A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the castle fall to an adversary. The first keeps were made of timber and formed a key part of the motte-and-bailey castles that emerged in Normandy and Anjou during the 10th century; the design spread to England, and south to Italy and Sicily. As a result of the Norman invasion of 1066, use spread into Wales during the second half of the 11th century and into Ireland in the 1170s. The Anglo-Normans and French rulers began to build stone keeps during the 10th and 11th centuries; these included Norman keeps, with a square or rectangular design, and circular shell keeps. Stone keeps carried considerable political as well as military importance and could take up to a decade or more to build.
Lydiate is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton on Merseyside, England but historically in Lancashire. It is located 1.5 miles (2 km) north of Maghull, with which it has a common history. At the 2001 Census the civil parish of Lydiate had a population of 6,672, reducing to 6,308 at the 2011 Census.
The Scotch Piper Inn in Lydiate, North West, England is the oldest pub in the historic county of Lancashire. The building dates from 1320 and is a Grade II* listed building.
Dundrum Castle, a ruin standing over the town of Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland, must not to be confused with Dundrum Castle in Dundrum, County Dublin. It was constructed by John de Courcy, sometime near the beginning of the 13th century, following his invasion of Ulster. The castle, built to control access into Lecale from the west and south, stands on the top of a rocky hill commanding fine views south over Dundrum Bay and the Mourne Mountains, the lands west towards Slieve Croob and the plains of Lecale to the east. The Castle is a State Care Historic Monument in the townland of Dundrum, in Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, at grid ref: J4047 3700.
The Saracen's Head is the name formerly given to a group of late medieval buildings in Kings Norton, Birmingham. The buildings, together with the nearby Old Grammar School, won the BBC Restoration series in 2004. Following the restoration project, the Old Grammar School, Saint Nicolas Church and the Tudor Merchant's House were given the collective name of Saint Nicolas Place.
St Catherine's Chapel, located in Lydiate, Merseyside, England, and known locally as Lydiate Abbey, was built c. 1500 for the private worship of the Ireland family, who held the Lydiate lordship from 1410–1673. Its use as a private chapel probably ceased c. 1550, following Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, though a small cemetery on the same grounds was still in use until the latter 19th century.
Stanford Rivers is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. The parish, which is approximately 11 miles (18 km) west from the county town of Chelmsford, contains the village of Toot Hill and the hamlet of Little End, both settlements larger than Stanford Rivers village, and the hamlet of Clatterford End. The village is 2.0 miles (3 km) south-east of Chipping Ongar, 3 miles (5 km) south-west of North Weald Bassett and 3 miles north-west of Kelvedon Hatch. The parish covers an area of 1,749 hectares.
The Rookery, or 125 Hospital Street, is a substantial Georgian townhouse in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. It is at the end of Hospital Street, on the north side, at the junction with Millstone Lane. The existing building dates from the mid-18th century and is listed at grade II; English Heritage describes it as "good" in the listing. Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "square and stately." It incorporates an earlier timber-framed house at the rear, which probably dates from the late 16th or early 17th century.
Crewood Hall is a country house to the northeast of the village of Kingsley, Cheshire, England. It dates from the 16th century, and has a porch dated 1638. Initially timber-framed, the building was encased in brick and remodelled in the 19th century. It has stone dressings and tiled roofs, and is in two storeys. The house consists of a hall with two cross wings and a two-storey porch at the end of the left wing. The lower storey of the porch is in sandstone and in the upper storey the timber-framing is exposed. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. Associated with the house, and also listed at Grade II, are two farm buildings; stables, and a shippon and barn.
Duddon Old Hall is a country house in the village of Duddon, Cheshire, England. It dates from the later part of the 16th century, the house was in the ownership of the Done family at this time. Alterations and additions were made in the early 19th century, and later in the century the timber framing was restored in 1903–4 and these works may be associated to local architect John Douglas of Chester. The timber framing was most recently extensively repaired between September 2021 and April 2022. It is constructed partly in timber-framing, and partly in brick, on a stone plinth. It is roofed partly in stone-slate, and partly in Welsh slate. The plan consists of a hall with a cross wing. The house is in two storeys, and its south front has four bays. The bay at the left end is timber-framed; it projects and has a gable with a bargeboard. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner comments that the black-and-white decoration of this bay is "very rich". It consists of studding in the ground floor, lozenges and shaped balusters in the upper floor, and lozenges and serpentine struts in the gable. In the adjacent bay is a wooden doorcase with a triangular pediment. All the windows are casements. Internally, the main chamber is in the cross wing, which is open to the roof. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. To the northeast of the house is a 16th-century barn, constructed in timber-framing with brick infill, which is also listed at Grade II.
Hay Hall is a former 15th century hall located at Tyseley, in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The extensive Hay Hall estate was situated between the Coventry and Warwick roads and included an area now known as Hay Mills, which was the site of a water mill. In the 16th century the timber-framed building was encased in brick. Originally a sub manor of the Este family, the building form comprised a central open hall with cross-wings at either end. There are no traces of the original moat in the area, with the modern surroundings currently developed as factories and works, known as Hay Hall Business Park. It was listed Grade II in 1952.
The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples were built in stone.
The manor of Lydiate is situated about 10 miles (16 km) from Liverpool on the Southport Road.
Ince Blundell Hall is a former country house near the village of Ince Blundell, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. It was built between 1720 and 1750 for Robert Blundell, the lord of the manor, and was designed by Henry Sephton, a local mason-architect. Robert's son, Henry, was a collector of paintings and antiquities, and he built impressive structures in the grounds of the hall in which to house them. In the 19th century the estate passed to the Weld family. Thomas Weld Blundell modernised and expanded the house, and built an adjoining chapel. In the 1960s the house and estate were sold again, and have since been run as a nursing home by the Canonesses of St. Augustine of the Mercy of Jesus.
Lydiate is a civil parish and a village in Sefton, Merseyside, England. It contains 14 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, two are listed at Grade II*, the middle of the three grades, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade.
Mawdesley Hall is a country manor in Hall Lane, Mawdesley, Chorley, Lancashire, England. It consists of a central hall with two cross-wings. The central hall was built in the 17th century, its lower storey being timber-framed and its upper floor plastered and painted to resemble timber-framing. The cross-wings were added in the late 18th or early 19th century. The west wing is in sandstone, and the east wing is in brick with stone dressings. The hall is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
The Old Exe Bridge is a ruined medieval arch bridge in Exeter in south-western England. Construction of the bridge began in 1190, and was completed by 1214. The bridge is the oldest surviving bridge of its size in England and the oldest bridge in Britain with a chapel still on it. It replaced several rudimentary crossings which had been in use sporadically since Roman times. The project was the idea of Nicholas and Walter Gervase, father and son and influential local merchants, who travelled the country to raise funds. No known records survive of the bridge's builders. The result was a bridge at least 590 feet long, which probably had 17 or 18 arches, carrying the road diagonally from the west gate of the city wall across the River Exe and its wide, marshy flood plain.
Tanners Hall was a 13th century town house and is now a ruin located on Gouda Way in Gloucester. It is the oldest non-religious building and only surviving medieval domestic stone house in the city. It became a Grade II listed building on 29 July 2015.
Ridley Hall is the site of a circa 1834 stone residence located on Water Street, Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and Labrador. The building, which received heritage designation in 1994, remained vacant for many years and in 2003 it was almost completely destroyed by fire. As of 2021, it survived as a ruin.
Bedern is a street in the city centre of York, in England, which originated as a college for the vicars choral of York Minster.
