I'm reading a book about castles, and just learnt that Duke William used a pre-fabricated wooden castle during his invasion. It was carried over in big barrels on his ships (like viking longships) and assembled by the first evening!
Hi All,
I think the story of the pre-fab castle needs to be treated with a certain amount of scepticism. If I recall correctly, the medieval source that mentions this was written 50 or so years after then events of 1066. While there may have been some people still surviving from the generation that took part in the invasion, I'm not sure that the chronicler wasn't simply recounting what sounded to him like a good story about Duke William. None of the accounts written closer to the events of 1066 (including one by William's own household priest) mention the pre-fab castle.
That having been said, I have no problem with the idea that William may have brought over some pre-fab timber panels that could have been used as defensive structures around William's camp. Whether such structures could be called a 'castle' is another question. And given the number of men, horses, other equipment and at least some food that had to be transported, I do wonder whether there would have been space on William's ships.
But the general point that the overwhelming majority of the structures now called castles that got built by William's followers in the generation after 1066 were constructed of earth and timber (not stone) is quite correct. But then many of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy also had compounds enclosed by ditches, earthen banks and fences or hedges. Whether those ought to be called castles as well is something that divides scholars.
OK, sorry for the rant, but I did my PhD on earth-and-timber castles built in tthe first generation after 1066, so this is a subject near and dear to my heart.
Cheers,
AndrewL