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“Homes really are no more than the people that live in them.”- Nancy Reagan What do you look for when buying a home? Obviously, some people realize it is the people that count more than what the house or belongings look like. The people of the medieval ages looked for well-constructed, protective, and useful castles. The construction of castles needed to be architecturally solid in order to provide protection and be useful and functional in design to fit the needs of the resident. When designing a house, a person wants it to be designed to their need. Although designers wanted the castles to fit the needs of the resident, other elements played a vital role in the construction. Depending on where the castle was going to be built, decided what materials would be used for the building. Many materials were used to build castles, but the most common ones were stone, brick, clay, and timber (Brown 28). Depending on what the castle was going to be used for also was a decision factor when designing. Temporary structures were made out of wood (Bechman 143). Although wooden castles may not be the best-constructed, advantages were: easier to design and created in a faster time period (145). In the late eleventh century, architects discovered they could use stone to build castles (145). Permanent structures were now made out of stone instead of wood (143). When architects discovered this, they also realized that stone was the best and most durable building material of any others (Brown 28). One Brockwell 2 type of stone that was used was ashlar granite; it was a heavy, reddish brown color that was very expensive and sturdy (41). The ashlar granite was one of the several layers of stone found on castle walls. The granite was usually on the inner and outer layer of the wall, and the center of the wall was filled with rocks and rubble. This layering method kept the walls extra firm and strong (41). Other features that were in castles could also signify whether or not the castle was well constructed. The entryway doors were usually made out of solid oak timbers, which were wrapped in iron (Lamprey 167); and hung from humongous heavy chains with counterweights (Bechman 146-8).
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