Bolton Castle and the Practice of Architecture in the Middle Ages

Abstract

It is suggested in this paper that our view of the medieval master mason's methodology, in respect of building design, tends to be a partial one; that it represents the ideal, and fails to take account of some medieval architects' inherent empiricism. A good deal is made of comparatively scarce documentary evidence, and of analyses of completed buildings chosen for their architectural coherence. For this reason, perhaps, our perception of the medieval master mason is sometimes too close to that of the modern architect. It is rare to examine a building's construction sequence in attempting to illuminate the subject: Bolton Castle is a building where it has been possible to reconstruct the process of design, and the conclusion drawn from it is that the design was not cut and dried prior to the commencement of building operations; rather it evolved as they progressed. It is shown that, in this, Bolton was by no means atypical and that such cases are a direct result of the medieval mason's craft based approach to his profession.