What is a Castle? A Beginner’s Guide to Mediaeval Castles

The first in the Triskele Heritage 2022-23 Winter Series of Lectures: Understanding Mediaeval Buildings.

Mediaeval castles are diverse. No two are identical. Stretching across several centuries of use, their design changed radically from their arrival in Britain during the late Saxon period until they faded away in the mid-sixteenth century. It may be surprising to learn that quite how we define these buildings is hotly contested.

For most people, castles are militarily defensive fortifications that may have also contained the residences of lords within. However, this interpretation masks a huge complexity of functions. This talk will look at the chronological, social, economic, political and construction issues surrounding castles in an attempt to define and explain these incredible structures.

The speaker, James Wright (Triskele Heritage), is an award winning buildings archaeologist. He has two decades professional experience of ferreting around in people’s cellars, hunting through their attics and digging up their gardens. He hopes to find meaningful truths about how ordinary and extraordinary folk lived their lives in the mediaeval period. He is the author of the popular Mediaeval Mythbusting Blog.

All you need to do is register via Eventbrite and – when the time for the talk rolls around – grab your favourite beverage of choice, get comfy and enjoy.

The event will take place at 19:00 GMT+1 on Thursday 13 October 2022 .

Booking is now available via Eventbrite:

Due to our licensing agreement with Zoom tickets for each event will be limited to 495 places. This will be a live event. It will not be recorded and made available online afterwards. If you have a question about the event – in the first instance please see our FAQs section. The answer will almost certainly be in there.

*** If you have any problems accessing this event please email with your booking reference to james@triskeleheritage.com ***