Badenlye Castle

Designed and built by Aidan de la Mare, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, U.K.

I have called this Badenlye Castle, and it is inspired by the actual Stokesay Castle (see the picture at the bottom of this page), but lacking round stones my version has to be all square.  Neither Stokesay or Badenlye are true castles in the English sense; they are classed as Fortified Manor Houses and owe their castle-like appearance more to the conservative and romantic taste of their builder than to the need to deter an enemy or defend the realm. 

All the stones are Richter’s GK and KK but as usual the card roofs are Lott’s.  The building, as far as possible, is correct, with floors and stairs leading to all levels and all parts of the wall walks.  It is part of my present approach to integrating GK and KK and also attempting to fill the building table to try to make a picture as well as the pleasure of just building.  This has lead to the castle having a rather squeezed courtyard, as the table is a bit narrow, (I have since enlarged the table, and now tend to run out of stones filling the bigger area!)

At Badenlye, the keep (an anachronism at that date) is prominent, as is the great hall and adjoining solar block as the main residence.  Both of these features survive at Stokesay.  The ancillary building include: detached kitchen, the guest block with multiple chimneys, stables and workshops do not survive there, but the simple gatehouse does, although it was not expected to resist determined attack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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