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Castles, among the most enduring relics from the Middle Ages, continue to captivate us today, yet they remain misunderstood in numerous ways.
We often picture castles as dreary, cold, and uncomfortable places, but in their prime, they were vibrant, warm, and quite livable. While we envision them teeming with soldiers, many castles in peaceful times housed fewer than 20 guards. Additionally, it's easy to forget that the interiors were largely composed of wooden elements, which have long since decayed.
In this article, we will clear up common misconceptions and reveal the truth about castles by highlighting ten frequently misunderstood facts.
10. Large Garrisons Were Standard
When we think of castles, we often picture them as heavily fortified military structures designed to control the surrounding population. However, most castles were not as fortified as we imagine. In medieval England, the most well-protected castles were those along the Welsh and Scottish borders, yet even these rarely housed more than 200 soldiers. A manuscript from Wark Castle, dating back to 1545, reveals that the garrison consisted of only ten gunners and 26 horsemen, highlighting the garrison’s role in tasks beyond the castle. The manuscript further mentions that there were only 8 men on watch within the castle every night, with 2 more assigned to search for any disturbances.
Even in border castles, many castles throughout the country were primarily private homes for noble families and their staff, with only a few soldiers available for emergencies. It was not uncommon for castles to have fewer than ten soldiers, and in some cases, none at all. Why? Simply put, there was little need for them. In the event of a siege, even a small force could defend a castle for months by locking the gates and manning the towers with archers. In fact, a smaller garrison was often advantageous, as they could survive on less food. Regardless of the size of the garrison, attackers still had to spend weeks constructing siege equipment before breaking the defenses, allowing time for reinforcements to arrive and repel them.
The Great Hall was not just for hosting guests—it was primarily used for feasting and large gatherings, forming the social heart of the castle.
One notable feature missing in castles compared to modern military buildings is the barracks. The small size of most castles didn’t allow for the housing of large numbers of soldiers. In the event of an impending assault, the garrison could be temporarily expanded, often by stationing soldiers in the bailey area under tents. However, the majority of the soldiers and staff typically slept in the Great Hall, which doubled as a living space.
In modern-day imagination, the great hall is often seen as a space reserved solely for feasting, but in medieval times, it was much more than that. It served as the heart of castle life, a place where councils were held, food was served, music played, and where everyone gathered to sleep at the end of the day. In the earlier periods, the lord and his family would sleep in the hall too, typically in a comfortable bed tucked away at the far end, shielded by a curtain. Over time, however, castles started to include a solar—a private chamber for the lord and his family, often located above the great hall, sometimes equipped with small peepholes for the lord to observe the behavior of those in the hall below.
Though it may sound uncomfortable to us today, medieval people were far more accustomed to communal living. An average soldier or servant of the time wouldn’t think twice about resting on a fresh bed of rushes laid out in the great hall at the end of a long day.
8. They Were Plain and Simple
When we visit castles today, it’s easy to imagine that life inside must have been dull and drab due to the bare floors and gray stone walls. However, it’s important to remember that the Middle Ages were far from colorless—most of the vibrant hues have simply faded with time.
Medieval castles were often lavishly decorated, particularly when they were the residences of noble families. These castles featured an array of luxurious elements, including intricately carved wooden furniture, ornate wall tapestries, rich rugs, and abundant plaster. Plaster was especially common throughout.
When we examine depictions of castles in medieval illustrations, they often appear smooth and white. This was due to the practice of whitewashing the entire castle, both inside and out. Before the advent of cannons, once a wall was constructed, it was considered highly durable, so the lord would invest in covering it with smooth, white plaster as a fashionable touch. The interiors were then painted in vibrant hues like reds, yellows, and blues. Unfortunately, plaster isn't as resilient as stone, so much of it has eroded over time, but if you look carefully, you can still spot remnants of it on some medieval walls.
7. They Were Not Exclusively Knight-Owned
Although many castles were associated with knights, the truth is that a considerable number were owned by the Crown. Especially in strategically significant areas, castles often served as military outposts, and the king would retain control by keeping them within his possession. Castles in Wales and the Anglo-Scottish March were typically owned by the English king, who appointed a castellan to manage them in his stead. Castellans were usually trusted military officers, often close to the king, and their noble lineage wasn’t always a requirement. Particularly in Wales, where castles often featured lavish private quarters, being appointed as a royal castellan was one of the most prestigious roles a lowborn man could achieve, effectively making him a lord.
While castellans didn’t have true ownership of the castles, the land-holding nobles didn’t fare much better. Following William the Conqueror’s desire for total control over England, he introduced a system in which all land belonged to the monarch. This meant that anyone possessing land was essentially leasing it from the king. When a noble passed away, their property would revert to the king, and a royal officer known as the escheator would determine the rightful heir. If no heir was found, the property would become the king’s again. This system made it simple for the king to seize the land of nobles who turned against him, as the nobles were merely renting from the king. To this day, this law still exists in England, ensuring that no lord truly owned their castle—they were simply leasing it.
6. Lords Were Free to Build Castles Where They Chose
The rules surrounding castle construction and ownership went beyond mere financial capability. It wasn’t simply a matter of a lord having the resources to build a castle on their property. Such an act significantly increased the lord's influence, which could pose a threat to the monarch. As a result, the English Crown enacted a law stipulating that in order to fortify a residence, a lord must obtain a License to Crenellate.
Much like how modern property owners need approval for a home extension, a medieval lord wishing to erect a castle had to seek permission from the royal court for a License to Crenellate. These licenses were rare, with only a few granted annually, making the successful acquisition of one quite an achievement. The process could be lengthy: The king, often preoccupied with other matters, would personally issue the license, which would then be processed through various administrative channels, recorded in the Patent Roll, and eventually granted as an official document, bearing the Great Seal for the lord's records in case of future verification.
5. Castles Often Featured Dungeons
The dungeon is often seen as one of the most notorious and fearsome features of a medieval castle. However, if you asked someone living in an early medieval castle about the don-jon, they would direct you upwards. The term don-jon, derived from Old French, originally meant 'great tower.' Early castles did not have dungeons in the sense we think of them today. In fact, medieval societies didn’t have the concept of imprisonment as punishment. However, castles did occasionally house prisoners—typically wealthy captives taken during wars for ransom. These prisoners were often placed in the highest, most secure part of the great tower, a place where escape was nearly impossible and guarding them was easiest.
As the Middle Ages progressed, castles grew in complexity and luxury, and the number of prisoners to be held increased. The idea of punishing prisoners became more normalized, leading to the common practice of confining prisoners in dark, unpleasant areas of the castle—often the lowest floors of towers or old storage rooms, places typically without windows. Over time, the term 'dungeon' came to describe such grim, oppressive spaces, a meaning that endures to this day.
4. Castles Were Entirely Constructed of Stone
While the castles that have survived into modern times are made of stone, it's easy to assume that all castles were built from this material. However, that wasn’t always the case. For poorer landowners, a wooden castle was often a more practical and affordable option that could be built quickly and still provide a comparable level of defense. In fact, we don’t know how widespread wooden castles were since few of them have survived over time.
What we do know is that the earliest castles were made of wood, so the necessary materials and skills were available. The first wooden castles—typically in the motte and bailey style—featured large, sometimes complex keeps and were spread throughout the country. As time passed and technology improved (along with the wealth brought by the Norman conquerors), these wooden castles were gradually replaced by stone keeps and, eventually, the intricate stone castles we recognize today, dating from the late Middle Ages. Building these advanced structures was costly—at times, requiring nearly half of a king’s annual income. The transition to stone was slow: York Castle, one of the most crucial royal fortresses in England, had a wooden keep until 1190, and its stone keep wasn't completed until the late 13th century.
Medieval castles were not solely made of stone; they often included significant amounts of wood, which has since decayed over time. From the buildings within the walls to the roofs and floors of the towers, even the added fortifications on gates and walls, timber played an important role in the structure and design of these castles.
3. They Were Encircled by Moats
The image of a castle surrounded by a moat, possibly with crocodiles lurking within, is widely recognized. However, while crocodiles were purely fictional, moats themselves were real. Though many moated castles are more modern constructions, there is at least one medieval example, Bodiam Castle in the UK. Castles with moats, though, were uncommon.
There are several reasons why moats were not as widely used as one might expect. One key issue was that maintaining a moat filled with water was no easy task, and in some cases, it could have actually made a castle more vulnerable. In contrast, dry moats—those without water—were far more common. These dry moats served the primary purpose of preventing siege equipment and soldiers from reaching the walls easily. Additionally, a moat made the castle's walls appear much higher, making it harder to scale from the bottom of the ditch than from flat land.
Primarily, however, moats were simply unnecessary. Castles were often constructed atop hills to provide a strategic vantage point, eliminating the need for a moat. Other castles, such as Rochester, used nearby rivers as a form of natural moat, forcing attackers to approach from a single direction. Many castles were situated near naturally defensible terrain, rendering a full moat redundant. The most common moat was a wide ditch, like those at Harlech and Warwick castles, which filled in areas lacking natural defense.
2. The Castle Functioned as One Cohesive Structure
Medieval society was rigidly divided, with peasants and nobles each occupying their own distinct roles. However, the castle itself might appear somewhat more egalitarian. People from all social strata, from commoners to nobility, often shared common spaces out of necessity. In some cases, they even slept together in the same hall. Could this be the one area where class divisions seemed to blur, allowing the nobility and commoners to interact on equal ground?
Although some lords may have embraced this concept, it was far from the norm. A deeper look at castles reveals that, in fact, they were usually highly stratified. Conwy and Chepstow, two royal castles in Wales, provide striking examples. These castles featured inner courtyards reserved exclusively for the monarch. Conwy’s courtyard even included a private granary and chapel, tucked behind a drawbridge that made it feel like a castle within a castle. When the king was absent, the drawbridge was pulled up, rendering the courtyard unused.
At Harlech Castle, the massive gatehouse featured an entire upper floor exclusively for the king or his castellan. This floor also housed most of the castle’s fireplaces. Clifford’s Tower at York Castle, perched atop a motte, was another example of a highly exclusive area. It occasionally hosted the English Parliament, and although it famously offered shelter to the Jews of York during a mob attack, it was primarily home to the royal treasury, off-limits to the castle staff. Even in later periods, castles like Conisbrough, owned by the nobility, had private quarters for the lords, offering them a luxurious lifestyle that set them apart from the staff.
1. They Were Chilly
Stone doesn’t do a great job at keeping heat in. Castles, often built on elevated ground, are naturally exposed to the wind. Anyone who’s experienced an evening stroll around a castle can attest to how cold they can get at night. This has led many to believe that castles were generally cold and uncomfortable places to live.
However, it's important to remember that most castles featured multiple fireplaces, often much larger than those we find in modern homes, especially in the great hall. These fires were usually kept burning throughout the day. Castles also had narrow windows and extremely thick walls, sometimes more than 2 meters (6.6 feet) of solid rock. When you imagine an evening in the great hall, with a fire blazing and surrounded by a crowd, it's easy to understand how castles could feel surprisingly warm.
Not every area of a castle, of course, would have been warm. In castle ruins today, rooms without fireplaces are typically storage or cellar spaces—places that actually needed to remain cold. While towers might have been a bit drafty, no one was expected to spend long periods of time there. So if time travel ever becomes a reality, you needn’t worry; that castle will offer you a perfectly cozy night’s rest—if they allow you to stay, of course.
