10 Most Recently Updated Pages

Links

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:06:42 +0100

Castles Picture Sites
- British Castles, Stately Homes and Houses
  Extensive directory of pictures of British castles, stately homes and houses.
- Elisabeth & Teije's travel website
  Large number of pictures of Scottish castles.
- Castles Abbeys Medieval Buildings
- Exploring Castles
  Website with interesting write ups of English, Scottish and Welsh castles. Mixture of author's own and third party photographs.
Castles General
- British Castle
  Some castles pages are very detailed, others have only a Google Maps location.
- Castles of Britain
- Castles Wales
  Very informative castle and welsh history website
- Dutch castles website
Castles Educational
- Ghost in the Castle
  Castles @ National Geographics
- Build a Medieval Castle
  Make your own model medieval castle: A learning activity that teaches about history, feudalism and life in the Middle Ages.
Castle Portals
- Castles of the World
  Extensive collection of website about castles
- Castles on the Web
Specific Castles
- Tower of London
  - Official Tower Of London website
Specific Regions
- Italy
  - Castles of Tuscany
    Well designed website with information on Castles in Toscani, Italy.

Home

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:07:15 +0100

From ruined wall to completely restored castle

Pictures-of-castles.co.uk is now completely revamped with additional sets of castle pictures added. I've taken all pictures while visiting the different castles. I'm aiming to not only visit the popular castles such as the Tower of London but also the smaller ones with less impressive remains. It should hopefully give you a good idea of whether you would like to visit a particular castle.

I've put pictures of the following castles online so far:

[GoogleMaps all=true]

[Sitemap]

More pictures of castles in England, Wales and Ireland will follow, signup for the PofC newletter if you would like to be notified when castles are added to the website.

I would like to hear your comments!

Happy castling,

Marijn

PS. Also visit my Keep Calm Gallery website!

St Quentin's Castle Llanblethian

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:31:54 +0200

Pictures of St Quentin's Castle Llanblethian

The castle is located in Llanblethian near Cowbridge, South Wales and stands in a loop of the River Thaw on a low ridge with natural slopes on three sides. The castle is in care of CADW and access is free (2010).

The castle features an impressive residential gatehouse. It's outer face originally extended down into a deep defensive ditch. The entrance passage, was defended by portcullises and doors at both ends; the flanking guard chambers each had four arrowloops, though some were altered when the gatehouse was turned into a prison in the late fifteenth century.

There were two upper floors, the topmost of which was residential. Presently it is only possible to climb to the first level.

In about 1102 Robert Firzhamon, the first Norman lord of Glamorgan, granted the small lordship of Llanblethian to Herbert de St Quentin who probably established the first castle on this site. It is not know what form this took but it was probably a 'ringwork' with timber defences and a defensive bank and ditch.

Later in the twelfth century a rectangular stone keep was built; its remains now lie behind the later gatehouse. The keep may have replaced an earlier timber tower close to the entrance and its position suggest that the original castle occupied a smaller area than the present one.

The lordship remain in the hands of the St Quentin family until 1233 when it was seized by Richard Siward who, in turn, lost it to earl Richard de Clare in 1245. Sometime after 1307 Richard's grandson, earl Gilbert de Clare, began to build the present castle with its impressive gatehouse, but he was killed at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 probably before it could be finished - the weakness of the curtain wall and the lack on internal buildings suggests that the castle was never completed. It continued in limited occupation until the sixteenth century.

Additional photos of St Quentin's Castle

Parts of texts from boards on site.

Carreg Cennen Castle

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:21:53 +0200

Pictures of Carreg Cennen Castle

Carreg Cennen Castle is an impressive ruin on top of high limestone cliffs. It offers quite a bit to explore, climbing up the walls or tower gives you impressive views of the country side.

Bring a torch (or hire one from the shop) as there is a dark cave underneath the castle that can be explored.

The castle's origins probably lie in the twelfth century, when the Lord Rhys (d. 1197), Welsh prince of Deheubarth, built a stronghold and administrative centre for Is-cennen. Today's remaining ruins however, are those of a later castle built mainly by John Giffard, an English lord who fought with Edward I to defeat the Welsh in 1283.

His plan to rebuild the foritifcations seems to have been carried out in three separate phases over the following thirty years or more.

Carreg Cannen remained in English hands, but fell temporarily to the Welsh in 1403 during Owain Glyn Dwr's uprising.

Eventually to prevent it becoming a base for local robbers, 500 men were paid a total of £28.5s.6d. to demolish the castle in 1462.

Around Carreg Cennen Castle

The surrounding countryside offers nice tracks and paths to hike in a wide circle around the castle, providing excellent views of the castle nestled high on top of the cliff.

More photos of Carreg Cennen Castle

Source historic information: boards on site

Copyright

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:04:21 +0100

Copyright and using my castle pictures

Non commercial personal use

You may use these pictures free of charge for non commercial personal use only and provided:

you include a credit line with every reproduction
if you use the picture online or in a digital form you *must* link to www.pictures-of-castles.co.uk

You can copy and paste the following HTML code of a credit line to link to www.pictures-of-castles.co.uk:

<a href='http://www.pictures-of-castles.co.uk'>Castle picture(s) © www.pictures-of-castles.co.uk / Marijn Kampf</a>

Commercial use

For commercial use please contact me and specify the picture(s) you would like to use. Also specify in which way you would like to use them. What kind of publication and where in the publication (front page, back page, somewhere else), the size of the image (full page, half page, quarter page), the volume, the distribution area (world wide, a specific country). The more specific you are the more specific I can give you a quote for using any of my pictures.

Prints

High resolution images and poster / canvas prints are available on request. Again, please specify what size and type you are looking for and I'' do my best.

Castles

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 12:43:58 +0100

Pictures of Castles

in England, Ireland and Wales

[GoogleMaps all=true]

[Sitemap]

Tenby Castle

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:53:31 +0100

Pictures of Tenby Castle

Tenby castle and the town walls are freely accessible, although it can get very busy in summer.

The first castle on this site was built in 1153. The remains which can be seen today date from later times. There isn't very much left anymore, of the main castle only one tower remains.

Entrance gate to Tenby castle.

Most of the town walls are still there. They are the most complete remaining town walls in Wales.

White Castle

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:16:17 +0100

Pictures of White Castle

The White Castle gets its name from the coat of white rendering that once covered it's walls. The castle was built by the Normans together with nearby Skenfrith Castle and Grosmont Castle as they won control over the North Gwent area.

Outer Ward

The small twin towered gatehouse and the adjoining curtain walls and towers of the outer ward, were built during a massive re-fortification of the castle in the 1260s.

The uncertain political situation in Wales in the 1260s led to substantial re-fortification of White Castle. The curtain walls were strengthened by additional projecting towers equipped with arrow loops and a new entrance protected by a twin towered gatehouse was constructed.

The large defended outer ward was always part of the castle and was originally protected by a ditch and palisade before being walled. The outer ward acted as a kind of army base camp, with timber framed buildings against the walls.

Inner Ward

In the 1260s the powerful twin towered gatehouse was part re-fortification of White Castle, built to protect the inner ward. The water filled moat was spanned by a fixed timber bridge with a drawbridge operated from the gatehouse.

The earliest part that still exist are the 12th century curtain walls of the inner ward.

At the heart of the castle lies the inner ward. It housed the principal accommodation of the great hall, kitchens, chapel, private chambers and well. Only the foundations remain of a square keep tower built around the early 12th century. At this time the rest of the castle defences where still timber. Around 1185 stone curtain walls were built to enclose the inner ward and the tower was demolished.

Additional pictures of White Castle

Raglan Castle

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:20:52 +0100

Pictures of Raglan Castle

Raglan Castle is an impressive castle. The views from the Great Tower are very impressive on a clear day. Even if the weather is less nice, it still offers loads of interesting nooks and crannies to discover.

Panoramas & Views

On a clear day the Towers of Raglan Castle offer great views of the surrounding country side.

The Gatehouse

The Great Gatehouse was added by Lord Herbert of Raglan - later earl of Pembroke in the 15th century. He also added the Pitched Stone Court and rebuilt the Fountain Court with a series of formal state apartments for himself and his household.

The Great Tower

Sir William ap Thomas began building the Great Tower around 1435. The Tower was probably build on the site of a much earlier Norman motte and bailey castle. The unusual hexagonal plan of the tower, together with its elaborate drawbridge arrangements are more easily paralleled in France than in England. Inside there was a single large room on each floor.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Raglan was garrisoned for the King. By 1646 the castle was under siege. After one of the longest sieges of the war and after pounding by heavy artillery the then Marquess of Worcester was forced to surrender. The fall of Raglan Castle virtually marked the end of the Civil War. Cromwell's demolition engineers, however had some trouble, only after undermining the walls they were finally able to bring two of the six sides down.

Details

Medieval stonemasons used to mark their work with little drawings. The stonemasons' markings can be found on many of the stones in Raglan Castle. Also note the circular gun ports in the lower part of the gatehouse.

Courtyards

A number of courtyards have been built at Raglan over the years. The Fountain Court contains the site of a fountain, and the pitched stone court contains a well.

Other pictures from Raglan Castle

Text based on Wales Castles & Historic Places, CADW / Wales Tourist Board 1990.

Monmouth Castle

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 21:30:39 +0100

Pictures of Monmouth Castle and Monnow Bridge & Gate

The tower and the hall are the only surviving structures from the medieval castle. The great tower dates from the 12th century and the original entrance was at first floor level. The upper floor served as hall and Lord's chamber, connected by spiral stair to a plain ground floor cellar. The present ground floor door was created in the 13th century, when the great hall was added.

In the 14th century the fine traceries windows and lofty door where added. King Henry V was probably born here in 1387. The great hall was built around 1270 and was a single storey building constructed to hold the courts of the Lordship. Three walls stand to full height with the remains of three windows (one of which was later converted into a door).

Monnow Bridge and Gate are the only fortified mediaeval bridge in the UK where the gate tower stands on the actual bridge. The stone bridge was created in the 13th century. Below the existing stone bridge remnants of a previous wooden bridge have been found. The gate house on the bridge was created in the beginning of the 14th century.

All traffic used to go over the bridge, however in 2004 a new bridge has opened for cars and the bridge is now pedestrianised.