Motte at Antrim Castle
I was quite disappointed with the ruins of Antrim Castle. As far as ruins go, there was hardly much to see here. There was literally a single pillar left standing here which would have a tough time giving visitors an idea of what was here before. While there are some illustrations of help you along, nothing beats an outline of the real thing. Anyway, behind the castle structure is a hill looking thing. There was a path which goes around the hill and I thought to just go ahead and have a look here. Turns out that this was actually part of the castle ruins.
Ruins of Antrim Castle from the Motte
The official term for the hill is a motte. It is an artificial hill which is primarily for defense purposes. It could very well be that the motte itself is completely natural but the point is that it was built or selected for defensive purposes. After all, everyone wants to take the high ground. Imagine having to invade while your enemies snipe at you from above, definitely not an advantageous position. The castle building or bailey is usually built next to the motte obviously to benefit from the protection offered by the motte. I walked all the way to the top of the motte but there was only a marker here saying that this is the finest motte in Northern Ireland. I admit I haven’t seen these before and it is fascinating to know that these are artificial.
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