# Easter W/E visit to A 12th Century Norman Fortification Outdoor Museum



## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Last weekend ( Easter) we visited this 12th century Norman fortification outdoor museum, which is close to where we live. It's a mock up of the original Bailey , castle and fortification during Norman times which stood on the same grounds!!

Their is an outer ''bailey'' where all the serfs lived and then through a drawbridge to the inner Bailey where the Lord lived with his servants... 

Everything you can see is exactly how it would be during the medieval times, shabby  and scruffy... ... even the chicken, and guinea fowl are of the same breed as they would have been from the middle ages... The original site would have been much larger 

In each wooden or clay hut there is a mock up of the trades people who would have worked or lived there.... complete with talking models giving the history of what the exact job of the tenant would have been 

here's the website... 

https://mountfitchetcastle.com/


I'll follow with pictures I took on the day...


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

The ducking stool...


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

The outer Bailey where the serfs lived and worked


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

The communal outdoor cooking area...


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

The brewhouse ( fore-runner of the pub)


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## Keesha (Apr 26, 2019)

Beautiful photos holly. It looks like a fun filled adventurous day with gorgeous weather. 
Thanks for sharing it with us. The med-evil times are fascinating to learn about


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

A thief having his hand chopped off...( when we walked into the hut, the very creepy voice over was saying in '' in Medieval English''...ooooh help me please soire..I am goin' tae have moi 'and chopped orff''


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

The gallows were right in the middle of the Outer Bailey where everyone went about their business.. and right next to the open fire and cooking area...


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

I'll add more pics later if anyone wants to see more....


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## RadishRose (Apr 26, 2019)

So interesting HD! Loved your pics. The website is nice with that aerial view. An "Iron Age" fort, yikes!
Thanks for the trip.


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

You're welcome Keesha and RR pleased you enjoyed them...I have many more I can post...


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## CeeCee (Apr 26, 2019)

hollydolly said:


> A thief having his hand chopped off...( when we walked into the hut, the very creepy voice over was saying in '' in Medieval English''...ooooh help me please soire..I am goin' tae have moi 'and chopped orff''




whats that on his leg?  A shadow, bruise, tattoo or something else?


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Just a shadow I think...CC... on the chopping block was very realistic look blood....  and at the front near the anvil was a hot coals pit, which they were made to walk in......


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## Keesha (Apr 26, 2019)

No wonder it was called med EVIL. How utterly barbaric.


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

In the fodder and hay barns the owners would often place a man trap to catch thieves... 

this trapped man was realistically moaning in pain and  begging us to release him....


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Keesha said:


> No wonder it was called med EVIL. How utterly barbaric.




Oooh between the ducking stools, the man traps, the guillotines, the hanging drawn and quartering...and also they had a  stone pit covered in iron railing, about 6 feet by 3..where they threw people to rot and be eaten by rats..the medieval ages were probably the most brutal..

.


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## CeeCee (Apr 26, 2019)

Very interesting!  Makes me wonder what scenes people will be looking at in the future of our lives.


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

I agree CC.... not as interesting perhaps, and less barbaric for sure....


The thing about the punishments in medieval times as well, was that you could be killed slowly and barbarically for something as simple as stealing a chicken.. or someone deciding because you're an old lady living on your own, you must be a witch!!


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Another picture of the Brew store


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

The food store...


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## Aunt Bea (Apr 26, 2019)

Very interesting, Thanks!!!

I'm amazed at how advanced/modern and well designed the wagons, structures, barrels, pots, etc... appear to be for the times.


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## Keesha (Apr 26, 2019)

hollydolly said:


> I agree CC.... not as interesting perhaps, and less barbaric for sure....
> 
> 
> The thing about the punishments in medieval times as well, was that you could be killed slowly and barbarically for something as simple as stealing a chicken.. or someone deciding because you're an old lady living on your own, you must be a witch!!


Totally barbaric. Hooray for the 21st century. 
I agree CeeCee. It’s interesting to wonder what artifacts will be kept from our century


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## Pinky (Apr 26, 2019)

Fascinating look into medieval times, Holly. Often when I watch shows depicting the past, I wonder how accurate the re-creations are, or if they are exaggerated. I would now say, they are accurate. The life-span of the general population, I would think, must have been around 40-ish for men, younger for women? I need to do some research.


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Pinky said:


> Fascinating look into medieval times, Holly. Often when I watch shows depicting the past, I wonder how accurate the re-creations are, or if they are exaggerated. I would now say, they are accurate. The life-span of the general population, I would think, must have been around 40-ish for men, younger for women? I need to do some research.


  Exactly right Pinky...to reach 40 would be old age... many of course died during the plague too...


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Aside from the supposed witches there were alchemists who made potions to ward off evil spirits...







In each home many people would be squashed together in a tiny sleeping area.. but if they had the plague they would sleep alone right next the food store ..

The beds were absolutely tiny and be covered in cloth /linen/ or sheepskin, many slept with no coverings at all


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

The chicken coops ( believe me these chickens looked like they'd been dragged through a hedge backwards)


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Goats too ...all animals were free to roam among the serfs.... and were killed for food....


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Beehives made from wattle & clay


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

This hut was really tiny.....Just enough room for one person to be squashed in, health & safety would be outraged today..lol






His furnace was behind the hut...


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

The rear of the Blacksmiths


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Another method of punishment .. there would be a fire burning below him


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

I was amazed at how small the cannon Balls were , but apparently the speeed at which they are fired was what made them so dangerous


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

This unbelievably was the outside communal  lavatory...no door on the front, so it was open for all to see...   it looked quite like a stable inside.. just hay., and it was someone's job to clean it out every now and again....the smell on a hot day must have been horrendous ...also in one of the houses, it was said that most people only washed every month and took a bath once a year!!


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)




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## Pinky (Apr 26, 2019)

Those metal helmets would have been so heavy. It would have taken a very physically strong person to fight wearing armour.


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## Grampa Don (Apr 26, 2019)

Thanks, Hollydolly.  A little creepy but great pictures.

Don


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## Sunny (Apr 26, 2019)

What a fascinating place to visit!  Thanks for sharing it, Holly.


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## Falcon (Apr 26, 2019)

Seems  all through history, most  things were invented or designed  as  needed.


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Archery practice area..


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

The Manor house in the Inner Bailey...no serfs were permitted in here unless they were servants


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

The Lord of the Manor  and his family and  hangers on( I wish they'd got Madame Taussauds to make the models)


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## Ferocious (Apr 26, 2019)

I would really have loved to visit this place, Holly, but thanks to your superb photo collection, I would think that there wouldn't be too much more to see, so, you have saved me the time and expense of going there, thank you for sharing.....


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## Citygirl (Apr 26, 2019)

*Thanks so much for sharing the pictures, Holly. Makes you thankful for living in these times.*


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## RadishRose (Apr 26, 2019)

Fascinating.


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## hollydolly (Apr 26, 2019)

Ferocious said:


> I would really have loved to visit this place, Holly, but thanks to your superb photo collection, I would think that there wouldn't be too much more to see, so, you have saved me the time and expense of going there, thank you for sharing.....



Well it's a long way for you to come to here ferocious, so I've saved you the cost of the travel.. ...but actually there's quite a bit more to see, there's a Toy museum there too which we didn't go into as it was Easter hols and it was full of kids and mums and dads


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## 911 (Apr 27, 2019)

Holly......Excuse my stupidity, but what is a bailey? Thanks for the beautiful pictures.


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## SeaBreeze (Apr 27, 2019)

Interesting photos Holly, thanks for sharing them!


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## hollydolly (Apr 27, 2019)

911 said:


> Holly......Excuse my stupidity, but what is a bailey? Thanks for the beautiful pictures.



Not stupid at all 911.. any Brits don't even know what a Bailey is...

This wiki entry explains it ....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_bailey


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## RadishRose (Apr 27, 2019)

hollydolly said:


> Not stupid at all 911.. any Brits don't even know what a Bailey is...
> 
> This wiki entry explains it ....
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_bailey



I went to the link... "sometimes also a _zwinger". _LOL, I'd thought it had something to do with a bailiff or being bailed out of jail.


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## hollydolly (Apr 27, 2019)

One little church with only  one Pew....











Coffin outside the church... I'm thinking the child standing at the entrance to the church was only about 5 feet tall, and probably in the middle ages the average person was only around that height, hence the small coffins..


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## hollydolly (Apr 27, 2019)




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## CeeCee (Apr 27, 2019)

hollydolly said:


> The gallows were right in the middle of the Outer Bailey where everyone went about their business.. and right next to the open fire and cooking area...




Interesting!  First Ive heard of that, I would think it was a successful deterrent....not a pleasant way to die.


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## CeeCee (Apr 27, 2019)

hollydolly said:


> Oooh between the ducking stools, the man traps, the guillotines, the hanging drawn and quartering...and also they had a  stone pit covered in iron railing, about 6 feet by 3..where they threw people to rot and be eaten by rats..the medieval ages were probably the most brutal..
> 
> .



This is even worse than the one I just replied to....eaten by rats!!!!  My worst nightmare!


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## hollydolly (Apr 27, 2019)

CeeCee said:


> Interesting!  First Ive heard of that, I would think it was a successful deterrent....not a pleasant way to die.


In the London Dungeons Museum  they have ancient torture and punishment items that would make you scream that people could be so inhumane to other humans.

One very similar one they have to the Gibbet, was something which was in the dungeon, and only 3 feet high. They would fold the prisoners body up into it in the dark disgusting foul smelling dungeon, then chop a finger  or a hand off, so that every rat in the dungeons would come running to eat the prisoner alive!!

Some of the Instruments of torture in the middle ages, made the Brit Hierarchy look like the most evil people on the planet!!...


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## CeeCee (Apr 27, 2019)

hollydolly said:


> In the London Dungeons Museum  they have ancient torture and punishment items that would make you scream that people could be so inhumane to other humans.
> 
> One very similar one they have to the Gibbet, was something which was in the dungeon, and only 3 feet high. They would fold the prisoners body up into it in the dark disgusting foul smelling dungeon, then chop a finger  or a hand off, so that every rat in the dungeons would come running to eat the prisoner alive!!
> 
> Some of the Instruments of torture in the middle ages, made the Brit Hierarchy look like the most evil people on the planet!!...




Hard to even imagine...was it effective though or did people commit crimes anyway?


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## oldman (Apr 27, 2019)

Regarding the Hell Hole. If one of the prisoners were bitten by any of the vermin and they ended up with an infection, then were set free (a prisoner), couldn’t they infect other people and eventually start an epidemic? Wasn’t a plague started by infected rats? 

Did you know that there is a Hell Hole on most airplanes? In case the landing gear does not extend or drop down, one of the pilots can open a floor panel in the cockpit, crawl down inside the Hell Hole and crank down the landing gear into position. It’s a very tight small space and it’s very cold down there. Just imagine, at 35,000 feet the outside temperature is about -40F.


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## hollydolly (Apr 27, 2019)

CeeCee said:


> Hard to even imagine...was it effective though or did people commit crimes anyway?


Well given that people were tortured and imprisoned to death for the most minor of crimes, I don't suppose they could be counted as being able to commit any more crimes.. and I have no idea if the general populace knew what hell awaited them especially within the dungeons of a Castle for example...  

Further to that a lot of innocent people were imprisoned too.. if your face didn't fit for any reason, then trumped up charges would be made against you.. 

*Oldman : *Good question, but to my understanding the ''Hell Hole'' was a permanent situation..once you went in there you were never coming out alive... ( as you can see by the skeletons lying at the bottom of the cage) 

Interesting titbit about the Hell Hole on Planes..I didn't know that!!


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## oldman (Apr 28, 2019)

Holly, besides being able to crank down the landing gear, there are other problems that can be resolved down there because depending on what size aircraft, other flight controls may be accessed. 

I only went down down a few times during my training. It’s not a place you would want to be for a long flight.


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## Grampa Don (Apr 28, 2019)

Do you think exhibits like this overstate the grim part to make it more interesting?  I don't doubt that all these punishments existed at one time or another but their use might have been rare.  Think about it.  The serfs were essentially the lord's property.  He needed them.  I'm sure severe punishment was used occasionally to keep them in line.  That was done in the U.S. to control slaves.  But, you don't destroy your property more than you have to.

Don


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## hollydolly (Apr 28, 2019)

Grampa Don said:


> Do you think exhibits like this overstate the grim part to make it more interesting?  I don't doubt that all these punishments existed at one time or another but their use might have been rare.  Think about it.  The serfs were essentially the lord's property.  He needed them.  I'm sure severe punishment was used occasionally to keep them in line.  That was done in the U.S. to control slaves.  But, you don't destroy your property more than you have to.
> 
> Don



No I know from history that there were a surfeit of serfs, and lower class peasants, so they were easily replaceable, and were punished severely at the whim of their ''master''...  In fact what you see here in my pictures is just a very pale example of the punishments dished out to ordinary people by their so called Lords and masters...


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## 911 (May 2, 2019)

Interesting to see these pictures of the things we talked about back in school, except for the Bailey.


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## -Oy- (May 2, 2019)

Wow what a fab interesting set


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## hollydolly (May 15, 2020)

Can you all believe this was over a year ago?.... I'm very pleased we got to see this last year when we did, given that now we'll not know the future of these outdoor museums which can get very crowded during the summer months..


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## hollydolly (May 15, 2020)

Despite my bad knee, I was able  to walk to the top of this outpost on the very steep stairs  and look out where they would have aimed arrows, and spears...







Looks like , back in the middle ages the village Pie-eater got the job of Look-out...


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## hollydolly (May 15, 2020)




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