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A shell on a castle is the round part on top. Since Norman Motte and Bailey castles were first made of wood, the castle was not sturdy enough to support the shell.
The Motte and Bailey style of castle had two major weaknesses. Frequently the motte was too weak to support the castle. It would simply topple over. Second, an enemy could tunnel through the motte and attack the castle that way. If the castle were build first, the tunnel could reach the castle without the defenders knowing where the attackers were until it was too late. The shell keep style did not have that problem. In fact, it could be made round so that cannon balls would glance off.
1st. motte and bailey castle 2nd. square keep castle 3rd. shell keep castle 4th. concentric castle
Motte and Bailey castles were made into 'Shell Keeps'. Usually, they would have a stone crust put on their wooden wall.
A Square Keep castle usually sits on a hill. It only has 1 wall of defence, whereas a concentric castle usually has about 3 thick walls. Concentric's also have a keep in the middle that has a wall 2.5 metres thick!
There are many Norman castles that were buit in britain: One is Conisbrough Castle, another is Rochester Castle, Warwickshire castle, Lincoln Castle and many more. These would have been built in the 11th century at about 1070. All Stone Castles built by the normans would have origionally been Motte and Bailey castles as they were made out of wood they turned them into Stone castles.
Castles were built depends on the popular castle type on the planning/building period. Here is the list for the castle type and century that they are famous with: Motte and Bailey Castle (10th to 12th centuries), Rectangular Keep (11th to 12th centuries), Shell Keep (13th century), Concentric Castle (13th to 14th centuries), and the Palace or Royal Quarters (14th to 16the centuries).
The Saxons built motte-and-bailey fortifications. The Normans built Shell keeps. Both were intended to provide a fortified location from which enemies could be fought.
Motte and Bailey castles were replaced by shell keeps and square towers. They were also replaced by concentric castles. The concentric castles were originally Motte and Bailey castles, but only some of the Motte and Baileys got to become them. Some of the first Motte and Bailey castles to be turned into concentric castles are Rochester castle and Warwick castle. They were cool
Shell keep castles are medieval fortresses that are usually built upon a motte. They are made from stone. Some examples of stone keep castles include the Round Tower on Windsor Castle and the Clifford's Tower on York Castle.
stone keep, shell keep, square tower,concentric and another 1 which i cn't remember!! == == stone keep, concentric, shell keep, motte and bailey and square tower!!
because the wood which they were made of would rot and it was frequently being attacked with fire and the castles were burning down. They replaced the wood with stone and moved the castles if they needed to be in a better position.