In the Leicester Castle Great Hall on the side of the river Soar, standing atop a pedestal is a large twelth century timber capital.
This curious wooden post would have made up the topmost part of a column, called a capital, in a series running the length of the hall in the mid 12th century.
Around 1150 the castle area was fortified by the 2nd Earl of Leicester, Robert le Bossu, as well as establishing a great hall for courtly functions. Le Bossu controlled the royal forests which enabled him to provide the oak timber for the construction of the Great Hall.
Leicester Great Hall ground plan and capital post detail. Leicester Castle, Levi Fox, 1944.
Thought to be the largest and oldest surviving aisled and bay-divided timber hall in Britain today (and once had the reputation as the grandest in Europe), its roof was supported by a series of wooden pillars running the length of the building each topped by one of these capitals.
Artist impression of Richard III banqueting in Leicester Great Hall c1483, Graham Sumner
In the early 1500s much of the building was altered, including the roof and the structure no longer possessed the semi circular form it had since 1150. In a detail of a Leicester Environs Map you can see how the 1500s modifications looked before the court walls were installed in 1821.
Detail from Leicester Environs Map , image courtesy of the Records Office for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
To view the Norman Capital post please visit us on starting the last Sunday from May to October (excluding September).