After I looked at the porters lodge, prison and stables I moved on to Mortimer’s tower. Mortimer’s tower was made from large blocks of stone which was very hard to attack. The main defensive feature of Mortimer’s tower was the arrow loops on the side of the building along with the D-shaped tower which helped to eliminate all dead ground. There were two holes in the floor which showed evidence that there may have been a portcullis within the building. There was also evidence of three murder holes and finally there was a spiral staircase inside which was very hard to attack if you are right handed, all of these features were good for defence.
The D-shaped tower is evidently of a different time period to the keep. D-shaped towers are normally made from 1190 onwards. Some of the defensive features of the tower have been taken out, such as, the two main gateways from the front and the back; they have just been blocked up with similar stone and a modernised door. A fireplace has also been added to the inside of the tower to make it more homely. These features that have been added or removed gives evidence that the castle probably changed in to a home after it was used for defence. Another thong which shows that that is was more of a home later in its life was the large windows, which would not have been defensive. This is another thing which shows that the castle probably became a home after it was used for defensive.
After Mortimer’s tower we moved in to the keep. The keep was made from large blocks of stone. The main defensive feature if the keep was the drawbridge that looked as if it used to be on the first floor which would have made it hard to attack, there are many arrow loops facing the front of the keep. Along the front and some of the side of the keep there is a ditch which would have been hard to get across. On the inside there was three murder holes, a spiral staircase, the walls were very tall and thick and right at the top of the keep there were battlements. All of these features were good to defend a castle, this shows that the original use of the castle was for defence. The shape of the keep is rectangular which means it was probably made during 1066-1180. Many changes have been to the castle throughout time, such as; the draw bridge has been taken out and has been replaced with a normal open bridge leading directly in to the castle, this bridge is at ground level, these new features of the bridge would have made it very easy for attackers to get in and attack the castle. There are also large window on the keep which were no good for defence, this again reinforces my thought that the castle became a home after it was used for defence, this shows that castles did develop and change over time they were not always defensive structure and that they did have other uses throughout their lives.
After visiting the keep we moved further in to the inner bailey to look at the Solar and the Great Chamber, both the building were made from small stone which probably means that they were both made during the same time period, the buildings also had fairly large windows which were no good for defence, the windows were only good to let in light, there was also fireplaces inside the two buildings which would have been used for comfort and not for defence, these features of the Solar and the Great Chamber show that this part of the castle was not used for defence, these buildings were almost definitely added after the castle became a home.
After looking at the Great Chamber block I went on to look at the judges lodging, the small stone and the large Elizabethan windows date this part of the castle from 1485-1603, even this building had fireplaces places inside and it had no defensive features. The Judges Lodging was made when the castle became an administrative centre for Wales. This tells me that the castle had different periods in his life it was not just a defensive structure.
Finally I went to look at the Chapel, The chapel was also made from small stone and it had large Norman arches which tell us that even this was made by the Normans. This building was not built at the same time as the rest of the castle, it was still built by the Normans but later in the Norman time period. This again is not a defensive building.
In conclusion this castle was built by the Normans shortly after 1066. It was originally built for defence against the English, we can tell this because of the defensive features such as arrow loops, portcullis’, big gates, murder holes and battlements, these features were all over the keep, Mortimer's tower and the curtain wall, these three buildings were the main defensive structures of the castle. The original use of the castle was for defence it then became an administrative centre for Wales and then after that it was used as a home. When the castle became a home a lot of the defensive features were removed and replaced with non-defensive features, finally after the castle was used for defence, as an administrative centre and a home it then became a tourist attraction for people today.
Section 2
On the first part of my coursework I wrote about how Ludlow castle was originally used for defence and how it has finally became a home. Now I am going to look at the sources my teacher has given and decide weather I was right about the fact that the castle has changed over time.
In the first section I decided that Ludlow was originally used for defence. The evidence I saw was the curtain wall; the curtain wall had many arrow loops, battlements, a wall walk and it had Mortimer's tower in it to support it even more, all these features put together made the castles defence strong.
The source I have used is telling me that the castles were very strong and were good for defence. The source I used said “the king carefully surveyed the lack of fortification on his kingdom and caused strong castles to be built,” this source backs me up because it says that castles needed to be strong and defence, just like Ludlow is.
The source I have used tells me that defensive castles such as Ludlow are typical of all the castles around England at the time.
The second source I used states that Ludlow became a home after it was used for defence. The source I have used says “the first storey was on the surface of the ground where the cellars and granaries were, and great boxes, barrels, casks and other domestic utilities. In the storey above there were common rooms for the residents.” The source clearly backs up my belief that castles became homes after they were used for defence, it does this because it says that there many utilities to store food and there was a common room for the residents.
This shows that it was typical for most castles to be changed in to a home after it was used for defence.
The next source I used was a picture source, it shows me that the Normans had made most of the castles around England; the picture source shows that about 35 castles around England were built and owned by the Normans. The only evidence I have of this is the picture source. Ludlow is typical of other castles around England as they were all built by the Normans, we can say this as Ludlow’s keep is rectangular and the Normans only built rectangular keeps and Ludlow also has large Norman arches, this makes it typical of all the other castles around England.
Section 3
The sources I used in section 2 were sources 1, 4 and 7. These have been both primary and secondary sources. I am now going to look over the sources to see how useful and reliable they are.
I have used source 1, which is a map of Britain with all Norman castles that have been built between 1066-1088 shown on it. The source was very good in telling me that many castles around England were built by the Normans as they had Norman arches and rectangular keeps. All these things were typical of Norman designs. However this source does not tell me weather all castles were originally built for defence or if they developed over time like Ludlow.
This source was from a school text book. The province of the source is to tell school pupils where the Normans built there castles. Because of this reason I feel this source is reliable is because the school text book would not want to give school children wrong information. Also source 2 supports source 1 as it also says that many castles were built by the Normans these two sources agree with each other so it gives me more of a reason to believe that this source is reliable.
I had also used source 4 which tells me that castles were originally built for defence. This source was useful because it told me that the king ordered for strong castles to be built. This was really useful because it helped me to decide that Ludlow was originally made for defence and that it had other defensive buildings built for defence. However this source does not tell me what other defensive features the castles had. It doesn’t tell me that there was a keep or tower at Ludlow. It also does not tell me weather every castle around England was built for defence or not.
This source is from William of Jumieges written in 1072. The province of this source is to make other people aware of why the Normans built castles. Due to this reason I think this source is reliable, another reason I think that this source is reliable is because William was alive at the time when these castles were built and he was just recording information. Also source 2 and source 5 back up source 4, because two other sources agree with the source that I have used, that gives me more reason to believe that this source is reliable.
The third source I used was source 7; source 7 tells me about castles that were homes. This source is useful because it tells me that there were many different features added to a castle that made a castle more home-like. This was really useful because it tells me about features such as granaries, boxes and common rooms which were all things found in houses. It does not tell me weather all castles became homes or if they were solely built as a home.
This source I have used was written by Lambert D’Ardes he had written this to describe his castle which was built in 1117. I feel this source is reliable as Lambert would not have wanted people to think that his castle wasn’t homely. Due to this reason I would agree with this source, it must be reliable as he wouldn’t want to tell people that his home (his castle) has only defensive features he would like to tell them the truth of what his castle is like. Also source 8 and 9 agree with this source I have used, so this makes me think that this is very reliable.