Are castles cold inside?

Castles weren't always cold and dark places to live. But, in reality, the great hall of castle had a large open hearth to provide heat and light (at least until the late 12th century) and later it had wall fireplace. The hall would also have had tapestries which would have insulated the room against too much cold.



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Stone castles are barely warm in the summer months. The thick stone walls also mean thick inserts for the windows, which let in less sunlight to naturally warm the rooms. Thick stone walls also tend to hold onto any moisture in the air. This means those hot and humid summer days can make rooms fairly cool.

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Castles were cold, damp, and drafty. Some rooms had fireplaces, but not all did. Carpets covered walls—not floors—and helped keep out the cold. Everyone sat on hard wooden benches, except the very richest lords and ladies, who sat on chairs.

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Castles and manor houses often smelled damp and musty. To counteract this, herbs and rushes were strewn across the floors.

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Life in a Medieval Castle: Cold, Dark, and Very Smelly! To our modern standards of living, most Medieval castles would have been incredibly cold, cramped, totally lacking privacy, and would have been disgustingly smelly (and likely home to more than a fair share of rats!).

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Initially, castles were built out of wood, but eventually, people made castles from stone because they were stronger and lasted longer. Castles usually consisted of a group of buildings that were surrounded by a huge wall and a moat designed to keep attackers out.

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After the 16th century, castles declined as a mode of defense, mostly because of the invention and improvement of heavy cannons and mortars. This artillery could throw heavy cannonballs with so much force that even strong curtain walls could not hold up.

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Medieval castles did not have bathrooms with running water, yet people did like to bathe. In some castles there was a room next to the kitchen where women bathed in groups.

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Living in a medieval castle was often uncomfortable and even hazardous, particularly for those who were not part of the nobility or royalty. For example, despite their grandeur and imposing appearance, many castles lacked basic amenities like running water, central heating, and proper ventilation.

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Castles weren't always cold and dark places to live. But, in reality, the great hall of castle had a large open hearth to provide heat and light (at least until the late 12th century) and later it had wall fireplace. The hall would also have had tapestries which would have insulated the room against too much cold.

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Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world and has been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years. It is an official residence of Her Majesty The Queen and is still very much a working royal palace today, home to around 150 people.

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The well – as well as any available cisterns – provided a protected source of drinking water for the castle garrison in peace and war and also for any civil population seeking refuge during a siege.

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In the medieval period luxury castles were built with indoor toilets known as 'garderobes', and the waste dropped into a pit below.

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The toilets of a castle were usually built into the walls so that they projected out on corbels and any waste fell below and into the castle moat. Even better, waste went directly into a river as is the case of the latrines of one of the large stone halls at Chepstow Castle in Wales, built from the 11th century CE.

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Fire as a weapon and as punishment Archers shot fire into the garrison, while two young boys made it into the castle and started a fire within the walls. Stone castles were actually fairly susceptible to fire. Though stone and brick are relatively fire resistant, castles were filled with flammable materials.

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Smoke rose through a louver, a lantern-like structure in the roof with side openings that were covered with sloping boards to exclude rain and snow, and that could be closed by pulling strings, like venetian blinds. There were also roof ventilators.

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