Key

1. 1. Motte
2. 2. Outer Moat
3. 3. Keep
4. 4. Inner Moat
5. 5. Bailey
6. 6. Curtain Wall
7. 7. Privy Chamber
8. 8. Great Chamber
9. 9. Great Hall
10. 10. Lodging Chamber
11. 11. Larder
12. 12. Kitchen
13. 13. Bakehouse and Brewhouse
14. 14. Constable’s Lodging
15. 15. Barbican
16. 16. Gatehouse

The inner stronghold of the castle was on the motte (1) an artificial mound built from layers of shale and earth excavated from the surrounding defensive moat (2). A timber tower stood on the motte when the castle was first built in the early 12th century, to act as both a last place of defence in case of attack and probably also to act as the lord’s residence when he stayed at the castle.

Almost all trace of this timber tower was wiped out by the stone foundations of the later stone keep (3). The stone keep (3) replaced the timber tower probably in the first half of the 13th century. It was a circular keep with four towers, approached by a defended staircase rising from two drum towers in the inner moat (4) which may have been built slightly later than the keep. The masonry at the base of the drum towers still shows the high quality of masonry work at Sandal Castle. The centre of the keep may have been roofed over or been a courtyard open to the sky. In the adjoining bailey (5) stood all the ancillary buildings of a feudal household, including the hall, lodgings, stables, barns etc.

In the early timber castle the bailey was defended by an earth bank, presumably with a palisade on top, surrounded by the outer moat. The bank was levelled when the rebuilding in stone was carried out and a stone curtain wall was built encircling the bailey (6). In the bailey the excavations uncovered the ground plan of a free standing timber hall and nearby timber kitchen dating from the 12th century castle, both now buried several feet below the present ground level in the bailey.  

The main domestic buildings of the stone castle, built slightly later than the keep, were butted up to the bailey wall. Very little standing masonry remains, and what the visitor now sees are the cellars or storerooms below the main rooms used for entertainment which were at first floor level. These rooms can be identified from 16th century surveys as Privy Chamber (7), Great Chamber (8), Great Hall (9) and Lodging Chamber (10). Adjoining to the west were service buildings, the Larder (11) and Kitchen (12).

Next to the Kitchen was a Bakehouse and Brewhouse (13) added by Richard III in 1484/5 on the site of earlier buildings. This area was again remodelled during the Civil War by the building of Workshop, Forge and Stable for the Royalist garrison, but these additions were removed during the excavations. At the other end of the main stone range were further buildings which were occupied by the Constable of the Castle (14).  

The most unusual feature of the rebuilding in stone at Sandal Castle was the creation of the Barbican (15), an isolated tower with its own inner moat carved out of the bailey. The intention was clearly to add an extra line of defence, since after crossing the main drawbridge (16) attackers would then have to go through the Barbican to reach the keep.