Castles Project

Motte and Bailey Castles Strengths

Weaknesses

Cheap

Made with wood which meant that they could be burned or chopped down

Quick and easy to make

Could be easily penetrated from all sides

11th Century Timber Tower on Motte Hal l

Motte

Stone-built Chamber block

Water-filled ditches

Water-filled ditches could be easily crossed. Motte and Bailey Castles were designed in the 11th century by William the Conqueror to control villages and protect his men from any rebellious villains or peasants. He needed to make castles quickly as he didn't have much time so he started constructing Motte and Baileys Defen all over the country because they didn't need the ce two things that William didn't rating

Baile y Detached Kitchen

Stables and Barns

Chapel

Timber stockade on earth bank Stone gate tower

Stone/Square Keep Castles 12th Century Keep Bailey Square Towers

Great Hall

s s s s

Ston e walls

Drawbridg e Moat

Barbican

Strengths

This castle began when lords with time, money and a suitable amount of land started extending their baileys and demolishing the motte before knocking down the wooden keep replacing it with a stone square one, enlarging the water-filled ditches to make a moat, adding a drawbridge and a fortified entrance called a barbican, and building tall stone walls with square towers all around that were called curtain walls in the place of the timber stockade/fence. These were so thick that they had space for patrolling soldiers to walk along the top or shoot down arrows from. One way to siege this castle Defen was ce to undermine the corners of the square towers which were weak. This castle was designed to protect rating : lords Weaknesses the from sieges from large armies.

Made of stone which meant that they couldn’t be burned down

Could be undermined

Had towers to shoot arrows from

Expensive

Had a moat and barbican for extra layered protection

Took long to build

Concentric Castles Barbican

Drawbridg e Curtain wall

Gatehouse

13th Century

‘A Cast le within a Castle’

Strengths

Weaknesses

Had round towers which meant that they couldn’t be undermined Inner Bailey

Inner wall

Had a double layer of walls Was impenetrable

Keep

Had water defences Round towers

Moat Outer Bailey

Defen ce rating :

This type of castle was designed to improve stone/square keeps and defend the lord from any siege attacks. The idea of a concentric castle was brought back by English knights from the Middle East, Jerusalem. They had round towers instead of square ones and couldn’t be undermined as well as having a double layer of walls with towers: an inner wall and a curtain wall which could be up to 5 metres thick. The inner bailey was mainly empty as the keep, storehouse, hall and other buildings were built up against the walls.

The Trebuchet Arm Pivot point Counterweig ht

Projectile Holder String Trigger

Designed to fire things like rocks, limestone and rotting animal corpses at or into the castle

The Siege Tower Animal skins

Ramp Ladders

Storeys

Front View

Rear View

Designed for soldiers to cross over castle walls and into the castle itself, and protect and hide them from arrows.

Mining the Walls

How did Castles change overtime?