Castles on the Ground

Not "Castles in the Air" - these are real, solid, stone-built structures.

After the Norman Conquest of 1066, many castles were erected hastily as protection for the invaders. In the years that followed, the initial wooden structures were replaced with more-solid stone buildings, which were added to and adapted over time, as necessity and finances dictated. The nature of castles changed too, as more sophisticated methods of attack and defence came into operation. During the English Civil War, in the seventeenth century, many castles were rendered indefensible, and thereafter money was invested in large and ornate houses as a badge of status, rather than castles.