History Gcse

kim maughan Mr langdale

history coursework: gcse history around us middleham castle

question 2

how useful is the reconstruction by terry ball for finding out what middleham castle was like around 1480?

Reconstructions are secondary sources that represent a historians interpretation of what a castle looked like during a specific time. The aim of this rtesponse is to evaluate how useful a reconstruction by Terry Ball is and compare/back up with other documentary evidence. Terry Ball's reconstruction is of Middleham castle around 1480.

As previously mentioned reconstructions are secondary sources, as such, it causes us to question its reliability and ask where did the information for this

reconstruction originally come from? It is important we know this because we can research and check its accuracy against the necessary sources. It is also apparent that sometimes there is insufficient evidence to support ideas, for example Terry Ball knew that there was a second storey on the keep but didn't know what it looked like due to a lack of primary evidence as such, it is likely that, aspects of the castle shown in this reconstruction may be created by means of an artistic licence (just guessed) so we have reason to question its reliability , howver it does seem to be fairly accurate against the sources available to me.

This reconstruction shows what Middleham was like around 1480, from my own knowledge and comparison with other sorces i have established that this source is fairly useful most of the aspects of the castle do not conflict with the other sources and thus the evidence is fairly conclusive furthermore the reconstruction is fairly useful and achieves its own aims: to give an accurate reconstruction of middleham castle around 1480.

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