1068-71

• William built new fortresses in Exeter, Warwick, Nottingham, York

• motte and bailey castles built in York in between the River Ouse and River Foss

• road to north protected by castles in Cambridge, Lincoln, Huntingdon → reminded local population of king’s right to rule and his power

Other castle-builders

• William divided Sussex into 6 lordships → granted to different barons to build a castle and protect the routes to Normandy and London

• king granted vast estates to his half-brother Robert of Mortain → built several fortresses e.g. at Montacute

• William FitzOsbern was granted lands on England’s border with Wales- he built castles at Chepstow, Clifford, Berkeley, Wigmore

• location chosen to control rivers and roads and built on top of Saxon sites to demonstrate power and control

Castle appearance

• timber motte and bailey castles e.g. in York

• up to a quarter of castles may have been ringworks (enclosures of earth and timber)

• only a small number of castles were built with stone

1071-87

• by 1071- English resistance had ended and around 35 castles were built

• Domesday Book only mentions 50 castles → around 1000 Norman castles in England and Wales by 1150 (500 during William’s reign)

• 1066-71 = 35 castles

• 1071-87 = 500 castles

Castle builders

• castles built between 1071-87 were owned by the barons and knights

• nearly all castles built in the countryside

• castles could have been used to show power and status and wealth

Castle features (e.g. at Goltho, Lincolnshire)

• hall- possibly for steward who looked after the manor for the lord

• palisade- 4m high

• moat- contained water

• tower- guarded the entrance to the bailey and dominated the village → sloping sides for strength

• motte- sides covered with alternate layers of turf and stone

• bridge

• gatehouse

• ramparts

• bailey