# Ringwork

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{{Short description|Type of ancient fortification}}
[[File:Newington Bagpath Motte.jpg|thumb|300px|Surviving earthworks of the ringwork at [Newington Bagpath](/source/Bagpath) in [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire)]]
A '''ringwork''' is a form of fortified [defensive](/source/defense_(military)) structure, usually [circular](/source/Circle) or [oval](/source/oval) in shape. Ringworks are essentially [motte-and-bailey](/source/motte-and-bailey) castles without the motte. Defences were usually [earthworks](/source/Earthworks_(archaeology)) in the form of a [ditch](/source/ditch_(fortification)) and [bank](/source/rampart_(fortification)) surrounding the site.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen |last=Friar |date=2003 |title=A Sutton Companion to Castles |publisher=Sutton Publishing |pages=246 |isbn=978-0-7509-3994-2}}</ref>

Ringworks originated in Germany in the 10th century as an early form of [medieval castle](/source/medieval_castle) and at first were little more than a fortified [manor house](/source/manor_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 as [Stansted Mountfitchet Castle](/source/Stansted_Mountfitchet_Castle)) comprise a ringwork and [bailey](/source/motte_and_bailey), the ringwork replacing the more usual motte and the bailey acting as a military stronghold.<ref>Darvill, Timothy (2008). ''Oxford Concise Dictionary of Archaeology'', 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, p. 386. {{ISBN|978-0-19-953404-3}}.</ref>
[[File:Panpudding Hill from the SVR Station - geograph.org.uk - 698716.jpg|thumb|300px|Surviving ringwork of Panpudding Hill, in [Bridgnorth](/source/Bridgnorth), [Shropshire](/source/Shropshire)]]
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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=King |first1=David James Cathcart |last2=Alcock |first2=Leslie |title=Ringworks of England and Wales |journal=Château Gaillard: Études de castellologie médiévale |year=1969 |volume=3 |pages=90–127 |url=http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/Books/booktext/REWDKLA.html}}</ref> [D. J. Cathcart King](/source/D._J._Cathcart_King) and [Leslie Alcock](/source/Leslie_Alcock) proposed the following classification of ringworks based on their surviving remains:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=King |first1=David James Cathcart |last2=Alcock |first2=Leslie |title=Ringworks of England and Wales |journal=Château Gaillard: Études de castellologie médiévale |year=1969 |volume=3 |pages=93–94 |url=http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/Books/booktext/REWDKLA.html}}</ref>
*A &ndash; a bank and ditch encircling the site
*B &ndash; a bank and ditch encircling the site, with an artificially raising interior
*Bb &ndash; 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 &ndash; a bank on one side with sloping ground on the other
*D &ndash; a bank on one side with sloping ground on the other combined with a ditch and an artificially raised interior
*Dd &ndash; a bank on one side with sloping ground on the other combined with a ditch and the interior raised by a natural hillock

== See also ==
{{Commons category|Ringworks}}
*{{annotated link|Circular rampart}}
*{{annotated link|Ringfort}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Fortifications}}

Category:Ringwork castles
Category:Castles by type

{{Europe-archaeology-stub}}

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