List of motte-and-bailey castles

A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled, often forced labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales following their invasion in 1066. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries.

Belgium

• Gravensteen

France

• Château de Gisors

Ireland

• Ballymoty Motte
• Belturbet
• Castleruddery Motte
• Clough Castle
• Coleraine Castle
• Dún Dealgan Motte
• Gortlownan Motte
• Granard Motte
• Greencastle
• Greenmount Motte
• Knockgraffon
• Lemonstown Motte
• Portlick Motte
• Rathgarve Motte & Bailey
• Roscrea Castle

South Italy and Sicily

• Specchia Torricella near Supersano (Apulia)
• Castle of Arechi (Salerno, Campania)
• San Marco Argentano (Calabria)
• Aci Castello (Sicily)
• Motta Sant'Anastasia (Sicily)
• Petralia Soprana (Sicily)

The Netherlands

• Burcht van Leiden

United Kingdom

England

A study by castellologist D. J. Cathcart King published in 1972 listed 473 mottes in England.

Scotland

Canmore has records for 47 motte-and-bailey castles in Scotland.

• Doune of Invernochty, Aberdeenshire
• Duffus Castle, Moray
• Hermitage Castle, Liddesdale
• Liddel Castle, Liddesdale
• Motte of Urr, Dumfries and Galloway
• Tibbers Castle, Dumfries and Galloway

Northern Ireland

• Dromore Castle

Wales

A 1972 study found 268 mottes in Wales.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

1. Motte-and-bailey castle
2. List of motte-and-bailey castles in Belgium
3. List of castles
4. Motte-and-bailey fallacy
5. Pickering Castle
6. Morganstown Castle Mound
7. Bailey (castle)
8. Weston Turville Castle
9. Oxford Castle
10. Pleshey Castle
11. Brinklow Castle
12. Thetford Castle
13. Lewes Castle
14. Cuckney Castle
15. Warwick Castle
16. Carisbrooke Castle
17. Wymondley Castle
18. Tamworth Castle
19. Devizes Castle
20. Montacute Castle