This digital reconstruction of the medieval Great Chamber at Belsay Castle in Northumberland shows how it might have looked in 1480. The Middleton family occupied Belsay Castle for more than six centuries until Sir Charles Monck built Belsay Hall close to it in the early nineteenth century. There is fragmentary evidence that this interior was elaborately decorated with geometric patterns below a dado and, above it, a mock tapestry depicting trees set against a dark-coloured background. Their lopped branches support several heraldic shields associated with the Middleton family. There is an instance of a wildman or woodsman commonly referred to as ‘Wild Man of Belsay’. This was a figure that the Middleton family began using in their heraldry in the late fifteenth century. Above the window opening on the upper part of the south wall, there are paintings identified as carracks, a typical three-masted sailing vessel used in the fifteenth century for trade and warfare. The depiction of the painted timber ceiling in the reconstruction is speculative and inspired by other surviving ceilings fashionable in this period.

How this image was made

Software and tools used: Blender 3D, Cycles Render Engine, Photoshop

Notes: This image was created in collaboration with historians Andrew Hann, Steven Brindle, Will Wyeth, and Carlos Lemos at English Heritage. Carlos prepared some of the initial 3D model geometry from recorded survey data. I then took over to add the details, furnishings, textures, and figures, and to render the final image. Historian Jenn Scott advised on fabrics and clothing.