HISTORY AND STORIES
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LIFE IN A MEDIEVAL HOUSEHOLD: THE
PEOPLE OF GOODRICH CASTLE
Medieval castles weren’t just fortifications. They were places where
people lived, worked and played. Goodrich Castle was a thriving
medieval household, where sometimes hundreds of people were
living at any one time.
We have unique insights into the large and complex household of
Countess Joan de Valence, who owned the castle in the late 13th
century, thanks to the unusual survival of some of her accounts. Find
out about some of the household members and how they lived at
Goodrich Castle.
The carriage of a queen or great lady, depicted in
the 14th-century Luttrell Psalter
© British Library Board. All Rights Reserved / Bridgeman Images
A TRAVELLING HOUSEHOLD
Countess Joan de Valence lived at Goodrich Castle for long periods
after the death of her husband, William de Valence, Earl of
Pembroke, in 1296. But Goodrich was by no means the only
residence of the de Valence family. They owned property in more
than a dozen counties, including a London townhouse. This was
typical for a time when the monarch, nobles and bishops were
almost constantly on the move. King Henry III, for example, moved
up to 80 times in a typical year.
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We know that between May 1296 and September 1297 – less than a
year and a half – Joan stayed at 15 different residences. This meant
that it wasn’t only the Countess who kept travelling between her
different estates – her whole household was on the move. The
servants and officials belonged to the family, not the house, and so
they went wherever the head of the household went. In all, the
Countess’s household varied between 122 and 196 people.
THE PEOPLE OF GOODRICH CASTLE
In 1296 Countess Joan spent several months at Goodrich Castle with
her daughter-in-law Béatrice and a household of around 120
servants. We know the names of many of them from the surviving
castle accounts. Select the images below to find out more about
them. (All images by Ilaria Urbaniti © English Heritage)
❮
Joan de Valence Béatrice de Valence ❯
ENTERTAINING AT GOODRICH CASTLE
Large numbers of people had to be fed in a medieval household. In
fact Joan de Valence spent 40% of her income on food and drink.
When she arrived at Goodrich Castle in November 1296, 81 pigs
were killed and countless loaves of bread were baked to prepare for
her stay.
The Countess was often joined by her daughter Isabel, her son
Aymer and his first wife, Béatrice, and eminent guests and friends.
They included the young Gilbert de Clare and his household, the lady
of Raglan Castle and the prioress of Aconbury.
The setting for feasts and other large gatherings of the household
and guests would have been the great hall, the focal point of the
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household, and etiquette had to be meticulously observed. This
included the seating arrangements. At the high table – at the end of
the hall furthest from the kitchen – sat the host or hosts, with the
most important guests. Then came the other members of the
household, seated at long tables with benches in descending order of
status.
There were two main meals a day, and they weren’t eaten quickly.
Lunch, taken around 10 or 11 in the morning, typically lasted two to
three hours, with supper after vespers (evening prayers). Both meals
together could take up to six hours.
A FEAST FIT FOR A COUNTESS
Countess Joan’s accounts for 1297 reveal that the kitchen could
produce meals of enormous size. On Easter Sunday that year the
household at Goodrich celebrated the end of the fasting season of
Lent with:
3 quarters of beef and 1½ bacons, 1½ unsalted pigs, half a boar, half
a salmon, all from the castle's store, half a carcass of beef costing 10
shillings, mutton at 15 pence, 9 kids at 3s 8d, 17 capons and hens at
2s 7d, 2 veal calves at 2s 6d, 600 eggs at 2 shillings, pigeons at 2
pence with 24 other pigeons from stores in Shrivenham, cheese at 4
pence and a halfpenny for transport by the boat, all told, 22s 6d
halfpenny.
Image: The high table of a hall in the mid-14th century, from the Luttrell Psalter.
Countess Joan’s accounts describe similar scenes of the Countess dining with her
family and important visitors (© British Library Board. All rights
reserved/Bridgeman Images)
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HOUSEHOLD
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As well as Countess Joan’s travelling household of up to 200 people
and frequent guests, there was also a staff permanently based at
Goodrich under the command of the constable, who maintained the
castle’s security. At the bottom of the hierarchy were 20 poor
people, who depended on the Countess’s charity.
How could so many people be housed at once in the relatively small
castle at Goodrich? Working out who stayed where involves
examining the ruins and the medieval documents, comparison with
other sites, and ultimately guesswork.
Many of the rooms around the courtyard and in the towers have
fireplaces, window seats, washbasins and latrines – signs that they
were meant to be lived in. At many medieval castles, the most
important rooms lay beyond the end of the great hall, furthest from
the kitchen. At Goodrich this would be the north-west tower and
north range (marked 1 and 2 on the illustration), which almost
certainly contained the bedchambers and solar, or great chamber, of
Countess Joan and William de Valence.
More well-appointed rooms for family members and guests lie on
two floors of the south-east tower (3) and the top floor of the
south-west tower (4).
Other buildings, including the east range (5), the rooms over the
gatehouse (6) and perhaps the keep (7), were probably used by
household officers, soldiers and servants.
Even this extensive accommodation, however, wouldn’t have been
enough for the full household. Some of the retinue would probably
have had to stay in the nearby village, or in wooden structures and
tents outside the castle walls.
Reconstruction drawing by Terry Ball (© Historic England)
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FIND OUT MORE
HISTORY OF GOODRICH C ASTLE
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Read a full history of Goodrich Castle, one of the best-preserved
medieval castles in England, which was besieged and captured by
Parliamentarians during the Civil War of the 17th century.
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THE SIEGE OF GOODRICH C ASTLE
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In 1646 Goodrich Castle was the scene of one of the most hard-
fought sieges of the English Civil War, which Parliament finally won
with the aid of a huge mortar, known as Roaring Meg.
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LIFE UNDER SIEGE AT GOODRICH C ASTLE
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The 17th-century objects found at Goodrich Castle help us to
imagine what life at the castle was like during the Civil War siege.
View some of them in detail here.
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ENGLISH MEDIEVAL C ASTLES
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Once symbols of power and prestige, England’s medieval castles are
now monuments to centuries of history. Discover the stories held
within their walls.
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