Author Topic: Broken castle at Sutton Valence  (Read 3582 times)

Offline Bill Jones

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Re: Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #12 on: September 12, 2020, 07:06:06 AM »
Meatballs! I will think that I will give my dear friend Hugo that pet name  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

pete.mason

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Re: Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #11 on: September 11, 2020, 04:10:39 PM »
Try it!!  Go in with no intention to buy anything, come out after spending £50 on everything you never knew you needed. The meatballs aren't bad either  ;)

Offline Bill Jones

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Re: Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #10 on: September 11, 2020, 02:31:41 PM »
I did not know ikea so looked it up. You have made me chuckle

Offline MartinR

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Re: Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #9 on: September 11, 2020, 11:57:25 AM »
The "IKEA flatpacks" were only for the first few castles (Pevensey and Hastings come to mind).  What is certainly true is that they threw up a motte and put a wooden keep atop it.  Only once the ground had settled (maybe up to a century later) could they build large, heavy, stone keeps.  The outer walls around the bailey would likewise be a timber palisade at first, replaced as time goes on with stone towers and a curtain wall.  Of course in some places an pre-existing mound could be reused as the motte and a donjon built immediately.  My friend Wikipedia has a good introduction to the motte-and-bailey style castle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motte-and-bailey_castle

Offline mmitch

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Re: Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2020, 10:29:03 AM »
When the Normans invaded they brought wooden castle keeps  in kit form (IKEA came later!) I suspect that when  they rebuilt in stone, they built round the outside maybe much late?
mmitch.

Offline Bill Jones

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Re: Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2020, 07:14:44 AM »
A nother board with informaton at the broken castle. I wiped the bird droppings away with my handkerchief so I can read it better and now I have a dirty handkerchief  :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Offline Bill Jones

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Re: Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2020, 11:32:44 AM »
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Thank you all so much for the helpfull information in the replies. I have learned a lot about this castle now.

Offline MartinR

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Re: Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2020, 11:02:16 AM »
As ever, Wikipedia is your friend: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Valence_Castle  The page on Sutton Valence itself is also worth a read.
The castle appears to be late 12C, so a century after the conquest.  Building would be under the control of a master mason who at this date was probably Saxon or Anglo-Norman.  Journeyman masons would work under his control for the stone preparation and a "grunt" workforce of peasants and animals would provide the labour, lifting and motive power.  BTW, slavery per se has not existed in England since 1066, peasants were tied to the land, not owned by their lords and had access to manorial justice.  We might find the conditions little different from slavery, but they were theoretically legal persons and not chattels.

pete.mason

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Offline Bill Jones

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Re: Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2020, 02:53:06 PM »
8)

Offline grandarog

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Re: Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2020, 02:06:40 PM »
Sutton Valance like most of the old castles was built after the Norman Invasion.As Bill Jones wondered,they were probably built by the conquerred English peasants .Most were already serfs or slaves of the English gentry so would be the obvious choice for the workforce. The technical architecture  etc and supervision being in the hands of Norman professionals and craftsmen.


Offline Bill Jones

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Broken castle at Sutton Valence
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2020, 12:24:19 PM »
I hope this works being a first attempt at showing a photograph. I walked to a broken castle at Sutton Valence last night and took some pictures away, it was a very nice place to visit and so peaceful with noone else there. Who built these type of place I wonder, there is a information board that details who it was built for but not who made it actually. Did white men and lords and people use slaves to do heavy work back then? A shame the castle is broken as it would be an amazing place to see in all its glory. It is high on a hill and looks over a big valley.