Norman & Late Medieval – Middle Ages (1066–1485)

After the Norman invaders won the Battle of Hastings, the Saxon kingdom was overthrown and a new style of architecture emerged. The Normans built mighty fortress castles such as Warwick Castle and Kenilworth Castle, which was became an Elizabethan Palace.

Wooden Saxon churches were replaced with stone and cathedrals reinvented in Norman style. Worcester Cathedral is a great example of architecture through the ages. The Church of St Mary and St David at Kilpeck, Herefordshire, is a Norman sandstone gem, built around 1140 and famous for its carvings

Village life was based on farming to feed the family and working for the local landowner lords. Stratford-upon-Avon was a Saxon village, becoming a market town in 1196. By the 1250s, there were houses and shops.

Tudors (1485–1603)

The end of the Wars of the Roses (Henry Vll won the Battle of Bosworth) ushered in the Tudors who reigned for three generations. Medieval Tudor villages had cottages with thatched roofs and many remain today, especially in the West Midlands. The thatched or tiled half-timbered and brick style of the Shakespeare family properties are a wonderful, enduring insight into the life and times. One of the oldest Stratford properties is the Garrick Inn, with parts dating from the 1400s.

Large manor houses were built by rich landowners and the West Midlands has many of them, some moated such as Baddesley Clinton.