Motte and bailey castles

This is a highly varied and engaging KS3 (age 11-14) lesson which illuminates to students what motte and bailey castles were and also why they were an effective way for the Normans to take control of a hostile Anglo-Saxon population after 1066.

Students will start by consolidating prior learning - reflecting on why William the Conqueror might have needed castles. They will then get to grips with the features of motte and baileys by working in groups to create a fully labelled castle from memory against the clock! In the rest of the lesson, in groups and as a class, they will think carefully about why motte and bailey castles had their specific features and why they were such a good idea at the time. At the end of the lesson they will consolidate their learning by writing as a Norman noble experienced in castle building, advising how and why a motte and bailey castle should be built. Heavy scaffolding is included for the task and can be tweaked for different abilities.

This lesson is part of a larger scheme called Medieval England:The Making of the Feudal System This can be found on TES.