Motte-and-bailey facts for kids
A Motte-and-bailey is a kind of castle, or fortification. Many of them were built in the 11th and 12th century around Europe. These structures were made on a hill (that was often artificial). On this hill, a keep of wood or stone was built. This was easy to build, and the materials were readily available and cheap. However, this meant they were easy to burn down. Also wood rots when it gets wet so the structure doesn't often last long and need lots of repairing. They used to be made out of wood but as time went by different types of castles made of stone became more common as they were much stronger. These were surrounded by a ditch and protected with a stone wall. Motte and bailey castles appeared in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Motte and bailey castles were a common feature in England by the death of William the Conqueror in 1087. Their construction was the start of what was to become a massive castle building programme in England and Wales. Motte and bailey castles have been around for 8 centuries and are part of today's history.
-
Sometimes the hill was already there, like in Castelnou
-
Motte in Saint-Sylvain-d'Anjou
-
Sometimes castles were built on the site of the motte, like in Gisors
Images for kids
-
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.
-
The motte and bailey defences of Launceston Castle in England.
-
Building the motte of Hastings Castle in East Sussex, from the Bayeux Tapestry.
-
A cross-section showing the layers within the motte at Clifford's Tower in York: "A" marks the 20th-century concrete underpinnings of the motte; the low walls enclosing the base of the motte are a 19th-century addition.
-
A Bayeux Tapestry scene depicting an attack on the Château de Dinan in Brittany, shown with a wooden palisade surmounting the motte.
-
Reconstructed Bergfried at Lütjenburg, Germany
-
A vliedburg motte in the Netherlands
-
The Bass of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire in Scotland, a large mid-12th-century motte-and-bailey castle
-
The motte (left) and bailey (right) of Clough Castle in County Down in Northern Ireland
-
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 below
See also
In Spanish: Mota castral para niños
