
and for social prestige. These can be free-standing towers or towers attached
to other, unfortified, buildings (The free standing form is more 'Scottish'
and often later in date). These moderate status building are generally said to
be confined to the North of England, and in the Scottish border area often sited
with some strategic consideration; however, some similar moderate status fortified
buildings, such a forester's lodges, do exist elsewhere. Many authors dislike
the use of pele in this sense since one of several original meanings was a temporary military
camp. I do think that the social status and function of these buildings is significantly different from Towerhouses for a separate category to be needed.
Bastle
A form of fortified farmhouse, usually fairly roughly built, rectangular and
15th and 16th century in date (Mainly late 16th century and some continued to
be built well into the 17th century) and generally confined to the Northern counties,
only occasionally with any active defensive features (such as gun ports). Included
because the foundations and scant remains of ruins can be very difficult to differentiate
from Pele Towers and because the Bastles were often grouped and were otherwise
placed to be of some strategic value in defending against Scottish raids. Philip
Dixon makes the point that the term Bastle House probably original most often
referred to a higher status rectangular form of 16th century pele tower such
as Doddington
Bastle whereas the cruder farmhouses were more often called Pelehouses. However,
probably to try to avoid confusion with similar names describing different forms
the Scottish Royal Commission previous distinction between 'bastle-house' and
'pelehouse' has not been widely adopted and is not now used by RCAHMS. A few
very similar type building exist in southern Pembrokeshire and have a similar
function against pirates, as would some Cornish Bartons. (Barbary
pirates from North
Africa were active in Southern English waters in the 15th to 17th centuries
and often raided inland kidnapping individuals for slavery or later ransom.
Irish pirates were active in the Irish Sea from at least the 3rd century onwards)
Artillery Fort
Fortifications designed specifically
for mounting artillery, usually as coastal defence against warships. Vary from
large stone structures to small earthwork bulwarks with room for one or
two pieces. Although some of the large royal buildings were of high quality with
good detail these are actually practical military works.
Chain Tower
A form of harbour defence where a chain is extended across the entry into a harbour or river
to prevent access by enemy vessels. The mechanism housing the chain and allowing
it to be raised and lowered was housed in a defensive tower, often an artillery
fort in it's own right. In reality the main function of such chains may have been to control trade and ensure the collection of tolls.
Fortified Ecclesiastical sites
Monasteries, churches
and granges defended against raids. Monastic communities were made up
of mainly high status people, and that most abbots would be the close relatives of
castle owning lords; monasteries were also often used as stop over residencies
for lords. Much monastic 'fortification' such as gatehouses are actually status
displays rather than really defensive, although scottish raids and peasant
riots did occasionally put such defences to the test. Granges could hold considerable
wealth so defences here were generally practical but also reflect the status
of the parent community. Churches were an important resource for the local
peasant community having many functions beyond spiritual succour; in unsafe
areas like the Marches, this included short-term defence against raiding bands.
Bishop's castles and priest's towers are considered as private residences and
are listed with other castles etc.
Urban Defence
Town walls, banks and gates. Those
built by the Romans, Anglo-Saxons or Danes are mentioned if they were maintained,
at least partly, during the period 1000-1600. As with most fortifications
of the period these were not simply defensive but reflected social status.
Ambitious town leaders would petition for and build walls for the personally
and civic kudos. Walls and ditches, or sometimes just isolated gates, also
regulated trade and made collection of taxes easier. Some villages, in vulnerable
areas, had simple defences of ditches to deter cattle raiders and 'wolves'
(Although I doubt wolves were a significant threat, to any community at any time, they
were believed to be a threat and had an enormous psychological power.)
Linear Defences and Dykes
A number of dykes of medieval date exist in the
North of England and may represent a defence against Scottish raids and/or mark out bounderies. There was
a series of trenches along the South coast linking the three Henrician Artillery
castles of the Downs, which formed a continuous coastal defence line. As with all fortification such defences can only be symbolic if not garrisoned with an effective fighting force capable of responding to attackers, although they can have a role in delaying an attacking force, particularly if loaded down with booty and livestock.
Unknown or uncertain
Site which are lost were probable timber castles, other sites are doubtful mentions
of possible fortifications and some are just not clear from the available description.
The definition of what is a castle is a complex and contentious one.
Please refer to several texts to get an idea of the types and forms of castles,
strong houses, fortifications and town walls and to understand the variety
of functions and defences of these fortifications. See the bibliography
for some recommended texts. Many web sites give brief definitions but few even
hint at the complexities of the form and function of fortifications. See the web
links for some recommended sites.
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