How Medieval Castles were Built
Created | Updated May 7, 2003
Organising and erecting a stone castle was a daunting task which involved enormous outlays of material, manpower, time, and money. Stone was quarried as close to the site as possible, but decorative rock was often transported from special outcrops which were located at some distance, increasing expenses considerably. In addition, although timber took on a secondary role in castle construction (as framing, flooring, ceilings, and scaffolding), it became very costly since it was still required in great quantities and had to be brought to the site from far afield, due to the depletion of nearby forests.
Other expensive building materials included lead (for roofing), iron and tin, initially mined in England and later taken from Welsh sources.
Labour costs could be enormous, since skilled workers were essential to stone castle building. Specialists were often brought in from all parts of the kingdom to work on a castle. A castle would need a master mason and deputy mason, and some masons, miners, quarrymen, earth clearers/stone breakers, ditchers, carpenters, mortar makers, mortar carriers, sand throwers, water carriers, hodmen(stone carriers), barrowmen, smiths, foremen, carters and a small workforce of women
Pay ranged from (converted in to todays money) 22p a week for a master mason to 2.5p a week for a woman.
The master mason had many jobs, the main one being an architect. He would draw small scale plans of the building on parchment and then scratch actual size drawings on to a plaster floor at the building site. This enabled the masons-stone carvers and builders-to make templates out of board which acted as guides.
The master mason was also a contractor getting building materials, hiring workers, giving orders and checking the quality of work. He was also a skilled stone carver, ready to work if necessary.
Masons were paid for the number and quality of blocks produced and so it was important to know whose block belonged to who.
To solve this they would each have their own special mark, such as a cross (+) or star (*) which they would in the corner of every block they produced.
Many workers would have apprentices who would do jobs such as sweeping or carrying blocks of stone or sand to be mixed with water and lime to be made in to mortar.
Because castles were so huge, great foundations had to be laid and this was done by starting the walls many metres below ground. As you can imagine this was a very dangerous task but there was no other way. Walls were kept straight when they reached the surface by using fences made of wood and rope for guide-lines.
As the walls got higher, scaffolding was built up the side. This made transporting stone to the top very hard and so somebody would turn a treadmill to lift it up. One of the main features of castles are arches, used to support the roof on high pillars. These are made of curved blocks of stone which push against each other with a central triangular keystone which pushed the stones on both sides.
Once the main shape of a roof was constructed, many small, wooden slats would be laid across before they were covered with tiles or lead sheets to make them fireproof.
With all limitations: the weather, the sheer mass of building material, and the availability of skilled labour, funding and wages, it is truly amazing that these architectural wonders were ever finished.
Other expensive building materials included lead (for roofing), iron and tin, initially mined in England and later taken from Welsh sources.
Labour costs could be enormous, since skilled workers were essential to stone castle building. Specialists were often brought in from all parts of the kingdom to work on a castle. A castle would need a master mason and deputy mason, and some masons, miners, quarrymen, earth clearers/stone breakers, ditchers, carpenters, mortar makers, mortar carriers, sand throwers, water carriers, hodmen(stone carriers), barrowmen, smiths, foremen, carters and a small workforce of women
Pay ranged from (converted in to todays money) 22p a week for a master mason to 2.5p a week for a woman.
The master mason had many jobs, the main one being an architect. He would draw small scale plans of the building on parchment and then scratch actual size drawings on to a plaster floor at the building site. This enabled the masons-stone carvers and builders-to make templates out of board which acted as guides.
The master mason was also a contractor getting building materials, hiring workers, giving orders and checking the quality of work. He was also a skilled stone carver, ready to work if necessary.
Masons were paid for the number and quality of blocks produced and so it was important to know whose block belonged to who.
To solve this they would each have their own special mark, such as a cross (+) or star (*) which they would in the corner of every block they produced.
Many workers would have apprentices who would do jobs such as sweeping or carrying blocks of stone or sand to be mixed with water and lime to be made in to mortar.
Because castles were so huge, great foundations had to be laid and this was done by starting the walls many metres below ground. As you can imagine this was a very dangerous task but there was no other way. Walls were kept straight when they reached the surface by using fences made of wood and rope for guide-lines.
As the walls got higher, scaffolding was built up the side. This made transporting stone to the top very hard and so somebody would turn a treadmill to lift it up. One of the main features of castles are arches, used to support the roof on high pillars. These are made of curved blocks of stone which push against each other with a central triangular keystone which pushed the stones on both sides.
Once the main shape of a roof was constructed, many small, wooden slats would be laid across before they were covered with tiles or lead sheets to make them fireproof.
With all limitations: the weather, the sheer mass of building material, and the availability of skilled labour, funding and wages, it is truly amazing that these architectural wonders were ever finished.
