Tag Archives: #AtoZChallenge
From motte to moat #atozchallenge
Who hasn’t built a sandcastle on a beach? Well, if you’re like me, when you do, you dig out a circle and pile the sand high, then when the tide rises, you watch the little circular ditch fill with water. Eventually, the castle disintegrates, eroded by the waves. When the Normans brought along their motte […]
Leeds castle – home of queens. #atozchallenge
Leeds Castle isn’t in Leeds. Nor is it anywhere near Yorkshire. It sits in the middle of Kent. The name of the castle originates from the Saxon chief who owned the land – Leed, who built a wooden structure. Then, like so many fortifications, it changed numerous times over the centuries. The castle turned to […]
Kenilworth: An Elizabethan garden #atozchallenge
Yesterday I briefly visited Kenilworth for a joust, today I’m back again for my letter K. Kenilworth is jam packed with history and famed for two notable inhabitants: John of Gaunt and Robert Dudley. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and a son of Edward III, took ownership of the castle and constructed a great […]
Jousting #atozchallenge
I’ve picked something a little different for J. Not a castle itself, but something associated with castles of the medieval period – Jousts. You might have seen the movie The Knight’s Tale, starring the late Heath Ledger, and the modern retelling of the chivalrous world of jousts and Chaucer. The backdrop of the tiltyard, the […]
Inverurie Bass #atozchallenge
The letter I almost drew a blank on my castle hunt. None in England or Wales, however, much to my delight, I discovered Scotland has Inverurie Bass, which is the remains of a Norman motte and bailey. I’d no idea that the Norman design of castle reached so far north. Inverurie is NW of Aberdeen […]
Hedingham: Keeping it #atozchallenge
There is this romantic perspective of castles. We can probably blame Disneyland for the illusion: the image of a castle is often of rings of walls, towers and a great keep occupying the centre. The reality is not quite the same. Castles were constructed over huge timeframes – centuries. They often changed hands, past from […]
Misty Goodrich #atozchallenge
I wished I’d taken a picture. I think I did, but it would be lost on film somewhere, perhaps in a forgotten box in an attic. It was one of those memorable landscapes that made you go ‘wow’. A dreary autumn morning, the leaves dimly orange and yellow, and looking out of the front window […]
Fotheringhay: All that’s left #atozchallenge
Much as I would like to ticked off every one, there are plenty of castles I’ve never visited and there are some which have nothing left to visit. Fotheringhay is one such empty space. Famed for its connections to Richard III, who was born there; his parents, buried in the church; and Mary Queen of […]
King of Ewloe, that’s me #atozchallenge
One of the nearest castles to where I live is Ewloe. Unlike the great fortifications erected by the Plantagenet kings, this castle was constructed by the Welsh using their own design. On the border of Wales and England, the Welsh princes hoped to defend their territory using the castle, but instead they retreated further inland […]
Desolate Dunstanburgh #atozchallenge
There is something special about Dunstanburgh Castle. I’ve visited it a couple of times and it always has the same effect on me. Unlike many castles, which are built near a settlement that subsequently thrives and becomes a town, Dunstanburgh Castle stands alone. The village is nearly a mile away and even today, visitors are […]
The Quiet Writer 