Tick Tock
25/8/25
Mountfitchet Castle
Mountfitchet Castle is a brilliant place to explore. It is a wooden Motte and Bailey Castle reconstruction. This means it was built recently, not hundreds of years ago. In the 1980’s (around 40 years ago) it was rebuilt to show what a Motte and Bailey Castle would have looked like and to show what it would have been like to live in one when they were built after the Battle of Hastings.
We all know what a stone castle looks like. You might have visited one, or lots like me! Visiting one gives you a much better idea of what they were like. It is hard to imagine what a Motte and Bailey Castle would have really been like just by looking at pictures. I really enjoyed my visit exploring it myself. I think you should try and go too!
The History of Mountfitchet Castle
The site at Montfitchet was a settlement for a very long time. There is evidence of there being an Iron Age fort built on the site as well as Roman, Saxon and Viking settlements.
After the Battle of Hastings in 1066 the settlement that was there was attacked by the Normans. A man called Robert Gernon, who was one of the Normans, was given permission to build a Mottle and Bailey castle there. When he later died the castle was passed on to his son William, who changed his last name to Mountfitchet.
At some point (it is not known exactly when!) the wooden castle was upgraded to a stone castle. This stone castle was attacked in1215 by King John and destroyed. The stones that made up this castle were taken by local villagers to build their houses.
The wooden fort at the centre of Mountfitchet Castle.
Entrance to the Motte part of Mountfitchet.
Some of the buildings in the bailey part of Mountfitchet, including a home, Blacksmiths and Chapel.
Motte and Bailey Castles
When the Normans won the Battle of Hastings in 1066 they very quickly needed to establish their authority over the people already living here. They also needed to protect themselves, as the people they had invaded were not happy they were there!
Motte and Bailey castles were very quickly built, it is thought there were between 500 and 1000 built in the two years after the Battle of Hastings. They were quick, easy and cheap to build, especially if there was a natural hill to build upon. The name of these castles was based on the French words motte, which means mound, and bailey, which means enclosure.
A wooden keep was built on the top of a mound (or steep hill). This made it really difficult to run up them to attack the keep so it was easier to defend, and to help those inside to see attackers coming before they got to do that. At the bottom of the mound there was often a ditch to make it harder to get up to the keep too.
At the bottom of the motte there was a wooden fence with buildings inside called the bailey. This contained what was effectively a village, including homes and other buildings. Outside of the protective wooden fence that surrounded the bailey there was often a moat.
The Normans very quickly then started to improve their castles. Lots of the Motte and Bailey castles had their wooden keeps replaced with stone ones. A great example of a stone Motte and Bailey castle is Windsor Castle. Many Norman keeps were huge tall stone buildings. The White Tower at the Tower of London is an example of one of these.
Stone keep castles were a brilliant defensive building. They would have been incredibly hard to attack. They were also incredibly intimidating, showing off the Norman’s power and that they were not to be messed with!
A diagram showing the features of a wooden Motte and Bailey castle.
An example of a stone keep built by the Normans.
The White Tower in the centre of the Tower of London.
A good example of a stone castle built on a motte.
Find out more about castles...
Links for grown ups...
Photos and illustrations in this blog post are Whizzbots, Shutterstock and Public Domain Images.