Castle over Time

When William the Conquerer took over England, there were rebellious England citizens who didn’t want him as their king. So King William started to build castles all over England to remind them who was the boss. The first generations of those castles were Motte and Bailey castles, built in 1066 through 1087. The castles were built out of timber and wood, so they were fast and easy to build. Also, the castles were positioned high to attack toward below. However, considering that it was made out of wood, it was easy to be set on fire or even rot over time. If these flaws were discovered, enemies would attack easily. Consequently, William needed a stronger castle, or even a more permanent castle.

So in 1087-1154, the wooden castles were replaced with stone castles, named square keep castles, which were much stronger and lasted longer, providing better protection. Also, they were taller to observe further. But this time, they were much heavier too. The Motte couldn’t hold onto those stone castles anymore. Also, if they were surrounded, people inside would starve out. Furthermore, it was possible for the enemies to dig beneath which would make top parts collapse.

In 1154-1216, better castles were designed which were called stone keep castles. This one was also made out of stones so they were strong too. But there were some differences as they were rounder to watch from all directions, as well as keeping it hard for enemies to mine under the castle. Of course they had drawbacks too. It took a long time to build one and they were heavy too.

Towards the end of the period, castle became less defensive as life in England became less violent, more comfortable too.

Overall, the wooden castles were replaced into stone castles over the period as the wooden castles were weaker. However all castles were positioned high to watch and attack below.