The guidebook tells us that Rockingham followed the standard Norman pattern which consisted of an outer bailey, courtyard, drawbridge and a curtain wall.

        The guide book tells us that Rockingham was regularly visited by kings. King John visited Rockingham in every year of his reign. During the reign of Edward I royal building climaxed at Rockingham, during this time windows and fireplaces were installed. The massive round towers were added to the gate house. The last king to use Rockingham as a royal residence was Henery V in 1422. Source 16 shows the changes Edward made to the castle, source 3 tells us Edward I built gatehouses for many of his castles and source 5 is a picture of Caerphilly castle showing an example of Edwards building, the basic shape and design is much like Rockingham. I think the evidence supports the guide book as both tell us that Edward made improvements. The guide book describes Rockingham as a royal fortress and palace. This is true but the drum towers were added because it was the fashion at the time. This suggests that Rockingham was not used for defence as Caerphilly was. This shows that the guide book exaggerates slightly to tell us about the golden age of Rockingham. So i think that the guide book is reliable on this subject.

        The guide book tells us that Rockingham was subject to massive changes after it was bought by Edward Watson in 1544. The majority of the guide book tells us about the changes made from 1544 to make rockingham into a stately home. Source 15 tells us that most of the building work at Rockingham is Tudor not Norman, the 1st paragraph of source 17 tells us about Edward Watson. Source 22 is a 19th century plan but it shows the changes that were made and source 20 shows an engraving by Lavinia Watson showing Rockingham as a home. I think the guide book is reliable as the sources support the impression given by the guide book. Source 15 is reliable as Derek Avery in his book states basic facts which agree with the guide book.

        The guide book tells us that Lewis Watson bought the house from James I and it tells us about damage the castle suffered during the civil war. Source 17 tells us about the disgrace of Lewis Watson. He was a Royalist and lost the castle to the Parliamentarians. It tells us that the Parliamenntarians destroyed the keep, source 18 shows the keep before it was destroyed and source 12 tells us about how the Parliamentarians destroyed castles. I don't think the guide book is reliable as it dosen't go into detail about the civil war. This could be because Lewis Watson was disgraced by Oliver Cromwell and put into prison. Source 17 is written by a descendent who had no reason to lie. This might not have been in the guide book because it does not make Lewis watson look good.

        My conclusion is that te guide book makes Rockingham look like it was and still is a stately home. The guide book was produced to tell us about how good Rockingham was and to show all of the high points in Rockinghams history. I think the guide book is reliable about when Rockingham was first built, improvements in the middle ages and Rockingham as a stately home but I dont think it is reliable about Rockingham during the civil war because it wants to show Rockingham in a good light and not the weaknesses it had during the civil war.