The Spiral Stair Or Vice: Its Origins, Role and Meaning in Medieval Stone Castles. Thesis Submitted in Accordance with the Requ
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The Spiral Stair or Vice: its origins, role and meaning in medieval stone castles. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Charles Ryder February 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For all their help and support, I wish to record my warmest thanks to the staff of the British Library, John Ryland‟s Library, the University of Liverpool and especially the staff of the University of Chester; to the owners of structures with spiral stairs who opened their doors to me, especially the de Vere family at Hedingham Castle and Mr Louis de Wett and Ms Gabrielle Drake at Much Wenlock Priory; to the custodians and managers of historical sites and in particular the lady who gave me a private tour of Charlemagne‟s Chapel, Aachen whose name I never knew and Mr N Fahy at Castle Rising; to a number of members of the Castle Studies Group, the M6 Group and the Liverpool Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies who gave good advice that assisted in my research both when crossing muddy fields in cold rain to visit castles, in warm lecture rooms and by various forms of mail; to people in Japan and China who were pleased to answer my questions and send photographs and articles; to Jean Mesqui, who encouraged my early research and corrected my French writing; almost finally, to my wife who, enduring much, visited almost as many castles as me and developed a excellent eye – far better than mine – for spotting castle features; however, above all I give thanks to my primary supervisor, Professor Peter Gaunt, who was my rock in the storm and from whom I learned many things, not always related to history and castles. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION 1 Castle Studies: Military Perspectives 9 Castle Studies: Domestic Perspectives 17 Castle Studies: Landscape Perspectives 20 Castle Studies: Status Perspectives 23 Castle Studies: French Sources 30 Defining the Castle 50 Architectural Symbolism and the Castle 53 Conclusions 60 CHAPTER 2 – THE ORIGINS OF SPIRAL STAIRS 65 The Far East 64 The Americas 76 Africa 81 The Ancient Mediterranean 87 The Celtic World 93 The Islamic World 98 The Anglo-Saxons 99 The Frankish World 105 Back to Rome 107 The Normans 114 Conclusions 120 CHAPTER 3 – SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF CASTLES 121 Spatial Analyses of British Castles 130 Development of a New Method 137 Applying the Method: The White Tower 141 Applying the Method: Conisbrough 147 Applying the Method: Castle Rising 150 Conclusions 155 CHAPTER 4 – THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE 156 Great Towers 157 Castle Rising 159 i Helmsley 165 Hedingham 166 Peveril 170 Welsh Castles 174 Dolbadarn 175 Criccieth 181 Ewloe 185 Edward I‟s Castles in Wales 189 Flint 190 Rhuddlan 196 Conwy 200 Caernarfon 207 Harlech 215 Denbigh 221 Beaumaris 225 Enclosure Castles in England 232 Old Sherborne 232 Farleigh Hungerford 235 Castles without Spirals 239 Beeston 239 Stokesay 243 CHAPTER 5 – SPIRAL STAIRS IN THEORY 203 AND PRACTICE Castles in Britain, Europe and Beyond 250 Spiral Stairs in Medieval Secular Structures 271 Spiral Stairs in Medieval Religious Buildings 283 The Structure and Dimensions of Medieval Spiral Stairs 289 CHAPTER 6 – CONCLUSIONS 299 APPENDIX A: DATABASE OF MEASUREMENTS 307 BIBLIOGRAPHY 328 ii TABLE OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. THE CHATEAU AT LANGEAIS: REMAINS. 15 FIGURE 2. PARIS, MUSÉE CLUNY: DECORATIVE SPIRAL. 37 FIGURE 3. LA ROCHELLE, TOUR SAINT-NICOLAS. 38 FIGURE 4. LA ROCHELLE, TOUR SAINT-NICOLAS: SITE PLAN. 40 FIGURE 5. MINARET OF JAM. 43 FIGURE 6. WENLOCK PRIORY: PRIOR'S HOUSE SPIRAL. 44 FIGURE 7. WENLOCK PRIORY: SITE PLAN. 44 FIGURE 8. VAUX-LE-COMTE: GARDEN STAIRS. 48 FIGURE 9. HONG KONG, TRADITIONAL STYLE TEAHOUSE. 66 FIGURE 10. BEIJING, TEMPLE OF HEAVEN. 68 FIGURE 11. HIMEJI CASTLE KEEP. 72 FIGURE 12. KOCHI CASTLE: INTERIOR STAIR. 73 FIGURE 13. VARANASI, DHAMEK STUPA. 75 FIGURE 14. RIO VERDE, SINAGUA CLIFF DWELLING. 77 FIGURE 15. PALENQUE, TEMPLE OF THE INSCRIPTIONS. 78 FIGURE 16. MEXICO CITY, TEMPLO MAYOR: REMAINS. 79 FIGURE 17. MACHU PICCHU. 80 FIGURE 18. GREAT ZIMBABWE LANDSCAPE. 82 FIGURE 19. GREAT ZIMBABWE: ENTRANCE. 83 FIGURE 20. LUXOR: TEMPLE GATE. 85 FIGURE 21. RHODES, LINDOS, TEMPLE OF ATHENA: STAIR. 87 FIGURE 22. ATHENS, STOA OF ATTALOS. 89 FIGURE 23. SELINUNTE: TEMPLE A GROUND PLAN. 91 FIGURE 24. SHETLAND, MOUSA BROCH. 94 FIGURE 25. SHETLAND, MOUSA BROCH: INTERNAL STAIRS. 95 FIGURE 26. CO. MAYO, MEELICK ROUND TOWER. 97 FIGURE 27. ISTANBUL, HAGIA SOPHIA. 99 FIGURE 28. EAST LEXHAM: A ‘VERY PROBABLY ANGLO-SAXON’ TOWER. 100 FIGURE 29. HOUGH-ON-THE-HILL: TAYLOR’S DRAWING. 101 FIGURE 30. BRIXWORTH CHURCH. 104 FIGURE 31. AACHEN, CHARLEMAGNE'S CHAPEL: VIEW FROM THE THRONE. 106 FIGURE 32. SANTA CONSTANZA: PLAN. 108 FIGURE 33. SAN VITALE: PLAN. 109 FIGURE 34. ROME, TRAJAN'S COLUMN. 111 FIGURE 35. PALMYRA, TEMPLE OF BEL: SPIRAL STAIR. 113 FIGURE 36. LOCHES: INTERIOR STRAIGHT STAIR. 115 FIGURE 37. LOCHES: INTERIOR SPIRAL STAIR. 116 FIGURE 38. LOCHES: PLAN OF LOWER LEVELS. 118 FIGURE 39. LOCHES: PLAN OF UPPER LEVELS. 119 FIGURE 40. FAULKNER’S DIAGRAM OF GOODRICH CASTLE. 130 FIGURE 41. FAULKNER’S DIAGRAM OF BOLTON CASTLE. 131 FIGURE 42. MATHIEU’S ACCESS DIAGRAM OF BEAUMARIS CASTLE. 132 FIGURE 43. MATHIEU’S DECISION TREE. 133 FIGURE 44. DIXON’S DIAGRAM OF CASTLE RISING KEEP. 134 FIGURE 45. DIXON’S DIAGRAM OF THE WHITE TOWER. 135 FIGURE 46. RICHARDSON’S DIAGRAM OF WESTMINSTER PALACE CIRCA 1360. 136 FIGURE 47. THE WHITE TOWER. 142 FIGURE 48. DIAGRAM OF THE WHITE TOWER: LOWER LEVELS. 144 FIGURE 49. DIAGRAM OF THE WHITE TOWER: UPPER LEVELS. 145 FIGURE 50. CONISBROUGH CASTLE KEEP. 147 FIGURE 51. DIAGRAM OF CONISBROUGH KEEP. 149 FIGURE 52. CASTLE RISING KEEP AND FOREBUILDING. 153 FIGURE 53. DIAGRAM OF CASTLE RISING KEEP. 154 iii FIGURE 54. CASTLE RISING: SITE PLAN. 160 FIGURE 55. CASTLE RISING: INSIDE THE FOREBUILDING. 161 FIGURE 56. CASTLE RISING: KITCHEN FIREPLACE. 162 FIGURE 57. HELMSLEY CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 164 FIGURE 58. HELMSLEY CASTLE EAST TOWER. 165 FIGURE 59. HEDINGHAM CASTLE KEEP. 167 FIGURE 60. PEVERIL CASTLE: SITE PLAN OF THE INNER BAILEY. 171 FIGURE 61. PEVERIL CASTLE KEEP. 173 FIGURE 62. DOLBADARN CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 176 FIGURE 63. DOLBADARN CASTLE KEEP. 178 FIGURE 64. CRICCIETH CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 182 FIGURE 65. CRICCIETH CASTLE INNER GATEHOUSE. 184 FIGURE 66. EWLOE CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 186 FIGURE 67. EWLOE CASTLE: INTERIOR STAIR. 188 FIGURE 68. FLINT CASTLE NORTH-WEST TOWER. 192 FIGURE 69. FLINT CASTLE DONJON. 194 FIGURE 70. FLINT CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 195 FIGURE 71. RHUDDLAN CASTLE STEPS TO THE MOAT. 198 FIGURE 72. RHUDDLAN CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 199 FIGURE 73. CONWY CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 202 FIGURE 74. CONWY CASTLE. 203 FIGURE 75. CONWY MILL GATE. 207 FIGURE 76. CAERNARFON CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 209 FIGURE 77. CAERNARFON CASTLE: EAGLE TOWER INTERIOR. 211 FIGURE 78. CAERNARFON CASTLE. 213 FIGURE 79. HARLECH CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 218 FIGURE 80. HARLECH CASTLE: REAR OF GATEHOUSE. 219 FIGURE 81. DENBIGH CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 222 FIGURE 82. DENBIGH CASTLE: SPIRAL TO THE GREEN CHAMBERS. 224 FIGURE 83. BEAUMARIS CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 227 FIGURE 84. BEAUMARIS CASTLE MIDDLE TOWER. 229 FIGURE 85. OLD SHERBORNE CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 233 FIGURE 86. OLD SHERBORNE CASTLE: GENERAL VIEW. 234 FIGURE 87. FARLEIGH HUNGERFORD CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 235 FIGURE 88. FARLEIGH HUNGERFORD WEST GATE. 237 FIGURE 89. BEESTON CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 239 FIGURE 90. BEESTON CASTLE INNER GATEHOUSE. 242 FIGURE 91. STOKESAY CASTLE: SITE PLAN. 244 FIGURE 92. STOKESAY CASTLE COURTYARD. 246 FIGURE 93. SKENFRITH CASTLE KEEP. 254 FIGURE 94. RICHMOND CASTLE KEEP. 256 FIGURE 95. THE CHATEAU AT LOCHES. 258 FIGURE 96. RED TOWER: DRAWING. 263 FIGURE 97. TULLY CASTLE. 275 FIGURE 98. TRAJAN'S COLUMN: JONES’S DRAWING. 290 FIGURE 99. AACHEN, CHARLEMAGNE'S CHAPEL: SPIRAL STAIR. 291 FIGURE 100. KIRBY MUXLOE: BRICK SPIRAL STAIR. 292 FIGURE 101. NERCWYS, TOWER: TOP OF THE SPIRAL. 293 FIGURE 102. VENICE, BOVOLO STAIRCASE. 295 FIGURE 103. TOUR JEAN SANS PEUR: CEILING AT GRANDE SALLE LEVEL. 296 iv ABSTRACT The Spiral Stair or Vice: its origins, role and meaning in medieval stone castles. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Charles Ryder February 2011 This thesis addresses a neglected area of castles studies – the spiral stair. It studies the origins, evolution, placing, structure, role, significance and meaning of spiral stairs in medieval stone castles between 1066 and 1500, so covering the rise, zenith and decline of the castle in England and Wales. Although focussed upon England and Wales, it has a wider geographical spread across Ireland, Scotland, Europe, the Middle East and Japan with particular regard to castles and on even wider when searching for the origins of the spiral stair, encompassing the whole globe. The date range was also extended, both much earlier than 1066 when searching for these origins and very selectively beyond 1500 when exploring how the spiral was used in the later medieval and early modern periods. It is proposed that the first known spiral stair was employed in Trajan‟s Column in the first century AD, that it was then used more selectively in secular and later ecclesiastical buildings during the first millennium AD and that, from the eleventh century onwards, the spiral stair became a common feature of the medieval castle. From the emergence of the spiral stair in Rome, this thesis places its principal use in European elite and ecclesiastical structures. Focusing on the castle, this thesis argues that it was employed as a vertical boundary marker to signal and control movement between two different types of spaces, from a more public to a more private space and from a general or less restricted space to a space which was more restricted, often elite domestic quarters.