Of all the buildings within the Castle, the prison was paid least attention to in terms of comfort.  Here you will see the prison thatched in long wheat straw, with the walls made of half-round oak trunks with large cracks, making it very draughty.  Other buildings would have been plastered to keep out the wind, but as it was a prison, this was not deemed necessary.

The man in charge of the prison was called a constable, the name being handed down from the time of Domesday, and still used today in our police force.

You will notice in all the buildings that the joints are held together with oak pegs.  This is because the high acid content in the oak beams would quickly eat the iron pegs away, thus wooden pegs were always used.

The Vikings left a trail of destruction and burning houses, so to live within the Castle wall was a great privilege.

The stores was a guarded building, being watched over by guards on the gate and the nearby tower.  It would have housed wheat from the harvest, as well as salted meats for winter consumption.