Mottes: A Classification

Abstract

In 1878, General Pitt Rivers excavated the motte and bailey castle on the downs behind Folkestone and published the results with characteristic promptness and accuracy. Today, over three-quarters of a century later, only four excavations, all in the past ten years, have advanced our knowledge further. While these have solved many problems, they have posed others, for few mottes are adequately documented (Old Aberystwyth is an honourable exception) and the dating of results can only be approximate.

A new chronology for the Welsh hillfort of Dinas Powys

“…The lack of parallels for the ‘siegework’ to the south was also highlighted (e.g. Renn 1959: fig 3), as was the paucity of Norman-period finds at Dinas Powys, in contrast to other sites dating to the initial phase of Norman colonisation of Glamorgan (e.g. Alcock 1966; Charlton et al .…”

“…Alcock's dating of the multivallate works was based on weak evidence: he argued that five sherds from a single vessel of 'Norman pottery' found in the upper, and much disturbed, layers of bank 1 provided a terminus post quem for the bank's construction. His reasoning was influenced by contemporary research on siegeworks and his direct experience in the investigation of ringwork castles (Renn 1959;King & Alcock 1969). The latter included excavations at Penmaen, where the defences and positioning in the landscape display superficial similarities to Dinas Powys (Alcock 1963(Alcock : 74-81, 1966; J. Knight pers.…”