Antrim Motte

Anglo-Norman Motte and Bailey

This large mound is situated in Antrim Castle Gardens. It is classed as an anglo-norman motte in the Northern Ireland monuments database. This enormous flat-topped circular mound is over nine metres in height, higher than any other motte in the county, and has a spiral path winding clockwise to the top. A square area to the north-east of the mound has been described as the site of the bailey, but there is very little evidence of one. Of the forty four mottes in County Antrim, baileys were attached to a least fifteen of them, so much landscaping has taken place at this site it's hard to imagine the original size of the motte, it has even been suggested that the mound might have been constructed as a landscape feature. A second motte and bailey castle was constructed just two kilometres east of here, at Rathenraw, also in Antrim Town.