Summary: Motte and Bailey
Key dates:
When the Normans came to the British Isles they needed to secure their conquest quickly. The first type of homes which they built were wooden castles called mottes and baileys. The motte was the mound or hill on which the wooden keep and/or house was built; the bailey was the courtyard at a lower level into which people and livestock could gather if under attack. A wooden bridge connected the bailey to the motte. Sometimes there was a ditch or moat around the base of the bailey for added protection. Many Ulster mottes did not have baileys, and where they did, they were used as soldiers’ quarters, not for servants and livestock.
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 © CJ Fallon  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with the Permission of the Controller of the HMSO.  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with the Permission of the Controller of the HMSO.  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with the Permission of the Controller of the HMSO.  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with the Permission of the Controller of the HMSO.  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with the Permission of the Controller of the HMSO.
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