Aringwork is a form of fortifieddefensive structure, usuallycircular oroval in shape. Ringworks are essentiallymotte-and-bailey castles without the motte. Defences were usuallyearthworks in the form of aditch andbank surrounding the site.[1]
Ringworks originated in Germany in the 10th century as an early form ofmedieval castle and at first were little more than a fortifiedmanor house. 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 asStansted Mountfitchet Castle) comprise a ringwork andbailey, the ringwork replacing the more usual motte and the bailey acting as a military stronghold.[2]
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.[3]D. J. Cathcart King andLeslie Alcock proposed the following classification of ringworks based on their surviving remains:[4]
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
^Friar, Stephen (2003).A Sutton Companion to Castles. Sutton Publishing. p. 246.ISBN978-0-7509-3994-2.
^Darvill, Timothy (2008).Oxford Concise Dictionary of Archaeology, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, p. 386.ISBN978-0-19-953404-3.
^King, David James Cathcart; Alcock, Leslie (1969)."Ringworks of England and Wales".Château Gaillard: Études de castellologie médiévale.3:90–127.
^King, David James Cathcart; Alcock, Leslie (1969)."Ringworks of England and Wales".Château Gaillard: Études de castellologie médiévale.3:93–94.
