Great video (if a little repetitive) on what castles actually looked like inside. Many people donât realise that castles, even for kings, werenât really that different from large houses today, and that the distinction between classes was much smaller, nowhere near the difference between rich and poor today.
In my books, Camelot is so large because it was actually a Celtic hillfort that the Romans built on and then the various extravagant residents like Uther added to. By the time Camelot is in its heyday under Arthur, itâs grown to enclose the small houses outside to form a bustling town, with the bulk of the action we see taking place inside the keep.
Guinevere (and Sir Kay, and Elaine when acting in their stead) spend a lot of time moving people about depending on rank and privilege. Not everybody is deserving of chambers, and some people would even have to share a bed with someone they donât know.
It wouldnât have been uncommon for families resident in a castle they didnât own to be separated by age and gender and only see each other at dinner.
Elaineâs castle Caer Mor is much more realistic. It has only a main hall, an all purpose antechamber (which Elaine attempts to convert into a solar on multiple occasions - I imagine Nentres telling her no because they canât afford to lose the space) the kings chamber, a few bedrooms given to Nentresâ highest ranking men, and the kitchen, though most of the basic cooking is done on the fire pit in the hall. The servants slept in the kitchen and the fighting men slept in the hall, which Elaine observes on her first night. Everybody else lived in the outbuildings within the palisade, or else on the nearby steadings and travelled to the court to fulfill their function - the first commuters.
Caer Lot, the home of Morgause is also very realistic in size and rooms but with the little added extravagances of Lotâs whims, such as a tiled room for bathing.
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