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 By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries.

France

 * Château de Gisors

Ireland

 * Knockgraffon
 * Belturbet

The Netherlands

 * Burcht van Leiden

England

 * Arundel Castle
 * Alnwick Castle
 * Bedford Castle
 * Berkeley Castle
 * Berkhamsted Castle
 * Brinklow Castle
 * Carisbrooke Castle
 * Castle Neroche
 * Clitheroe Castle
 * Cymbeline's Castle
 * Dudley Castle
 * Durham Castle
 * Fotheringhay Castle
 * Holwell Castle, Parracombe
 * Lewes Castle
 * Launceston Castle
 * Lincoln Castle
 * Montacute Castle
 * Nether Stowey
 * Norwich Castle
 * Nottingham Castle
 * Okehampton Castle
 * Ongar Castle
 * Oxford Castle
 * Pickering Castle
 * Reigate Castle
 * Stansted Mountfitchet Castle
 * Stafford Castle
 * Tamworth Castle
 * Tonbridge Castle
 * Totnes Castle
 * Totternhoe Castle
 * Tutbury Castle
 * Warwick Castle
 * Warkworth Castle
 * Windsor Castle

Scotland

 * Doune of Invernochty, Aberdeenshire
 * Motte of Urr, Dumfries and Galloway

Wales

 * Buddugre Castle
 * Cardiff Castle
 * Lampeter Castle
 * Llandovery Castle
 * Mold Castle
 * Prestatyn Castle
 * Tomen Castell
 * Wiston Castle
 * Wolfscastle
 * Twyn Castell (Gelligaer)