1. Key Question: What were the early castles like? Aims - by the end of this lesson you should - Have speculated why the Normans built castles - Be able to describe the key features of the first Norman Castles KeywordsMotteBaileyPalisade UNIT 2: CASTLES

2. Background By the time William the Conqueror died in 1087 the Normans had built hundreds of castles across England.

3. Task 1: Reconstruction Relay In your groups you are going to reproduce a picture of a Motte & Bailey Castle. Number yourselves 1 – 4 in your groups. Number 1’s are going to come up to the picture. You will have 15 seconds to look at the picture and then you will return to your group & start drawing what you have seen. After 2 minutes, the number 2’s will come and look at the picture for 15 seconds… Each time you will need to reflect & plan in your group what you want to know on the next visit.

4. The Key Features of a Motte & Bailey castle

5. Task 2: What were the advantages/disadvantages of the motte and bailey castle? ADVANTAGESDISADVANTAGES

6. Task 3 You are an English noble living near a newly- constructed motte and bailey castle. A fellow noble in another part of the country has just written to you asking what this castle is like. Write back to him describing the castle.

7. Plenary: Match up the correct word to each definition