CASTLES OVERTIME

In 1066, the first castles in England were building in order to send a message to the English that the Normans were there to stay. This helped William to take control of the English and made them serve him. The first castle, Motte and bailey were made from wood. It was quick and easy to build but could be burned or rot easily. Not only that, the motte would collapse under the weight of the castle. These castles were changed because it was easier to get attacked and too unreliable to retreat to and also because it was made out of wood.

The next castle that was built w ere the square keep castles. There were more spaces provided than the Motte and it was made for defense. The walls were 4 meters thick and definitely not luxurous. The square keep were strong, lasted longer and they were made tall so they could see enemies far off. Not only that the people who lived in the castle would not have a surprise attack from the enemies. The drawback of this stone castle was the fact it took longer time to build. The people who lived in the square keep castles starved to death when they were surrounded.

Shell keep castles, were made out of stone and were build on top of a motte. The round wall made it easier to organize a defence. Even though it was strong the defenders could see in all directions (shell keep castles were round) and they were easy to attack because of the weak gateway. The shell keep castle took a long time to build and the heavy stone on top of the motte could collapse.

Lastly, the concentric castle was the latest to be built. It was the biggest and the strongest building with thick walls that was sometimes 10ft thick. It was easy to organize a defence as castle was symmetrical and had high towers which defenders could fire down from. The concentric castle had two walls an inner and outer curtain wall making it hard to attack. It was extremely hard to build as was so expensive only the richest lord could afford to buy it.

In the end of the period castles became less defensive because England became less violent and some castles were made just for a safe home. Even though the castles were developed and changed, the one feature where all of the castles were made using rock stayed the same.