Leagalize the Green

Seth Ingram

The wide ranging and imposing site of Dover Castle in Kent, England has been used in various forms as a defensive stronghold for over two thousand years (Microart ). Many years before the Normans ever arrived in 1066 to make the Dover castle we see today, this high land above the English Channel was the location of an Iron Age hill fort, which set the mold for the fortifications still visible today (Microart ). The Dover Castle at Kent has undergone many additions and reconstructions over its years, such as the great grandson of William the Conqueror, Henry II's expansion in 1170 (Castles of Wales Web Site, www.castlewales.com). It is the best castle ever built, and its use extended into the 1940's when it played still big roll in WWII. Dover has evolved much over it years, and its strategically positioned to be right in all of the action.

Most all buildings are created to serve a single purpose, a bank, a hotel, a factory, a school, ect. A castle however does not meet this mold, it can be many things a military base, a seat of government, a court and a stronghold for the surrounding region, in certain cases it filled all of these roles at once. However, a castle was generally the private residence of its owner. Castle were a product of the period, they were built in a time period that was not safe, but a castle offered some safety. It is important to note that very few of the many castles ever built assume the forms of castles that we see today. It should also be made to realize that generally castle life was quiet and peaceful. Most castles were owned by the nobility and the lives lived in them were not as portrayed in movies. As the close of the medieval period comes to pass, and stability seems to become a more constant factor, many castles lay more stress on the comforts of life, rather than the defense of it.

Today's castles first came to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror. Castles were the means by which he was able to conqueror England so successfully. By putting up these castles he was able to suppress any type of uprising that might occur. These first Norman castles were hurriedly put up to secure their foot hold in England, so as you can imagine they are not quite as glamorous as the giant heaping stone structures we see today. The typical type of castle they would have built is known as a motte and bailey. These types of castles were fairly quick and easy to construct. A motte and bailey` castle consisted of a large mound, or motte, and wherever it was possible, placed on a solid rock, It was made with compacted rubble and earth, topped with a wooden tower. It was fairly primitive but it provided a look out post as well as adding a height advantage if there castle was attacked. The bailey part of the Motte and Bailey castle was a large enclosed area beside the motte. It was not raised to the same height, so it looked like the motte was "watching over" the Bailey. The Bailey was often surrounded by an earthwork, a bank or a ditch of some sort. The bailey often contained a hall, buildings for livestock, a forage, armory, and a chapel. The motte and bailey's main vulnerability was fire, due to the fact that most of them were constructed from timber. Later on however, these were transformed into stone as the evolution of the castle ran its course. (Tiscali http://www.tiscali.co). They primary advantage of such a castle was their cost. They were cheap and easy to erect, and even though seemingly simple, they were a formidable opponents to nearly all attackers with the weapons of the time. A key feature that also added to the advantage of the motte and bailey castle was the tower, it was normally designed so that from the tower any part of the bailey was in bowshot.

Once the initial urgency of the conquest of England had subsided the Norman builders now had a chance to show their superiority with massive stone structures to replace the quickly outdated wooden motte and bailey castles. The feudal society played a big role in castle evolution. Feudalism was the class system at the time, simply put it works like a pyramid, the King being at the top. The king would own all of the land, he would in turn give portions of his land to vassals for homage and military aid. These vassals would "let" the surfs work their land, and make them the money needed to pay the homage and support the lifestyle of the vassal, in return the vassal would give the surf a place to live and food to eat. Well, the idea of this worked best when there was a strong and driven king to keep order, but when the royalty was weak, or even worse in dispute it turned into utter chaos. Many generations lived in times of chaos, feudal lords all fighting for more power and control, and with improved methods of attacking began to arise so did the methods of defending these attacks, these defensive improvement came in the form of castles.

While the call for a greater defense changed they building material, the basic design of the castle stayed the same, with a motte and bailey, however the motte was now called a keep, but remained the focal point of the castle. The keep took on two forms, a shell keep or a tower keep. The shell keep is the simplest of the two forms. It was built by replacing the timber palisade around the motte with a high stone ring wall. Most shell keeps are, therefore, circular or oval in shape. The tower version of the keep was for the most part rectangular, but it was at time subject to exception. The walls of the tower keep were thick, and were about ten to twelve feet thicker at the corners. The tower version of the keep generally because of its weight could not be built on top of the motte or it would be crushed under the pressure, unless the motte was there naturally. Dover castle is an excellent example of a tower keep. Either form would be the most fortified part of the castle, it was the last line of defense and should the bailey be taken the inhabitants would take refuge in it during the following siege. A keep would generally have living quarters, storerooms, and its own well. These qualities to the keep gave it the ability to sustain life for long periods of time during a siege. However the keep often times doubled as the living quarters during times of peace for the owner.

Next came the fortification of the bailey. There was really only one simple way to make a first improvement on the bailey, that was to turn the timber wall into a stone wall. Once the wall was built, then people figured out ways to further the defenses of the bailey. On the wall would be merlons, these are little battlements set up on the wall that alternate. Doing this was known as crenellating, which stems from the word crenel, meaning an opening or embrasure. Merlons were a very strategic part to