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Castle Designs

Castle Designs Through

History: From Simple Mounds
to Fairytale Majesty
Castle designs have changed over history. This is
because of changes in technology over time - as
well as changes to the function and purpose of
castles.
The first castles were simply 'mounds' of earth,
and medieval castle designs improved on these
basics - adding ditches in the Motte & Bailey
design.
As technology advanced - and as attackers got
more sophisticated - elaborate concentric
castle designs emerged, creating a fortress almost
impregnable to its enemies.
Nowadays, castles are designed for prestige, for
fantasy, and to embellish a romantic view of the
life of kings, queens and nobles from years gone
by.
This page gives a brief overview of the history of
castles, and explains why different castle designs
came about. Fundamentally, these changing
designs were due to the changes in the purpose
and significance of castles.

Hey - I'm Edd.

I've always loved visiting amazing old castles.
I've created this site to share my favourites.
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Early Medieval Times

From Norman Times: Motte &
Bailey Castles - Simple Designs
that were Quick to Build

Motte
& Bailey (Wiston Castle, Wales) (Credit:Jayne)

The first castles, built in the Early Middle Ages (early

Medieval period), were 'earthworks' - mounds of earth
primarily built for defence, as enemies struggled to
climb them.
During the 1000s, the Normans developed these into
Motte and Bailey castle designs.
Effectively, a 'Motte' was a large mound of earth, and a
'Bailey' was the flattened area beside the mound. The
'Motte' could be surrounded with a ditch, and buildings
could be placed on the bailey - made of timber or, if
time permitted, stone.
The key benefit of Motte & Bailey castles was that they
were very quick to build, but pretty difficult to attack.
These castles were one of the primary reasons why the
Normans succeeded in conquering so much of Europe.
Uncover all the secrets of Motte & Bailey castles. . .

Shell Keep Castles: An adaptation

of the Motte and Bailey castle design

Shell
Keep (Restormel, England). Credit:Caro11ne, CC-BY-ND-2.0.

Despite the innovations of Motte and Bailey castles,

these castle designs were far from perfect.
During the 1100s and 1200s, engineers came up with a
way to strengthen old Motte and Bailey castles.
To do so, they built a 'shell keep' - a thin ring of stone
around the buildings on top of the castle Motte
(mound). This ring of stone replaced old, sea, wooden
fencing.
Of all the castle designs featured on this page, shell
keeps are a relatively rare and interesting phenomenon.
Only a small number still exist to today in the UK.
Discover more about rare Shell Keep designs. . .

Norman Stone Castles: Built As

Wood Was Just Too Flammable!

Stone
castle (Goodrich, England).

The Normans had pioneered building simple 'keeps', or

buildings, on the top of the flattened bailey. Sometimes
these were built of timber - a material that was quick,
cheap, and easy to use.
However, attackers quickly learned that the simplest
way to overcome such a castle was to launch flaming
arrows at it, and burn the timber to the ground.
One solution to this was to build castles from stone.
Although stone wasn't impregnable, it provided some
protection against fire - and was much more difficult to
be stormed by attackers, too.
The problem with using stone was its huge expense, the
vast manpower required, and also the time - a stone
castle took years to be built, rather than just weeks.

Nonetheless, as castles became more and more

important (because they demonstrated the mighty
strength of their owners), castle designs increasingly
moved towards stone construction.
Read more about the design and construction of Stone
Castles. . .

Mid-Medieval Times
Gothic Castles: A Mid-Medieval
building style that's become
synonymous with fear, spooks, and
hauntings

Gothic
Castle (Malbork, Poland) (Credit: Jeroen Fossaert)

There were many problems with stone castles - not

least for the fact that they were generally cold, damp,
and unpleasant to live in.
In Mid-Medieval times, an architectural revolution began
in Europe. This was the new, gothic style.

Thecharacteristics of gothic architecture emphasized

larger and lighter windows, higher rooms, and more
decorative castle designs.
These new Gothic Castles were far grander, a and much
more pleasant environment to live in.
However, much later (in the 1700s), a trend for gothic
fiction transformed people's ideas of these castles.
Today, people tend to think of gothic castles as being
eerie, deserted and haunted spots.
Discover more about Gothic Castles - and just why
they're associated with ghosts, ghouls and the
spooky. . .

Concentric Castles: The most

defensive castle plan, used to deter
attackers

Concen
tric Castle (Harlech, Wales) (Credit: Nick S)

Despite the developments in stone castle designs,

Medieval attackers were increasingly able to penetrate
their defences. Common techniques included burrowing
beneath the corners of towers - undermining their
foundations, and encouraging the castle to collapse.
To overcome this, castle designers added thicker outer
walls - and then rings of extra outer walls. The idea of
the concentric castle was then born in about 1270.
A concentric castle was an extremely expensive stone
castle, effectively designed to be a 'castle in a castle'.
The most secure area in the centre of the castle would
have been wrapped by two mighty outer stone walls.
The castles of North Wales, built by Edward I, are
outstanding examples of concentric castles - and
mighty to this day.
I'm fascinated by concentric castles - they were virtually
impregnable! Discover more about their design here. . .

Early Modern Times

Castles Become Palaces: Designed
For Prestige and Power

Early
Modern Palaces (HamptonCourt, England) (Credit: Edwin)

In Early Modern times - so from about the 1500s on castles began to fade from fashion, and the very
wealthy were choosing to build palaces rather than
fortifications.
Part of the reason for this was the popularity of
gunpowder. Stone castles - which had looked so mighty
just a couple of hundred years before - were rendered
puny by mighty cannons.
As defence was now less of a consideration (and
diplomacy came to the fore) the rich and well-regarded
in society made the choice to invest in grander palaces
and gardens, more befitting of a nobler, gentler,
mercantile existence.
In the 1500s in England, this trend was exemplified by
Henry VIII's extravagant construction or renovation of
mighty palaces, including Hampton Court near London.

Modern Times
Modern 'Fantasy' Castles: A rosetinted view of Castle History

Fantas
y Designs (Neuschwanstein, Germany) (Credit: Jack V)

In relatively modern times, some eccentric individuals such as King Ludwig - embarked on vast castle-building
sprees.
The fantastic, over-the-top castles he built - including
Neuschwanstein in Germany - were to commemorate
and glorify a past age, and link him to the all-powerful
kings and nobles of Medieval times.
Today, people still build castles - but the purpose is
most definitely for prestige and aggrandisement of
personal homes, rather than for any form of defence!
Intriguingly, castles have become embedded into the
public's imagination - an average person couldn't really

draw a palace, but I'm sure they'd have no difficulty in

sketching the towers and battlements of an archetypal
castle.
This may be due to the fantasy castle designs in Disney
World; due to the castles in the Super Mario video
games; or perhaps due to the fairytales we're told as
children. Who knows? But castles have intriguingly
found a place in our popular consciousness.
Dream with your eyes open - discover some amazing
fantasy castle designs. . .