Quadrangular castle
Type of castle
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. 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.
One of the earliest quadrangular castles in Germany is Neuleiningen, of which substantial ruins remain.
01List of quadrangular castles in the United Kingdom
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Quadrangular castle”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Bolton Castle.JPG by Bob Weyker, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Beverston Castle.jpg by Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5
- Bodiam-castle-10My8-1197.jpg by Antony McCallum, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Caverswall Castle.jpg by Samuel Hall Carter (1800-1889), Public domain
- Cawood Castle.jpg by Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Chillingham Castle.jpg by Glen Bowman from Newcastle, England, CC BY 2.0
- Cooling Castle, 2011.jpg by shirokazan, CC BY 2.0
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