Peel Castle - The Hall
The great hall was built early in the 15th century, and it was adapted over the next three centuries to keep pace with changing social and architectural fashions. Originally it would have been a large open space in which the preparation of food, cooking and eating would all have taken place. There would have been a central fireplace with the smoke finding its way out through the rafters, It was a communal room for feasting, drinking and boasting, presided over by the lord who would be close to his men to maintain their loyalty. Petitions could be heard here and justice dispensed. After the feasting was over, it could be used for sleeping, whilst the lord and his lady went to their own partitioned area at one end. As social structures changed in the late mediaeval times, the lord became more removed from the ordinary people, and such halls would have reflected this by the introduction of a raised platform for him to sit on and the provision of his own private entrance. The preparation of food would have been undertaken in a separate room, and eventually, as the centuries passed, such a hall would have been subdivided even more, with increasingly private apartments created for the hierarchy in smaller rooms. Eventually, the only area that would have been referred to as 'the hall' is the small entrance area by the door, just like we have in houses today.
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