A tour of the Castle

Plan of Castle Rushen

1.	Keep
2.	Inner Gatehouse
3.	South Tower
4.	East Tower
5.	West Tower
6.	Drawbridge
7.	Site of Chapel
8.	Derby House
9.	Gatehouse
10.	Barbican
11.	Inner Bailey
12.	Curtain Wall
13.	Moat
14.	Glacis (formerly extended to Round Tower)
15.	Round Tower

Entering Castle Rushen Keep

Castle Rushen's Keep can only be reached over the bridge and through the formidable Inner Gatehouse entrance.

In the past, unwanted visitors could not simply walk over a fixed bridge. There was only a drawbridge pivoting against the wall with a drop below, and beyond this two portcullis with a "killing ground" between. The three "murder holes" in the vaulted ceiling are a reminder of the likely fate of any intruder unlucky enough to be trapped there - at the full mercy of defenders in the room above.

The Garrison Roll of 1428 indicates that there were 25 officials and household officers and 73 garrison soldiers at Peel Castle and Castle Rushen. By 1593 there were 55 soldiers at Castle Rushen alone who manned the day and night watches.

Bishop Wilson's Cell

The ground floor guardrooms on either side of the gatehouse entrance were in later times used as prison cells. None was used in 1722 to imprison the Island's Bishop Wilson who had been found guilty of contempt of a State Court.

The Guardrooms

The guards on duty wore the badge of the Lords of Mann on their livery jackets. Each guardroom contains a vaulted cellar, possibly used as an "oubliette" for the detention of troublesome prisoners. In this area of the Castle William fisher was confined and ill-treated by John Cote. Fisher died as a result and Cote was later executed for his cruelty. An enquiry into the incident is reported in the Garrison Roll.

The Garrison Captain's Lodgings

The gatehouses were the workplace of the garrison who manned the Castle. Many of the soldiers came from Lancashire and Cheshire, but a few were Manx. They had their own living quarters in the town and only spent their time on duty in the Castle, but officials such as the Captain of the Guard had their lodgings in some of the sparsely furnished upper rooms of the Inner Gatehouse - each main living area was en suite with its own "garderobe" or toilet.

The Garrison Roll of 1428 indicates that there were 25 officials and household officers and 73 garrison soldiers at Peel Castle and Castle Rushen. By 1593 there were 55 soldiers at Castle Rushen alone who manned the day and night watches.

The Portcullis Chamber

Through the "murder holes" which pierce the floor, certain death by a variety of unpleasant means could be dealt any attackers trapped in the "killing ground" between the two portcullis below. A spiral staircase, the only means of access all the way from ground level, leads to the fighting platform at the top of the Inner Gatehouse from where all of the southern part of the Island can be viewed, as far as the ridge of hills stretching from south-west to north-east. Derbyhaven, with its sheltered bay and landing place, lies within easy distance of the Castle. Castletown Bay, with its rocky coast and exposure to the prevailing winds, is a much more difficult haven to enter.

The Castle Chapel

At the top of the South Tower is the medieval chapel which also houses the Castle clock mechanism.

The outside clock face on the South Tower is a well known Castletown landmark. The Chapel has a piscina or shallow stone bowl for holy water, and the stone ledges which supported the altar can still be seen in the side walls of the east window.

The Lord's Private Dining Hall

Most Kings of Mann spent little or no time on the Island, leaving the efficient government and defence of their Kingdom to their officials and soldiers.

One whose visit to the Island in 1507 is documented in the Manx "Traditionary Ballad" was Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby and last King of Mann. It is his stay at Castle Rushen which was the basis for the recreated medieval Lord's private Dining Hall, Great Chamber and Treasury.

Seated with the last King at his midday meal are John Farkar, Abbot of Rushen Abbey, Ralph Rushton, Governor of the Island, and the Comptroller (Controller) of the Castle.

They are shown discussing the results of an "enquest" (enquiry) in 1504 which was undertaken to establish details of the Lord's traditional rights and the laws of the Island.

The meals eaten on such an occasion were highly regulated, both with regard to what was eaten and how food and drink was served. Spectacular items, such as a roast peacock, with its skin and plumage sewn back on after cooking, were reserved for special occasions.

Medieval Furniture

The importance of the Lord’s presence on the ‘banker’ or bench seat at the table is indicated by the cloth and canopy of state which is raised above the fireplace. Most medieval tables consisted of solid planks resting on trestles which enabled quick removal after the meal to make room for entertainment or for the retainers to sleep.

The pieces of replica medieval furniture on display have been carefully researched to give an accurate impression of what would have been familiar to Thomas, last King of Mann, at the time of his visit to the Island in 1507.

The Lord's Chamber and Treasury

Through from the Dining Hall was the Lord's Great Chamber, Originally occupying the full length of the west wing before the insertion of the nineteenth century starecase. Two of St. Thomas Stanley's senior officers await the Lord's return from his dinner with the Abbot and Governor.

Behind the Lord’s chair, below, the ‘L’Art du Feu’ tapestry copies an original from France, woven around 1500. On the treasury end wall hangs a painted brocade imitating a costly silk textile.

However, the wall-hangings in this room are dominated by cloths painted in the ‘millefleurs’ style widely popular in tapestries at the end of the 15th century. The field of flowers is inhabited by various medieval mythical and real creatures. ‘Bestiaries’, books describing real and fabulous creatures, had been an English speciality since the 13th century, and these creatures remained popular as decorative motifs until Elizabethan times.

The Lord's Treasury

The Lord’s Strong Room or Treasury was only accessible through his Great Chamber, making it the most secure room in the Castle.

An early problem for the first Stanley Lords of Mann was the correct listing and application of the traditional laws of the Island. Few of these laws had ever been written down and it was therefore decreed: ‘That the Clearke of the Rowles write all things plain with full letters and the Judgement thereof in parchment, that if any cause came another time, it may be found in the Treasury. That the Bookes be put into the Treasury and locked...’

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