I know, you're kind of tired of reading them, I'm sort of tired of posting them, but it's yet another castle post. This Saturday we headed a fairly small castle about an hour away. It was really neat.
Framlingham was built in the 12th century, and it's claim to fame is that it is where Henry VIII's daughter, Mary, sat to wait and hear if she would be the Queen of England, or if she was going to have to fight for it. (The problem was she was a girl, and she was Catholic, not a great combo to claim the throne with in those days.) In the end, she didn't have to put up a fight... and became Queen Mary (Bloody Mary.) It's interesting, succession to the throne wasn't as straightforward as you might think! Can you tell I'm working really hard at getting my British history straight?
Here we are headed into the castle. (Notice the weather throughout these pictures... welcome to England where a nice day can turn bad in an instant!)
The outside of the castle. Interestingly, this castle had no keep, just the ring wall, moat and defense towers with a great hall and chapel inside.
Inside the castle walls, playing on the giant chess board in the courtyard. He's just so cute! It was fun to let the boys run around on the grass while we learned a little more about the castle.
We walked around the top of the walls and looked down into the court below. Take a look at all those chimneys sticking up from the top. Those weren't original, and were added in the Tudor period to give the impression of wealth... lots of fireplaces. In reality, only about three were attached to working fireplaces, the rest were just for looks! Tudor faux finishing!
Headed out for some lunch in the village... N is modeling his "I'm too cool for this castle" look.
2 comments:
I'm so glad you posted the historical commentary. I've been there, have pictures in my scrapbook but I couldn't for the life of me remember what the heck happened there! So, thank you. I will be updating my scrapbook as you travel through Europe ;) (I don't remember the giant chess board, though. That's funny.)
That's so neat! I've read a lot of stories on British history, but it gets really confusing. Seems like every time a king/queen died, there were half a dozen folks who felt they had a legit claim to the throne. It's kind'a nuts. But SEEING somewhere in person helps to solidfy history! Love the pic for N being too cool for the castle! LOL!
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