I need to know about Brittish architechture, specifically big manors and castles...?

Question

I'm writing a HPotter fan fiction and I'm going to put Hermione and her mother in an old manor or castle for safe keeping during summer break. Since they are going to be there for a bit of the story I want to know what sorts of rooms they have and how many and bathrooms and how many. Like drawing rooms, librarys, parlors, dining halls, etc. Also landscaping like elaborate gardens, atriums, etc. Where can I find good floor plans or layouts for these old dwelling that I can familarize myself with, so the writing will flow better?

Answer 1

Here are some sites that may be useful:

http://www.castles.org/architecture/
http://www.castles-of-britain.com/castleg.htm (pictures to help imagination)
http://www.medieval-castle-siege-weapons.com/castle-floor-plans.html (general info on medieval castles)
http://shawnbrown.com/maps/castle1.html (Harlech Castle Layout pt 1)
http://shawnbrown.com/maps/castle2.html (Harlech Castle Layout pt 2)
http://www.castles-of-britain.com/castlegb.htm (Picture of Harlech Castle)

This might help for an Elizabethan manor house:
http://www.britainexpress.com/architecture/elizabethan.htm
http://www.owlpen.com/archihistory.shtml
http://www.britainexpress.com/architecture/medieval-manors.htm (medieval)

Originally, there would have been no bathrooms, no bedrooms apart from the private room (solar) in the castles for the lord and lady; even in Hampton Court there was a fire in the middle of the great hall until fireplaces were moved to the side. Yet as Hermione is presumably not using her time-turner, they will be staying in a modernised manor or castle - in which case you can be as imaginative as you like! Haddon Hall is a very beautiful old house; there may be interior pictures on line. (Check out the Long Gallery - most large Elizabethan homes had them for promenading when raining, and often they would serve as a portrait gallery of family and royalty.) You can always create warrens of corridors and rooms high up reached by stone spiral staircases; you could also have secret rooms hidden within the thick walls. Bathrooms would have to be modern and built into any lesser-used rooms. In a castle, they would tend to be tiny stone chambers with a hole down to the moat. Later, in more comfortable homes, chamber pots were used. You could also create a parlour out of any spare room in a large manor/castle.

Elizabethan gardens could be very elaborate and beautiful. There would nearly always be a kitchen garden for herbs, etc.
http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/month/may2001.html
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/medieval/gardens.htm

Hope this gives you a few ideas!

Answer 2

You may want to get in touch with English Heritage. They have extensive listings of Castles, Manor homes, Abbeys, Churches etc. Also contact UK tourism (available on the computer) as they will have alot of info on what you are looking for as well. If all else fails, get in touch with the US Embassy in London as they have a wealth of info too

Answer 3

there are documentaries on Castles in the History Channel,
there was for example a large part of history with wooden castles ,but they have all gone ,only the stone ones are left ,but the wooden ones were far more
check that out ,they discribe the floor plans

Answer 4

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