Britain’s castles offer some of the most dramatic insights into feudal politics and medieval warfare. In Wales, the scale of conquest is starkly visible at Caerphilly Castle in Glamorgan, a fortress of moats and massive towers built by the Anglo-Normans to subdue local Welsh princes. Not far away stands Weobley Castle near Swansea, a fortified manor that speaks more of gentry status than grand battles.

Further north, Conwy Castle in Conwy and Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey were masterpieces of King Edward I’s iron ring of castles, designed to keep rebellious Wales in check. Back in England, Rochester Castle in Kent withstood epic sieges during the Barons’ Wars, while Pickering Castle in North Yorkshire began as a simple motte and bailey and evolved into a handsome royal lodge.

In Scotland, Castle Campbell in Clackmannanshire—once called Castle Gloom—looms over a misty gorge, home to the powerful Campbell clan. Meanwhile, Arundel Castle in West Sussex, still the seat of the Duke of Norfolk, and Cowdray House (or its evocative ruins) in Midhurst, showcase how castles morphed into grand Tudor and Elizabethan country houses.

Manors and Halls: Domestic Life of the Gentry

Moving from mighty keeps to the homes of the landed classes, Shibden Hall in Halifax is a remarkable Tudor manor, famed today through the diaries of Anne Lister, “Gentleman Jack.” In Scotland’s Peeblesshire, Traquair House claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited house in Scotland, welcoming kings, queens, and even priests fleeing persecution.

Anne of Cleves House in East Sussex, part of her divorce settlement from Henry VIII, offers a glimpse of a comfortable Tudor merchant house. Likewise, Provost Skene’s House in Aberdeen (dating to 1545) is a rare survival of medieval domestic architecture in a bustling Scottish city. shutdown123