The Hall Building

The Hall building was constructed in the late 11th to early 12th century on the site of an earlier, possibly Saxon, structure.

Plan of the hall buildings. Storage space was provided in the basement and domestic accommodation was situated on the first floor © English Heritage. External stairs led to the domestic accommodation on the first floor, which comprised a hall, used for eating and public business, and the solar, a domestic chamber.

On the ground floor were two undercrofts or cellars. The solar undercroft was a self-contained residential apartment, with its own entrance, well, garderobe or privy and a fireplace. It would have been used by an important person, such as the bailiff of the castle. The hall's undercroft would have been used as a storage space.

Sometime in the late 12th or early 13th century a forebuilding was added to the hall to provide more rooms. In the early 13th century both the hall building and extension were gutted by fire. Repairs and improvements were subsequently made and included the construction of a new kitchen to serve the private apartments and the hall.