‘Private’ spaces???... Reconstructing the ‘living-rooms’ of medieval castles
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2017-01-23

During the thirteenth century, the hall and chamber were typically separate structures within castlecomplexes in Ireland and Britain. Careful examination of the architecture of medieval chambers - understood as ‘private’ spaces - has revealed that their first-floor spaces appear to have been divided into ‘rooms’ most likely using partitions comprised of timber and/or textiles. Some castles have very tangible indications of divisions such as masonry corbels that once supported wooden partitions. Many other internal divisions, though now lost, have left significant indicators of their former presence, such as the arrangement of windows; grouped together or obviously spaced apart which indicated a deliberate spatial organisation that allowed for the placement of internal divisions or even furniture. Further clues for partitions are evident in the arrangement of certain internal features, such as the grouping of latrines and fireplaces together at one end of the chamber away from the main entrance. We can also see that the latrine was typically situated in the furthest corner angle from the main entrance (diagonally opposed) or directly opposed suggesting that either the doorway or the latrine (or both) may have been screened from view. Interestingly, the latrine was always placed on the cold north side whereas main entrance faced south indicating that heat and light (or its absence) played a major role in their choices of interior design. Does the arrangement of spaces inform us of the social practices of the medieval world? Or are we transposing modern interpretations of ‘public’ and ‘private’ on the past? This paper demonstrates how we can read the ‘space syntax’ of these buildings to inform us of how these ‘rooms’ may have acted in the past and how their inhabitants behaved within these spaces. Furthermore it raises questions about how the modern concepts of ‘public’ and ‘private’ may obscure our objectivity in understanding these buildings. In reconstructing the interior spaces of these buildings we must be mindful that only certain elements survive, left are the tantalising gaps which we must ‘reconstruct’ whilst remaining open to the idea that these spaces were ultimately occupied by people - the households - who made choices about how to use and live in them (within the constraints of their traditions).

Author - Dr. Dempsey, Karen, Dublin, Ireland (Presenting author)