Ever wonder what the interior of an English castle may have looked like in the 12th C? 🧵breaking down my work reconstructing the Great Hall of Guildford Castle for the #free Guildford Castle #VR app by Historic VR - in full medieval #polychrome glory!
You can go download the app and see it all for yourself! It's free on Steam - and if you enjoy it, please rate and review it. Any support helps, so Historic VR can do more of these in the future! store.steampowered.com/app/1862880/Gu…
The tower keep that still stands and was scanned via photogrammetry dates to the first half of the 12th C, replacing earlier fortifications. At this time it would have housed the King's apartments, before they were moved to a larger structure in the castle bailey.
The royal apartments in the keep were in a sorry state by the 14th C, and were turned in to a jail, then a private residence, and finally a cock-fighting ring, before being sold to the town of Guildford and being transformed into a tourist attraction in the 19th C.
In the early 2000's the keep was heavily restored and re-roofed, and it's this restoration that you see as the current state of the keep in the app (and in real life!) 📷R. Nevell (Wikipedia - Guildford Castle)
Unlike what you see in Hollywood or Netflix, Medieval interiors weren't bare stone - they were plastered and decorated! You can get some idea from English churches with surviving decoration from this period, like Capel Church in Tonbridge📷B. Chantler bit.ly/3IJq9wk
Common motifs were red lines mimicking fine stone work, and bands of geometric or floral patterns. 📷St. Mary's, Kempley (EH bit.ly/3wFfFvJ), 📷 All Saints, Claverly (Sjwells53 bit.ly/3Nv2xiS), 📷 St. Mary's, W. Chiltington (Kinnerton bit.ly/36QEvOe)
What about furniture? Again, these were not rough wooden pieces, but finely worked, and painted - especially in a royal apartment! Our starting point was the stunning reconstruction of the interior of Dover Castle by @EnglishHeritage
Unfortunately, I could not find any easily available documentation regarding the research behind their reconstructions - so I had to bust out my internet sleuthing skills! 🕵️
Pretty much the only piece of English furniture from this period I could find was the so-called "King Stephen's Chair". Currently in Hereford cathedral, it supposedly dates to c. 1138CE (📷 D. Ross bit.ly/3qFsrGS). I based one of our chairs on it.
I also found two amazing sources of information on Medieval furniture that I highly recommend you check out if any of this has piqued your interest: the St. Thomas Guild, a Dutch reenactment group with a focus on Medieval woodworking thomasguild.blogspot.com
And Johann International, which also focuses on Medieval furniture recreation johanninternational.blogspot.com
From these sources I was also able to track down period manuscripts from England with depictions of furniture, such as the stunning Eadwine Psalter dating to c. 1150CE, which you can view in full at the website of Trinity College, Cambridge bit.ly/3ut2f38
And the slightly later (c. 1200CE), but equally beautiful, Canterbury Psalter, which is available in full courtesy of the Bibliothèque nationale de France gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv…
As you can see from King Stephen's chair and the two illuminations above and below (Canterbury and Eadwine Psalters), one of the most popular chair types from this period had legs and cross pieces that were turned on a lathe, with many grooves and rings.
Surprisingly, many chairs of this type from this period have survived in Scandinavian churches (📷St. Thomas Guild). The red chairs are my own interpretation of a chair from this period, based on surviving examples from Scandinavia.
Another type of furniture from this period which has survived in multiple examples in Scandinavia are benches. Examples include the early 13th C "Bridal Chair" from Tofta church (📷St. Thomas Guild), or the 13th C "Bishop's Seat" from Gammla Uppsala (📷 bit.ly/3uwltVy)
Very similar benches of this type can also be seen in the Eadwine Psalter! And these served as the inspiration for the nicer bench in our reconstruction.
Other elements of furniture, such as the bed, benches, and tables are based on a mix of the Dover castle reconstructions and the Eadwine and Canterbury Psalters.
The King's stool is based on the Dover reconstruction and two of my favorite furniture survivals from this period, both of which are from Austria. It's a type of stool known as a sella curulis, which is probably very familiar to any Romanists out there...
This type of stool actually dates back to the Roman period and was often used by magistrates, and remained in use throughout the middle ages as a sign of rank (Eadwine Psalter).
The two surviving examples that I am aware from Austria both date to the 13th C. One is housed in the MAK in Vienna (📷 St. Thomas Guild), and the other at Nonnberg Abbey (📷 Getty Images)
They are also great examples of how furniture from this period were not usually just bare wood, but were often beautifully carved and painted in vibrant colors. Looks at the details from the MAK chair! (📷 St. Thomas Guild)
The final major piece of furniture I modelled was an armoire. It was based off the stunning 13th-14thC liturgical armoire from Aubazine Abbey in France (📷 C. Lagane bit.ly/3JL4jdp). Red paint remains in the grooves and on other decorative elements of it!
Unfortunately I hit the hard limit on this🧵Perhaps I'll do another later on fabrics and more. My pattern sources were mainly the Psalters, but also the V&A (📷 V&A) and the Met. The Met also has some great 12thC Candlesticks (📷 Met)! Hope you've enjoyed, and check out our app!!
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