Customer Reviews
Grim and compelling history written in stone. - By: R. Nicholson-morton, 20 Mar 2008 
Lovely to own, interesting to read, this book is also useful as the definitive guide to the most impressive historic buildings & sitesin England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland. This is the latest revision of a classic bestselling book.
British & Irish castles are fascinating & romantic places to visit. Whether they're ruins, restored heritage sites or still occupied, they evoke times past, the scenes of historical events that shaped our countries & our people - battles, sieges, executions, negotiations, kidnappings & betrayals. Grim & compelling history writtenin stone.
The vast majority of the castles were constructed as a result of the Norman invasion & are generally characterised by the motte & bailey. While these castles acted as places of defence & offence, they were also occupied by the local lord & his family. As time passed & society became more settled & secure, the need for castles diminished, save for defence against foreign invasion on our shores. The last to see active service was Dover Castle, which was used as the control centre for Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Dunkirk. A garrison was maintained there until the 1950s.
Portchester is a fine example of a Norman castle built within the confines of a late third century Roman Saxon shore fort. Reputedly, it has the most complete Roman walls to existin northern Europe. Portchester was well used by England's royalty & still has the old twelfth century church. Basing House near Basingstoke is worth a look too, where Civil War re-enactments are staged each year.
Lewes is one of the very few castles with two mottes associated with one bailey. When the castle was built, boats could navigate from the Channel up the Ouse so that Lewes was actually a useful portin East Sussex. Way backin 1846 the London & Brighton South Coast Railway constructed a tunnel, which is stillin use, under the bailey of the castle.
There are at least five Newcastles - Bridgend, Emlynin Carmarthanshire, Lyonsin Dublin, Under-Lymein Staffordshire & Upon-Tyne. The latter was built by the Conqueror's sonin 1080. Nearby is Tynemouth which was one of the largest fortified sitesin England; it was integrated into the Priory & now all that's left are the ruins of the priory & the castle gatehouse, which overlook the mouth of the Tyne & the bleak North Sea.
Cornwall's St Michael's Mount's original church was consecratedin 1144 but was destroyedin an earthquakein 1275. This is a magical place to visit. Leeds Castle is nowhere near Yorkshire; this Kent castle's name stems from the original Esledes & was bought by a wealthy Anglo-American ladyin the 1920s & she spent the rest of her life transforming it.
Dumbartonin Scotland is recorded as a stronghold for longer than any other sitein Britain; it was built on a volcanic neck of basalt rock jutting out into the Clyde. Glamisin Angus was the childhood home of the Queen Mother & was featuredin Macbeth. Linlithgowin West Lothian was the birth-place of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Cardiff castle was raised on the site of a Roman fortin 1080 & over the centuries has been remodelled & improved & is considered one of the best to visitin Wales.
Ireland has more than 3,000 castles, most overgrown ruins & until recently they were resented & seen as symbols of hated foreign rule & domination. Castle Blarney is famous for its stone; anyone who kisses it is supposed to be blessed with eloquence. Besides being a twelfth century castle, Carrickfergus has served as a prison, armoury & air-raid shelter.
Corfein Dorset was owned by Sir John Bankes; his widow led the garrison to fight off two Parliamentarian sieges, though she was defeated by an act of treachery & the castle was slighted - one of several useful terms to be foundin the glossary - damage or destroy to make it unfit for further use. Ashby de la Zouch (Leicestershire) featuresin Sir Walter Scott's classic Ivanhoe. Scott was clearly besotted by castles, writing the two-novel tome Kenilworth after the castle of that namein Warwickshire.
I can't resist mentioning Shropshire's Moreton Corbet which was built by the head of an old Saxon family rather than a Norman,in about 1200. Another Morton can be foundin Dumfries - a fourteenth century castle tower on a high promontory overlooking Morton Loch.
As this book attests, there are literally hundreds of castlesin Britain & Ireland. Virtually every one is covered, many descriptions accompanied by attractive & often haunting colour photographs. Every castle is identified by its national grid map reference & basic opening times & access details are provided.
Brief but illuminating feature spreads with illustrations provide more facts & anecdotes on lifein early castles, medieval weapons & the people's food & drink. There are also articles on sieges, entertainment, sport & the English Civil War, among others.
You'll spend many an hour with this book & be inspired to go out & seek out the castles themselves. Celebrate your heritage & gloryin the rich human tapestry of our islands' history by visiting a castle.
I Just Loved it - By: J. Chippindale, 07 Nov 2007 Firstly what a wonderful name for an author of such a book, secondly what a wonderful book he has written. The British Isles is littered with castles of varying sizes &in various states of repair, or disrepair as the case may be. This book attempts to give you a guided tour of some of the best & there are far more than you think that are complete or almost complete.
Many of the most famous castlesin our history have crumbled to little more than a pile of stones & we can only romanticise about how they looked, who built them & lived there & the events that occurred during their long history
But on the reverse of the coin we have castles that are still inhabited even today & one of the oldest, the tower of London is stillin an excellent state of repair. Windsor is inhabited by the Queen & Warwick Castle & Leeds Castle look almost as good as the day they were built.
In Scotland, Edinburgh & Stirling have stood the rigours of time & Caernarfon Castlein Wales is a legacy of Edward I, being built on the site of what was a Roman fortress & then a Norman motte & bailey. Another Welsh castlein the beautiful town of Conway has not stood the test of time so well, but the superstructure is more or less still there. There is something magical about a castle when you are inside it. Perhaps it is the presence of long dead residents, or the mighty deeds & events that happened within those enormous walls. Whatever it is this book helps to bring to life our history with a profusion of photographs & information galore. Almost everyone likes a Castle & this book takes you on a enchanting tour from ruins through to the splendour of a fully preserved structure.
