Building A Castle 1. Go to the Gun Garden. At the bottom of the Barbican Tower take some flints from the box, a piece of chalk and a piece of black paper. Put the flints in a line draw along the edge of the flints. What happens? Is the line straight or wobbly? Look at the corners of the Barbican Tower. The corner stones are called QUOINS (pronounced coins) from the French word for corner. Why are they made from different stones to the walls? Can you see the pattern the corners stones make? Can you see why are the stones arranged in this long short pattern? To help you - try arranging the wooden blocks in the two different corner patterns you see on the sheet and then pushing on one side and the corner. Where else did the builders use this type of stone? 2. Look at the bottom of the round towers and the Machicolations. Can you see the way the building is stepped? Why did the builders do this?
3. The Walls of Lewes Castle were made from Flint stones. Can you spot 3 different patterns or arrangements of the Flints? (Clue look on the front of the Barbican Tower and on the wall at the back of the Garden (between the Barbican Tower and the Motte) Yes I can see the Herringbone pattern Yes I can see the flints that have been Yes I can see the random flints with no pattern shaped like squares or bricks Can you think of any reasons why they might be arranged in different patterns? 4. Lewes Castle had a dry ditch NOT a moat with water. Can you see the lines which may mark the angle of the original castle ditch?(clue: Look at the left side of the wall).where you are standing would not have been a garden but a deep ditch all around the castle wall, dug into the ground at least 4 times the height of you. Why was it a ditch and not a moat with water? (Clue: There is a white material you find when you dig into the ground in Lewes including here at the Castle you can draw with it too!) This material lets the water soak through it It is.). Why was this a good material to have in the ditch? How did it make things easier for the Castle defenders and more difficult for the attackers? (Clue: Feel a wet piece of chalk what is it like?)
5. Can you see the Motte?. This is the manmade hill the Castle Keep stands at the top of. The chalk dug from the ditch was used to build it. What colour would it have been when it was first built? Green Brown White Yellow Red Black Why did this colour help the soldiers defend the castle? Why did the Normans weed it so the plants didn t grow on it as they do today? 6.Turn and look up at the Shell Keep on top of the Motte Do the walls of the tower Go straight up and down? YES or NO What happens at the bottom? Why did the builders do this? (Clue: Look at the pictures which show some of the ways castles were attacked) 6.
Building A Castle Notes 1. The Barbican Tower Flint Walls / Corner stones FLINT There is lots of flint on the Downs so it is cheap (or free) It is very hard and very sharp The stones are bumpy and uneven and don t make straight lines easily. If a flint stuck out on a corner it could be used for climbing and it is easier to dig out of the wall if it sticks out ( making it easier to make the tower fall down) The large blocks of STONE. Could be shaped to have flat regular edges reasonably easily The stone could be imported from France right up the river to Lewes so transporting it wasn t that difficult. Why are the stones on the corner arranged in this long short pattern? ANSWER: If the stones were all set one way with the mortar which holds them together in a straight line, and one was pulled out, the others are more likely to fall down making a large part of the tower collapse. The stepping pattern helps bind the stones to the wall more firmly. Where else did the builders use this type of stone? ANSWER: For the door and windows, anywhere where a straight edge was better than a rough wobbly one. 2. The bottom of the Round towers and the Machicolations. When they were first built Castles had no towers sticking out. This meant that to defend the castle the archers would have to lean out over the top along way before they could shot at any enemy soldiers who got near to the walls (or started digging or mining under them!). Look at the picture of the wooden HOURDES Can you see that there was no need to build out in steps wood is lighter than stone so the forces pressing down are not so heavy. When stone was used either to make the Machicolations (so you could pour things down on top of your enemy) or to add towers from which you could shoot your enemy more easily (without putting yourself in such danger!) the builders used steps so the weight of the stone is lead back into the main wall and then to the ground rather than going straight down and the stone that is sticking out falling down. 3. The Walls of Lewes Castle were made from Flint stones. The square flints are much later The Barbican Tower was added about 200 yrs after the castle was started. At this time bricks were being made and were very expensive - it is quite likely that these square flints copy bricks and were more decorative than protective. They do look neat and ordered and certainly took along time to shape (this is called KNAPPING ) and would have been a symbol of the castle owners wealth. However, when a castle was attacked the attackers would try to repeatedly hit the same place on the castle wall, this fractures the mortar between the flints first as the mortar is weaker than the flint stones. The regular lines of mortar in the bricklike pattern fracture easily so it is easier to hit a group of flints out in one lump.
The random pattern of stones is quicker to build but because of the irregular shapes uses more mortar (the weakest part) although the fracture lines when its hit repeatedly will be less regular so it is both a stronger construction than the square flints and cheaper to make. The Herringbone pattern makes the strongest wall (this is also found in the oldest parts of the castle when defence was the priority). The pattern makes the flints press into the mortar and lock into each other both these things make the wall stronger and harder to fracture. 4. Lewes Castle had a dry ditch NOT a moat with water Why was it a ditch and not a moat with water? Lewes is built on a chalk hill. The motte was built using chalk dug out from the ditch which surrounded the outside of the castle wall. Chalk has millions of tiny holes in it and lets water drain through it. Why was this a good material to have in the ditch? How did it make things easier for the Castle defenders and more difficult for the attackers? Chalk is slippery when wet so it would be hard to climb and the attacking soldiers would show up really easily as targets for archers. 5. The Motte. What colour would it have been when it was first built? WHITE - because its made from chalk Why did the Normans weed it so the plants didn t grow on it as they do today? To make it much harder for attacking soldiers to climb (there weren t any steps like there are today). The white hill and castle would stand out in the landscape and be a symbol of the power of those who owned it it was meant to be threatening. 6.Turn and look up at the Shell Keep on top of the Motte Do the walls of the tower go straight up and down?no What happens at the bottom?the wall is much thicker and slopes from the widest point at the bottom to the flat part of the tower wall. The extra width at the bottom spreads the load of the wall and makes it stronger. If the enemy uses siege weapons like a mangonel (a large catapult ) or a battering ram ( hard if the castle is at the top of a steep hill!) the missiles are most likely to hit the lower part of the walls the sloping bit. This is harder to break through and the missiles hitting the slope at an angle rather than straight-on (flat wall) are less likely to cause damage ( they may even rebound back). Also missiles thrown down from the castle walls can bounce off the castle wall and onto the defenders.