Norman Conquest Encyclopedia

The most elementary form of castle was a simple ditch and bank arrangement, the spoil from the digging of the ditch being piled up inside the defended area and topped with a wooden fence or palisade. Such an enclosure was called a bailey when associated with a motte, a mound on the top of which a tower could be placed.

See also: Bailey; castle; motte

Related Reading:

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