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Visiting information

Hen Domen

Hen Domen is on private land and can only be visited with permission from the owner.
Contact: Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust
7a Church Street
Welshpool
Powys SY21 7DL
Tel: 01938 553670
Fax: 01938 552179
E-mail: trust@cpat.org.uk

Berkhamsted Castle

Berkhamsted Castle
Hertfordshire HP4 1LJ
For opening times and admission prices please contact Berkhamsted Castle directly.

Websites

This website contains links to other websites which are not under the control of and are not maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

English Heritage
www.english-heritage.org.uk
English Heritage is responsible for protecting and preserving the remains of many castles including Dover and Berkhamsted. Their site details opening times, admission fees, special events and available facilities.

Castles on the Web
www.castlesontheweb.com
One of the best castles sites on the internet. In addition to presenting an extensive list of links to different castle sites from all over the world, it provides other links as well, everything from medieval heraldry to a 'castles for kids' section.

Castle Explorer
www.castlexplorer.co.uk
A potted history of Berkhamsted Castle.

The Bayeux Tapestry
www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk
The official website of the Museum of Reading's replica Bayeux tapestry. Includes photographs of the tapestry and its history. Go to scene 3 under the Beachhead section and see the depiction of a motte-and-bailey castle.

Hen Domen
www.cpat.org.uk
A short guide to Hen Domen castle.

Castral enclosure
www.allcrusades.com/CASTLES/GLOSSARY_OF_CASTLE_TERMS/glossary_castle_IX.html
Web page about the first castles in the 9th century. Has an illustration of a reconstruction of the château à motte at St Sylvain d'Anjou.

History of the Monarchy
www.royal.gov.uk
A potted history of the man behind the concept of the castle, William the Conqueror.

Books

Timber Castles by Robert Higham and Philip Barker (Batsford, 1994) £35
Authoritative history of early castles written by archaeologists and based on their own research. Probably the best book specifically on motte and baileys.

English Castles by Reginald Allen Brown (Batsford, 1976) £23.23
The classic textbook on castles in England and Wales, it also deals with the continental origins of the castle.

William The Conqueror by David Bates (Tempus, 2001) £13.59
Accessible and authoritative biography of William, assessing his achievement both as duke of Normandy and as king of England.

England and its Rulers, 1066-1272 by Michael T Clanchy (Blackwell, 1998) £16.99
A new edition of the highly readable history of England from the Norman Conquest to the death of Henry III, and now with a new chapter on Edward I.

'Royal Power and Castles in Norman England' by Richard Eales in Ideals and Practice of Medieval Knighthood, vol 3, ed Christopher Harper-Bill and Ruth Harvey (Boydell, 1989) Available from some libraries
An article which draws together a lot of recent thinking about castles in England after the Conquest, as well as advancing new theories and suggesting figures for the total number of castles.

The English Castle by Francois Matarasso (Caxton Editions, 1995) £17.99
A general guide to the history of the castle in England, with chapters on earth and timber castles.

English Castles by Adrian Pettifer (Boydell, 1995) £14.99
This text provides a comprehensive and concise guide to all the medieval English castles of which something can still be seen today. A short introduction supplies the historical background of the great explosion of castle building in the Middle Ages, and there is a glossary covering all aspects of castles in some detail.

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