Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire

Tattershall Castle has its origins in either a stone castle or a fortified manor house, built by Robert de Tattershall in 1231. This was largely rebuilt in brick, and greatly expanded, by Ralph Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell, Treasurer of England, in the 15th century. Brick castles are less common in England than stone or earth and timber constructions; when brick was chosen as a building material it was often for its aesthetic appeal or because it was fashionable. The trend for using bricks was introduced by Flemish weavers. There was plenty of stone available nearby, but Cromwell chose to use brick. Of Lord Cromwell's castle, the high Great Tower and moat still remain. It is thought that…

The plan of the castle is roughly rectangular; it is bounded by an inner moat surrounded by an outer moat. The inner enclosure, or Ward, was that of the original 13th-century castle, and the original entrance was on the north side towards the west end. The Outer Ward, between the outer moat and inner moat, housed the stables. The Middle Ward, originally accessed by a bridge from the Outer Ward, housed a gatehouse and guardhouse. Today, access to the castle is via this Middle Ward. The Inner Moat encompasses the Inner Ward, where the Great Tower and the kitchens (now demolished) were situated.

The tower is about 20 m across. There are separate entrances to the basement, to the ground floor (Parlour), and to the spiral staircase leading to the upper floors of the tower. This suggests that the basement and ground floor were intended to provide communal accommodation, while the three great upper rooms were an independent private suite or Solar (room). The design was extremely simple, with four floors, slightly increasing in size at each level by reductions in wall thickness. The fireplaces indicate that the rooms were not intended to be subdivided, but were kept as one great room at each level. One of the four corner turrets contains the staircase, but the other three provided extra…