Chapter 1: William's Castles

William the Conquerer built castles to protect his soldiers and it constantly reminded the English people of their defeat in the Norman Conquest. When the English looked into the distance, they would see tall keeps (castles) covering the land. They had wooden fences - sometimes a moat as well - surrounding the bottom part beneath the hill, called the "bailey". That was the pallisade. The bailey would be have workshops, stables, barracks and a hall. There would be large mounds of dirt with a castle on the top which would be the "motte". The motte connected to the bailey with a long wooden bridge going down the hill. In the bailey, there would be a main gate along with a drawbridge, if there was a moat. These castles were made very quickly, sometimes in a few weeks, and were made out of wood.

Next Home Annotation of a motte and bailey castle