| Forum: | Castles In General & Medieval History |
| Topic: | 11th Century Scottish Castles |
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------------------Menteith Am looking for information on architecture or location of good reference material. Am doing research paper due 06/29/99.
Philip Davis I personally would start by reading Norman Castles in Britain by D.F.Renn (1968). Now a little dated but still a standard text. There are only a few 11th century castles in Scotland (most are 12th century or later) and I imagine that most of these were of the motte and bailey type, ie of earth and wood with no stone. Scotland isn't really my area so I hope someone out there can identify some specific castles for you.
Neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them,
Psychiatrists charge the rent, art therapists do the interior design
and nurses clean out the garderobes!
wurdsmiff Philip quite rightly suggests that stone castles were rare in 11th century Scotland, unless you classify the Pictish brochs of an earlier era, or hill forts as castles. Broader definitions of castles would include them, however I suspect that this is not what you are looking for. Motte and bailey castles began to appear in Scotland in the mid-11th Century, when in an attempt to modernize the administration and defense of the country, the Normans were invited north and granted lands in an attempt to quell the more rebellious parts of the nation. Because of the hostile territories granted to them, they built mottes as they were rapidly built, and easily defended. The Normans later introduced the idea of building stone castles, however in the early 14th century it was the policy of Robert 1st (The Bruce) to dismantle all castles which could easily be held by a hostile invading army, i.e. the English. Only two Royal castles survived, that at Berwick and that at Dumbarton. A few escaped in the highland west, and at Castle Sween (c1200) we have the earliest surviving stone castle of confirmed date,(some others claim more antiquity, though no trace of the early masonry survived later development).
As far as architecture is concerned, look south of the border, since the castle builders there were also of Norman descent, and there would have been many similarities. Perhaps the Scottish castles would have been a little smaller and less grand given that we were a less wealthy nation.
As for the mottes, looking at the Bayeux Tapestry gives a simplistic view, of a ditch being dug and the soil being thrown into the centre to form a mound. Excavations up here have shown that there was much variation in size, shape, and construction. Often layers of stone alternated with those of soil to provide more stability. The supporting piles of the tower above would have been in place before the soil heaping was begun. Some mottes were shaped as Xmas puddings, and had small summit areas, whilst others measured as much as 90ft in diameter. We even have a square motte, at Sir John de Graham's Castle near the Carron Valley Reservoir in the Campsie Fells.
The motte of the Sommervilles at Carnwath was excavated in the late 1700's, and was shown to have had a radial tunnel through the base, leading to a central well with removable ladder allowing access to the summit tower. So be careful not to generalize. There are always exceptions to every rule!!
Any previous stone castles would have been held by the Royal Family or the major noblemen of the country, and as places of strength would not have survived Bruce's era.
wurdsmiff
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