Castles capture the popular imagination, and much attention is given to the powerful people who lived in them.

However, these iconic buildings were utterly dependent on the hard work of ordinary people to keep them running efficiently. Yet the lives of these ordinary people are seldom mentioned in historical records and they did not leave many traces behind in the landscape. They comprised the majority of the population, yet they are frequently written out of history.

An exhibition at Parke’s Castle aims to shed light on the lives of the ordinary folk in the 16th and 17th centuries, who worked every day to maintain, defend, nourish and entertain those who lived in castles.