Scotland’s earliest castles took the form of mottes, these fortifications usually consisted of a wooden keep built on top of an artificial mound. Some mottes also came with a bailey, an enclosed courtyard fortified with a ditch and palisade which would contain additional wooden buildings. Mottes were not just defensive structures, this type of medieval earthwork castle acted as a symbol of the lordship of the area. The first mottes in Scotland were built during the reign of David I in the early 1100s. This type of defense was replaced…
