Editing World of A Song of Ice and Fire (section)

====Winterfell====
{{redirect|Winterfell|the episode of the television series|Winterfell (Game of Thrones episode){{!}}Winterfell (''Game of Thrones'' episode)|the company|Winterfell Industries}}
Winterfell is the ancestral castle of [[House Stark]] and the political capital of the North.  Located at the geographical center of the North, it has a cold, subarctic climate with snowy winters and cool summers. The castle was built over a natural [[hot spring]], whose scalding water runs inside the castle walls and warms its halls and rooms as well as the [[greenhouse|glass garden]] at its northwestern corner. There are several open pools where heated water collects within the godswood. The hot spring also prevents the ground from freezing.{{sfn|''A Game of Thrones''|loc=Catelyn II, p. 58}}  The castle has deep [[catacombs]] called "the crypt", where bodies of deceased Starks are entombed behind statues in their likeness with a [[direwolf (Game of Thrones)|direwolf]] at their feet and their swords in their hands.{{sfn|''A Game of Thrones''|loc=Eddard I, pp. 42–43}} The tombs have been used since the old kings of the North, known as the Kings of Winter, were in power. They ruled since before the arrival of the Andals.{{sfn|''A Game of Thrones''|loc=Eddard I, pp. 42–43}}

To depict Winterfell, both the pilot and season 1 of the television adaptation used the 16th century clock tower and ancient courtyard of [[Castle Ward]] in [[County Down]], Northern Ireland.<ref group=S name=go_hbofilmed/> [[Doune Castle]] in [[Stirling]], Scotland, which was previously featured as Castle Anthrax in the film ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'', was also used for exterior scenes.<ref group=S name="BBC News 23 October 2009"/> [[Saintfield]] Estates stood in as Winterfell's godswood, an enclosed wooded area where characters can worship the old gods beside trees with faces carved in their bark.<ref group=S name=go_hbofilmed/> A car park stood in for Winterfell's courtyard, and a wine cellar was used to depict the Stark family crypt.<ref group=S name="Den of Geek 29 February 2012"/> [[Tollymore Forest]] featured prominently in the prologue of the pilot episode and in the pivotal scene where the Starks first find the direwolves. [[Cairncastle]], meanwhile, served as the location where [[Ned Stark]] beheads the deserter Will.<ref group=S name=go_hbofilmed/> The interior of Winterfell, such as the Tower of the First Keep, the Great Hall, and Catelyn's bedchamber, were filmed at [[The Paint Hall]] studio.<ref group=S name=mogot_missives/> Set designer [[Gemma Jackson]] said, "Winterfell was based on a Scottish castle."<ref group=S name=dailybeast_secrets/>