A ringwork is a form of fortified defensive structure, usually

circular Circular may refer to: * The shape of a circle * ''Circular'' (album), a 2006 album by Spanish singer Vega * Circular letter (disambiguation) ** Flyer (pamphlet), a form of advertisement * Circular reasoning, a type of logical fallacy * Circular ...

or oval in shape. Ringworks are essentially

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy t ...

castles without the motte. Defences were usually

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour *Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), mi ...

in the form of a

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...

and

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

surrounding the site. Ringworks originated in Germany in the 10th century as an early form of

medieval castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified ...

and at first were little more than a fortified

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

. They appeared in England just prior to the Norman conquest and large numbers were built during the late 11th and early 12th centuries. More elaborate versions (such as

Stansted Mountfitchet Castle Stansted Mountfitchet Castle, also termed simply Mountfitchet Castle, is a Norman ringwork and bailey fortification in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England. The site is currently in use as a Living history museum. History The castle ...

) comprise a ringwork and bailey, the ringwork replacing the more usual motte and the bailey acting as a military stronghold. Panpudding Hill from the SVR Station - geograph

Panpudding Hill from the SVR Station - geograph

A survey published in 1969 identified 198 ringwork castles in England and Wales, with a further 50 sites that were considered to possibly be ringworks.

D. J. Cathcart King David James Cathcart King (1913 – 29 September 1989) was a British historian, archaeologist, and school-teacher. While working as a teacher he perused his research in his free time, becoming "one of the leading authorities on the medieval cast ...

and

Leslie Alcock Leslie Alcock (24 April 1925 – 6 June 2006) was Professor of Archaeology at the University of Glasgow, and one of the leading archaeologists of Early Medieval Britain. His major excavations included Dinas Powys hill fort in Wales, Cadbury C ...

proposed the following classification of ringworks based on their surviving remains: *A – a bank and ditch encircling the site *B – a bank and ditch encircling the site, with an artificially raising interior *Bb – a bank and ditch encircling the site on a natural hillock, where the ground surface slopes so that the interior is higher than the exterior *C – a bank on one side with sloping ground on the other *D – a bank on one side with sloping ground on the other combined with a ditch and an artificially raised interior *Dd – a bank on one side with sloping ground on the other combined with a ditch and the interior raised by a natural hillock

References

Castles by type {{Europe-archaeology-stub

See also

References