Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices. In later castles the moat or water defences may be largely ornamental.
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Historical use
Ancient
Some of the oldest evidence of moats has been uncovered around ancient Egyptian fortresses. One example is at Buhen, a fortress excavated in Nubia. Other evidence of ancient moats is found in the ruins of Babylon, and in reliefs from ancient Egypt, Assyria, and other cultures in the region.[1][2]
Medieval
Moats were excavated around castles and fortifications as part of the defensive system as an obstacle immediately outside the walls. In suitable locations they might be filled with water. A moat made access to the walls difficult for siege weapons, such as siege towers and battering rams, which needed to be brought up against a wall to be effective. A water-filled moat made very difficult the practice of mining, that is to say digging tunnels under the fortifications in order to effect a collapse of the defences.
The word was adapted in Middle English from the French motte "mound, hillock" and was first applied to the central mound on which a fortification was erected (see Motte and bailey), and then came to be applied to the excavated ring, a "dry moat". The term moat is also applied to natural formations reminiscent of the artificial structure, and to similar modern architectural features.
Europe
Most moats are dry or water-filled ditches. Other forms of water defences developed by filling the moat with water and broadening it, to the extent that it resembles a lake, giving birth to the terms Water Palace and Water Castle. In some cases a water-filled moat was formed by taking advantage of a natural island or peninsula site, or by creating one or more artificial lakes behind a dam. Berkhamsted Castle illustrates a fairly early stage in this development, while Caerphilly Castle shows an advanced one. Kenilworth Castle had extensive water defences controlled by fortified dams and sluices. The crannog is essentially a natural or artificial lake with the castle built on an island or peninsula, rising more or less sheer from the water . Among the more impressive examples is Castle Cornet, in Guernsey, where the function of the moat is performed by the sea.
Castles with moats or surrounded by artificial lakes are common in England, Scotland, and Wales, found in the Low Countries, and in Germany, Austria, and Denmark. They are also found further into the interior of the Continent. On occasion the moat was mixed with stool, urine and or old rotting food as well as the rotting corpses of dead animals. This was to deter the enemy from even thinking of crossing, which was hard to do being that there were sharp sticks in the water as well.
In the post-medieval period, fortresses designed to resist firearm artillery often had a dry moat or ditch, and occasionally incorporated water in their defences as protection against storming: for example the bastion fortress at Olomouc. The polygonal forts developed during the 19th Century, relied heavily on dry moats for close protection.
Over the course of time, numerous fortified castles were converted into palaces, or other grand residences, no longer primarily fortifications but intended to receive guests, or as living quarters. Surrounding moats or lakes became ornamental. As late as the seventeenth century, French châteaux that were not remotely fortified nor built on traditionally fortified and moated sites, pleasure houses such as Vaux-le-Vicomte, were surrounded by traditional formal moats that isolated the main corps de logis and were bridged by an axial approach.
Asia
Japanese castles often have very elaborate moats, sometimes with many moats laid out in concentric circles around the castle and a host of different patterns engineered around the landscape. Japanese castles will have up to three of these concentric moats. The outer moat typically protects other support buildings in addition to the castle.
As many Japanese Castles have historically been a very central part of their respective city, the moats have provided a vital waterway to the city. Even in modern times, the moat system of the Japanese Imperial Palace comprises a very active body of water, hosting everything from rental boats and fishing ponds to restaurants.[3].
Most modern Japanese castles have moats filled with water, but castles in the Middle Ages more commonly had 'dry moats' (karahori, 空堀), essentially a ditch. Even today, it is common for mountain castles to have dry moats.
Moats were also used in East Asia in the Forbidden City and Xi'an in China and Kokyo Imperial Palace in Japan; in Vellore in India and in Southeast Asia, such as at Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Chiang Mai in Thailand.
America
While moats are commonly associated with European castles, they were also developed by North American Indians of the Mississippian culture as the outer defense of some fortified villages. The remains of a 16th-century moat are still visible at the Parkin Archeological State Park in eastern Arkansas.
Photo gallery
 Muiderslot, the Netherlands |
 Matsumoto Castle, a Japanese Castle in Nagano Prefecture |
 Caerlaverock Castle, a 13th century castle on the English / Scottish border |
 The Forbidden City, Beijing: North-western angle |
 Egeskov Castle, Denmark |
Modern uses
While moats are no longer a significant tool of warfare, they continue to serve as a defense against certain modern threats such as car bombs and armoured fighting vehicles. They also fill a variety of creative contemporary uses.
Installation security
The Catawba Nuclear Station, for instance, has been constructing a concrete moat around some of the plant (other sides of the plant are bordering a lake). The moat is a part of industry wide added precautions after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Related individuals have made a point to claim that the moat is not connected to the new MOX fuel that the plant will be receiving.[4]
"The concrete moat under construction at the station south of Charlotte has little to do with the utility's plans to start burning mixed-oxide fuel containing small amounts of weapons-grade plutonium next spring. Designed to prevent everything from passenger cars to military tanks from getting too close to the reactor, the moat is part of a post-Sept 11, 2001 security upgrade"[1]
Animal containment
Moats rather than fences separate animals from spectators in many modern zoo installations. Moats were first used in this way by Carl Hagenbeck at his Tierpark.[5] The structure, with a vertical outer retaining wall rising directly from the moat, is an extended usage of the ha-ha of English landscape gardening.
Border control
In 2004 plans were suggested for a two-mile moat across the southern border of the Gaza Strip to prevent tunnelling from Egyptian territory to the border town of Rafah [6].
In 2008, city officials in Yuma, Arizona planned to dig out a two-mile stretch of a 180-hectare (440-acre) wetland known as Hunters Hole, to control immigrants coming from Mexico.[7]
Pest control in Bonsai
As a basic method of pest control in Bonsai, a moat may be used to restrict access of crawling insects to the Bonsai.
Lighting and ventilation
A dry moat at the James Farley Post Office in New York City allows light and fresh air to reach the basement workspaces.
TVR Protection
In modern day Britainia, attention seeking TVR owners are using a moat as a form of protection for their cars, as witnessed by the infamous Waitey.
See also
- Drawbridge
- Douglas Hogg
- Moot hill sometimes written as Moat Hill.
References
- ↑ Archaeology in Syria Tell Sabi Abyad, http://www.sabi-abyad.nl/tellsabiabyad/resultaten/index/0_38/0_38/?language=en, article on Netherlands National Museum of Antiquities website
- ↑ Oreddsen, Dag (November 2000). "Moats in Ancient Palestine". Almqvist & Wiksell International. http://www.coronetbooks.com/books/m/moat8921.htm.
- ↑ "Imperial Palace moats illegally occupied by businesses". Japan Today. August 25, 2006. http://www.japantoday.com/jp/shukan/358.
- ↑ "Nuclear Power Plants to Continue MOX Program". Nuclear Threat Initiative. October 13, 2004. http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2004/10/13/78e7ff40-6c57-4696-afb7-982106ec6d06.html.
- ↑ Rene S. Ebersole (November 2001). "The New Zoo". Audubon Magazine (National Audubon Society). http://audubonmagazine.org/features0111/newzoo.html. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- ↑ "Two-mile Gaza moat to foil tunnels to Egypt". The Guardian. June 18, 2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1241836,00.html.
- ↑ "US city plans moat to keep out migrants". The Guardian. March 14, 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/14/usa.mexico.
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