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Maths in Museums: Castle Keeps and Their Shapes

I recently took time out for a quick weekend away in South Wales. The itinerary involved, as is only right, castles[1]. I was struck by the geometric shapes of the keeps - particularly one with a circular cross-section at Tretower castle, and a larger one with a hexagonal base that forms part of Raglan castle.

Photograph taken standing inside a circular stone tower, looking up towards the open sky.
The Circular Keep at Tretower © 2025 by T. Briggs is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0