Anglo-Saxon Burhs and Early Norman Castles

Abstract

In this paper, Ella Sophia Armitage contests G T Clark’s argument that a burh was a moated hillock, which marked the centre of a private estate in Saxon times. Armitage examines philological evidence, Anglo-Saxon literature, and thirty burhs constructed by Edward the Elder or his sister Ethelflaed to illustrate burhs were walled towns where people lived their daily lives. Subsequently, Armitage demonstrates burhs were different to mottes, which were built by the Normans in England, Wales, Ireland, and Normandy. Appendix A and B at the end provide further details on the castles mentioned.