Why were castles first built of wood?

Answer 1

It allows for quick building. It takes a long time to build a stone castle. In those pre-gunpowder days, wood was fairly resistant to most forms of attack. All you needed was a good watchguard and a supply of water in case the eneny tried to burn the place down. Otherwise they had to assault the place with ladders and battering rams.

Answer 2

Wooden castles were changed to stone for a couple of reasons.

1. They were prone to rotting and weren't suitable to be in the elements for long periods of time.

2. They weren't easy targets to be set on fire meaning they could be completely destoyed either by the enemy, or just a simple kitchen fire.

Hope this answers you question!

Answer 3

The Normans invaded England in 1066 and after killing England's King, they set about taking over the whole country. In order to do this, they needed to build defenses to protect themselves while they advanced across the rest of the country.The Normans built motte and bailey castles to begin with. These castles were quick to build using just earth and timber.

Later, once William the Conqueror, the leader of the Normans, had firmly established his rule in England, the Normans built huge stone keep castles. They were built to last a long time and many can still be seen today.

The Normans built castles because they were a very good way for the Normans to expand their grip on the English people. The English population greatly outnumbered the Normans and the Normans had to create an atmosphere in which they were feared by the English, therefore, minimising the possibility of an uprising by the English.

Castles were also a sign of Norman power and might. They could be easily seen and as such acted as a deterrent. The castles warned the English that Norman soldiers lived in these castles and that any attempts to rise up against them would be met with force.

The castles also gave the Norman soldiers a safe place to live. They were, after all, invaders.

Answer 4

Becauseit was the easiestavailable material it could be easily carried. It was easy to build cut and construct from. Motte and bailey castles were the only castles to be made out of wood because they could beconstructedin a few days. After William of Normandy took over England he appointed many French nobles to take over parts of England, theEnglishdidn't like this so the new barons and noblesprotectedthemselves in a motte and bailey, eventually they were reconstructed to stone as the wood couldeasilyburn.

Answer 5

wood burns and rots easily that is why they started to make stone castles they were stronger and had more defense features and they lasted for a long time

Answer 6

They built castles out of wood because it was easier, cheaper and quicker to build.

Answer 7

Because people in the Middle Ages didn't know techniques for building stone castles until after soldiers came back from the Crusades.