Castle Quest - Reply to Topic

Forum:	Castles In General & Medieval History
Topic:	construction info

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T O P I C R E V I E W
Jazmyne Hi,
I have been trying to find information on the building of the walls and
defences of keeps and strongholds.
Information on types of foundations and their effects on building
materials used.
Styles used due to weather conditions and pitfalls of choosing wrongly.
Please mail me ANY information or help available to qo-nos@arcom.com.au
thank you.

Philip Davis You can see my recent response in the building blocks section of Castle Quest.
Jazmyne thanks Philip for your info on foundations.
I still require info on any problems or pitfalls that can be avoided. I have a layman's general idea but am looking for details and experiences of those who have already constructed. I welcome all and any serious infomation.
Philip Davis If your building your own castle and are looking for construction information then have a look at the building your own castle section of castle quest. I'm sure Duncan, Helen and Glen have information.
In historical terms the main pitfall of failing to build a good foundation is subsidence resulting in your castle falling down.
Sometimes, for defensive reasons, walls are built close to the edges of cliffs and as these cliffs erode the walls are lost (ie Scarbrough and Richmond castles in Yorkshire.
In Britain there is no significant winter frost so the there is no problem with frost lifting of foundations. I don't know about elsewhere and would be interested if this is a problem or does the massive bulk of walls mean that foundations don't have be built below the frost line?
duncan Philip
You'r right as far as I've been able to find out. The footings must be below the frost line, however deep or shallow it might be.
The basic rule of thumb for building is that the footing should be twice the width of the wall it supports. If it supports a retaining wall the width will increase by one third.
Different soils also have alot to do with the foundations. Some other facters are, the morter mix(I've found that the Roman type has worked the best), type of stone, the wall it self, and the masons working the job. There are alot of types of foundations some not used in all ares,if your building, check with your local building code office for the frost
depth. I've found that history can teach us by the works of others, we just have to learn to look.