Manx Castles
Always aware of the threat of attack from the sea, the people of the Isle of Man have built defensive structures for thousands of years. Without a doubt, the most dramatic of these are the Castles. When and where the first castle was built, cannot be confirmed, but records show that in 1098, King Magnus Barefoot of Norway sailed to Man with a fleet of longships and built forts on the Island to secure his new territory. One of these was almost certainly on St Patrick’s Isle, Peel, despite the area already being an important religious centre. Like many castles, the first structures on the sites were probably relatively simple timber forts - we know that Magnus imported timber for this purpose. When any immediate threats were gone, time and resources could be spent on replacements made from stone.
Another site of a possible early castle is Cronk Mooar. East of Port Erin in boggy ground (good for dissuading enemies from attacking) this natural mound may well have been the site of a motte - a forerunner of the castle. Timber structures were built on natural and artificial mounds - in the case of the latter, the earth that was excavated to make a surrounding ditch contributed to the mound. As well as having obvious defensive uses, many mottes developed enclosed settlements around their bases - baileys - and became administrative centres as well. It has been suggested that the motte at Cronk Mooar may have been the main defensive and administrative centre for the south of the Island, until another site was found to be preferable, that at Castle Rushen , which we know had towers added by 1313 when it was besieged by Robert the Bruce.
As with castles elsewhere, those on the Island underwent periodical change and development - the grand structures that can be seen today evolved over centuries.
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