The first Norman castles consisted of a timber tower built on the flattened top of a high, round mound of earth called a "motte". At the base of the motte there was a large adjoining courtyard, or "bailey", also circular in shape.

The motte was accessible only by way of the bailey ~ connected by a long, upward-sloping bridge. The motte and its bailey were each surrounded by a deep ditch and a tall timber stockade.

A second stockade and ditch enclosed the entire structure, thus creating the highly defensible, figure-eight shaped "motte-and-bailey" castle.

The bailey housed the buildings necessary to support the castle in its role both as residence and fortress.

As the center of everyday life, the bailey housed a chapel, a hall, stables, storehouses, and kitchens. Often, it included gardens and areas for outside dining and entertainment. Militarily, the bailey also contained the forges and workshops of the blacksmiths, fletchers, and armorers.

Beginning in the mid-twelfth century, there was a transition of the castle from earthwork and timber to stone. The majority of the great stone keeps were raised upon the sites of the existing strongholds, and thick stone walls replaced the timber stockades.

With the emergence of more sophisticated siege warfare, architectural fortifications evolved ~ and the figure-eight keep-and-bailey was fully enclosed by yet another ring of walls and towers, thus creating an outer bailey as the first line of defense.

Attackers then faced the formidable task of first breaching the considerable defenses of the outer bailey, only to be confronted with the similar defenses of the inner bailey.

Thus, throughout the history of castle evolution, the inner bailey has played a vital and active dual role ~ functioning as a central gathering place in daily life, and as a defense of the castle keep during times of conflict.