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Difference Between Wooden Motte And Bailey Castles

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Because of a lack of a strong central government during feudal society, wars happened often. For protection every noble built a castle. The first proper castles were built in England after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Wooden motte and bailey castles were the first type of castle to be built in England. The tower of the keep was built a huge mound called a motte and had an enclosed courtyard called a bailey. It would have been very difficult to get up the sides of the motte because they were so steep. A ditch dug around the bottom of the motte also added protection. The bailey was located at the bottom of the motte and could be up to three acres. Followers of the lord who ran the castle lived inside the bailey. There were many buildings in the bailey including bakeries, kitchens, houses, stables, and living quarters for soldiers.
Motte and bailey castles were quick and easy to build. Some could even be finished in a couple of weeks. However, wooden buildings caught on fire easily and stone structures were much stronger. Because of this, motte and bailey castles were soon replaced with stone castles.
Once William the Conquers rule was …show more content…

They were much bigger than square keep castles. Concentric castles main feature was their walls. They had two or three walls around the keep. Because the inside walls were built higher than the outside walls, defenders could shoot arrows over the heads of the soldiers defending the outside walls. Even if an enemy broke though the outer walls, there was a second castle defended and with supplies waiting for them. Known as the death hole, being trapped between two walls of a castle would result in almost certain death for the attacker. Some concentric castles even had moats for more protection. After the invention of gun powder concentric castles became even more popular because they could withstand bullets while a wooden castle could

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