In conclusion I believe that the close proximately of the forest and quarries to Kenilworth really determined the castles great development as without the forest supplying the vast amount of timber the castle could have possibly been built smaller. Also, without the closeness of the quarry which supplied the stone which was later used to rebuild Kenilworth, the castle may have stayed as an earth and timber or, may have again been built differently.
Most castles started off life as a ‘Motte and Bailey’ which featured a wooden square tower built on top of a large mound of Earth. The bailey was a large yard which had a ditch and fence around the outside. The occupiers of these types of castle made great use out of the bailey; it was not only used as a living area for the soldiers but as a place to store animals and food. The only time they occupied the tower on the Motte was when under attack.
These types of castle provided good protection and were built reasonably easily out of wood as it was readily available. However, it was soon picked upon that these types of castle were much too intensive to build and would eventually rot. They were also very vulnerable to siege as being wooden built they could burn down easily. To overcome this problem a new and better castle was introduced, the ‘square stone keep’.
‘Square stone keep’ castles were an improvement on the previous ‘Motte and Bailey’ castle. They were built from stone instead of wood so the castles were fireproof. They were built with spiral staircases too, so that it was easier for the castle occupiers to catch the intruders. They were also built with 7 metre thick walls to stop battering rams or picks which were used to make wholes in the walls during attacks. However, there were still defensive problems as the castles were built on the ground. Because the castles were built much larger and were much heavier they could not be built upon a motte, as it would collapse. This resulted in the Normans not only building square keep castles but building shell keeps too as these could be built upon the motte itself, Warwick was designed like this.
Kenilworth was no exception it too probably stated off life as an earth and timber castle. It had all the features of a typical Norman castle as it comprised of a rough circular enclosure about 200 feet across made from Earth and timber built on top of a mound. A wide flat-bottomed ditch and a palisade bank, which was rebuilt in stone later in the 12th century, also surrounded it. It had a typical Norman arch and a wooden spiral staircase. It also featured turrets, which gave extra firing positions. However, it did not feature a ramp to the fore building, which was overlooked and fired on from the keep.
The beginning of the thirteenth century was a very turbulent time as many civil wars were going on. Because of this, Castle owners felt they needed to step up on castle security. Outer curtain walls with rounded towers were built and the gatehouses and entrances of castles were made stronger.
This was no exception at Kenilworth. The Clinton family lost the castle after a rebellion against King Henry in 1173 and passed it to King John who radically extended the castle and improved its defences as he was feeling threatened by his Barons. This feeling of insecurity had much justification as his Barons had rebelled against him at Rochester where the siege lasted for several months. They told him he was ruling unfairly and was generally a bad king and asked him to change. John refused to change and so the Barons at Runnymede raised an army and captured London. Therefore, John was forced to listen. On June 15th 1215, King John was made to sign the Magna Carta which was a set of rules every king must abide by.
An outer curtain wall with rounded towers was also built, except a little lower because of the development of the water defence, the mere. The gatehouse and entrance of the castle were made stronger too except a little lower than the usual size. However, the North of the castle was only surrounded by a marshy ditch which was not a great defence unlike the south side which had the mere. This was the reason for King John building the two great towers, Swans tower and Lunns tower. Also, the natural and marshy defence was utilised and improved by damning the streams where they flowed past the castle in order to produce a wide moat surrounding the buildings of the castle the castle itself, which stood around a courtyard. The damning provided a dual purpose as it also allowed the development of the Tiltyard. The Tiltyard was used for practicing military skills and as an entertainment purpose, two viewing gallery’s stood either side of this. These defences were proved in the siege in 1266.
When King John died Kenilworth was given to Henry 111, his son, who then gave the castle to his sister and Eleanor and her husband Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester in the year 1244. In 1265 the barons rebelled and began a siege which lasted 9 months. Unfortunately, the army in the castle had to surrender as an epidemic broke out inside the castle, by which time there was only 4 days worth of food left. This great length of time really proved just how efficient the castles defences were. After the surrender Henry the third passed Kenilworth onto his son. It eventually fell into the hands of John of Gaunt in 1361, Earl of Lancaster in turbulent times, times of the Black Death and the Peasants Revolt.
I believe that Kenilworth was a typical medieval castle as it had all of the typical features such as a rough circular enclosure about 200 feet across made from Earth and timber, a typical Norman arch and a wooden spiral staircase and a well. However, the well was built smaller and the gatehouse and towers were built lower than the normal size, this was due to the fact of the mere being a great defence in itself.
The next major stage in Kenilworth’s development was when John of Gaunt became owner of the castle and began to radically change the castles role. John of Gaunt was born in a place named Ghent in 1340, hence the name, John of Gaunt, Ghent being played on to co-inside with his quaint looks. John was a poor soldier although a good business man. He died in 1399 having married three times and keeping a mistress, one of his wives died soon after they married, she happened to be very wealthy and all of her fortune was left to him. John of Gaunt spent a lot of time at the castle and so had the accommodation of the inner court completely rebuilt. He decided to spend time decorating the interior as the defences needed no more improving at this point in time.
He had the great hall totally refurbished; he built an extra floor, making two, keeping one for functional uses of storage, which had small windows. The second level oozed extravagance, it comprised of two grandly decorated fireplaces, large, expensive, stained glass windows along with window seats which we can surmise from the holes in the walls came complete with shutters. As well as all of that the room hosted a processional arch and every wall was smothered in expensive tapestries. He also had a chapel built in the centre, central to life and an extra room, which was known as the Oriel room and used by the lord. He kept the kitchens inside the castle as unlike other castles risk of fire was not a great problem as the Meer which could be used to putout the fire was very near. Tiles surrounded all of the ovens as an act of insulation, a warming room and buttery was also built. He also made an improvement to the exterior too by having a Hammer bean roof built which was later copied at Westminster Hall.
John of Gaunt set out to make the castle bigger and better. He transformed it from your average medieval castle into an exquisite palace, fit for business and pleasure.
One can argue the point that the great Kenilworth castle was both a typical medieval castle in general terms and an A.Typical in specific terms. Firstly, it did follow the typical pattern of castle development. Starting off life as a motte and bailey then improving to a square stone keep. Its defences and living conditions were also improved upon which most castles were. However, the scale of improvement in John of Gaunt’s time was very rare, which is one of the reasons the castle could be described as A.Typical. Another is because the reason for building Kenilworth was very unusual. Thirdly, Kenilworth’s defences were very different to most other castles of its time, for example, the mere played a significant role in the castles defences which was very significant.
However, I believe Kenilworth was more typical than A.typical as most of the A.typical defences and improvements at Kenilworth were down to the mere for some reason or another. Still, however, the reason for building Kenilworth to deter Henry De Newburgh can only be described as A.Typical, although, this does not affect my decision for classing Kenilworth as a typical medieval castle.
Bibliography
Kenilworth Castle Guide book
Information boards – Kenilworth castle
English Heritage video
Kenilworth castle – M.V Thompson
The medieval castle – M.E Reeves
