Things people “know” about motte-and-bailey castles

Myth Castles were always built of stone.

Fact Most earthwork castles were built in the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, from timber, with deep ditches and earth banks topped by wooden fences and gatehouses. English Heritage blog: How to spot a castle hiding in plain sight The National Archives says these timber castles were quite cheap and very quick to build. The National Archives: Medieval castles (education)

Myth Every motte was piled up by hand from flat ground.

Fact Sometimes an existing hill was used, but often the mound was made by piling up earth. Britannica Kids (Students): Castle The Totnes motte is thought to be a natural outcrop that people made higher. English Heritage: History of Totnes Castle Clun Castle sits high on a natural rocky mound in a loop of the river Clun. English Heritage: History of Clun Castle

Myth The lord lived in the tower on top of the motte.

Fact The tower was mainly a watchtower, a firing post and a last refuge in an attack. In quieter times, nobles lived in a timber hall nearby. English Heritage blog: How to spot a castle hiding in plain sight English Heritage says the tower would have been decidedly uncomfortable to live in. English Heritage blog: How to spot a castle hiding in plain sight

Myth England was full of castles before 1066.

Fact Castles were something quite new in England. English Heritage: Castles Through Time The chronicler Orderic Vitalis wrote that the fortifications the Normans called castles were scarcely known in the English provinces. English Heritage: Castles Through Time

Myth The motte-and-bailey castle was an English idea.

Fact In 10th-century France, strongholds often had a high mound circled by a ditch, as at Blois and Saumur. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Castle During the 11th century the motte-and-bailey castle spread throughout western Europe. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Castle

Myth Every grassy mound is an old motte.

Fact Prehistoric and Roman burial mounds and flat-topped medieval windmill mounds can look like mottes, and have puzzled even archaeologists. English Heritage blog: How to spot a castle hiding in plain sight

Myth The Bayeux Tapestry is a tapestry.

Fact Despite its name, the Bayeux Tapestry is actually an embroidery. Bayeux Museum: Discover the Bayeux Tapestry

Myth Once stone castles arrived, nobody built mottes any more.

Fact In England the Normans built stone castles even while they kept using the motte-and-bailey type. Britannica Kids (Students): Castle In most places mottes went out of fashion by 1200, though they were still built in the north into the 1300s. English Heritage blog: How to spot a castle hiding in plain sight

Myth Only the king built castles.

Fact Most castles were granted by the king to loyal lords along with large areas of land, which the lords then ran for him. The National Archives: Medieval castles (education) Norham Castle began as a motte-and-bailey castle founded in 1121 by Bishop Flambard, and was rebuilt in stone in about 1157. English Heritage: Norman Castles Cadw says Domen Castell in Welshpool is a strong contender for the castle of Cadwgan ap Bleddyn of Powys recorded in 1111, which would make it potentially the first documented native Welsh castle. Cadw: Scheduled monument report, Domen Castell, Welshpool

Myth Every source agrees where the bailey went.

Fact English Heritage says motte-and-bailey designs were very common: a mound topped by a wooden tower, with a defended enclosure, the bailey, alongside. English Heritage: Castles Through Time The National Archives describes the bailey as a large ditch-and-bank enclosure that surrounded the motte. The National Archives: Medieval castles (education)