Not too long ago I found some great images of a keep online and decided to build it in Minecraft. What you see here is just the beginning of a much larger project. A detailed description of the keep written by Kerry Mould follows:

The manor house was constructed under the direction of a skilled master mason. The stone walls are straight, level, and plumb. As a result, they are exceptionally tight, strong, and draft free. The wood is all old-growth oak; single pieces are used wherever possible.The windows are made with glass. All the windows have two-inch-thick oak shutters; the ones on the ground floor are iron-clad on the outside.

Fireplaces are used throughout and give out a decent amount of heat and light. With good window coverings and well-built
masonry walls, the manor house is remarkably warm and free of drafts for a stone building. The manor cost approximately twice the price of a normal building of similar size and took three times as long to build.


The manor house is surrounded by a moat that is 10 feet deep and 15 feet across. It is kept dry to keep the cellars from getting damp. The courtyard is small but kept neat and tidy. It is cobbled to keep down the mud. Two sheds for firewood have been built against the main hall wall. The manor house’s 16 fireplaces consume vast amounts of wood. A firewood cutter makes daily deliveries. A stone-lined well, surrounded by a waist-high wall, serves the manor. The rope and bucket are attached to a winch.

The keep has a kitchen with stone walls and ceilings for fire protection. A massive fireplace, 10 feet wide and large enough to cook an entire ox, dominates the room. A smaller baking oven flanks it. The double doors from the courtyard are usually left open during the day to dissipate the heat generated by the cooking fires. A trapdoor just inside the entrance opens to the cellars. A block and tackle suspended from the ceiling above the trapdoor is used to lower crates and barrels into the cellars below. A spiral stone staircase leads up to the nobles’ quarters and down to the cellar. Although
the lord prefers to use the stairs in the great hall to reach his solar, everyone else has to pass through the kitchen, making it a very busy place.

The keep has a great hall, which serves as the social and legal hub of the manor. By night, the lord hosts feasts for this friends and liegemen. By day, he manages the concerns of the manor from his seat on the dais. Once a month, he presides over his manor court. Two heavy doors enter at ground level, one from the courtyard and one from the kitchen. The wooden dais supports the lord’s table. Four large fireplaces heat the massive room, keeping it passably warm in all but the depths of winter. A stone staircase rises to the catwalk above. A locked door secures access to the cellar and siege stores below.