ABSTRACT
One of the earliest and grandest of Norman keeps is the Tower of London, built by William the Conqueror. No two of the Norman stone keeps are quite alike, yet they all show a strong family resemblance. Norman ashlar masonry is usually cubical—the stones are square on the face, and the jointing tends to be wide. The wall-faces of most of the stone Norman towers show vertical projecting strips of masonry, known as pilasters. The battlements of the Norman towers were provided with embrasures, or openings for the archers to shoot through. The fireplaces are usually inadequate, and Norman keeps must have been extremely cold. Some of the rooms, especially the smaller ones in a Norman keep, are gloomily vaulted in stone. Most of the great stone tower-houses in England were not erected before the twelfth century. On the other hand it seems that the fashion of building shell-keeps began rather earlier.
