Castles! (pic-heavy)

Syncop8r · **on:** September 11, 2016, 04:10:39 AM

When I was a young lad I was obsessed with castles. I knew my mahicolations from my crenellations and which direction a spiral staircase should wind.
Unfortunately we have no real castles in NZ but a few years ago I was lucky enough to travel to the UK, so I made sure plenty of castle visits were had.

Old Sarum Castle, Wiltshire, England

Old Sarum is a Norman motte and bailey castle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Sarum

The motte:

The ditch would have taken a lot to dig back in those times:

The remains of the buildings on the motte:

Fireplace:

The old cathedral foundations in the bailey:

Salisbury Cathedral in the distance:

Old Sarum Airfield in the distance:

Syncop8r · **Reply #1 on:** September 11, 2016, 04:35:35 AM

Southsea Castle, Hampshire, England

Perhaps more orf a naval fort than a castle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southsea_Castle

Syncop8r · **Reply #2 on:** September 11, 2016, 04:45:01 AM

Arundel Castle, West Sussex, England

I caught sight of this whilst travelling between Portsmouth and Brighton. I had never heard of it before, otherwise it would have been a good visit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arundel_Castle

Syncop8r · **Reply #3 on:** September 11, 2016, 04:51:11 AM

Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight, England

Unfortunately I ran out of time to see this one on the Isle of Wight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carisbrooke_Castle

Chako · **Reply #4 on:** September 11, 2016, 05:02:56 AM

Thanks for sharing!

Syncop8r · **Reply #5 on:** September 11, 2016, 05:05:13 AM

Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, England

I would have like to explore this big red beast more but we were chased out by a woman with a large bell at closing time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenilworth_Castle

Syncop8r · **Reply #6 on:** September 11, 2016, 05:19:07 AM

Ashby de la Zouch Castle, Leicestershire, England

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashby_de_la_Zouch_Castle

I'm not sure what this was but we saw it on the way there:

You can take a spiral staircase up the ruined keep (centre right):

The underground tunnel.... I can't remember if this was the entrance or if it was something else:

dks · **Reply #7 on:** September 11, 2016, 07:23:38 AM

Nice. I have visited many castles in the UK in the past. Some look like new, but many are just ruins.

Whoey · **Reply #8 on:** September 11, 2016, 01:09:03 PM

There's not a whole lot of castles in Canada either, at least not with the vintage you see over here in Europe.

I've visited a few in the UK, and a few here in Spain.

There's one really close to me which I've been a number of times: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Kings_of_Navarre_of_Olite

We also visited this one some years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_of_Loarre

As well we've visited a few other miscellaneous old structures such as churches and monasteries. I have a pile of photos too, but would take me ages to cherry pick...

Tomcat_81 · **Reply #9 on:** September 11, 2016, 01:30:07 PM

Nothing ever beats the sheer castleness of British or Irish castles!
Great thread, thank you!
Tomcat

Syncop8r · **Reply #10 on:** September 11, 2016, 02:02:05 PM

Castle Rising, Norfolk, England

I knew this one well from a book I used to often get out from the library: Castles by RJ Unstead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Rising_(castle)

Vaulted ceilings:

I like the passages within the thickness of the walls:

Note how the shape of the treads of this spiral stair is different from the others:

Interesting corner detail:

Perhaps because square corners are more easily knocked out?

Syncop8r · **Reply #11 on:** September 11, 2016, 02:18:52 PM

Quote from: dks on September 11, 2016, 07:23:38 AM

Nice. I have visited many castles in the UK in the past. Some look like new, but many are just ruins.

Pics?

Quote from: Whoey on September 11, 2016, 01:09:03 PM

I've visited a few in the UK, and a few here in Spain.

There's one really close to me which I've been a number of times: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Kings_of_Navarre_of_Olite

We also visited this one some years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_of_Loarre

As well we've visited a few other miscellaneous old structures such as churches and monasteries. I have a pile of photos too, but would take me ages to cherry pick...

That's OK, we can wait...

Quote from: Tomcat_81 on September 11, 2016, 01:30:07 PM

Nothing ever beats the sheer castleness of British or Irish castles!

I agree! I also prefer them from the times before canons were used.

Oops! I forgot that these photos hadn't been reduced in size.... sorry.

SteveC · **Reply #12 on:** September 11, 2016, 06:20:44 PM

Great pics

Thanks for sharing !

Tomcat_81 · **Reply #13 on:** September 11, 2016, 07:48:40 PM

Another kind of castle - Japanese style.
Building Himeji castle was started in 1346, but the main keep was built between 1601 and 1609.
The basic frame is built from incredibly solid timber, with massive rock foundations, clay tiles and walls partially enforced with rice-starch.

Impressive castle, but a very humid day!

Tomcat

Syncop8r · **Reply #14 on:** September 11, 2016, 09:49:02 PM

dks · **Reply #15 on:** September 12, 2016, 08:29:51 AM

Some from the UK Castles castlalikes

dks · **Reply #16 on:** September 12, 2016, 08:30:48 AM

dks · **Reply #17 on:** September 12, 2016, 08:32:10 AM

dks · **Reply #18 on:** September 12, 2016, 08:36:09 AM

dks · **Reply #19 on:** September 12, 2016, 08:37:33 AM

dks · **Reply #20 on:** September 12, 2016, 08:38:02 AM

dks · **Reply #21 on:** September 12, 2016, 08:41:35 AM

and from other countries

Syncop8r · **Reply #22 on:** September 12, 2016, 08:48:37 AM

Cool. I think I see a couple of Conwy?

DaveK · **Reply #23 on:** September 12, 2016, 08:52:57 AM

Cool thread! I'll have a rummage later and see if I have many. I've visited a lot of castles here in the UK but not sure what pictures I've got, but I'm sure I can find some

dks · **Reply #24 on:** September 12, 2016, 08:55:07 AM

There are some from Scotland, Wales, Devon, Cornwall, York. Most are from well known Castles.

A lot of what we now call castles were just fancy houses, designed to look good, rather than to provide defence.

The UK ones were taken using film

Syncop8r · **Reply #25 on:** September 12, 2016, 09:04:25 AM

I can recommend the book 'Castle' by Marc Morris https://www.amazon.co.uk/Castle-History-Buildings-Medieval-Britain/dp/0099558491 if anyone is interested in reading about the history and development of castles in the UK.

DaveK · **Reply #26 on:** September 12, 2016, 09:12:17 AM

There was a great BBC series recently too, called Castle (appropriately), and guess what. It's on Youtube, yay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gu46zGuOqk&list=PL5ZiGYSAW7s-MqeBVPBJJUs4emc83PJou

dks · **Reply #27 on:** September 12, 2016, 09:29:45 AM

Every Englishman's house is his castle, so there are millions of Castles in England......

Even Squatters know that..

DaveK · **Reply #28 on:** September 12, 2016, 10:19:05 AM

Very true!

That said, the best castles the English built were actually in Wales in my opinion.

Conway, Caernarvon, Pembroke, Harlech, Beaumaris etc were the best castles I've visited.

Syncop8r · **Reply #29 on:** September 12, 2016, 10:27:43 AM

Yes - during the reign of Edward I was it?

Mind you, sometimes less is more. I like some of the smaller ones like the Scottish 'Z Castles'.
My favourite is in fact in the Eastern coast of England...

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