moat

The moated manor house of Baddesley Clinton in Warwickshire, England

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defense.

Historic uses

Moats were excavated around castles and fortifications as part of the defensive system as an obstacle immediately outside the walls. In suitable locations they might be filled with water. A moat made access to the walls difficult for siege weapons, such as siege towers and battering rams, which needed to be brought up against a wall to be effective. A water-filled moat made very difficult the practice of mining, that is to say digging tunnels under the fortifications in order to effect a collapse of the defenses.

The word was adapted in Middle English from the French motte "mound, hillock" and was first applied to the central mound on which a fortification was erected (see Motte and bailey), and then came to be applied to the excavated ring, a "dry moat". The term moat is also applied to natural formations reminiscent of the artificial structure, and to similar modern architecural features.

Europe

Bodiam Castle rises from its moat

In the violent conditions of the 14th and 15th centuries in England, though defensive walling required a charter from the king, a moat round a manor house could deter all but the most determined intruders (illustration, left). See also Ightham Mote. Moated fortresses are also evident in Ferrara, the Rocca Sanvitale in Fontanelleta, and the Rocca Scaglieri in Sirmione on the shores of Lake Garda.

Where possible, streams were diverted in the Middle Ages to fill the ditch. Water-filled moats might require their own defences to prevent an enemy draining them (as at Kenilworth Castle). They had to be dredged for debris which could potentially form a traversable bridge across them.

Movable bridges spanned moats in the Middle Ages. At first they were only simple wooden bridges that could easily be dismantled if an enemy was about to attack the fortifications. Later drawbridges were used for moat spans.

Moats sometimes had long wooden spikes in them, to prevent enemies from swimming across. ^[1]

As late as the seventeenth century, French châteaux that were not remotely fortified nor built on traditionally fortified and moated sites, pleasure houses such as Vaux-le-Vicomte, were surrounded by traditional formal moats that isolated the main corps de logis and were bridged by an axial approach.

Asia

Map of the Tokyo Imperial Palace and surrounding Gardens showing the elaborate moat system

Japanese castles often have very elaborate moats, sometimes with many moats laid out in concentric circles around the castle and a host of different patterns engineered around the landscape. Japanese castles will have up to three of these concentric moats. The outer moat typically protects other support buildings in addition to the castle.

As many Japanese Castles have historically been a very central part of their respective city, the moats have provided a vital waterway to the city. Even in modern times, the moat system of the Japanese Imperial Palace comprises a very active body of water, hosting everything from rental boats and fishing ponds to restaurants.^[2].

Most modern Japanese castles have moats filled with water, but castles in the Middle Ages more commonly had 'dry moats' (karahori, 空堀), essentially a ditch. Even today, it is common for mountain castles to have dry moats.

Moats were also used in East Asia in the Forbidden City and Xi'an in China and Kokyo Imperial Palace in Japan; in Vellore in India and in Southeast Asia, such as at Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Chiang Mai in Thailand.

The Forbidden City, in Beijing, is surrounded by a large moat, 52m broad and 6m deep, ensuring a vast open space in front of the walls.

America

While moats are commonly associated with European castles, they were also developed by North American Indians of the Mississippian culture as the outer defense of some fortified villages. The remains of a 16th-century moat are still visible at the Parkin Archeological State Park in eastern Arkansas.

Photo gallery

Château de Chambord is surrounded by water on 2 sides	Matsumoto Castle, a Japanese Castle in Nagano Prefecture	Caerlaverock Castle, a 13th century castle on the English / Scottish border	The Forbidden City: North-western angle
Angkor Wat seen from helicopter

Modern uses

Moats are no longer a significant tool of warfare; however, in some cases a moat may still serve as a line of defense from other threats, as well as a number of other creative uses. A moat wide and deep enough can prove an obstacle to armoured fighting vehicles.

Installation security

The Catawba Nuclear Station, for instance, has been constructing a concrete moat around some of the plant (other sides of the plant are bordering a lake). The moat is a part of industry wide added precautions after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Related individuals have made a point to claim that the moat is not connected to the new MOX fuel that the plant will be receiving.^[3]

"The concrete moat under construction at the station south of Charlotte has little to do with the utility's plans to start burning mixed-oxide fuel containing small amounts of weapons-grade plutonium next spring. Designed to prevent everything from passenger cars to military tanks from getting too close to the reactor, the moat is part of a post-Sept 11, 2001 security upgrade"[2]

Animal containment

Moats rather than fences separate animals from spectators in many modern zoo installations. Moats were first used in this way by Carl Hagenbeck at his Tierpark.^[4] The structure, with a vertical outer retaining wall rising directly from the moat, is an extended usage of the ha-ha of English landscape gardening.

National defense

In 2004 plans were suggested for a two-mile moat across the southern border of the Gaza Strip to prevent tunnelling from Egyptian territory to the border town of Rafah ^[5].

Migration control

In 2008, city officials in Yuma, Arizona planned to dig out a two-mile stretch of a 180-hectare (440-acre) wetland known as Hunters Hole, to control immigrants coming from Mexico.^[6]

Pest control in Bonsai

As a basic method of pest control in Bonsai, a moat may be used to restrict access of crawling insects to the Bonsai.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Moats

• Drawbridge
• Turret
• Douglas Hogg
• Moot hill sometimes written as Moat Hill.

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ "Imperial Palace moats illegally occupied by businesses". Japan Today. August 25, 2006. http://www.japantoday.com/jp/shukan/358. 
3. ^ "Nuclear Power Plants to Continue MOX Program". Nuclear Threat Initiative. October 13, 2004. http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2004/10/13/78e7ff40-6c57-4696-afb7-982106ec6d06.html. 
4. ^ Rene S. Ebersole (November 2001). "The New Zoo". Audubon Magazine (National Audubon Society). http://audubonmagazine.org/features0111/newzoo.html. Retrieved on 2007-12-18. 
5. ^ "Two-mile Gaza moat to foil tunnels to Egypt". The Guardian. June 18, 2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1241836,00.html. 
6. ^ "US city plans moat to keep out migrants". The Guardian. March 14, 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/14/usa.mexico.