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Model of a motte-and-bailey

Plan of Windsor Castle in 1743 by Batty Langley

The motte, at Knockgraffon, New Inn in County Tipperary, Ireland

Motte crowned with stone shell-keep and multi-angular keep, Gisors, France

A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle. Many were built in Britain, Ireland and France in the 11th and 12th centuries.

The 'motte' in French is a raised earth mound, like a small hill, which was made by local peasants, sometimes artificially, and topped with a wooden or stone structure known as a keep. The earth for the mound would be taken from a ditch, dug around the motte or around the whole castle. The outer surface of the mound could be covered with clay or strengthened with wooden supports. Bigger castles might have two mottes, as at Lewes Castle.

The 'bailey' is an enclosed courtyard, typically surrounded by a wooden fence called a palisade and overlooked by the motte. It was usually used as a living area by farmers or slaves that 'belonged' to the Lord of the Castle. A castle could have more than one bailey, sometimes an inner and an outer, such as at Warkworth Castle, where expansion of the castle led to enclosure of a new bailey with a wall. Alternately, the multiple baileys could flank the motte, such as at Windsor Castle. The bailey was often directly connected to the ditch surrounding the motte. The bailey was often enclosed inside another wooden palisade and surrounding ditch, so as to add an extra layer of protection. It was connected to the motte by a timber drawbridge, which could be separated from the bailey as a last defence mechanism. There was in many cases another drawbridge at the entrance into the bailey that could similarly be raised for protection. In the inside of the Bailey was typically a hall, stables for the horses and cattle, a chapel, and huts for the baron’s people to live.

It is commonly believed that motte-and-bailey castles could be very quickly erected; according to records, William the Conqueror had one built at Pevensey in eight days. But recent excavations of mottes have shown that they were built in stages, and that the building of one consisted of complex bankings of earth to keep the motte at its steep angle. Evidence now points to construction time lasting anywhere from several months to 2 years for quality mottes. They were characteristic of the Norman Conquest period in England and of the Anglo-Norman settlements in Wales, Ireland and the Scottish lowlands, as well as in France and the continent through to the 12th century. In later days a stone wall replaced the timber palisade and produced what is known as the shell-keep, as at the castles of Berkeley, Alnwick and Windsor, still existing today. The remains of castle mottes can be found in many parts of Britain. In many cases, however, earth and timber defences were never replaced with stone.

A description of this type of castle is given in the life of St John, Bishop of Terouanne (Acta Sanctorum, quoted by GT Clark, Medieval Mil. Architecture):

St John died in 1130, and this castle of Merchem (built by a lord of the town many years before), may be taken as typical of the practice of the eleventh century. But in addition to the mound, the citadel of the fortress, there was usually appended to it a bailey or basecourt (and sometimes two) of semilunar or horseshoe shape, so that the mound stood on the line of the enceinte.

In modern times motte and bailey castles have been excavated in great detail, mainly in Britain. The most well known is Hen Domen in Wales. This was discovered in the 1970s by British archaeologist Philip Barker. Today Hen Domen is being studied by both Rescue and the Institute of Field Archaeologists. Dromore (County Down) contains the best preserved Anglo-Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Ireland, which dates from the 13th century.

• Alnwick Castle
• Arundel Castle
• Bedford Castle
• Berkeley Castle
• Brinklow Castle
• Castle Neroche
• Château de Gisors
• Lewes Castle
• Moate
• Montacute
• Nether Stowey
• Nottingham Castle
• Pevensey
• Tamworth Castle
• Warkworth Castle
• Windsor Castle
• Wiston Castle

• Moot hill

• Castles of Britain
• Account of William the Conqueror's building
• Timeref
• Motte-and-bailey castles of Wales
• Norman quest, motte and bailey page
• The Twmpath motte, Cardiff, Wales
• List of motte-and-bailey Castles in Britain
• An introduction into motte and bailey castles
• Motte-and-bailey entry in MedArt Glossary of Medieval Art and Architecture

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Motte and bailey