Quadrangular castle explained
A quadrangular castle or courtyard castle is a type of castle characterised by ranges of buildings which are integral with the curtain walls, enclosing a central ward or quadrangle, and typically with angle towers. There is no keep and frequently no distinct gatehouse. The quadrangular form predominantly dates from the mid to late fourteenth century and signals the transition from defensively to domestically oriented great houses. The four walls are also known as ranges.
Quadrangular castles typically display a sophisticated and complex approach to the planning of internal social spaces.[1] [2] There are many quadrangular castles around the UK, for example: Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, and Bolton Castle.
The 27 quadrangular castles identified by John Rickard as being built in England consist roughly 10% of the castles built in the country between 1272 and 1422. No castles of this design were built in Wales.[3]
One of the earliest quadrangular castles in Germany is Neuleiningen, of which substantial ruins remain.
List of quadrangular castles in the United Kingdom
| Name | Location | Coordinates | Constructed | Built for | Designed by | Heritage status | Image |
|---|
| Beverston Castle | Cotswold | | 1225 | Maurice de Gaunt
Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley | anonymous | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Bodiam Castle | East Sussex | | 1385 | Edward Dalyngrigge | anonymous | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Bolton Castle | Richmondshire | | 1379 | Richard le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton | John Lewyn | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Caverswall Castle | Staffordshire Moorlands | | 1275 | | anonymous | Grade I listed building | |
| Cawood Castle | Selby | | 1378 | John Kemp | anonymous | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Dorset | | 1370s | | anonymous | scheduled monument | |
| Chillingham Castle | Northumberland | | 1344 | | anonymous | Grade I listed building | |
| Cooling Castle | Medway | | 1380s | John de Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham | Henry Yevele | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | |
| North Yorkshire | | 1302 | | anonymous | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Farleigh Hungerford Castle | Mendip | | 1383 | Thomas Hungerford | anonymous | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Ford Castle | Northumberland | | 1338 | | anonymous | Grade I listed building | |
| Fyvie Castle | Aberdeenshire | | 1300s | anonymous | anonymous | category A listed building | |
| Greys Court | South Oxfordshire | | 1348 | John de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Rotherfield
Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys
Baron Lovel | anonymous | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Greystoke Castle | Eden
Cumbria | | 1353 | William de Greystoke, 2nd Baron Greystoke | anonymous | Grade II* listed building | |
| Hartley Castle | Cumbria | | 1353 |
Sir Richard Musgrave, 1st Baronet | anonymous | scheduled monument
Grade II listed building | |
| Hemyock Castle | Mid Devon | | 1380 | Margaret and William Asthorpe | anonymous | scheduled monument
Grade II* listed building | |
| Hever Castle | Hever | | 1271 | | anonymous | Grade I listed building | |
| Inverlochy Castle | Highland | | 1270s | Clan Cumming | anonymous | category B listed building | |
| Lumley Castle | County Durham | | 1389 | Ralph de Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley | John Lewyn
John Vanbrugh | Grade I listed building | |
| Maxstoke Castle | Warwickshire | | 1345 | William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon | anonymous | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Moor End Castle | Northamptonshire | | 1347 | Edward III of England
| anonymous | scheduled monument | |
| Raby Castle | County Durham | | 1378 | House of Neville | John Lewyn | Grade I listed building | |
| Ravensworth Castle | Tyne and Wear | | 1350s | Marmaduke Lumley | anonymous | Grade II* listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Sheriff Hutton Castle | North Yorkshire
Ryedale | | 1382 | John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby | John Lewyn | Grade II* listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Shirburn Castle | South Oxfordshire | | 1377 | | Henry Yevele | Grade I listed building | |
| Somerton Castle | North Kesteven | | 1281 | Antony Bek | anonymous | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | |
| Starborough Castle | Surrey | | 1341 | Reginald de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham | anonymous | scheduled monument
Grade II* listed building | |
| Sudeley Castle | Gloucestershire | | 1443 | Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley | anonymous | Grade I listed building | |
| Westenhanger Castle | Kent
Shepway | | 1343 |
Edward Poynings | anonymous | scheduled monument
Grade I listed building | |
| Wingfield Castle | Mid Suffolk | | 1384 | Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk | anonymous | Grade I listed building | |
| Woodcroft Castle | Cambridgeshire | | 1280 | anonymous | anonymous | Grade II* listed building | |
| Dorset | | 1336 |
Guy de Bryan, 1st Baron Bryan | anonymous | Grade I listed building | |
| Wressle Castle | East Riding of Yorkshire | | 1390s | Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester
Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland | John Lewyn | Grade I listed building
scheduled monument | | |
Notes and References
- Faulkner. P. Domestic planning from the 12th to the 14th centuries. Archaeological Journal. 115. 150–83. 1958. 10.1080/00665983.1958.10854132.
- Faulkner. P. Castle planning in the fourteenth century. Archaeological Journal. 120. 215–35. 1963. 10.1080/00665983.1963.10854241.
- Book: Rickard, John. The castle community: the personnel of English and Welsh castles : 1272 - 1422. 2002. Boydell. Woodbridge. 9780851159133. 21. 1. publ..
