Why did William the Conqueror build so many castles in England after 1086?
It is true what the others have said about Will wanting to show dominance and trying to provide an efficient method for containing local riots and punishment issues but what i was led to believe was that because of the size of his army after the battle of Hastings was small compared to neighbouring countries army. Will had to find a fast, cost effective and defencive form of protection from the vast hordes eager to take England whilst her guard was down. His answer … castles cheaper than paying for a bigger army as he could easily force Saxons to do it for free and he wouldn’t need to pay foreigners for their raw materials because England had and still has everything it needs to make a lovely castle.
