How were castles lit at night?

Candles were too expensive (especially beeswax ones) even for the lords of many castles. They used tallow candles (made from the fat of sheep or goats), flaming torches or lamps which burnt fish-oil to light their Great Halls. For decoration, the beams of the Hall were often painted with patterns.



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Candles were too expensive (especially beeswax ones) even for the lords of many castles. They used tallow candles (made from the fat of sheep or goats), flaming torches or lamps which burnt fish-oil to light their Great Halls. For decoration, the beams of the Hall were often painted with patterns.

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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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The first stone castles built were cold, dark, smelly and damp. Inside the castle walls, floor coverings consisted of straw rushes and, later, sweet smelling herbs to mask the smell of animal excrement, grease, rotting food and beer.

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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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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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always warm- just above normal room temperature.

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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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It turns out that those fairy tales you read as a child all left out a very important truth: The moats that surrounded medieval castles weren't just useful defenses against attack; they were also open sewers into which the castles' primitive waste disposal systems flushed human excrement and other foul substances.

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Castle toilets, also known as garderobes or latrines, would have a plank of wood with a hole held on stone supports through which waste could be deposited.

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Converted into a donjon around 950, Château de Doué-la-Fontaine in France is the oldest standing castle in Europe.

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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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In the Middle Ages, people would make use of sticks, moss and other plants. Archaeological findings from cesspits of monasteries in Ireland and Norway included small pieces of cloth that were used like toilet paper.

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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 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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The monarch has a private indoor swimming pool at Buckingham Palace, which has long been a favourite spot for the entire royal family.

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The elegant palace has been a royal residence in Britain since 1761- longer than America has been around! The temperature of any building that old and that large is very difficult to manage. It might be shocking for you to hear that Buckingham Palace doesn't have an air conditioning system like the one in your home.

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