Monday, 25 October 2010

Websites for Writers: Castles of Britain

Everybody loves castles, especially writers. They make a fine backdrop for vampires, romance, or just some good old fashioned medieval bloodletting. There are a wealth of castle websites out there but one of my favorites is Castles of Britain by castle expert Lise Hull.

Lise has put her years of study to good use in this well-organized site. It provides a complete run-down of the basics of castle history and architecture with numerous examples of individual castles in the British Isles. There are literally hours of reading here. If you're more of a visual writer go to the castle photo gallery for lots of inspiring photos. The Castle Learning Center has plenty of good information about castle construction, development, personnel, and daily life, and there's even an online course if you want to learn more.

So check it out if you want to add to the ever-growing body of literature of, about, or including castles. I recently added my own fuel to the fire with an article on castles in Yorkshire.

In case you're wondering, the lovely little island fort pictured above was built by Alexander Stewart, the infamous "Wolf of Badenoch ", on Loch Gamhna near Aviemore, Scotland. I talk more about that in my last article in my series on hiking the East Highland Way.

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Looking for more from Sean McLachlan? He also hangs out on the Civil War Horror blog, where he focuses on Civil War and Wild West history.

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