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Types Of Castle
By Med | April 24, 2006
A castle is a fortified building or group of buildings, characteristic of medieval Europe. The castle underwent many changes, its size, design, and construction being largely determined by changes in siege tactics and the development of artillery.
The main parts of a typical castle are the keep, a large central tower containing store rooms, soldiers’ quarters, and a hall for the lord and his family; the inner bailey or walled courtyard surrounding the keep; the outer bailey or second courtyard, separated from the inner bailey by a wall; crenellated embattlements through which missiles were discharged against an attacking enemy; rectangular or round towers projecting from the walls; the portcullis, a heavy grating which could be let down to close the main gate; and the drawbridge crossing the ditch or moat surrounding the castle. Sometimes a tower called a barbican was constructed over a gateway as an additional defensive measure.
1. Motte and Bailey Castles
There are motte and bailey castles in every county of Wales, England, and Scotland. In fact, nearly all villages had a motte and bailey castle to guard them. Motte and bailey castles could be built very quickly, some being raised in only eight days. The largest motte and bailey castle in Britain is thought to be Old Sarum, located in Wiltshire, England. Although William the Conqueror is credited with the introduction of the Norman castle in Britain, it is believed that there were three pre-conquest castles. Ewias Harold, Hereford and Richard’s. Motte castles continued to be built up until the 13th century.
Once William felt that the English had been tamed throughout England, he moved on to building more permanent castles - ones that would last for centuries. These are called square keep or stone keep castles. The most famous of these is the White Tower at the Tower of London. Rochester Castlee in Kent is another fine example of a Norman square keep castle.
- made of stone so they lasted longer. Stone would not rot so the castles were a lot stronger than wooden ones.
- because stone is strong, it is possible to build up so that you have a height advantage and can see for miles.
- also the walls can be made very thick therefore making them very strong. The walls at Rochester Castle in places are ten feet thick.
- these castles were much larger than motte and bailey castles and could keep more soldiers in them.
- they were very difficult to attack because of their size.
But square keep castles also had two major weaknesses:
- if the enemy went around you, what could you do? You would be left in your castle unable to do anything.
- if the enemy attacked you, it could decide to simply starve out by surrounding you. What could you do if this happened?
As time moved on and those with power felt more comfortable, they could afford to build bigger castles. These are known as concentric castles. These were bigger in all respects than square keep castles and the most famous king associated with them is Edward I who built numerous concentric castles in north-west Wales. He believed that this was a vulnerable part of his kingdom and that the Welsh could not be trusted. Hence he built these massive castles - by their standards - to demonstrate to the Welsh his power. Bigger castles housed more troops so the threat to the Welsh in that region was very obvious. Edward’s most famous castles can be found at Caernarvon, Beaumaris, Conway and Harlech.
A concentric castle is a much larger construction than Motte and bailey or Stone keep castles.
Essentially a concentric castle is a series of defensive structures. The typical design, as outlined in the image below, has two curtain walls, the outer one lower than the inner one. Each of the walls has a variety of rounded towers from which a defender has a number of vantage points over his assailant. In addition to the number of curtain walls and towers the castle was, usually, surrounded by water, making attack even more perilous.
Major advantages of a Concentric Castle:
- Round towers couldn’t be mined as easily.
- Larger Castles can house a greater number of defendants.
- Once inside the outer wall an attacker was still visible to defenders in a large number of towers.
- The symmetrical design ensures that entry to the inner most parts of the Castle is closely monitored.
- Low curtain walls mean that defenders on the inner and outer walls can see attackers.
- A small number of men could defend a large part of the castle.
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