Norman Castles
Norman’s favoured traditional Motte and Bailey style castles but with an important difference. They built in stone, instead of building in wood. Even today, Royal Norman Castles had absolutely massive stones that keep impressing. These structures sent out a very strong signal that the Normans were here to stay.
In england, where they were not very popular, the Normans created a huge network with the help of huge stones for defence and partly to discourage ideas of rebellion. In the 12th century, the donjon was at the center of the change in castle architecture. It is thought that the Normans built 500 motte and bailey castles followed by the motte and keep castles in the first 20 years after the battle of Hasting Norman Castles were designed for a different purpose, they were not defensive structures like the burns.
Kings and lords lived in castles during the later Middle Ages, from the 10th to the 16th centuries. They constructed castles all over the country in order to control their newly-won territory. These early castles were mainly of motte and bailey type. After their victory at the Battle of Hastings, the Normans settled in England. They constructed castles all over the country in order to control their newly-won territory, and to pacify the Anglo-Saxon population.
These early castles were mainly of motte and bailey type.
Castles weren’t always cold and dark places to live. It had a wall fireplace when there were no fireplaces, rooms were heated with a movable fire stand.The toilet of the castles were built into the wall. From the 11th century, waste went directly into a river at Chepstow Castle in Wales.
Other workers make mortar on the site from lime, soil and water. Workers use man-powered cranes to lift the finished stones to the scaffolding on the castle wall. Norman Castle was built on the highest ground. Around the edges of the castles were towers where people would look out for enemies.
It was designed in the shape of a square. One particular type of Norman Castle is called a square keep castle. In the castle the lord who was in charge would stay in the room called “Keep”. These castles had several levels, including the bottom floor which was often used for storage.
