Castle Building

Mold castle was built by the Normans around the turn of the C12th, but during the next 200 years it changed hands many times with the Welsh Princes capturing, losing and recapturing the fortress.

Mold castle in having two baileys, was not typical of the majority of motte and bailey castles built by the Normans in Britain. A circular motte or mound stands in front of a Bailey (courtyard) and beyond lies an outer Bailey. The motte was an artificial construction on top of a natural hillock. The keep (tower) built on top of the motte was where the Lord and his family lived with the soldiers garrisoned in dwellings on the bailey. Huts on the Bailey were also used to store food and equipment, animals might be kept in the outer bailey as a supply of meat which would be needed in the event of a siege. Mold castle was built as a defensive structure, its main advantages were that it was quick and easy to build and made of wood which was readily available. It would have been built on an existing prominence which the Normans would have enhanced to create a more imposing and dominant structure. Stationed on the Motte some 14 metres in height, the defending soldiers could see an advancing enemy army from a long distance and preparations for warfare could be made. In order to capture Mold, attackers would have to consider various difficulties and strategies. They would first have to climb over the outer ditch which may have been filled with water. They would then need to storm the gate and get round various defensive systems put in their way by the defenders of the castle. They would have to climb the very steep motte whilst being attacked from above by armed soldiers. The attackers would probably employ siege engines such as a Trebuchet to fire projectiles over the castle walls and on to the heads of the defenders. It is thought that a siege engine was used at Mold and that it was probably constructed on site as it would have been too difficult to transport long distances. A siege engine could throw a stone of 300 pounds or more a distance of at least 150 metres.