Question 1 Warwick Castle was founded in 1068 by William the Conqueror and was rebuilt and updated a number of times. Which made it a good castle in that time period? Warwick castle ruins mainly of the fourteenth century with have one of the finest great houses in England. Warwick had four stages of development. The first castle at Warwick was built in 914; this was an earthen parapet to protect the small hill top settlement of Warwick. The next stage was built in 1068 and this was a Motte and Bailey castle. After finding wood had many weaknesses, by 1260 it had been replaced by stone fortress this was created so the enemies of William 1 don’t burn down the castle. Two small towers, which date to the late fifteenth century are said to have built as artillery platforms. Warwick Castle rises like a cliff above the River Avon, it is of Norman origin. On this natural cliff William 1 founded a motte castle in 1068, on lands seized from a nearby Saxon convent. A wooden tower built on the motte was evidently still there in the reign of Henry II, by which time a many-sided shell enclosure had been raised round the motte top. The remains of the shell area now remain, builtin in the rebuilt shell, which is of much later date. There are two major castles in Warwickshire: Warwick and Kenilworth Castle, which is about 5 miles away. The development and progress of both Warwick and Kenilworth was very similar. Both started of as a motte-and-bailey castle, with a mound, wooden buildings and enclosures, then stone fortress towers were built, then curtain walls became added, and then both developed into high-quality palaces. Warwick, for most of its history, has been home to the Earls of Warwick. There is lineage chart of the Neville and de Beauchamp families, through 20 generations, from the 14th century to the present day, at Warwick lineage. By contest, Kenilworth was, for most of its history, the Kings’ own castle in the region, which provided a base from which the
King could watch over his barons, both in Warwickshire and other parts of the midlands. This differentiation between regional Warwick and the royalist Kenilworth, runs -through their histories, and was the origin of the very different fates of the two castles. Warwick castle has a history which moves from its construction to as a wooden motte and baily castle by William the conqueror to a massive stone fortress. Surviving siege warfare to the age of medieval knights and chivalry and the English civil war. The name Warwick means ‘dwellings by the weir’-a weir was fence or wattle built across a stream to catch or preserve fish. The Warwick wooden moat and baily castle was defended by the river Avon so it doesn’t get taken over by the enemies of William the conquer and also has wide and deep ditches for tactical defence .During the construction of Warwick castle soldiers , equipment and building materials were easily transported by boats to the site of the castle . Once Warwick castle had been built fresh supplies, provisions and reinforcement prevented the castle occupants from being into submission during siege warfare. The wooden castle was replaced by a fortified stone castle 1260.the two main round towers were build at the front of the castle and the chapel and large hall were built against the south wall .various additions were made to Warwick castle as time passed-guys tower and Caesar’s tower were added at the end of the fourteenth century . Warwick castle was built by River Avon; this overlooks the surrounding town Warwick.