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Muchalls Castle

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A great hall is the main room of a royal palace , castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages , and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great chamber for eating and relaxing. At that time the word "great" simply meant big and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence. In the medieval period, the room would simply have been referred to as the "hall" unless the building also had a secondary hall , but the term "great hall" has been predominant for surviving rooms of this type for several centuries, to distinguish them from the different type of hall found in post-medieval houses. Great halls were found especially in France, England and Scotland, but similar rooms were also found in some other European countries.

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104-548: Muchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of Kincardine and Mearns , Aberdeenshire , Scotland. The lower course is a well-preserved Romanesque , double-groined 13th-century tower house structure, built by the Frasers of Muchalls . Upon this structure, the 17th-century castle was begun by Alexander Burnett of Leys and completed by his son, Sir Thomas Burnett, 1st Baronet , in 1627. The Burnetts of Leys built

208-557: A Tuath . The North Sea has provided waterway access for commerce and conquest. Many areas have access to the North Sea because of its long coastline and the European rivers that empty it. There is little documentary evidence concerning the North Sea before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 CE, however, archaeological evidence reveals the diffusion of cultures and technologies from across or along

312-456: A carriage. This discovery was used to support the theory espoused by the present owners that the original castle access was from the south, and not the west as shown on maps of the last two centuries, and resulted in securing council approval to reconstruct the ancient approach as the main access drive. Muchalls Castle is perched on high ground with a commanding view of the North Sea less than 1 ⁄ 2 mile (800 metres) distant. It lies on

416-704: A challenge to their dominance of the North Sea until the 20th century. Tensions in the North Sea were again heightened in 1904 by the Dogger Bank incident . During the Russo-Japanese War , several ships of the Russian Baltic Fleet, which was on its way to the Far East, mistook British fishing boats for Japanese ships and fired on them, and then upon each other, near the Dogger Bank, nearly causing Britain to enter

520-552: A hallmark of the 17th-century garden plan. On the southern lawn, there is a rare species of tree known as the weeping elm . This specimen is one of the oldest in Scotland, measuring a height of 12 metres. There are a total of seven principal lawns summing up into an area of 52,300 square feet (4,860 m). Further there are a total of five agricultural fields as part of the castle estate, which are managed to accommodate cattle, sheep, and crops of wheat , barley, and hay. The castle

624-447: A room within a single building. From later Saxon times, the standard manorial plan began to emerge - the excavated tenth century hall at Sulgrave (Northamptonshire) has a definite 'high' end with an attached stone chamber wing and 'low' end with a cross-passage, services and detached kitchen. In the late tenth century, first floor stone halls began to be built in both France and England, partly for reasons of security. This form would become

728-453: A series of declining terraces on the western side of the castle. These gardens were studied by a historical landscape architect in 2001 and determined to be the original early 17th-century design, including enclosing drystone walls . Further evidence of the original design period is manifested by a subtle pattern in the western lawn nearest the castle, which has been documented to be undulations echoing an elaborate subsurface stonework pattern,

832-427: A set of well-sculpted corbelled turrets; massive ranges of chimneys: a curtain-walled entrance courtyard with two sets of triple gun loops flanking the entrance arch; a subterranean crypt; and well-preserved 17th-century high-stone walled terraced gardens. The bartizans render interesting interior features in numerous of the bedrooms, providing interesting circular nooks with small lookout windows strategically placed at

936-662: A similar medieval style, as do the Inns of Court and the Livery Companies in London . The "high table" (often on a small dais or stage at the top of the hall, farthest away from the screens passage) seats dons (at the universities) and Masters of the Bench (at the Inns of Court), whilst students (at the universities) and barristers or students (at the Inns of Court) dine at tables placed at right angles to

1040-699: A vast merchant marine, a large fishing fleet, powerful navy, and sophisticated financial markets made the Dutch the ascendant power in the North Sea, to be challenged by an ambitious England. This rivalry led to the first three Anglo-Dutch Wars between 1652 and 1673, which ended with Dutch victories. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the Dutch prince William ascended to the English throne. With unified leadership, commercial, military, and political power began to shift from Amsterdam to London. The British did not face

1144-533: A very elegant room in case she were to visit; in fact, she had a Winter Bedroom for inclement weather. Each of the bedrooms has a fireplace, as do some of the bathrooms. The bathrooms are a Victorian modification of what would have been dressing rooms in the 17th century. Several generations of the Burnett of Leys family lived in Muchalls Castle. Later residents included James Robertson, Baron Robertson , President of

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1248-522: A volume of 54,000 cubic kilometres (13,000 cu mi). Around the edges of the North Sea are sizeable islands and archipelagos , including Shetland , Orkney , and the Frisian Islands . The North Sea receives freshwater from a number of European continental watersheds, as well as the British Isles . A large part of the European drainage basin empties into the North Sea, including water from

1352-677: Is Stonehaven Tolbooth , where Episcopal clergy were imprisoned for conducting services at the chapel on the Muchalls Castle estate. Other notable structures nearby that have historical links to Muchalls Castle are Fetteresso Castle , Dunnottar Castle , Crathes Castle and Monboddo House , the home of James Burnett, Lord Monboddo , the father of modern historical linguistics and a pre-evolutionary thinker .(Hobbs, 2002) 57°01′03″N 2°10′47″W  /  57.0175°N 2.1798°W  / 57.0175; -2.1798 North Sea Download coordinates as: The North Sea lies between Great Britain , Denmark , Norway , Germany ,

1456-611: Is 17 °C (63 °F) in the summer and 6 °C (43 °F) in the winter. The average temperatures have been trending higher since 1988, which has been attributed to climate change . Air temperatures in January range on average between 0 and 4 °C (32 and 39 °F) and in July between 13 and 18 °C (55 and 64 °F). The winter months see frequent gales and storms. The salinity averages between 34 and 35 grams per litre (129 and 132 g/US gal) of water. The salinity has

1560-549: Is a major fishery . The coast is a popular destination for recreation and tourism in bordering countries, and a rich source of energy resources, including wind and wave power . The North Sea has featured prominently in geopolitical and military affairs, particularly in Northern Europe , from the Middle Ages to the modern era. It was also important globally through the power northern Europeans projected worldwide during much of

1664-461: Is a series of asymmetrical trenches between 20 and 30 kilometres (12 and 19 mi) long, one and two kilometres (0.6 and 1.2 mi) wide and up to 230 metres (750 ft) deep. Other areas which are less deep are Cleaver Bank , Fisher Bank and Noordhinder Bank . The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the North Sea as follows: On the Southwest. A line joining

1768-416: Is accessed via a private drive of about 3 ⁄ 4 mile (1.2 kilometres) long, which runs across the castle estate. One of the most intriguing discoveries of the 1990s was a hewn slab about two metres wide that spans a burn running along the southern portion of the estate. This slab had not been recorded on any of the historic maps from the most recent 200 years, but is the exact width needed to accommodate

1872-518: Is also home to marine mammals. Common seals , grey seals , and harbour porpoises can be found along the coasts, at marine installations, and on islands. The very northern North Sea islands such as the Shetland Islands are occasionally home to a larger variety of pinnipeds including bearded , harp , hooded and ringed seals , and even walrus . North Sea cetaceans include various porpoise , dolphin and whale species. Plant species in

1976-742: Is bounded by the Orkney Islands and east coast of Great Britain to the west and the northern and central European mainland to the east and south, including Norway , Denmark , Germany , the Netherlands , Belgium , and France . In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover , the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via

2080-452: Is of the opinion that the great hall retained vitality into the sixteenth century, with many of the most impressive halls being later, like those of Eltham Palace (1475-80) and Hampton Court Palace (1532-35). The hall would originally have had a central hearth, with the smoke rising through the hall to a vent in the roof, examples can be seen at Stokesay Castle and Ludlow Castle . Later chimneys were added, and it would then have one of

2184-469: Is perched near the apex of a large knoll overlooking the North Sea with a forest policy (woodland surrounding a large estate) of very old sycamore , elm and beech trees forming the northern and eastern policy boundaries. These trees form a canopy attaining 50 metres in height, and are the domain of rookeries of crow and jackdaw . There is a population of several hundred of these birds, which are commonly associated with other Scottish castles; in fact,

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2288-625: Is recorded to have killed more than 100,000 people. In 1362, the Second Marcellus Flood , also known as the Grote Manndrenke , hit the entire southern coast of the North Sea. Chronicles of the time again record more than 100,000 deaths, large parts of the coast were lost permanently to the sea, including the now legendary lost city of Rungholt . In the 20th century, the North Sea flood of 1953 flooded several nations' coasts and cost more than 2,000 lives. 315 citizens of Hamburg died in

2392-526: Is the Norwegian trench , which extends parallel to the Norwegian shoreline from Oslo to an area north of Bergen . It is between 20 and 30 kilometres (12 and 19 mi) wide and has a maximum depth of 725 metres (2,379 ft). The Dogger Bank , a vast moraine , or accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris, rises to a mere 15 to 30 m (50 to 100 ft) below the surface. This feature has produced

2496-513: Is the original 14th-century ground level of the Clan Fraser tower house . On this level are a dungeon , a guard room , storerooms, a chamber for merchants and visitors waiting to see the Laird , and a medieval kitchen. In the medieval kitchen, the interior wall is over five metres thick, accommodating a hidden staircase and affording bearing strength to support the upper levels. A long hall passageway

2600-611: The Aberdeen doctors . Sir Thomas Burnett of Leys, Laird of Muchalls Castle, along with James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose , Dickson, Henderson, Lord Coupar, the Master of Forbes and others formed a delegation of Covenanters to approach the doctors. The doctors offered the Cup of Bon Accord to the Covenanters and had laid out an elaborate banquet; however, very dramatically, the Covenanters refused

2704-510: The Baltic Sea . The largest and most important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Elbe and the Rhine – Meuse . Around 185 million people live in the catchment area of the rivers discharging into the North Sea encompassing some highly industrialized areas. For the most part, the sea lies on the European continental shelf with a mean depth of 90 metres (300 ft). The only exception

2808-521: The Battle of Heligoland Bight , the Battle of the Dogger Bank , and the Battle of Jutland . World War I also brought the first extensive use of submarine warfare , and a number of submarine actions occurred in the North Sea. The Second World War also saw action in the North Sea, though it was restricted more to aircraft reconnaissance and action by fighter/bomber aircraft, submarines and smaller vessels such as minesweepers and torpedo boats . After

2912-516: The English Channel was triggered by the earthquake, which in turn caused a tsunami. The tsunami triggered by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake reached Holland, although the waves had lost their destructive power. The largest earthquake ever recorded in the United Kingdom was the 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake , which measured 6.1 on the Richter magnitude scale and caused a small tsunami that flooded parts of

3016-508: The Last Glacial Maximum when the sea began to flood the European continental shelf. In 2006 a bone fragment was found while drilling for oil in the North Sea. Analysis indicated that it was a Plateosaurus from 199 to 216 million years ago. This was the deepest dinosaur fossil ever found and the first find for Norway. Copepods and other zooplankton are plentiful in the North Sea. These tiny organisms are crucial elements of

3120-954: The Latin names Mare Germanicum and Oceanus Germanicus , and these persisted in use until the First World War. Other common names in use for long periods were the Latin terms Mare Frisicum , as well as the English equivalent, "Frisian Sea". The modern names of the sea in the other local languages are: Danish : Vesterhavet , lit.   'West Sea' [ˈvestɐˌhɛˀvð̩] or Nordsøen [ˈnoɐ̯ˌsøˀn̩] , Dutch : Noordzee , Dutch Low Saxon : Noordzee , French : Mer du Nord , West Frisian : Noardsee , German : Nordsee , Low German : Noordsee , North Frisian : Weestsiie , lit.   'West Sea', Swedish : Nordsjön , Bokmål : Nordsjøen [ˈnûːrˌʂøːn] , Nynorsk : Nordsjøen , Scots : North Sea and Scottish Gaelic : An Cuan

3224-576: The Netherlands , Belgium and France . An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf , it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than 970 kilometres (600 mi) long and 580 kilometres (360 mi) wide, covering 570,000 square kilometres (220,000 sq mi). It hosts key north European shipping lanes and

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3328-465: The North Sea flood of 1962 . Though rare, the North Sea has been the site of a number of historically documented tsunamis . The Storegga Slides were a series of underwater landslides, in which a piece of the Norwegian continental shelf slid into the Norwegian Sea. The immense landslips occurred between 8150 BCE and 6000 BCE, and caused a tsunami up to 20 metres (66 ft) high that swept through

3432-985: The Phare de Walde (Walde Lighthouse, in France, 50°59'37"N, 1°54'53"E) and Leathercoat Point (England, 51°10'01.4"N 1°24'07.8"). northeast of Dover. On the Northwest. From Dunnet Head (58°40'20"N, 3°22'30"W) in Scotland to Tor Ness (58°47'N) in the Island of Hoy , thence through this island to the Kame of Hoy (58°55'N) on to Breck Ness on Mainland (58°58'N) through this island to Costa Head (3°14'W) and Inga Ness (59'17'N) in Westray through Westray, to Bow Head, across to Mull Head (North point of Papa Westray ) and on to Seal Skerry (North point of North Ronaldsay ) and thence to Horse Island (South point of

3536-797: The Shetland Islands). On the North. From the North point (Fethaland Point) of the Mainland of the Shetland Islands, across to Graveland Ness (60°39'N) in the Island of Yell , through Yell to Gloup Ness (1°04'W) and across to Spoo Ness (60°45'N) in Unst island, through Unst to Herma Ness (60°51'N), on to the SW point of the Rumblings and to Muckle Flugga ( 60°51′N 0°53′W  /  60.850°N 0.883°W  / 60.850; -0.883 ) all these being included in

3640-589: The Skagerrak and Kattegat , narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively. In the north it is bordered by the Shetland Islands , and connects with the Norwegian Sea , which is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean . The North Sea is more than 970 kilometres (600 mi) long and 580 kilometres (360 mi) wide, with an area of 750,000 square kilometres (290,000 sq mi) and

3744-463: The food chain supporting many species of fish. Over 230 species of fish live in the North Sea. Cod , haddock , whiting , saithe , plaice , sole , mackerel , herring , pouting , sprat , and sandeel are all very common and are fished commercially. Due to the various depths of the North Sea trenches and differences in salinity, temperature, and water movement, some fish such as blue-mouth redfish and rabbitfish reside only in small areas of

3848-433: The great chamber and parlours , withdrawing rooms , and later for servants who finally achieved their own servants hall to eat in and servants’ bedrooms in attics or basements). By the late 16th century the great hall was beginning to lose its purpose. Increasing centralization of power in royal hands meant that men of good social standing were less inclined to enter the service of a lord to obtain his protection, and so

3952-535: The littoral is low and marshy. The east coast and south-east of the North Sea ( Wadden Sea ) have coastlines that are mainly sandy and straight owing to longshore drift , particularly along Belgium and Denmark. The southern coastal areas were originally flood plains and swampy land. In areas especially vulnerable to storm surges, people settled behind elevated levees and on natural areas of high ground such as spits and geestland . As early as 500 BC, people were constructing artificial dwelling hills higher than

4056-729: The 13th century the Hanseatic League , though centred on the Baltic Sea , started to control most of the trade through important members and outposts on the North Sea. The League lost its dominance in the 16th century, as neighbouring states took control of former Hanseatic cities and outposts. Their internal conflict prevented effective cooperation and defence. As the League lost control of its maritime cities, new trade routes emerged that provided Europe with Asian, American, and African goods. The 17th century Dutch Golden Age saw Dutch maritime power at its zenith. Important overseas colonies,

4160-566: The British coast. Shallow epicontinental seas like the current North Sea have since long existed on the European continental shelf . The rifting that formed the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, from about 150  million years ago , caused tectonic uplift in the British Isles. Since then, a shallow sea has almost continuously existed between

4264-539: The Covenanters including revocation of the Service Book and Canons , repeal of the Perth Articles and enjoined subscription to Craig's Negative Confession of 1580, a document condemning papal errors. Ownership of Muchalls Castle passed from the Burnett of Leys family about 1882. A prominent owner of the castle in late Victorian times was James Robertson, Baron Robertson , Lord Advocate of Scotland. The castle

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4368-523: The Cup, stating they would not meet until the doctors had signed the Covenant. The doctors were very disturbed and composed a list of queries, demanding the Covenanters' response. Muchalls Castle was the site of the Covenanters' meeting where they drew up their plucky and learned response to the doctors. From this confrontation and other concomitant events, Charles I unexpectedly made sweeping reforms and concessions to

4472-607: The King James Arms. One can walk erect inside the fireplace and conduct a small meeting inside with bench seating built in. The firebox also hosts the Laird's Lug , a secret listening system allowing the Laird to overhear conversations in the Great Hall from his suite above. The third level consists of a number of bedrooms: The Laird's Bedroom, The Priest's Bedroom, The Queen's Bedroom and The Queen's Winter Bedroom. The Queen naturally had

4576-561: The Middle Ages and into the modern era. The North Sea was the centre of the Vikings' rise . The Hanseatic League , the Dutch Republic , and the British each sought to gain command of the North Sea and access to the world's markets and resources. As Germany's only outlet to the ocean, the North Sea was strategically important through both world wars. The coast has diverse geology and geography. In

4680-501: The Middle Ages through the 15th century, the northern European coastal ports exported domestic goods, dyes, linen, salt, metal goods and wine. The Scandinavian and Baltic areas shipped grain, fish, naval necessities, and timber. In turn, the North Sea countries imported high-grade cloths, spices, and fruits from the Mediterranean region. Commerce during this era was mainly conducted by maritime trade due to underdeveloped roadways. In

4784-475: The Middle Ages. A few university colleges, including Merton College, Oxford (1277), Peterhouse, Cambridge (1290), University College, Durham (between 1284 and 1311, originally for the Prince Bishop of Durham ), Trinity Hall, Cambridge (1350), and New College, Oxford (14th century), have medieval halls which are still used as dining rooms on a daily basis; many other colleges have later halls built in

4888-480: The Netherlands. The North Sea Floods of 1953 and 1962 were the impetus for further raising of the dikes as well as the shortening of the coast line so as to present as little surface area as possible to the punishment of the sea and the storms. Currently, 27% of the Netherlands is below sea level protected by dikes, dunes, and beach flats. Coastal management today consists of several levels. The dike slope reduces

4992-900: The North Sea are home to nature reserves including the Ythan Estuary , Fowlsheugh Nature Preserve, and Farne Islands in the UK and the Wadden Sea National Parks in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. These locations provide breeding habitat for dozens of bird species. Tens of millions of birds make use of the North Sea for breeding, feeding, or migratory stopovers every year. Populations of black-legged kittiwakes , Atlantic puffins , northern gannets , northern fulmars , and species of petrels , seaducks , loons (divers), cormorants , gulls , auks , and terns , and many other seabirds make these coasts popular for birdwatching . The North Sea

5096-610: The North Sea area; thence up the meridian of 0°53' West to the parallel of 61°00' North and eastward along this parallel to the coast of Norway, the whole of Viking Bank is thus included in the North Sea. On the East. The Western limit of the Skagerrak [A line joining Hanstholm ( 57°07′N 8°36′E  /  57.117°N 8.600°E  / 57.117; 8.600 ) and the Naze ( Lindesnes , 58°N 7°E  /  58°N 7°E  / 58; 7 )]. The average temperature

5200-510: The North Sea during the Migration Period . They made successive invasions of the island from what is now the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany. The Viking Age began in 793 with the attack on Lindisfarne ; for the next quarter-millennium, the Vikings ruled the North Sea. In their superior longships , they raided, traded, and established colonies and outposts along the coasts of the sea. From

5304-607: The North Sea include species of wrack , among them bladder wrack , knotted wrack , and serrated wrack. Algae , macroalgal, and kelp , such as oarweed and laminaria hyperboria, and species of maerl are found as well. Eelgrass , formerly common in the entirety of the Wadden Sea, was nearly wiped out in the 20th century by a disease. Similarly, sea grass used to coat huge tracts of ocean floor, but have been damaged by trawling and dredging have diminished its habitat and prevented its return. Invasive Japanese seaweed has spread along

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5408-445: The North Sea to Great Britain and Scandinavia and reliance by some prehistoric cultures on fishing, whaling, and seaborne trade on the North Sea. The Romans established organised ports in Britain, which increased shipping and began sustained trade the diffusion of cultures and technologies from across or along the North Sea to Great Britain and Scandinavia and reliance by some prehistoric cultures on fishing, whaling, and seaborne trade on

5512-416: The North Sea until the 20th century, when numbers declined due to overfishing . Other factors like the introduction of non-indigenous species , industrial and agricultural pollution , trawling and dredging , human-induced eutrophication , construction on coastal breeding and feeding grounds, sand and gravel extraction, offshore construction , and heavy shipping traffic have also contributed to

5616-420: The North Sea, having the greatest effect on Scotland and the Faeroe Islands . The Dover Straits earthquake of 1580 is among the first recorded earthquakes in the North Sea measuring between 5.6 and 5.9 on the Richter scale. This event caused extensive damage in Calais both through its tremors and possibly triggered a tsunami , though this has never been confirmed. The theory is a vast underwater landslide in

5720-399: The North Sea. Crustaceans are also commonly found throughout the sea. Norway lobster , deep-water prawns , and brown shrimp are all commercially fished, but other species of lobster , shrimp , oyster , mussels and clams all live in the North Sea. Recently non-indigenous species have become established including the Pacific oyster and Atlantic jackknife clam . The coasts of

5824-399: The North Sea. The Romans established organised ports in Britain, which increased shipping and began sustained trade and many Scandinavian tribes participated in raids and wars against the Romans and Roman coinage and manufacturing were important trade goods. When the Romans abandoned Britain in 410, the Germanic Angles , Frisians , Saxons , and Jutes began the next great migration across

5928-448: The North Sea. The wave continues to travel northward in the Atlantic Ocean, and once past the northern tip of Great Britain, the Kelvin wave turns east and south and once again enters the North Sea. The eastern and western coasts of the North Sea are jagged, formed by glaciers during the ice ages . The coastlines along the southernmost part are covered with the remains of deposited glacial sediment. The Norwegian mountains plunge into

6032-438: The Orkney Islands through the mid-16th century, as both Sable Island and Orkney Islands lay within their normal range. Grey whales also resided in the North Sea but were driven to extinction in the Atlantic in the 17th century Other species have dramatically declined in population, though they are still found. North Atlantic right whales , sturgeon , shad , rays , skates , salmon , and other species were common in

6136-498: The Scottish Court of Session , and Geraldine Simpson (née Pringle), heiress to the Pringle knitting fortune. Muchalls Castle was the location of an important turning point in the Reformation in Scotland. In 1638 at Edinburgh signatories to a Covenant opposed the imposition of the Episcopal liturgical system then backed by the King. Aberdeen was one of the last holdouts to confirm this covenant, its opposition led by six scholars at Marischal College and King's College remembered as

6240-415: The ancient Causey Mounth road linking Stonehaven to Aberdeen via the Portlethen Moss . Muchalls Castle has sweeping views to the south and east of a valley that was the northernmost point of the Roman army's advance into the Scottish highlands . The Romans built a major encampment Raedykes about three miles (five kilometres) south-east, which has yielded many interesting artefacts. In nearby Stonehaven

6344-486: The basis for the hall keep . Examples can be seen at Langeais Castle (France), Richmond Castle (England) and Chepstow Castle (Wales), as well as on the Bayeux Tapestry . Many large ground floor aisled halls were built in England following the Norman Conquest , as the key room in the new feudal society . The greatest was that at Westminster Palace , built by William Rufus as a setting for secular royal events. Even ground floor halls were increasingly built of stone as

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6448-591: The castle grounds, including a fine stone stable and a 17th-century dovecote . The next level includes most of the principal reception rooms, including the Great Hall , the Ladies' Drawing Room and the Gentlemen's Study. These reception rooms are the main locations of the elaborate plasterwork; in fact, the ceilings of these three rooms are totally covered in original 17th-century plasterwork with heraldic coats of arms, biblical figures and other historical figures. The great hall fireplace has an original plasterwork overmantel featuring egyptianesque caryatid figures and

6552-435: The coasts of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark and low-lying areas of eastern England particularly around The Wash and Fens . Storm surges are caused by changes in barometric pressure combined with strong wind created wave action . The first recorded storm tide flood was the Julianenflut , on 17 February 1164. In its wake, the Jadebusen , (a bay on the coast of Germany), began to form. A storm tide in 1228

6656-402: The cooking. Commonly the fireplace would have an elaborate overmantel with stone or wood carvings or plasterwork which might contain coats of arms , heraldic mottoes (usually in Latin), caryatids or another adornment. In the upper halls of French manor houses, the fireplaces were usually very large and elaborate. Typically, the great hall had the finest decorations in it, as well as on

6760-417: The current owners have purchased a tangent northern parcel, which is known on historic maps as "Crow Woods" and is a similar forest of mature trees that house crow and jackdaw flocks. The south-eastern, southern, and western exposures have a thinner lower woodland policy, historically to allow free viewing of the North Sea and expansive valley views to the south and west. The principal gardens are situated in

6864-404: The dais end of the hall, and the kitchen, buttery and pantry were on the opposite side of the screens passage. The dais end is generally referred to as the 'upper' end, and the screens end as the 'lower' end. Even royal and noble residences had few living rooms until late in the Middle Ages, and a great hall was a multifunctional room. It was used for receiving guests and it was the place where

6968-435: The decline. For example, a resident orca pod was lost in the 1960s, presumably due to the peak in PCB pollution in this time period. The OSPAR commission manages the OSPAR convention to counteract the harmful effects of human activity on wildlife in the North Sea, preserve endangered species , and provide environmental protection. All North Sea border states are signatories of the MARPOL 73/78 Accords, which preserve

7072-555: The energy of the incoming sea, so that the dike itself does not receive the full impact. Dikes that lie directly on the sea are especially reinforced. The dikes have, over the years, been repeatedly raised, sometimes up to 9 metres (30 ft) and have been made flatter to better reduce wave erosion. Where the dunes are sufficient to protect the land behind them from the sea, these dunes are planted with beach grass ( Ammophila arenaria ) to protect them from erosion by wind, water, and foot traffic. Storm surges threaten, in particular,

7176-508: The finest fishing location of the North Sea. The Long Forties and the Broad Fourteens are large areas with roughly uniform depth in fathoms (forty fathoms and fourteen fathoms or 73 and 26 m or 240 and 85 ft deep, respectively). These great banks and others make the North Sea particularly hazardous to navigate, which has been alleviated by the implementation of satellite navigation systems . The Devil's Hole lies 320 kilometres (200 mi) east of Dundee , Scotland. The feature

7280-404: The function of the hall began to narrow to solely a dining and circulation space, and architectural developments reflected that, with the rise of the wall fireplace and bay window (also known as an oriel) creating a more pleasant and specialised chamber. It was formerly considered that the decline of the hall began with the decline of feudalism in the 14th century. More recent scholarship, however,

7384-417: The hanging chandelier, often called the 'hart-horn' made of antler; ornamental weapons, commonly a halberd ; and the cloth and napery used for dining. Occasionally the great hall would have an early listening device system, allowing conversations to be heard in the lord's bedroom above. In Scotland, these devices are called a laird 's lug. In many French manor houses, there are small peep-holes from which

7488-444: The high table and running down the body of the hall, thus maintaining the hierarchical arrangement of the medieval domestic, monastic or collegiate household. Numerous more recently founded schools and institutions have halls and dining halls based on medieval great halls or monastic refectories. From the 15th century onwards, halls lost most of their traditional functions to more specialised rooms, first for family members and guests to

7592-446: The highest social levels at the palaces of Yeavering (Northumberland) and Cheddar (Somerset). The halls at both palaces were 120 feet (37m) long, that at Yeavering being seventh century and that at Cheddar (the first of several) being ninth century. Saxon halls were routinely aisled and occasionally had side walls that were bowed out in plan. At this point the hall was merely the largest of several detached structures, rather than being

7696-521: The highest variability where there is fresh water inflow, such as at the Rhine and Elbe estuaries, the Baltic Sea exit and along the coast of Norway. The main pattern to the flow of water in the North Sea is an anti-clockwise rotation along the edges. The North Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean receiving the majority of ocean current from the northwest opening, and a lesser portion of warm current from

7800-518: The house, and for large scale entertaining, as at Christmas, for dancing, or when a touring company of actors performed. With the arrival of ballrooms and dedicated music rooms in the largest houses by the late 17th century, these functions too were lost. Where large halls survived, it was usually due to continuing institutional use, especially as a courtroom. This change of use preserved the halls of Winchester , Oakham and Leicester Castles. Other halls, like that at Eltham Palace, remained standing in

7904-608: The household would dine together, including the lord of the house, his gentleman attendants and at least some of the servants. At night some members of the household might sleep on the floor of the great hall. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance the hall was at the heart of residential complexes. Early examples were timber built and have vanished, only being known from documentary sources like Beowulf , and excavations. Archaeologists have uncovered Anglo-Saxon halls from

8008-405: The largest fireplaces of the palace, manor house or castle, frequently large enough to walk and stand inside. Where there was a wall fireplace, it was generally at the dais end of the hall with the bay window, as at Raglan Castle, so the lord could get the most heat and light. The hearth was used for heating and also for some of the cooking, although most houses had a dedicated kitchen for the bulk of

8112-584: The late 17th century the halls of many new houses were simply vestibules , passed through to get to somewhere else, but not lived in. Several great halls like that at Great Hall in Lancashire were downsized to create two rooms. From the 16th century onwards it was common to insert a floor into the smaller halls to create a lower entrance hall and a commodious first floor chamber. The halls of late 17th, 18th and 19th-century country houses and palaces usually functioned almost entirely as impressive entrance points to

8216-1120: The latter was used only for public events, never used as a great hall here described). Penshurst Place in Kent , England , has a little-altered 14th century example, and Great Chalfield Manor has a similarly intact 15th century one. At the scale of yeoman housing, a restored 15th century hall can be seen in Bayleaf Farmhouse, now at the Weald and Downland Living Museum . Surviving 16th and early 17th century specimens in Britain are numerous, for example those at Eltham Palace (England), Longleat (England), Deene Park (England), Burghley House (England), Bodysgallen Hall (Wales), Darnaway Castle (Scotland), Muchalls Castle (Scotland) and Crathes Castle (Scotland). There are numerous ruined examples, notably at Linlithgow Palace (Scotland), Kenilworth Castle (England) and Raglan Castle (Wales). The domestic and monastic model applied also to collegiate institutions during

8320-418: The lord and his high-ranking guests was moved up to the first-floor level. This was called the salle haute or upper hall (or "high room"). In some of the larger three-storey manor houses, the upper hall was as high as second storey roof. The smaller ground-floor hall or salle basse remained but was for receiving guests of any social order. It is very common to find these two halls superimposed, one on top of

8424-689: The lord could observe what was happening in the hall. This type of hidden peep-hole is called a judas in French. In England, such an opening is referred to as a squint - there are two connecting the hall and great chamber in Stokesay Castle . Many great halls survive. Three very large surviving royal halls are Westminster Hall , Ridderzaal in Binnenhof and the Vladislav Hall in Prague Castle (although

8528-542: The main staircases used by the nobility who dwelt in the castle.) Ownership of the castle and lands passed to the Hays in the 15th century probably associated with the same real estate transaction of the lands of Ury in AD 1413. The second floor level (referred to as the first floor in Scotland) is erected over the intact Middle Ages ground-level structure. Prominent exterior features are:

8632-483: The marine environment by preventing pollution from ships. Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands also have a trilateral agreement for the protection of the Wadden Sea , or mudflats , which run along the coasts of the three countries on the southern edge of the North Sea. The North Sea has had various names throughout history. One of the earliest recorded names was Septentrionalis Oceanus , or "Northern Ocean", which

8736-440: The material became more widely available, though in thickly forested areas timber remained the material of choice. From the 13th century improved carpentry techniques meant that roofs could span greater distances, eliminating the need for aisles, and by c. 1300 the standard hall plan with the dais and great chamber at the upper end and the entrance, screens passage and services at the lower end had become commonplace. After this time

8840-679: The north, deep fjords and sheer cliffs mark much of its Norwegian and Scottish coastlines respectively, whereas in the south, the coast consists mainly of sandy beaches, estuaries of long rivers and wide mudflats . Due to the dense population, heavy industrialisation , and intense use of the sea and the area surrounding it, various environmental issues affect the sea's ecosystems. Adverse environmental issues – commonly including overfishing , industrial and agricultural runoff , dredging , and dumping, among others – have led to several efforts to prevent degradation and to safeguard long-term economic benefits. The North Sea

8944-471: The other, in larger manor houses in Normandy and Brittany. Access from the ground-floor hall to the upper (great) hall was normally via an external staircase tower. The upper hall often contained the lord's bedroom and living quarters off one end. In Scotland, six common furnishings were present in the sixteenth-century hall: the high table and principal seat; side tables for others; the cupboard and silver plate;

9048-492: The prevailing flood levels. It was only around the beginning of the High Middle Ages , in 1200 AD, that inhabitants began to connect single ring dikes into a dike line along the entire coast, thereby turning amphibious regions between the land and the sea into permanent solid ground. The modern form of the dikes supplemented by overflow and lateral diversion channels, began to appear in the 17th and 18th centuries, built in

9152-556: The principal drawing rooms are generally regarded as among the three finest examples of plasterwork ceilings in Scotland. These adornments date to 1624 and are in virtually perfect condition. They consist of heraldry of the Burnett of Leys family, along with heraldry of relations and friends intermixed with biblical iconography . The overmantel of the Great Hall fireplace features the arms of King James VI flanked by impressive egyptianesque figures. The lower course of this L-plan castle

9256-547: The remaining four-storey present-day castle. One of the most interesting castles in North-East Scotland, according to noted architectural historian Nigel Tranter , it is designed in the classic L style with a further extension wing at the west end. Muchalls Castle entered national history in 1638 when a seminal Covenanter gathering took place there, precedent the English Civil War . The plasterwork ceilings of

9360-463: The sea creating deep fjords and archipelagos . South of Stavanger, the coast softens, the islands become fewer. The eastern Scottish coast is similar, though less severe than Norway. From north east of England , the cliffs become lower and are composed of less resistant moraine , which erodes more easily, so that the coasts have more rounded contours. In the Netherlands, Belgium and in East Anglia

9464-413: The shores of the sea clogging harbours and inlets and has become a nuisance. Due to the heavy human populations and high level of industrialization along its shores, the wildlife of the North Sea has suffered from pollution, overhunting, and overfishing. Flamingos and pelicans were once found along the southern shores of the North Sea, but became extinct over the second millennium. Walruses frequented

9568-494: The size of the inner noble household shrank. As the social gap between master and servant grew, the family retreated, usually to the first floor, to private rooms. In fact, servants were not usually allowed to use the same staircases as nobles to access the great hall of larger castles in early times , and servants' staircases are still extant in places such as Muchalls Castle. Other reception and living rooms in country houses became more numerous, specialised and important, and by

9672-464: The smaller opening at the English Channel. These tidal currents leave along the Norwegian coast. Surface and deep water currents may move in different directions. Low salinity surface coastal waters move offshore, and deeper, denser high salinity waters move inshore. The North Sea located on the continental shelf has different waves from those in deep ocean water. The wave speeds are diminished and

9776-790: The uplands of the Fennoscandian Shield and the British Isles. This precursor of the current North Sea has grown and shrunk with the rise and fall of the eustatic sea level during geologic time. Sometimes it was connected with other shallow seas, such as the sea above the Paris Basin to the south-west, the Paratethys Sea to the south-east, or the Tethys Ocean to the south. During the Late Cretaceous, about 85  million years ago , all of modern mainland Europe except for Scandinavia

9880-423: The upper building corners. There are numerous original arrow slits that indicate the original defensive nature of the structure; some of these arrow slits penetrate exterior walls that are over a metre thick. There are a number of crow-stepped gables associated with large chimneys at building endpoints. The castle itself is an A listed historical building ; however, there are three further listed structures on

9984-554: The war on the side of Japan. During the First World War , Great Britain's Grand Fleet and Germany's Kaiserliche Marine faced each other in the North Sea, which became the main theatre of the war for surface action. Britain's larger fleet and North Sea Mine Barrage were able to establish an effective blockade for most of the war, which restricted the Central Powers ' access to many crucial resources. Major battles included

10088-403: The war, hundreds of thousands of tons of chemical weapons were disposed of by being dumped in the North Sea. Great Hall A typical great hall was a rectangular room between one and a half and three times as long as it was wide, and also higher than it was wide. It was entered through a screens passage at one end, and had windows on the long sides, often including a large bay window. There

10192-406: The wave amplitudes are increased. In the North Sea there are two amphidromic systems and a third incomplete amphidromic system. In the North Sea the average tide difference in wave amplitude is between zero and eight metres (26 ft). The Kelvin tide of the Atlantic Ocean is a semidiurnal wave that travels northward. Some of the energy from this wave travels through the English Channel into

10296-406: The window frame mouldings on the outer wall. Many French manor houses have very beautifully decorated external window frames on the large mullioned windows that light the hall. This decoration clearly marked the window as belonging to the lord's private hall. It was where guests slept. In western France, the early manor houses were centred on a central ground-floor hall. Later, the hall reserved for

10400-519: Was a scattering of islands. By the Early Oligocene , 34 to 28 million years ago , the emergence of Western and Central Europe had almost completely separated the North Sea from the Tethys Ocean, which gradually shrank to become the Mediterranean as Southern Europe and South West Asia became dry land. The North Sea was cut off from the English Channel by a narrow land bridge until that

10504-560: Was breached by at least two catastrophic floods between 450,000 and 180,000 years ago. Since the start of the Quaternary period about 2.6  million years ago , the eustatic sea level has fallen during each glacial period and then risen again. Every time the ice sheet reached its greatest extent, the North Sea became almost completely dry, the dry landmass being known as Doggerland , whose northern regions were themselves known to have been glaciated. The present-day coastline formed after

10608-616: Was cited by Pliny . He also noted that the Cimbri called it Morimarusa – "Dead Sea". The name "North Sea" probably came into English, however, via the Dutch Noordzee , who named it thus either in contrast with the Zuiderzee ("South Sea"), located south of Frisia , or because the sea is generally to the north of the Netherlands. Before the adoption of "North Sea", the names used in English were "German Sea" or "German Ocean", referred to as

10712-469: Was constructed as a barrel vaulted design. The dungeon is noted for its small window and still has the large steel hinges to which the dungeon door would have attached. The medieval kitchen has its original 14th-century flagstones ; moreover, this room features a large walk-in fireplace with a secret spiral staircase that servants would have used in medieval times to carry meals to the higher levels. (Servants at that time would have not been allowed on

10816-451: Was often a minstrels' gallery above the screens passage. The screens passage was divided from the hall by a timber screen with two openings. The portion of the screen between these openings could be movable, as survives at Rufford Old Hall . At the other end of the hall was the dais where the high table was situated. The ceiling above the dais was often ornamented to denote its higher status. The lord's family's more private rooms lay beyond

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