Puzzle Description

Castle Cutaway (G6289) is a 1000 piece puzzle by Steve Crisp. Gibsons puzzles are made from the finest recycled puzzle board and can be made time and time again without any loss of initial quality. The puzzle measures 68 x 49 cms. when complete.

Steve has produced many similar puzzles showing the interiors of houses throughout the seasons from Christmas to summer. Castle Cutaway is an altogether more ambitious project. The master of the castle appears before us on the drawbridge aboard his mighty steed as it rears up in a defiant posture. The lord of the castle is challenging us to dare to criticise his various practices of torture in the chamber situated directly below the disco dance extravaganza which is, if I recall, a different form of torture.

A castle is a type of fortified structure built during a 900 year period and is distinguished from a palace which has no fortifications, such as a moat. Built primarily during the Middle Ages by the nobility or royalty and by military orders, castles were bulwark against Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. A castle was a fortress and deemed necessary in its location be royal decree as a defence against marauding louts from home and abroad. A palace was altogether a more genteel affair where royal courts could be maintained and the occasional balls could be held: a lot of bowing and scraping unlike the castle where you might get your head chopped off. Usage of the term has varied over time and has been applied to structures as diverse as hill forts and country houses. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, moats, and portcullises, were commonplace.

European-style castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. These nobles built castles to control the area immediately surrounding them and the castles were both offensive and defensive structures; they provided a base from which raids could be launched as well as offered protection from enemies. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures also served as centres of administration and symbols of power. Urban castles were used to control the local populace and important travel routes, and rural castles were often situated near features that were integral to life in the community, such as mills, fertile land, or a water source.

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