Motte and bailey

Advantages: quick to build, resources easily available, provided

living quarters for people & animals, easily defendable – motte,
palisade, ditch, drawbridge, and portable – flat pack castles
Disadvantages: Wooden – easily burned down, rot in wet weather,
labour intensive, bailey difficult to defend.

Rectangular keep
Advantages: impossible to burn, different angles to defend it,
different elements to protect the castle e.g. high walls, moats, small
windows, gatehouse etc. height allowed soldiers to control
surrounding area, combined living space and defence.
Disadvantages: last line of defence, difficult to build, expensive, if
the enemy came inside it would be very difficult to leave.

Concentric
Advantages: almost impossible to enter it, different elements to
protect the castle, different angles of protection, stone walls good
for defence, impossible to burn.
Disadvantages: difficult to build, expensive, lots of planning
needed, difficult to escape when attacked, lots of soldiers needed to
defend it.

Shell keep
Advantages: inflammable, brick wall, good view of surrounding
area and some included simple gateways or towers.
Disadvantages: no more than 25-50m in diameter, encircled only
the top of the Motte, lightweight and does not improving the
defence a lot and the inner buildings had to be right against the
wall to fit in.

Square keep
Advantages: made of stone so they lasted longer, would not rot so
the castles were a lot stronger than wooden ones, height advantage
and can see for miles, much larger than motte and bailey castles
and could keep more soldiers in them and they were very difficult
to attack because of their size.
Disadvantages: if the enemy went around them, they could not
escape and could starve, it was very expensive and it would’ve
taken a long time to build it.
 Medieval Castles
Who built the first castle in Britain?
The first proper castles were built in England after the Norman Conquest in 1066. They were
introduced by William the Conqueror, when he invaded England from his homeland in France.
It was called Windsor castle. It was built in 1066. It was originally built to secure the western
approach to London, but easy access from the capital to a royal hunting forest recommended it
early on as a royal residence. It remained a wood and earth structure until Henry I began to
convert the castle to stone by erecting a stone shell enclosure on the motte top. This shows that
before Henry I modified it may have been strong then but afterwards it would have been
classed as poorly built. However there may have been less of a threat back then in William’s
time and more of a threat in Henry’s time which is why Henry upgraded it.
 Conclusion
To conclude, I think castles have dramatically changed over time due to the use of material,
layout, structure, etc. This is shown from the first castle built, Windsor castle. It was a motte
and bailey made out of wood. Not that strong. But when Henry I came along he upgraded it to
stone. That was the revolution to new types of castles. Some had brick walls around them and
some came in different shapes. Many may have been terrible but could still be here today. If
Henry I hadn’t played his role Windsor castle may not be standing here today. My final point
will be that castle building had its ups and downs, but when you face the facts you can’t tell
which one more.
Different Types of Castles
Here are some different types of Medieval castles. I have listed the advantages and
disadvantages of each castle below.
My sources:
Storm the castle. Com
Exploring castles. Com
Historyonthenet. Com
Historylearningsite. Com
Wikipedia

By Huzaifah U. Shahzad