Factual information for everything about Castles! By The Wolf and 123Pink

People all around the world have had to build protection around them, just like William the Conquer did when he won the battle of Hastings. Since then castles have evolved dramatically, there have been various changes in the designs and structures. It was almost 1,000 years since the first castles were built. The epic age of castles lasted for about 500 years. This detailed information power point will tell you all about them; from the first castles designs to the famous castles that still stand in ruins today.

What was the first design of castles? Stone Castles Concentric castles Fascinating facts Glossary Bibliography

The Normans first introduced castles in 1066 constructed of wood and earth, named ‘Motte and Bailey’. Needing to protect his new kingdom, William the Conquer started a frenzy build of these new kind of protection. The Motte and Baily design was a quick and easy structure to make, meaning the new king could have 1,000 or more of these new designs dotted round the kingdom. The most Vital part of this structure was the Keep which was built on a huge mound of Earth (The Motte). Mottes ranged from 8 meters ( 25 Ft ) to over 24 meters ( 80 Ft ) in height. This was not the best structure because the knights trusty steeds could easily either get startled or a illness very quickly, meaning the design had to be changed.

Slowly afterwards, the Motte and Baily design started to show its faults. If the castles stood long enough, the moat would rot the wood. Also if it didn’t it was easily knocked down and burnt to ashes. So the Normans had to think harder. Instead, seeing this material was easily available, they started to construct a new design of castles out of stone. Stone castles were the sign of William the Conquers ultimate reign over Britain. Stone was a sturdy, strong building material that allowed the builder to build up. In addition, this allowed the foundations to be elevated.elevated. Many stone castles were rectangular but not many Norman castles were built like this, the most common design was a circular type which was built in the 14 th centry, these were called the rounded keep.

In a concentric castle the inner curtain wall is usually larger than the outer. The word concentric does not apply to the castle itself, in fact it quite often confuses some people. These castles were still made from stone but a new design was established. Concentric castles usually had a defence mechanism called the death wall, this was two walls and the inner was usually shorter than the outer. ‘Death walls’, were designed to trap enemy's when they broke down the first wall they were hit with another meaning it was near impossible to escape. The concentric castle was one of the most complex designs of the three evolved castles meaning these castles took years and years to build.

Did you know that the first concentric castles was in fact Dover Castle and was designed by Henry 3 rd. Did you know that Windsor Castle is one of the the oldest castles in Europe still occupied, and is around 900 years old! The stairwells in a castle always turned clock wise.

Motte: clod ( mound) of earth Baily: enclosure Vital: extremely important Elevated: higher, lifted upwards Concentric: circle within a circle.

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We hope you enjoyed our information power point, and hope you have learnt a lot about castles.