Well Stockaded

       After the lance and the sword, the motte and bailey castle served as the straw that broke the camel's back. The first items listed above took the land of my ancestors and, the second kept the land. Well palisaded was the key word applied to these versatile-advanced fortifications. A palisade was a line of stout posts set firmly to form a defense. Each long, strong stake was to be pointed at the top and set close together. Anyway, the last post certainly commented on the amount of wood it must have taken to build. The woodlands around each castle must have been shaking in their boots [guess it should be their trunks] as each of their friends were chopped and tumbled to the ground. Now, of course, the occupiers dismantled all the standing structures around them made of wood which increased all the dismay among the local folks. Structures like the house [benches, lintels, side posts, doors, porches, rafters], cowhouse, sheepcote, pigsty, harvest house, and kiln would have all been dismembered. 

      The significance of this activity to my ancestor's heart is better understood looking into the accepted social norms of the day. "The Justices' Test Book", starting on page 141 and ending on page 210, describes how justice was to be determined among the kin groups of the day. [The law books are presented in the post of May 16, 2023] A host of relationships are discussed including 1. Homicide, 2. Theft, 3. Fire, 4. Value of Wild and Tame, and then, 5. Trees.  The issue of trees, p.188-190, is followed by 6. Houses, 7.  Equipment, 8. Human Body (p. 196), 9. Joint Ploughing and, 10. Corn Damage. Can you believe it, trees were placed between killings and plowing. 

      Compensation was the decision that was to be decided by the judges to all these issues of life.  The value of such items are given in pence, such as an oak tree was worth "six score pence". A scrub-oak was worth (bears no fruit) 24 pence. [pence = penny] A holy yew tree worth a pound. [1 pound = 100 pence] On page 189 it states:

      "Every tree which is planted for shelter is worth twenty-four pence to its owner, whether he plants it in gardens or as shelter for his house. Every tree which does not bear fruit, except a yew, is worth fourpence - such as an ash or an alder or a willow. ... The value of the trees goes to the owners of the woodland." 

       "Every builder on open land is entitled to have three timbers from him to whom the woodland belongs, whether the woodlander will or no: a roof-tree and two roof-forks."

    Now, an article by Dana Huntley in the 1997 March issue of "Special History Edition, British Heritage" p. 14, states a Celtic "Great Round House" for its construction would take 220 trees or roughly 16 tons of wood. Just think how many trees would be needed for a well stockaded motte and baily!

      The motte and bailey as it stood when my own Jones family visited the ancient townlands of the Vale of Dee in 1998 is shown. The motte stands the same as when it was built some 900 years past. Of course, the stone keep standing on the top, would have been of wood. How many pence would it have cost to the forefathers of the day? Their hearts would have been broken. But hey, it would have been well stockaded.