The Normans had a way of keeping control on the border; they had built castles all along the border which the Barons had control of. All of England had belonged to William but the Barons looked after it. The barons on the border would have had a lot more power then the ordinary barons because if they had taken over any land on the other side of the welsh border they could keep it for themselves. This rule had allowed the Barons on the Welsh border to have more power and have their own mini kingdoms and also urge them to capture land from the Welsh. These barons who were the most trust-worthy of the Barons were called the Marcher Lords.
However, even though the Normans had these problems so did the Welsh. The Welsh hated the Saxons because the ancestors of the Welsh had lived in England but were driven out into Wales in the 5th century by the Anglo-Saxons. Wales was a very poor country compared to England and the land wasn’t good for farming. The Welsh raided England at times for sheep and cattle etc. Wales was not a united country; it was a less organised country then the Norman ruled England, all in all she was a poorer weaker country.
The Welsh and the Normans had different Motive while in there present state. The Normans wanted to stop the Welsh attacking England so they built castles on the Welsh border. All the land of England belonged to William but the Barons who built castles just looked after the land. The most trust-worthy Barons had Castles on the border of England and Wales; these Barons had a lot of power because if they took over land from the Welsh they would be allowed to keep it for themselves. This let William the Conqueror weaken the Welsh and also encourage the Barons and their Garrison to fight. The layouts of Castle that William had ordered were very effective in that a small Garrison could control a large area.
However, the Welsh were fighting to keep their own culture, language and religion, which were different to the people living in England. Wales were interested in Military training, commerce, industry and shipping. There were fierce Welsh ambushes and the Welsh were good at long wars whereas the English were good at open combat and shorter wars.
In Conclusion The Welsh, long enemies of England attacked at the border many times. This is why the Normans had built castles all along the border to protect themselves and at the same time slowly the Barons would take over land from the Welsh. This way the Normans gained power and land. The Normans had used forts and castles to protect themselves and prepare soldiers. The Welsh were fighting because they didn’t want to loose what they were left with.