Monday 11 October 2010

Castle Ruins at Saffron Walden

During our walk around Saffron Walden in my last post we stopped off at the castle ruins and museum. The castle was built by Geoffrey de Mandeville 3rd Earl of Essex in the 1130's. The flint tower ruins of flint and mortar are all that remain.



In the grounds here we see a Glacial Erratic Boulder
Glaciers carried lumps of rock during the great Anglian ice-age about 500,000 - 10,000 years ago.


Medieval stone coffins 13th - 14th century


 Snippets from the museum. Imagine being transported to Australia for 7 years for stealing 6 ducks!



17th century wall tiles


In the past some bloggers have shown an interest in thatched roofs and wondered how they are made. Here is a picture of the various layers that go to make the completed roof.

14 comments:

La Petite Gallery said...

You did another fantastic post. The tiles were so pretty. I am amazied at how thick the roof is,
I wonder if it is hard to heat a house with a thatched roof..
I saw the Indians make a roof out of Palm froms in Florida.
Thanks
yvonne

Tracy Golightly-Garcia said...

Hello Barbara

Another great post on British History! Your pictures are wonderful and I am taken with them all--mainly the wall tiles.

Look forward to your next adventure.

Have a great week

Best
Tracy :)

Adrienne said...

Thanks for sharing this ancient place. I love the antiquity and history that goes with it. I'm guessing being shipped off to Australia for a few years for stealing ducks may have been a deterant to some. Maybe not! I'm sure Australia seemed to be at the end of the world back then.
~Adrienne~

Vee said...

Ahhh, now that construction makes perfect sense...calling John in right now to see it. Thanks, Barbara. I suppose that if one wanted to be in Australia, stealing six ducks would be a handy way to get there. Ha!

Anonymous said...

Dear Barbara, I have never visited Saffron Walden but have heard much about it and must really put it onto my places to go. Your postings have really fuelled my curiosity, it certainly loks a most attractive town.

Michelle-ozark crafter said...

Love the ruins. You know, Jack and I watched a show some time back that showed how they did thatched roofs. It was very interesting!

Willow said...

I remember your telling me that every thatcher has his own signature style of finishing to identify his work. Very interesting!

What amazes me is that any part of that flint and mortar castle is still standing.

Thanks for the tour!

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

Now a days the criminals have far less sever punishments for even worse crimes than duck stealing for sure. As always I love seeing the sights through the view of your camera.

Bishop Stone said...

Thanks for your tour of the castle. Oh there is just so much to see in the UK. I will have to go back one day and do a garden tour.

duopastorale said...

Interesting, I love coffins lol Have a great weekend Barbara!

duopastorale said...

Interesting. I love coffins lol Have a great weekend Barbara!

Annie Jeffries said...

Dear Barbara,

I'm still running around catching up after getting so behind after Don's illness. Reality became very narrowly focused. Thank God for his returning health. And now I get to visit around again.

I was impressed by the old coffins which appear to be empty. I'm guessing the museum salvaged the remains or they were plundered long before. Good to see them protected by fencing.

The transport post is very sad but a very strong and hardened people created an amazing nation/continent. The history of Australia is so interesting to me. The cultural development is very like ours in the U.S. which, of course, makes perfect sense.

I'm off now to do more catching up with others of your posts.

Annie

Anonymous said...

Thank you for a lovely tour Barbara. Wow! Comparing the justice we have today with that- deportation for 6 ducks!

Needled Mom said...

How interesting, Barbara! Six ducks???? Imagine if they had such punishments these days? Perhaps the world would be a better place.