Firmly back in London, we want to recap on a terrific journey with Dr Jonathan Foyle for his lecture tour, ‘Make thy castles high and fair’: Medieval Castles to Modern Fantasies, in partnership with the Royal Oak Foundation and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. It was wonderful to reconvene with friends in New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Boston and the reception in each city was so welcoming that we look forward to coming back soon!
A huge thanks also to Jonathan for his fascinating lectures on the philosophy and concept of castles.
Using images from the Royal Institute of British Architects’ extensive collection, Dr Foyle delivered a thought-provoking and amusing romp on the shifting associations in castle design and purpose over the last thousand years. Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle, Bodiam Castle, Lincoln Cathedral, Hampton Court, Tattersall castle through to a modern rental house in Nebraska, helped to decode symbols and debunking myths – such as the folklore that hot oil was poured down from the battlements on enemy combatants at the castle gates (it was, in fact, powdered lye) meant that we will truly never be able to look at castles the same way again.
Please see below for a few highlights from this wonderful trip…
