How to Build a Castle
A special one-day conference exploring
the construction and development of Ludlow castle
Saturday 30th July 2022
Ludlow Assembly Rooms and Ludlow Castle
For a town map and advice on cheap parking follow this link ☛☛
The Programme
| 9.15 | onwards – registration, refreshments and bookstall |
| 10.00 | How to Build a Castle Part 1: Fundamentals
Dr Malcolm Hislop Examining the approach to early castle building in England, including choosing a site, earthwork construction (mottes, rampart, and ditches), water defences, early timber, and stonework. |
| 10.45 | Questions to Dr Hislop |
| 10.50 | The Norman Castle at Ludlow c.1085-c.1177: Design and Content
Professor Matthew Strickland Ludlow is one of the earliest and most important stone-built Norman castles in England, with some of its mural towers and curtain walls dating from the later eleventh century. This talk aims to set Ludlow castle within the wider context of the design and function of some of the first Norman stone castles built in the wake of the Conquest. It will also discuss how the transformation of the early Norman gatehouse at Ludlow into an imposing great tower or keep in the twelfth century relates to important re-interpretations of the nature and purpose of such great towers. |
| 11.30 | Questions to Prof. Strickland |
| 11.35 | Refreshments and walk across to Ludlow castle |
| 12.15 | First guided visit to Ludlow castle led by the lecturers to examine the aspects covered by the first two talks. |
| 13.00 | Lunch break: attendees to bring their own or purchase in Ludlow |
| 14.00 | How to Build a Castle Part 2: Refinements
Dr Martin Hislop A more detailed exploration of castle planning and building in stone with particular reference to some of the more ambitious construction projects of the medieval period. |
| 14.40 | Questions to Dr Hislop |
| 14.50 | Ludlow Castle and its Domestic Developments from the late thirteen century
Dr John Kenyon This talk will look primarily at the developments on the north side of the inner bailey of Ludlow Castle from the late thirteenth century, with the domestic ranges that are a hallmark of the castle, and amongst the finest in the country. Some comparison will be made with developments at other sites, particularly in the fourteenth century. He will also examine the sixteenth-century lodgings in the inner bailey, and touch on relevant buildings in the outer ward. |
| 15.30 | Questions to Dr Kenyon |
| 15.35 | Walk over to Ludlow Castle |
| 15.50 | Second guided visit to Ludlow Castle led by the lecturers to examine the buildings in the inner bailey |
| 16.45 | Finish |
The Speakers
Dr Malcolm Hislop read History and Archaeology at the University of Nottingham, where he also completed a doctoral thesis on the fourteenth-century mason and castle builder, John Lewyn of Durham. He has a practical background in the archaeology of buildings, latterly as an independent archaeological consultant. He has a particular interest in the process of design and construction especially as practised in the medieval period. This is the theme of his two most recent books: Castle Builders (2016) and James of St George and the Castles of the Welsh Wars (2020). He now devotes his time to private research.
Matthew Strickland is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow. His research focuses on Anglo-Norman and Angevin military and political history, with a particular interest in the conduct of warfare, chivalric culture and aristocratic rebellion. His books include Anglo-Norman Warfare (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1992); War and Chivalry. The Conduct and Perception of War in England and Normandy, 1066-1217 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996); The Great Warbow. From Hastings to the Mary Rose, with Robert Hardy (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2005); and Henry the Young King, 1155-1183 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2016).
Dr John Kenyon has been studying castles and later fortifications from the 1970s and has written a number of books on the subject. As well as academic papers in various journals, he has written guidebooks for both Cadw and English Heritage. He contributed the castle entries for two of Yale University Press’s Buildings of Wales series, namely the volumes on Gwynedd and Powys.
Parking
The best all-day parking is the Galdeford car park (SY8 1QB) situated behind the library (on the right-hand side of the map). Don’t park on the upper levels but go down to the lower levels where the cost is just 30p an hour.
The easiest route to this car park from the A49 is from the southern of the two roundabouts, by the Co-op and petrol station. From there the Sheet road goes downhill, under the bridge and then up Lower Galdeford. The car park entrance is on the left, just around the corner where Lower Galdeford becomes Upper Galdeford.
Ludlow Assembly Rooms are in Castle Square, a walk of five minutes from the car park – keep heading westwards and you can’t easily miss it.