Medieval Well

Water has always been and always will be a precious commodity. It is for that reason that medieval castles were always built close to a good water supply. 

 As our medieval castle blog reported in a previous post, there are even medieval castles with their own little harbour such as Threave Castle in Scotland. 

Occasionally, when visiting a medieval castle you might be lucky enough to come across the remains of a medieval well. Here is one we found in the garden of a medieval abbey in France at Nieul-Sur-L'Autise. The medieval garden at Bazoges-en-Pareds also has a wonderful, stone-built well.

You can see it here in this video clip courtesy of medieval-recipes.com.

A Medieval Abbey In Scotland

On the way back from visiting Threave Castle in Scotland last year, we came across the most wonderful abbey ruins - Sweetheart Abbey.

Founded in 1275, the Abbey has a fascinating history. Although there are only ruins to see today, it feels a very special place. When we visited we were lucky to arrive just as the sun was setting. The Abbey ruins glowed in the sunlight with the stone taking on a luminescent glow. This is one of the photographs that we took which I just had to share with our castle blog readers.

Medieval Abbeys are a vast subject in themselves and one we hope to cover more in future posts.

Threave & Hermitage - Castles In Scotland

Threave Castle

Sitting in the middle of the River Dee, this has to be one of the most unusual and interesting medieval castles we have ever visited. It even has its own medieval harbour! Views out across the river Dee are beautiful with unspoiled countryside everywhere you look.

Threave Castle has some fascinating architectural features for those interested in medieval castle design. Watch out for future posts with more of the stunning photos from our Threave Castle visit.

Hermitage Castle
We have already published several posts about Hermitage featuring photographs of it that we took on a visit during 2009.

Check our Medieval Castle Blog Archive for details.

Medieval Castles in 2009

During the course of this year we have visited and photographed a number of medieval castles in the Border region that lies between England and Scotland. It is an area that has seen many battles for power over the centuries and is therefore littered with fortresses many of which date back to medieval times and some such as Carlisle Castle having origins even further back - to Roman times.

Carlisle Castle (Cumbria England)
With over 900 years of history. Architecturally fascinating and reputed to be haunted!

Naworth Castle (Cumbria England)
A small, privately owned medieval castle dating back to the early 14th century.

Dacre Castle (Cumbria England)
An even smaller castle, again privately owned which was up for rental at the time we visited.

Dunstanburgh Castle (Northumberland, England)
Castle ruins in one of the most outstanding locations you could ever dream of! Located high on a promintery overlooking the sea. Breathtaking views once you reach it and look down on the surrounding countryside. Legends abound about this castle and it is reputed to be haunted.

Threave Castle (Scotland)
Ruins of a 13th century castle built in a unique location - on an island in the middle of the river Dee.

Hermitage Castle (Scotland)
Another unique location for a medieval castle - this was far from romantic though. A much more desolate location. Castle reputed to be haunted.

Photographs of each of the above will be published in subsequent blog posts.