Castles- Lesson 1

Week commencing 18th January 2021

Castles in the United Kingdom

There are lots of castles in the UK. Have you been to or seen any

of them?

The First Castle In The UK

The first castles in the United Kingdom were built by the Normans. William the Duke of Normandy sailed his army from France to England to battle Harold of Wessex. This is known as the Battle of Hastings which happened in 1066.

William won the battle and became William the Conqueror and England fell under the Norman rule. William became the king of England.

The men are Normans. They are preparing to invade England.

What Happened When William Was King?

When William was king lots of people did not want to follow his laws or pay him money. This caused the people of England to fight his armies.

If you were William, what would you do about this?

What Did William Do?

William decided to build castles to show how powerful he was and to keep his soldiers safe.

He built two different types of castles. What things are the same with the castles?What things are different with these castles?

First Castle

The Normans built there first castle out of wood as they were quick to build. This type of castle is called a motte and bailey.

The castle got its name from the wooden fort was build on a motte which is a mound and the army lived in the bailey.

Can you think of any problems with the castle being made of wood?

What Happened?

When it rained the wood would get wet. This then caused the wood to rot. The soldiers then had to rebuild and repair the castle. Another issue was the wood could catch fire so it was vulnerable for attack. William decided once the people stopped fighting his army, the Normans would begin to build stone castles which are called keep and bailey.

TASK

You are going to pretend you are William the Conqueror and decide which tasks are

important and not important now you are king.

Please see sheet attached on website.