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Stiesdal, Hans. (1981) "Types of public and private fortifications in Denmark," in Skyum-Nielsen and Lund (eds) (1981). The 855 piece model features the following gear-driven movements: an opening gate, a lifting grate, and a raising spire that reveals a secret room on the second floor. Bradbury, Jim. (2009) Stephen and Matilda: the Civil War of 1139–53. Stroud, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-3793-1.
Mottes were made out of earth and flattened on top, and it can be very hard to determine whether a mound is artificial or natural without excavation. [9] Some were also built over older artificial structures, such as Bronze Age barrows. [10] The size of mottes varied considerably, with these mounds being 3 metres to 30 metres in height (10–100 feet), and from 30 to 90 metres (100 to 300ft) in diameter. [11] This minimum height of 3 metres (10 feet) for mottes is usually intended to exclude smaller mounds which often had non-military purposes. [12] In England and Wales, only 7% of mottes were taller than 10 metres (33 feet) high; 24% were between 10 and 5 metres (33 and 16ft), and 69% were less than 5 metres (16 feet) tall. [13] A motte was protected by a ditch around it, which would typically have also been a source of the earth and soil for constructing the mound itself. [14] Various methods were used to build mottes. Where a natural hill could be used, scarping could produce a motte without the need to create an artificial mound, but more commonly much of the motte would have to be constructed by hand. [21] Four methods existed for building a mound and a tower: the mound could either be built first, and a tower placed on top of it; the tower could alternatively be built on the original ground surface and then buried within the mound; the tower could potentially be built on the original ground surface and then partially buried within the mound, the buried part forming a cellar beneath; or the tower could be built first, and the mound added later. [28] Architecture [ edit ] Structures [ edit ] Plan of Topcliffe Castle in North Yorkshire, an archetypal motte-and-bailey design Castle Pulverbatch in Shropshire in England was built in the 11th or 12th century and abandoned by 1202. This Digital elevation model shows the motte just left of centre, with the bailey to the right (north-east) of it. [2]In practice, there was a wide number of variations to this common design. [24] A castle could have more than one bailey: at Warkworth Castle an inner and an outer bailey was constructed, or alternatively, several baileys could flank the motte, as at Windsor Castle. [25] Some baileys had two mottes, such as those at Lincoln. [25] Some mottes could be square instead of round, such as at Cabal Tump (Herefordshire). [25] [26] Instead of single ditches, occasionally double-ditch defences were built, as seen at Berkhamsted. [25] Local geography and the intent of the builder produced many unique designs. [27] Construction and maintenance [ edit ] Building the motte of Hastings Castle in East Sussex, from the Bayeux Tapestry
An alternative approach focuses on the links between this form of castle and what can be termed a feudal mode of society. The spread of motte-and-bailey castles was usually closely tied to the creation of local fiefdoms and feudal landowners, and areas without this method of governance rarely built these castles. [49] Yet another theory suggests that the design emerged as a result of the pressures of space on ringworks and that the earliest motte-and-baileys were converted ringworks. [50] [nb 1] Finally, there may be a link between the local geography and the building of motte-and-bailey castles, which are usually built on low-lying areas, in many cases subject to regular flooding. [51] Regardless of the reasons behind the initial popularity of the motte-and-bailey design, however, there is widespread agreement that the castles were first widely adopted in Normandy and Angevin territory in the 10th and 11th centuries. [52] Initial development, 10th and 11th centuries [ edit ] Reconstructed wooden keep at Saint-Sylvain-d'Anjou, France One factor was the introduction of stone into castle buildings. The earliest stone castles had emerged in the 10th century, with stone keeps being built on mottes along the Catalonia frontier and several, including Château de Langeais, in Angers. [100] Although wood was a more powerful defensive material than was once thought, stone became increasingly popular for military and symbolic reasons. [101] Some existing motte-and-bailey castles were converted to stone, with the keep and the gatehouse usually the first parts to be upgraded. [102] Shell keeps were built on many mottes, circular stone shells running around the top of the motte, sometimes protected by a further chemise, or low protective wall, around the base. By the 14th century, a number of motte and bailey castles had been converted into powerful stone fortresses. [103] A reconstruction of England's Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight as it was in the 14th century, showing the keep built atop the motte (top left), and the walled-in bailey belowVan Houts, Elisabeth M. C. (2000) The Normans in Europe. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-4751-0.
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