The Growth of the English House (page 3/6)

8. The Peak Castle, Derbysire (1176)

“The keep itself, which was built in 1176, is very similar in arrangement to the peel-towers of the Scottish border and to the towers which elsewhere formed the nucleus of many fortified houses. It probably represents the first step in domestic planning, and may be regarded as one of the [...] [more...] [$]

7. Peak Castle, Derbyshire

Plan of the Keep

Peak Castle is more commonly known as Peveril Castle. See also Fig. 8.

“Above the upper chamber was the roof, originally of steep pitch (see section, Fig. 9). but which may have been raised and flattened so as at once to form a third chamber and to give more convenience for the purposes of watching and defence.

At its best, at any rate, the keep can only have contained four rooms, and it is quite possible that it only had two. The upper and better of these was that into which the entrance door opened (at D, Fig. 8), a door some 6 or 8 ft. from the ground, and doubtless approached by a wood ladder. Near this door a circular staircase of about 5 ft. in diameter led up to the roof and down to the lower room (Fig. 9), which was dimly lighted by two small windows, but otherwise was devoid of any feature whatever. The floors were of wood.

The upper room, about 22 by 19 ft. in size, was also lighted by two small windows; in one wall was a garde-robe (G) with a shoot corbelled out from the wall; in another was a small mural chamber (M) occupying one corner of the building and lighted by a very small window on two of its sides.

So far, this keep is just like many others, although on a small scale; but here there is no sign of fireplace or flue. Some means of warming the place, and, on occasion, of cooking, there must have been; and the probability is that a [more...] [$]

18. Bodiam Castle, Sussex (1386)

Showing the Moat. [more...] [$]

19. Stokesay Castle, Shropshire (cir. 1240-90).

Ground Plan.

There are lots of other pictures of Stokesay Castle here; try a search for Shropshire. [$]

21. Stokesay Castle (General View)

The hall and adjoining rooms are to the right; the south tower is in the centre; the Elizabethan gatehouse to the left. [more...] [$]

22. Stokesay Castle. Window and Doorway of the Hall.

“It must be borne in mind that hitherto windows had not been glazed. They were usually of small size for purposes of security, and no doubt their smallness was an [...] [more...] [$]

23. Stokesay Castle.

Window in South Tower—Showing shutter and stone seats. [more...] [$]

24. Plan of Haddon Hall, Derbyshire

Plan of the mediaeval manor-house that’s illustrated in Fig. 25. [$]