Norman Conquest Encyclopedia

The most elementary structure used by the Normans in building a castle was the motte, an artificial mound on top of which was wooden tower was placed. Yet more primitve was a motte surmounted with a portable wooden palisade. The motte was usually built with a courtyard or bailey beside or around it. The objective was less to defend themselves in case of attack than to dominate the conquered English and enhance their own apparent invulnerability. Among many examples of mottes in Britain are Carisbrooke in the Isle of Wight, Lewes in Sussex, Hen Domen near Montgomery, Launceston in Cornwall, Pleshey in Essex, Egremont in Cumbria and Pickering and Clifford's Tower in Yorkshire.

See also: Bailey; castle; Clifford's Tower; Normans

Related Reading:

• Hastings 1066 (Revised Edition)- The Fall of Saxon England
  (Campaign 13 )