Octagon Tower and Great Hall
Great Hall - Ground Floor
Entrance Hall
Entering through the doors you find yourself in a galleried entrance hall some 30 feet long by 40 feet wide. Another set of double doors face you and two heavy doors spaced 8 feet apart are set into each of the left and right walls.
The iron bound and reinforced double doors at the end of the hall open towards you, into the entrance hall, whilst the other iron bound and reinforced doors with concealed hinges open away from you.
Great Hall
The main hall itself is huge, about 200ft in length and 70ft wide, architecturally reminiscent of a 17C vaulted hall with a hammer beam constructed carved crown post and supporting arch roof supporting the floor some 30ft above. The Galleried side aisles are 10ft wide narrowing to 7ft wide as they negotiate their way past the fire places and are supported on carved wooden main posts which form the main element supporting the hammer beams.
In the right hand wall (as defined by the way you enter the hall), spaced equidistant along the wall, are 2 12ft wide 7ft high carved granite fireplaces .

The far end of the hall is dominated by a dias, 40ft wide and 12" high at its base, with a 2 further raised sections one 30ft wide and 12" high, and the upper section 15ft wide and 12" high, upon which sits an ornately carved but otherwise unembellished throne. 6 smaller thrones are arranged 3 on each side on the centre tier of the dias.
An ornate carved screen, some 12ft high blocks the view behind the dias, but it's design conceals the stairs which allow entry from behind the dias. What appears to be a writing desk with 2 chairs sits along the right-hand edge of the dais.
The dias is set forward about 12ft from the rear wall, and the double doors which lead into the main tower beyond.

In a semi-circle around the furthest fire place are half a dozen comfy chairs and a low table. Forward of this, towards the entrance is a larger dining table about 5 ft wide and 20ft long, at an angle of about 30deg to the wall, angled away from you. A dozen chairs are set around the table.

The halls is lit by a mixture of 7 centrally hung iron cartwheel oil lantern chandeliers and wall hung oil lanterns. Aside from the carving of the gallery balustrade and all the woodwork, the decoration in the hall is sparse, with only 4 tapestries and 3 banners present.

Great Hall - Upper Floors
Intro Notes
Floors in the Great Hall use the European method of naming floors.. Ground, 1, 2, 3 etc.
The height floor to ceiling is about 9ft, with the floor above being supported for the most part on 6" oak joists, where it's not supported by the stone brick walls of the floor below. In some places on various floors a 12" joist is used instead. The floor boards are 2" thick oak.

Floor Landings
Note: This description is written from the perspective of entering via the double doors as if coming from one of the floors above the Great Hall, which is the opposite of the description in the 'Excursion Thread'
The landings are large rectangular rooms, 71ft long and 26ft wide, almost fully enclosed by the thickness of the outer wall of the Octagon Tower.
The double doors, which form the access to the floors above the Great Hall are set centrally in the outer 8ft thickness of the wall to the Tower.
Entering the landings via the double doors, there are six iron bound reinforced oak doors visible, two pairs of doors 2ft apart on the opposite wall, insert about 10ft and 12ft from the left/right hand walls, and the other 2 set, one into each of the left/right hand wall, about 1ft in from the far wall.
The landings for the most part are empty. They are lit by a pair of iron cartwheel oil lantern chandeliers space equidistant along the length of the room, and a pair of wall mounted lanterns, one  mounted in-between each of the pairs of access doors. Only the floors currently in use are typically lit.

Floor - 1
The double doors from the landing lead to a 6ft wide wood panelled corridor.
39ft down the corridor are 2 pairs of double doors opposite one another. The pair on the left open into the dining room, the pair on the right to a ballroom.

Note: This Floor is actually 30ft above ground level
Dining Room
Set either side of the entry doors are 2 6ft wide 28ft long walnut tables, set on both sides with Victorian balloon back rosewood upholstered chairs.
4 3ft wide and 6ft high are cut into the outer 5ft thick walls. Whilst shuttered on the outside, the windows are actually glazed with diamond pattern lead windows, which open inwards.

Floors 2/3/4/5
Guest Suites
About 28ft down the corridor are double doors one each side. (Note: Distance from the entry doors of the corridor to the centre or the double doors.) 4 more sets of double doors on each side are spaced 39ft apart down the corridor. 2 2ft wide by 6ft high windows in the end wall admit light to the corridor.

The double doors lead to an entry room, 18ft wide and 17ft deep, which is currently unfurnished.
A window 3ft wide and 6ft high is cut into the outer 5ft thick walls, in line with the doors. The window is set into the wall by 9" but has an 18" wide cill which sticks out beyond the edge of the wall.
A second set of double doors in the centre of the left/right wall (left on the LH side of the corridor, and right on the RH side), leads to the bedroom beyond. Slightly offset, such that it is closer to the corridor, is an 8ft x 8ft x 7ft high 4 poster bed. A single 4ft wide, x 2'6' deep x 2'6 high flat top chest sits against the bed in the centre.
A second window, similar to that in the entry chamber is set into the centre of the outer wall, and on the LH/RH side (the side of the entry room) in the corner, set at 45 deg is a 4ft wide fire place. A washstand with porcelain sink and single tap, occupies the space on the other side of the window.
An 8" square timber box section runs along the ceiling against the outer wall. The 13mm copper pipe that feeds the tap on the wash stand drops from the box section directly above the stand.


Octagon Tower - Ground Floor
Intro Notes
Floors in the Octagon Tower, like in the Great Hall use the European method of naming floors.. Ground, 1, 2, 3 etc.
The height floor to ceiling is about 9ft, with the floor above being supported for the most part on 6" oak joists, where it's not supported by the stone brick walls of the floor below. In some places on various floors a 12" joist is used instead. The floor boards are 2" thick oak.

The Octagon Tower is a 36m(120ft) radius octagonal tower some 68m(225ft) in height, which abuts the rear of the Great Hall and acts as the Keep of the Castle.
The tower is actually a ring, with an internal Octagonal courtyard some 34m(111ft) across flats. Entry to the internal courtyard is by way of doors in the internal right and left walls(note that is either facing or with your back to the Great Hall).

The only access to the exterior of the castle is through the Great Hall (unless you're capable of scaling the tower unseen).

The Exterior walls of the first 3 floors (30ft) of the tower are at least 20ft thick, and on the ground floor considerably thicker in most places.

Entrance Hall
The blue marble flagged entrance hall, 20ft by 40ft, is connected to the Great Hall by a short corridor, about 10ft wide and 20ft long. Each end of the corridor has a pair of reinforced iron bound oak doors, which open in the direction of the Great Hall.
Entering from the Great Hall there are 6 reinforced iron bound oak doors visible, 3 in each wall, and all of which open into the room. The furthest door in the each wall is in the far corner of the room, with the other 2 set 5ft from the entry and a further 8 feet beyond that.
Numerous sideboards/kitchen dressers line the walls, fairly obviously for storing crockery, glasses, and other eating utensils.

Courtyard
Like the tower the inner courtyard is octagonal some 34m(111ft) across flats, and is entered by doors from either the left or righthand side.
Whilst there are no windows on the ground or what would be the second floor, there are windows, or at least shuttered openings, on the floors above that.

The view to the sky is partially occluded by some sort of circular structure, at least 2/3 the diameter of the courtyard, mounted centrally above the courtyard, and supported by 8 'legs', one at each radial point.

There are what would appear to be 4 wells each about 6ft in diameter (exterior, 3ft internal) spaced about 6ft apart around the centre of the Courtyard. Against the 'diagonal' walls are what appear to be stone troughs, each about 7ft long, 3ft wide, and 3ft deep. They are all full of water. At one end of each trough is what appears to be some form of float operated filling mechanism, that fills the trough from a 2" pipe which runs around the wall, and which emanates from about 2/3 the way across the non-door flat, T'd such that it supports a pair of troughs.

3 of the wells appear to be capped off, whilst the winding structure of the 4th is missing, completely replaced by a circular steel lattice beam which supports 3 8" diameter pipes and 1 6" diameter pipe which ascend into the space above. About 50ft above you the pipes appear to enter some sort of machinery, before continuing their ascent. There appear to be 3 more blocks of machinery, before the pipes reach the structure above. At each machinery level 3 additional triangular lattice beams support the vertical steel circular beam.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:36, Mon 27 Mar 2023.