1. The Development of Castles

2. Motte and Bailey Castle

3. What were the advantages/disadvantages of the Motte and Bailey Castle

4. Assessment Task: The Dragon’s Den
You have a new design for a castle which you think will be better than the motte and bailey castle.
You have to prepare a pitch for the Dragons to convince them that they should give you their money to build the new style of castle.
Think! What are the strengths of this new design of castle? How can I use persuasive language to convince others that it is the best type of castle?
Dragons, we are here today to convince you to invest in this new castle design. My castle is so much better than the motte and bailey because . . .

5. Task: Listen to the Pitches
As you listen to the pitches, the rest of the class are ‘the Dragons’.
You must be noting down the good points of this type of castle but also the potential negatives you can see. (Fill in your record sheet)

6. Listening to the Pitches
Type of Castles
Good Points
Problems you can see with this type of castle
Would you invest?

7. Building a Castle: The Details
You have 3 weeks to produce a model castle.
Your castle can be any type of castle that you will learn about:
E.g. motte and bailey, square keep, shell keep, curtain wall or concentric castle.
You can work in groups of anything up to 4 people.
Your teacher will select the best 3 from the class which will then be judged.

8. The Castles: Can you work out the correct order?
The Curtain Wall Castle
The Motte and Bailey
The Castle-Palace
The Curtain Wall Castle with round towers
The Concentric Castle
The Stone Keep

9. The Stone Keep Castle
You need to prepare a pitch to sell this castle design to the judges.
Think about the strengths of this castle and what is good about the design.
You may wish to consider the following:
Materials – how is it better than the motte and bailey
Position
Lines of defence
Comfort?
View

10. Stone Keep Castle This castle was made of stone rather than wood.
The walls of a square keep castle were often up to 5 metres thick.
To make the main entrance safe, it was usually on the first floor, reached by a ramp or staircase and protected by a forebuilding. (see picture)
Only slit windows were used on the keep. Arrows could be fired out of these windows, but as they were narrow, nobody could climb in.
Stone Keeps would have living space inside, a Great Hall for feasts, bedrooms and storerooms.

11. Curtain Wall Castle
You need to prepare a pitch to sell this castle design to the judges.
Think about the strengths of this castle and what is good about the design.
You may wish to consider the following:
Materials (what is it made from and is this better than the motte and bailey?)
Position
Lines of defence – why would it be difficult to break into
Comfort?
view
Entrance to the keep – protected by the forebuilding
Main entrance – protected by gatehouse and drawbridge

12. Curtain Wall Castle

13. Curtain Wall Castle with Round Towers
You need to prepare a pitch to sell this castle design to the judges.
Think about the strengths of this castle and what is good about the design.
You may wish to consider the following:
Materials (what is it made of?)
Position
Lines of defence
Comfort?
view

14. Curtain Wall Castle with Round Towers
This castle is made of stone.
The walls are about 5 metres thick.
It has a keep and a curtain wall.
The main entrance to the keep is protected by a narrow bridge, gatehouse and portcullis.
This castle has round towers. These were better than square towers which were easy to mine under (see picture)

15. Concentric Castle
You need to prepare a pitch to sell this castle design to the judges.
Think about the strengths of this castle and what is good about the design.
You may wish to consider the following:
Materials (what is it made of?)
Position
Lines of defence
Comfort?
view

16. Concentric Castle
Concentric castles had walls within walls so attackers who got through the outer defences then faced even stronger walls and towers.
The walls are made of stone.
They are about 5 metres thick.
The main entrance would be guarded by a gatehouse. (see top diagram)
It also allows the defenders to fire arrows from two levels at their attackers. (see middle diagram.)
The central area would have been full of buildings, supplies, people and animals.
This castle has round towers. These were stronger than square towers which were easy to mine.

17. Castle Palace
You need to prepare a pitch to sell this castle design to the judges.
Think about the strengths of this castle and what is good about the design.
You may wish to consider the following:
Materials (what is it made of?)
Position
Lines of defence
Comfort?
view

18. Castle Palace
This castle is made of brick. This is weaker than stone, but it keeps the building warmer. There are wide staircases and wooden floors inside.
There are large windows with glass in them.
There is an entrance on the ground floor in more than one part of the castle.
There are gardens at the back of the castle for entertaining guests.
Large banqueting halls are inside.
There would be large kitchens with lots of servants