Editing Conisbrough Castle (section)

===Keep===
Conisbrough's keep was positioned on the north-east side of the inner bailey.<ref name=Johnson1984P14>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=14}}.</ref> It is an important medieval survival: the historian, [[Sidney Toy]], considered it to be "one of the finest keeps in England", the archaeologist Oliver Creighton describes it as an "architectural gem" and Stephen Johnson as "one of the finest examples of late Norman defensive architecture".<ref>{{harvnb|Toy|1985|p=97}}; {{harvnb|Creighton|2005|p=8}}; {{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=14}}.</ref>

[[File:ConisbroughCastle2.jpg|thumbnail|upright=1.4|The keep, re-roofed and floored between 1993 and 1995]]
The keep comprises a central circular tower, {{convert|62|ft}} in diameter, with six, large solid buttresses projecting outwards to form an hexagonal design, unique in England.<ref name=Johnson1984P14/> It was made from magnesian limestone and {{convert|28|m}} tall with walls up to {{convert|15|ft}} thick in places.<ref name="english-heritage14">{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=14–15, 17}}; {{harvnb|Clark|1884b|p=133}}; {{cite web|url=http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1010828|title=List Entry|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113020101/http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1010828|archive-date=13 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> It has four floors: a ground floor that serves as a basement and a [[vault (architecture)|vaulted]] stone support for the chamber above; the first floor, through which the keep was accessed; two upper floors and a roof walk, which was probably covered by a pentice and defended by [[battlement]]s.<ref name="english-heritage14"/>

The current concrete stairs to the keep are modern, and the original medieval stairway, made from timber and stone, would have incorporated a drawbridge just before the castle doors.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=15}}; {{cite web|url=http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1010828|title=List Entry|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113020101/http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1010828|archive-date=13 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The basement contained a well, which could also be drawn from the 1st floor through a hole in the stone floor.<ref name="Johnson 1984 15">{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=15}}.</ref>

The keep was designed as a private tower for Hamelin Plantagenet, rather than a grander residence.<ref name=Dixon2008P273>{{harvnb|Dixon|2008|p=273}}.</ref> As a result, it was not designed to accommodate several different households and its layout was simpler than that seen at the contemporary keep of [[Orford Castle]], for example.<ref name=Dixon2008P273/> The 2nd and the 3rd floor would have served as the main chamber and the lord's private chamber, forming a vertical sequence of rooms, with a vaulted, hexagonal chapel leading off the private chamber, cut into one of the buttresses.<ref>{{harvnb|Dixon|2008|p=273}}; {{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=15, 17}}.</ref>

Most of the castle would have been very dark due to the lack of natural light.<ref name="Johnson 1984 15"/> The main chamber, however, had a large window, {{convert|1|ft|10|in}} by {{convert|4|ft|8|in}}, with deep recesses to allow for the thickness of the walls; two carved seats sat alongside the window.<ref>{{harvnb|Toy|1985|p=114}}; {{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=14–15, 17}}.</ref> A similar window was placed above it in the private chamber.<ref>{{harvnb|Clark|1884b|p=142}}.</ref> The keep had relatively advanced [[fireplace]]s and [[flue]]s for this period, the fireplace in the main chamber being exceptionally large and decorated with stone columns and carved capitals.<ref>{{harvnb|Toy|1985|p=115}}; {{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=16}}.</ref>

Conisbrough Castle was probably similar to two other castles owned by the Warren earls. Hamelin Plantagenet was also responsible for the development of [[Mortemer, Seine-Maritime|Mortemer Castle]] in France, where a similar keep was built on top of a motte, and Conisbrough might also have had resemblances to [[Sandal Castle]] in the north of England, also owned by the earls.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1980|p=77}}.</ref> The design of the keep was poor from a military perspective. The central circular tower provided defensive advantages but the buttresses introduced 12 vulnerable corners into the stonework, and the keep itself had no arrow slots to permit the defenders to fire on any attackers.<ref>{{harvnb|Liddiard|2005|p=50}}.</ref> Rather than being designed primarily for military defence, it was constructed to symbolise and reinforce Hamelin's lordship and new social status.<ref>{{harvnb|Liddiard|2005|p=54}}.</ref>

{{wide image|Plan of Conisbrough keep.png|850px|Plan of the Conisbrough Castle's keep}}