Imagine that an artist has been hired to do a painting showing the

diversity of everyday life at your site, at a particular time in its past. What
would you tell the artist to help make the painting historically accurate?
Use physical features of the site as well as your knowledge to support
your answer. (20 marks)

I would like to commission you to paint Framlingham Castle, Suffolk. The time I would like you
to base it on is the year 1101 to 1547. During this time there were a period of owners such as
the Bigods (a wealthy Norman family), the Brothertons and the Howards, both late relatives of
King Edward I. The castle started off as a wooden fortress in 1066 and was turned into a stone
castle by Hugh Bigod I in 1154. In the painting I want you to focus on some of the main physical
features of the castle, such as the drawbridge, the great hall, its towers and curtain walls and
lastly the gatehouse and the portcullis.

The first physical feature that I want you to include is the drawbridge. The drawbridge would
probably have been made of wood and would have stretched across the width of the moat so
that whenever there was an invasion the drawbridge could be pulled up, preventing the attackers
from entering. The original drawbridge is no longer a physical feature at Framlingham Castle
because Thomas Howard changed it to a more stable, stone bridge crossing the moat. Images of
the original drawbridge can be found on the English Heritage website.

Another important feature I’d like you to focus on is the great hall. The great hall was built by
Roger Bigod II so it could be used for social events and rebellion meetings. The castle’s hall
consisted of a fireplace, a banquet table and a hearth. In 1277 King Edward I visited
Framlingham and had a feast with Roger Bigod II in the great hall. He also walked around the
gardens situated in the grounds of the castle. Later in Framlingham’s timeline Margaret
Brotherton, a wealthy and influential businesswoman, became owner of the Castle. She was
known to hold meals for other powerful families, Earls and Barons in the great hall. Now the only
remains of the hall is the timber frames and the entrance.
 
It is also essential that you include in your painting the 13 towers that surrounded the castle and
divided the curtain walls during the specified time period. After the specified time period these
were a very prominent feature. The difference between the 1100s and now is that there are only
twelve standing towers instead of thirteen. One fell down because it was rotten and old. It
collapsed after Framlingham had been handed to English Heritage. On top of all thirteen towers
was a timber fighting platform, which would have allowed crossbowmen to keep a look out and
fire across the ditches. On each tower, there were physical features such as arrow loops. These
were small slits in the walls of the tower that allowed arrows to be fired out but not fired in.
Adjacent to the towers was the curtain walls. These were 10.5. metres high and 2.3 metres
thick. The walls were made of flint and septarian stones. Flint is a hard, tough sedimentary rock
and septarian is a combination of yellow calcite, brown aragonite, grey limestone and white or
clear barite. This should help you get the correct colours of the castle walls. In 1173 Henry II
tore down all of Framlingham’s defensive walls, including the Curtain Walls, after Hugh Bigod
planned a rebellion against him in. However the curtain walls were rebuilt again in 1189 and
these can still be seen on current photos.

Lastly the two physical features that I would like you to include is the gatehouse and the
portcullis. The portcullis is no longer a feature found at Framlingham Castle because it was
removed due to safety reasons by English Heritage. The portcullis was a metal grate that
lowered and lifted. The only evidence of there ever being a portcullis is the groove left behind on
the side of the wall where the portcullis was opened and closed. A gatehouse is one of the most
important defensive parts of all medieval castles like Framlingham. The gatehouse would always
have been heavily guarded so that all surrounding villages were surveyed, protecting the castle
from any acts of rebellions. To this day the gatehouse remains the main entrance to the castle
and is protected by the drawbridge.

Around the castle there were lots of people taking part in jobs such as horsemen, brewers and
carpenters. These people would have always been working around the castle. All of these people
had homes inside of the castle grounds, which were very likely to be inside of near to their place
of work. For example, the Horsemen may have lived next door to the stables so that the horses
were always cared for. These people may be another thing that you could include in your
painting of the Castle.

Outside of the Castle it is surrounded by a very picturesque landscape including lakes, lush green
fields and a beautiful blue moat circling around Framlingham. Another important thing to
mention about the landscape is that it was, and still is to this day, is located on a small spur, hill.
This makes it stand out because it is surrounded by very flat fields. This could show that it was a
very impressive and powerful building.

Overall, the castle should look like a very impressive and wealthy home as well as a highly
defended castle. As I have mentioned above, if you visited the castle today many of the features
I have described for you are no longer there. This is because they have been removed for safety
reasons or have slowly decayed over the past 10,000 years. The key changes that have occurred
is that there are now only 12 towers instead of 11 and that the castle is now owned by English
Heritage and contains a museum and café.

All of the physical features I have described above can be seen through pictures and animations
on the English Heritage website and virtual tours found on youtube. This might be helpful to
refer to when it comes to including physical features that can no longer be found on site.