1. Where were castles built and
Wednesday, 09 October 2019
Where were castles built and
what did they look like?
Starter: What does the artists’ interpretation tell us about Norman castles?
Ext. How would you describe the style of the picture and why?
A painting of the Norman castle at Pevensey in 1066, by the reconstruction artist Alan Sorrell

2. Reflect:
What details of the King’s motte and bailey castle at York has Terry Ball included in his illustration?
A painting of the motte and bailey castle at York, by the reconstruction artist Terry Ball

3. What does this map tell us about the:
A map showing the distribution of different types of Norman Castles in England and Wales by 1150
Reflect:
What does this map tell us about the:
Distribution of early Norman castles.
Different types of castles built

4. Medieval Castles
Between 1066 – 1500 over 1,500 castles were built in England and Wales. Over this time the way they were built changed a great deal. Most of the reasons castles changed were because attackers found new ways of breaking into them. Castle defences needed to change to keep these attackers out.

5. Task: page 68 read first two paragraphs.
Complete the following questions:
Who was in charge of England when William returned to Normandy in 1067.
Where did they build castles?
What was the effect of these castles?
Ext. How did people react to these new castles?

6. When William came over from Normandy he quickly began building Motte and Bailey castles.
Although quick and simple to build, the Motte and Bailey castle also had weaknesses.
Because this type of castle was built from wood it could easily be set on fire and would rot over time.
Sooner or later an enemy would realize the weaknesses of these castles, so a more permanent solution was needed.

7. Castle building in the year of Crisis 1068-71

8. Castle building in the year of Crisis 1071-87

9. Castle building in the year of Crisis 1068-71.
Read the Royal Castles pg Complete the following tasks.
Where did William build royal fortresses between ?
Explain what William did in York?
What else did the king do?
Why did William build the castles?

10. The end of the Motte and Bailey
The Normans quickly set about building castles made of stone. These type of castles were called Square Keep castles.
Why do you think this spelt the end of Motte and Bailey castles?
The Motte was too weak to hold the huge weight of the stone castles.

11. Archaeological reconstruction of the Norman castle at Goltho in Lincolnshire

12. Ringworks- military fortresses?

13. Title- Other Castle Builders during the Norman Conquest
Power Military fortress
Task- write a short paragraph to explain why

14. Other castle-builders
William was not the only person to build castles in England.
In the early part of the conquest the King relied on a small number of trusted noblemen to establish Norman control in different parts of England
e.g. Sussex divided in to six lordships granted to different loyal Barons who each built a castle.
His half brother Robert of Mortain, relative and trusted follower William FitzOsbern- they were granted vast sums of land in ‘rebellion prone areas’ to build castles and assert Norman control in these lands.
Location was chosen cleverly- built near roads/rivers (why?)

15. What did other castle-builders castles look like?
The Norman castles built in the early years following the conquest were VERY different to the Saxon defences e.g. Burhs pre conquest
Norman castles were taller, smaller and occupied by knights and fighting men
Most were probably timber motte and bailey- but in the 1070s these were starting to be replaced with stone keeps
Up to a quarter may have been ringworks- simple enclosures of earth and timber
A small number of the EARLY ones such as the King and FitzOsbern were built in stone

16. What the castles looked like
Read the text (page 69) and complete the following questions.
How were Norman castles different to Saxon defences.
“Norman castles were all the same” How far do you agree.
Note: use the detail from the three bullet points to help you.

17. Castle Building
Create a mind map using the information from 70-71
A huge increase in castle building
Castle Building
The Castle builders
What did the castles looked like

18. Reflect on your enquiry focus
Fill in relevant points about the castles in England under appropriate headings:
What was new about Norman castles in England
Where were they build and what did they look like?
What exactly were Norman castles they used for?

19. Plenary- summarise your findings:
write the statement below and complete the table
“In the years after 1066, William the conqueror built a large number of motte and bailey castles to gain control of England.”
Statement is Correct
More complicated story
It is difficult to be certain about early Norman castles.