What Were Castle Floors Made Of

Obviously the outer walls of a tower house or other medieval castle were generally made of stone.

What were castle floors made of. The inner walls if any. It was built in the 1720s by the architect william adam for duke john possibly incorporating an earlier tower house. The earliest castles were made of earth and wood. The top of the mound was enclosed by a palisade a wall of vertical wooden stakes inside of which was a wooden tower.

That is stone floors cemented with lime mortar sometimes supported on pillars. The inner courtyard this would have been another area of hustle and bustle and the focus of day to day residential life in the castle. Fresh sweet flag plants incorrectly termed rushes were periodically spread on medieval castle floors as a floor covering. They were called motte and bailey castles.

The barbican and the gatehouse were two important parts of medieval castle defence but there were many other obstacles and hazards built to protect medieval castles from attack. In the 19th century it was embellished with turrets and battlements by william playfair for duke james. In most houses the floors of the rooms on the ground floor were simply beaten earth. Most floors in most english castles were made from oak a timber that is strong and actually quite resistant to rot if kept dry however in some stone castles some floors where made of stone vaults.

The upper floors had wood flooring very wide planks cut from quality trees that were supported by huge oak beams. What were the interior floors and ceilings made of. These reed like plants were inexpensive and plentiful and when mixed with fresh herbs were a good way to cover dirt while sweetening the air. Floors castle in roxburghshire south east scotland is the seat of the duke of roxburghe despite its name it is a country house rather than a fortress.

Posted 06 18 2000 01 32 pm. Floors castle was designed by leading edinburgh architect william adam for the 1st duke of roxburghe in 1721. The motte was an earthen mound with a small ditch at its base. Thanks to them i had visions of lumpy uneven floors being swept away when they were brushed or of bits of a floor sticking to shoes if someone entered.

The ground floor of the tower house castles of ireland had stamped earth or perhaps a stone finish depending on the use.