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TimeRef.com
  • Episodes
    Episode Index
    Key Dates Timelines
    By Category
    This day in history
  • People
    A..Z List of Medieval People
    Kings and Queens of England Kings of Scotland Kings of France Kings of Denmark Emporers of Byzantine Popes and Antipopes Crusader States and their Rulers
    Family Trees
  • Life
    Life in Medieval Times
    Life in a Castle The Feudal System Country Life and Agriculture Life in a Medieval Town Life in a Religious Community
  • Castles
    Castle Index Page Castle Development
    Early Fortifications Motte and bailey Castles Square Keeps Castle of William the Conqueror Concentric Castles Castles of Edward I
    Castle Siege Tactics Parts of a Castle
    Locations of over 300 Castles
  • Places
    A..Z list of Medieval Buildings 3D Virtual Reconstructions Maps Photographs
    Abbeys and Monasteries Cathedrals Medieval Architecture
  • 3D/VR
    3D Virtual Reconstructions VR Experiences
    Virtual Motte and Bailey Castle Virtual Norman Keep Virtual Siege Engines
    Etal Castle Skenfrith Castle Middleham Castle
    Knights Training
  • More
    Glossary of Terms
    Games Early Access
    Copyright / About TimeRef.com Contact the Author
3D / VR
3D / VR
Please note that the TimeRef website is currently being redesigned.

3D Virtual Reconstructions

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Transport yourself back up to a thousand years and explore historical buildings as they may have appeared in the past.

Built using the popular game development tool Unity 3D, these reconstructions allow you to walk around medieval buildings as they may have appeared in the past.

These reconstuctions should work on a PC or laptop with the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox or Edge for Windows 10.

Where indicated some of these reconstruction will work on modern tablets and other mobile devices.

A Motte and Bailey Castle (PC/Laptop/Tablet)

 

Explore a typical motte and bailey castle like those constructed in the eleventh and twelfth centuries across Europe.

A Norman Square Keep (PC/Laptop/Tablet)

 

You may also be interested in exploring a Norman square keep similar to the one built in the reign of King Henry II at Dover Castle.


Explore a medieval village. (PC/Laptop/Tablet)

Explore the fictitious village of Lutterwick and visit the manor house and church.

Runs on a PC/Laptop or high-end tablet device.


The White Tower at the Tower of London. (PC/Laptop/Tablet)

Explore all four floors of the White Tower at the Tower of London.

Runs on a PC/Laptop or high-end tablet device.

Siege Engines (PC/Laptop/Tablet)

 

Explore a virtual siege landscape and find information about the common medieval siege engines including the trebuchet, the siege tower, the mangonel and the battering ram.

Reconstructions of real castles

Bodiam Castle (PC/Laptop/Tablet)

 

Explore one of the finest castles in England. Built by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge as a status symbol and to protect England from invasion by France. Now a ruin, this reconstruction shows how the castle may have looked shortly after its construction over 600 years ago.

Etal Castle (PC/Laptop/Tablet)

 

How about exploring a Northumberland castle built near the Scottish border. An excellent example of a tower house with improved fortifications.

Middleham Castle (PC/Laptop/Tablet)

Middleham Castle is a large stone-built castle and located in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The first castle on the site or nearby was constructed shortly after the Conquest of England by Alan, the Earl of Richmond or by one of Alan's brothers, Ribald. At this time the construction would have been of a motte and bailey type of castle. A hundred years later in around 1170 or 1190, the castle was remodelled by Robert Fitzralf (Fitz-Ranulf) who built the large stone keep.


Portchester Castle (PC/Laptop/Tablet)

Archery practice at Portchester (PC version)

Portchester Castle was a significant fort in Roman times and has remained in good condition because of its continued use over the years. It stands on the shore near Portsmouth harbour and is rectangular in shape.

Runs on a PC/Laptop or high-end tablet device.

Skenfrith Castle (PC/Laptop/Tablet)

 

Skenfrith Castle is one of the 'Three Castles' granted to Hubert de Burgh by King John in 1201. The other two castles are White Castle, also known as Lantilio, and Grosmont Castle. Hubert de Burgh was a wealthy baron who had learnt much about castle defence on his trips abroard. Soon after taking control of the castles he began rebuilding work at Skenfrith and Grosmont. Skenfrith castle has four sides, though not in the shape of a perfect rectangle. The central keep is circular and pictured opposite. The river Monnow passes the eastern side of the castle and a moat was dug outside the other three sides allowing the river to flow completely around and act as a very good barrier from attack. The north side of the outer wall had a gateway, but this has been destroyed.

Virtual Locations Map

Click icons to explore the reconstructions

Early Access

There are many 3D/VR reconstructions on this website and many more that are being worked on. Some are in a pre-release development stage. The reconstructions and games below have been created using Unity and should work on PCs and laptops with a modern browser, although Chrome is recommended. Use the links below to explore some of these new reconstructions and games.

Outside the priest's house. Click to explore

The Village

Explore and medieval village.

Outside the town gates

The Town

Explore a medieval town and visit the theatre.

Inside the abbey cloister

The Abbey

Explore the medieval abbey.

ThreeJS

Three.js is a 3d javascript library useful for creating virtual reconstruction on the web. Explore the models below.

Bodiam Castle

Virtual Bodiam Castle 3D model

Web XR

Some experiments with Web XR. These are being tested on an Oculus Quest 2 and Google Pixel 3. Other VR headsets or mobile phones have not been tested.

The Village House

Click image to launch the VR experience.

Old Stuff

Old Unity Stuff

Old Unity reconstructions

Support for the Unity 3D Web Player has been removed from Google Chrome and is not supported in the Windows 10 Edge browser. To run these reconstructions a plug-in is required. They should work in Firefox and IE 11 but there is no guarantee. To run IE 11 on Windows 10 ask Cortana to find Internet Explorer.

Medieval People

Fantasy image of Arthur (of Brittany)
Arthur (of Brittany)
Fantasy image of Athelflaed (Lady of the Mercians)
Athelflaed (Lady of the Mercians)
Fantasy image of Catherine (of Valois)
Catherine (of Valois)
Fantasy image of Cranmer, Thomas (Archbishop of Canterbury)
Cranmer, Thomas (Archbishop of Canterbury)
Fantasy image of Eleanor (of Castile)
Eleanor (of Castile)
Fantasy image of Joan (of Kent)
Joan (of Kent)

View all medieval people

A Medieval Mystery

There appear to be some strange connections between the fourteenth century Old Wardour Castle and ancient stone circle Stonehenge.

1: Location

Old Wardour Castle appears to be aligned to ancient sites in the Stonehenge landscape.

2: Alignment

Stonehenge is aligned to the Summer Solstice. Old Wardour has a very similar alignment.

3: Size

Could the builders of Old Wardour used mesaurements from Stonehenge to layout the geometrical keep?

Learn More

Medieval Castles

  • Castle Index Page
  • Castle Index Page
  • Why build and live in castles
  • Castle development timeline

Types of castles

  • Early Fortifications
  • Keep and bailey castles
  • Castles of William the Conqueror
  • Motte and bailey castles
  • Square keeps
  • Shell-Keeps
  • Polygonal Keeps
  • Concentric Castles

Other details

  • Castles of Edward I
  • Medieval Castle Builders
  • Medieval Siege Tactics
  • The Trebuchet
  • Siege Towers
  • Parts of a castle
  • Location of 300+ UK castles
  • Location by UK county

Explore the White Tower

Explore four floors of the keep at the Tower of London.

 

Adventure Game - Early Access

Early Access to the TimeRef card-based Adventure Game.

 

Medieval Village - Early Access

Explore the medieval village.

 

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