Castles in Shropshire

There are many features to look for when visiting castles, both in Shropshire and elsewhere in the country. These can be divided into clues of castle defence and those of castle as home or residence.

Clues of Castle Defence

These provided a safer means of firing arrows on the attackers of the castle. They are found in many different styles on the curtain wall and towers of the castle. The east tower of the gatehouse at Whittington Castle has several cross-shaped arrow loops.

This was an outer defensive structure in front of the gatehouse to the castle. This looked similar to our modern day porches. Its function was to confine the approaching enemy in a narrow space and thus provide them as easy targets for the castle defenders. Caus Castle is thought to have a barbican but the structure cannot be seen today. Although not in Shropshire, one of the most impressive barbicans can be found just over the border at Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire.

The battlements, also known as crenellations, are one of the most characteristic features of castles. They provided a wall-walk, a fighting platform and a defence against attackers scaling the walls. These can be found in many castles and fortified manor houses in Shropshire as they functioned as both defensive features and symbolic emblems of power, status and prestige. Their use as status symbols can be seen in the issuing of Licences to Crenellate. Battlements can be found at Ludlow and Shrewsbury, the fortified manor houses of Acton Burnell and Stokesay as well as Broncroft Castle.

This is the wall around the perimeter of the castle. As it was the first line of defence, the wall was made very thick for added protection. This can be seen at Ludlow Castle. In some castles the curtain wall contained towers for extra defence. Some Shropshire examples are Ludlow and Whittington.

A drawbridge was a moveable wooden bridge which went across the castle moat. It was raised and lowered using chains or ropes to prevent easy access into the castle. It was therefore another line of defence for the castle. When visiting castles you can sometimes find grooves in the front of the Keep where the drawbridge mechanism would have been. Evidence of the drawbridge at Ludlow can be seen in the moat where a stone plinth can be seen which would have supported the drawbridge.

An embrasure is another word for a crenel. A crenel being the splayed opening in a wall of crenellations or battlements. The embrasure would often have wodden shutters for greater protection. The blocked in area of the battlement, where the arrow slit would be, is called a merlon. Examples of embrasures and merlons can be seen wherever there are battlements, such as Ludlow and Shrewsbury.

In terms of castle building these comprised mottes of earth, banks for defence and ditches for the moat. Some interesting examples of earthworks include Brockhurst Castle, Castle Pulverbatch, Caus Castle and Clun Castle.

This was the strongly defended entrance to a castle. It was here that a number of defensive features were employed to provide ways of attacking the enemy. Shropshire’s most interesting gatehouses can be found at Ludlow Castle. The keep for example was originally built to function as a gatehouse as well as a keep. Similarly, what is now known as Mortimer’s Tower also functioned as a gatehouse and has many of the defensive features found in gatehouses.

Also referred to as the donjon, the great tower or keep was the main strongpoint and would be used as a refuge in time of conflict. Most were square or rectangular in shape however, circular or shell keeps do exist. Ludlow has a fine example of a rectangular keep. Other examples include Hopton Castle and Wattlesborough Castle.

These originated from wooden hoarding. Hoardings were covered wooden galleries projecting from the battlements with holes in the floor through which defenders could drop or shoot missiles vertically onto the attackers on the ground. In the later Middle Ages, these evolved into stone versions called machicolations. These were sometimes used more as status symbols rather than defensive features.

These came in the form of either a water-filled or dry ditch which encircled the castle, the keep, or both. The peak of moat development was in the 13^th century, and by the late 16^th century they had gone out of fashion. Shropshire has both wet and dry moats. Whittington Castle’s water-filled moat can still be seen, as can the moat at Cheswardine Castle. Hopton Castle is also said to have had a wet moat, but this is now longer supplied with water. Stokesay and Ludlow provide examples of dry moats.

The motte was either a natural hill or a man-made structure of earth, piled high to make a high point with a flat top. Shropshire has numerous mottes. Some lesser known examples include Wilcott, Hockleton, Corfton, West Felton, Quatford, Hawcocks, Lydham and Gwarthlow.

These were holes in a ceiling through which castle defenders could drop missiles and boiling liquids on the attackers. They are mostly found in gatehouses. It is likely that stones were used most often. If liquids were used, it would not have been oil as this was too precious a commodity to waste. Instead boiling water was probably used. Murder holes can be seen in the keep gatehouse and Mortimers Tower at Ludlow.

A portcullis was a wooden grille, often covered in metal, which could be raised and lowered at the entrance to the gate passage. This provided another line of defence as it could not be easily forced open. When visiting a castle you can often see the grooves where the portcullis was and the holes in the floor into which it was lowered. In Shropshire this can be seen in Ludlow’s keep and Mortimer’s Tower.

All castles had towers, as they were important defensive features. They could be square, D-shaped, or round in design. They are often found on the curtain wall and provided access to wall-walks, lookout points and accommodation for the castle garrison. Examples of square towers in Shropshire include Broncroft Castle, Ludlow Castle and Moreton Corbet Castle. A D-shaped tower can be found at Whittington and Ludlow. Examples of round towers can also be seen at Whittington, and also at Shrewsbury.

Wall Walks are most often found on top of the curtain wall and on walls between towers. These were used by the defenders of the castle to access the battlements and provide a line of defence around the castle.

Most castles would have had doors on major entrances, in much the same way as modern front doors. There is, however, very little evidence left today of these wooden doors. The presence of doors can be found on the each side of archways in the form of large square slots in the wall. This would have been where a large plank of wood was placed in order to bolt the door.

Clues of Castle as Home

Look out for blocked up windows, doors and archways. This shows changing function of castles over time, as defence gave way to domesticity. Shropshire’s most interesting example of this is Ludlow Castle. There have been many alterations to this castle over time, as its function became more domestic rather than military. This can be seen in the blocked entrance of the Keep which was once the gatehouse to the castle, blocking the entrance in Mortimer’s Tower which initially functioned as an additional gatehouse and putting in a large fireplace, and also in the construction of domestic buildings in the 14^th century.

The presence of churches or chapels within castles shows that religion was an important aspect of medieval castle life. Clues to look for include lots of decorative arches without fireplaces and an altar. Shropshire has a rare and interesting castle chapel at Ludlow. This was built around 1140 and is one of only five round medieval naves to be found in Britain.

Decorative features can be found on archways, entrances, fireplaces and capitals. Examples include chevron and billet carved decoration on the nave archway at Ludlow. The door to Ludlow’s Keep is also very decorative indicating the high status of this building and the people who used it.

These can be found in most domestic buildings and was the only form of heating for a room. Just the presence of them indicates that people lived long term in these rooms of the castle.

The Great Hall was the hub of castle life. This was where the Lord conducted is entertaining, and courts and feasting were held in this room. Great Halls are often characteristic in design and are found in the centre of the castle. They have large window and a central fireplace. Interesting Shropshire examples include Ludlow and Stokesay.

These are medieval toilets. They consist of a small room, often with a slab of stone with a hole in it. There are many examples to be found at Ludlow.

These are the medieval equivalent of drainage pipes. They can be found in the walls of castles and consist of open angled chutes which moved the waste down from the Garderobe to the outside of the castle. These can be found at Ludlow.

These identify buildings as kitchens and show that people lived in castles. They come in the form of large and often circular piles of bricks. Two can be found at Ludlow.

The style of window and archway can often date the buildings of a castle. Those that are semi-circular are Romanesque in design and are generally dated to the Norman period (11^th – 12^th centuries). Those that reach a point at the top are called Early English and date from the 13^th - 14^th centuries. Square stone mullion windows are datable to the Tudor and Elizabethen period of the 16^th – 17^th centuries. All these different types of window and archways can be found at Ludlow castle.

Many castles were painted white using a white wash, both inside the domestic buildings and on the outside of important structures. Some of this white wash still remains if you look closely at the walls. White washing was used as a status symbol for very important castles, and would have produced a very impressive site in the sunshine.