on Milo de Gloucester, she grants "Motam Hereford et cum toto castello," words which evidently refer to the mound, now destroyed, and not, as has been supposed, to the right to hold a moot there. Also, in the convention between Stephen and Henry of Anjou the distinction is drawn between "Turris Londinensis et 'Mota de Windesora,' " London having a square keep or tower, and Windsor a shell keep upon a mound. Probably when, as at Durham, keeps of masonry superseded the "ligna tabulata firmissime compacta," the fortress ceased to be called a mote, and became a castle; but in very many instances this change was a long time in coming about, and in many of the less important and private residences it never occurred at all. Thus, the moated mounds on the Upper Severn show no trace whatever of masonry, and as late as the reign of Henry III., 159 years after the Conquest, and years too of incessant battling with a warlike and sleepless foe, timber was still the material of their defences. The Close Roll of 9 Henry II., 30 May, 1225, thus addresses the Custos of Montgomery: —
"Rex etc. dilecto et fideli suo Godescallo de Maghelins salutem. Precipimus tibi quod ex parte nostra firmiter precipias omnibus illis qui motas habent in valle de Muntgumery quod sine dilatione motas suas bonis bretaschiis firmari faciant ad securitatem et defensionem suam et parcium illarum."[1] And not only in the defences of these lesser motes and fortified private houses did timber play an important part. Turrets of timber were prepared for the castle of Montgomery, and even Shrewsbury itself, the seat successively of three most powerful earls and the chief place in their earldom, was by no means wholly a work in masonry. In the reign of Edward I. the jurors appointed to report upon the condition of the castle, state: "Quod unus magnus turris ligneus qui edificatur in castro Salop corruit in terram tempore domini Uriani de St. Petro tunc vice comitis et meremium ejusdem turris tempore suo et temporibus aliorum vice comitum preterea existencium ita consummatur et destruitur quod nichil de illo remansit in magnum dampnum domini Regis et deterioracionem ejusdem castri." In a French charter of 1329 occurs, "Premierement le motte et les fossez d'entour le motte de Maiex," and in 1331, "Le motte de mon Manoir de Caieux et les fossez entour."
- ↑ "By writ of May 30, 1225, the king orders Godescall de Maghelines to enjoin all persons who have fortalices (motas) in the valley of Montgomery, to strengthen the same with wooden turrets (bretaschiis) for their own security and the defence of these parts."—Eyton's Antiquities of Shropshire, xi., p. 134.
