Were there castles before 1066?

Before 1066 the only castles in England were a handful built by Norman nobles who had been favourites of king Edward the Confessor. English nobles used a different type of residence and we will never know if they would eventually have followed the continental trend.



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The first castles The Norman victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 marked the beginning of the age of the castle in England. Even before the battle, William the Conqueror built a castle at Hastings, near his landing place.

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The oldest castle in the world that we currently know about is the Aleppo Citadel in Aleppo, Syria. It was constructed sometime around 3000 BCE!

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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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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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Bacon's Castle is the oldest brick dwelling in North America and was built for Arthur Allen and his family in 1665.

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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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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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And indeed, the White Heron Castle, as it is sometimes called for its wing-like roofs and white walls, still stands today with its medieval foundations still wholly intact. It has survived the strife of the Muromachi period, the bombing of Himeji during World War II, and even catastrophic earthquakes.

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As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible.

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