Round Tower Keeps


Those sites with an asterix have the keep set on a motte

Small Round Keeps under 50' in diameter
Ardfinnan (); Ardnurcher (); Ashley, Hants (40' diameter); Barnard Castle (40' diameter); Bodyddon* (' diameter); Bronllys* (35' diameter); Caldicot* (36' diameter); Camlais (c.40' diameter) Cardigan (37' diameter);  Caus*
(34' diameter); Clun (c.35' diameter); Cornet (destroyed 1672); Dinefwr (45' diameter); Dinierth* (?); Dolbadarn (42' diameter); Dolforwyn (40' diameter); Dryslwyn (40' diameter); Dundrum (48' diameter); Egremont (destroyed); Ewloe (40' diameter); Hertford* (30' diameter?); Huntington* (30' diameter?); Laugharne (35' diameter); Launceston* (39' diameter); Llanstephan (30' diameter); Llawhaden (32' diameter); Longtown* (46' diameter); Lyonshall (37' diameter); Machen* (30' diameter); Narberth (43' diameter); Nevern* (30' diameter); Orford (45' diameter); Parkavonear, Kerry (40' diameter); Pembridge (26' diameter); Richards Castle* (44' diameter, but octagonal); Shanid (40?' diameter); Skenfrith (30' diameter ); Stokesay (40' diameter, an irregular heart-shaped polygon); Tenby (19' diameter); Tretower (42' diameter); Waterford (42' diameter); Yelden, Bedfordshire (30' diameter).


Large Round Keeps over 50' in diameter
Berkhamsted* (58' diameter - maybe shell keep); Buckenham (65' diameter); Burton in Lonsdale* (65' diameter); Chartley* (59' diameter); Cloghoughter (55' diameter); Conisborough (66' diameter); Degannwy (50' diameter); Flint (75' diameter); Hawarden* (65' diameter); Hook Lighthouse (50' diameter); Inchiquin (50' diameter); Kilkenny (55' diameter); Miserden* (60' diameter); Nenagh (52' diameter); Pembroke (52' diameter); Plympton*? (50' diameter - maybe shell keep).


Round or Oval Shell Keeps
A shell keep had a central courtyard and was not totally roofed over like a tower.  Dimension vary greatly with various surveys of these castles depending on whether the survey took internal or external measurements.  Here a rough estimate is given via aerial views from Google Maps and personal exploration suggesting the total external diameter of the keeps.
Almondbury (); Arundel (75' diameter); Barnstaple* (65' diameter); Berkeley (100' diameter around base of motte); Brecon* (60' diameter); Cardiff* (80' diameter); Carisbrooke (50'x65' diameter); Carmarthen* (50' diameter); Clare (45' diameter); Crickhowell* (60-70' diameter); Devizes (destroyed); Dungarvan (70' diameter); Durham?* (65-76'); Ewias Harold* (c.80' diameter); Farnham (130' diameter); Fotheringhay* (100' diameter); Haughley (65' diameter); Kilpeck* (75' diameter); Launceston* (80' diameter); Leeds (70'x100' diameter); Lewes* (80'x100' diameter); Lincoln* (65'x85' diameter); Marlborough* (destroyed); Mitford* (60'x100' diameter); Newcastle on Tyne* (destroyed); Nottingham (destroyed, but more an inner ward); Pickering* (60' diameter); Powis? (80' diameter?); Restormal* (110' diameter); Rockingham* (destroyed); Sandal* (75' diameter); Shanid* (70'x80' diameter); Southampton* (destroyed); Tamworth* (75'x90' diameter); Tickhill* (65' diameter); Tonbridge* (70' diameter); Totnes* (70' diameter); Tremarton* (60'x70' diameter); Tretower (60' diameter); Truro* (destroyed); Tutbury*? (destroyed); Urquhart?* (60'x130'); Wallingford?* (destroyed); Warwick* (70'x80' diameter); Windsor* (90'x100' diameter); Wiston* (50' diameter).
Those sites with an asterix have the keep set on a motte


France

Small Round Keeps under 50' in diameter
; Chateau sur Epte* (30' diameter); Chateau-Renault* (40' diameter); Chatillon-sur-Indre (38' diameter); Gisors* (35' diameter, polygonal);

Large Round Keeps over 50' in diameter
Freteval ( diameter)

Round or Oval Shell Keeps
Billy, Allier (small inner ward, 100-130' diameter); Beaussault, Seine Maritime (inner ward 160'-170
'); Brandes, Isere, Alps (50'-60' diameter, not a castle?); Chateau sur Epte* (60' diameter); Chateau-Renault* (70' diameter); Chatillon-sur-Indre (80' diameter); Clisson (small inner ward, 100-120' diameter); Gisors* (90-95' diameter); Haut Barr, Alsace (); Longchamps (); Vatteville* (); Vievyle-Raye*, Loire et Cher (40' diameter).
Those sites with an asterix have the keep set on a motte

Germany

Small Round Keeps under 50' in diameter
Dreieichenhain, Stadt Dreieich (45' diameter); Burg im Hain, Obertshausen, Bohme (38' diameter).

Large Round Keeps over 50' in diameter

Round or Oval Shell Keeps
Burg im Hain, Obertshausen, Bohme (100' diameter).




 

Copyright©2021 Paul Martin Remfry


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