Building
Great house
The greatest 12th-century residences were castles and palaces of the king, earls and bishops. Their centrepiece was often a stone great tower: Hedingham Castle in Essex, built by the de Vere family between about 1125 and 1160, is a four-storey keep of flint rubble faced with Barnack stone, its great hall spanned by a huge Norman arch, with carved fireplaces and a wall gallery.
Caveats (confidence: medium)
'Great house' is a game term; 12th-century equivalents ranged from castles to episcopal palaces.
Sources: historicengland.org.uk
Built from
- Great house