Types and parts of castle
4 likes16,573 views
This document summarizes the key parts and types of medieval castles. It describes the motte and bailey castle, which had an elevated motte with a wooden keep and an outer bailey surrounded by a ditch. It then discusses stone keep castles with thick stone walls and towers. Concentric castles had multiple concentric lines of defense with inner and outer curtain walls. Later, castles evolved into palaces as weapons improved, focusing less on defense. The document defines a castle fort as a fortified, walled residence or stronghold occupied by troops, typically surrounded by defensive structures like walls and ditches.
Types and parts of castle
- 1. TYPES AND PARTS OF CASTLE
- 3. MOAT A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence.
- 4. BAILEYS A Bailey in a castle is a courtyard. In the Bailey there were guardrooms, stables, kitchens and storerooms. The Bailey would be in between the gateway and the motte.
- 5. DRAWBRIDGE The only way to cross a moat was on the drawbridge. These wooden structures could be raised or lowered depending on whether or not the people in the castles wanted you to come in. Ropes or chains were attached to the end of the bridge and then rigged to a pulley so that guards were able to quickly raise it.
- 6. CURTAIN WALL Was simply a set of walls that surrounded and protected the interior of the castle. Walls were often connected by a series of towers or mural towers to add strength and provide for better defense of the ground outside the castle.
- 7. GATEHOUSE A gatehouse was built into the curtain. At first it was just a simple door by which to go in and out of the castle, but over time that changed. Because enemy armies often came to this area, an iron grate was added that could be put down to block entrance, in addition to heavy wooden doors. Small holes, called murder holes, were added to the ceiling above the main entrance to pour boiling liquid down on entering enemies.
- 8. BARBICAN The Barbican was a forward defensible structure jutting out or set in front of the main castle defenses or walls. In many cases the barbican formed part of the castle gatehouse complex, giving added strength to this potential point of weakness.
- 9. TOWERS Towers were also a part of the curtain. They allowed people to look about and keep watch outside the castles walls. In addition, at times they kept prisoners.
- 10. KEEP The Keep of the castle was the highest point and the center of defense. The strongest and most secure place in a castle.
- 11. Types of castles
- 12. Motte and Bailey Castles • Motte and Bailey castles were the earliest form of castles built completely from scratch by the Normans. As their name suggests they had two parts the Motte and the Bailey. • The Motte was a large hill made of earth on which was built a wooden keep or lookout. The outer edge was then surrounded with a large wooden fence called a palisade. • The Bailey was separated from the Motte by a wooden bridge that could be removed if the Bailey was occupied by enemies.� The Bailey was the part of the castle where people lived and animals were kept. A large castle might have more than one Bailey. • To give added protection to the castle, both the Motte and Bailey would be surrounded by a ditch, sometimes filled with water. A drawbridge was used for access to the castle.
- 13. Stone Keep Castle• This type of castle soon replaced the Motte and Bailey castles as it offered a better form of defense. A stone keep was the central feature, with thick walls and few windows. Entrance to the keep was by stone steps leading to the first floor. The kitchens were situated on the ground floor while living quarters were on the upper floors. • The first keeps were rectangular in shape but later ones were often circular. The Stone Keep would be surrounded by a thick stone wall containing turrets for lookouts.� • The Bailey was now the area outside the keep but within the outer walls and shelter for animals or craft workshops might be built against the walls. The entire castle might be surrounded by a ditch or moat and entrance to the castle was by drawbridge
- 14. The Concentric Castle • This type of castle is a combination of the shell keep and the rectangular keep. • It is an expression of a very important technique in defense - that of concentric lines of defense. In effect it is a keep surrounded by a wall which in turn is surrounded by another wall. • Some other important developments in castles were the change from very square blocky buildings to round buildings (particularly towers). • Round towers were much stronger and able to resist attack better and a defender looking out the window of a round tower was able to see more. • The square towers caused angles that formed blind spots that attackers could hide in.
- 15. The Palace • As weapons (particularly gunpowder weapons like the cannon) grew better, more powerful and more accurate the castle fortress became less and less effective. It could take years or even decades to build a stone fortress castle and it was now possible to totally destroy it in a few days with steady cannon fire. • This ended the building of castles as fortresses but, the building and architectural techniques were still used to build large structures. The focus now was less on defense and more on lavish living quarters or centers for governing.
- 16. Castle Fort Description •A fortified, usually walled residence, as of a prince or noble in feudal times. •A large and stately residence, especially one, with high walls and towers that imitates the form of a medieval castle. •A strong or fortified place occupied by troops and usually surrounded by walls, ditches, and other defensive works; a fortress; fortification. •Any permanent army post. Derived Latin word castellum Latin word fortis Famous •Alnwick Castle •Castle Howard •Blarney Castle •Belvoir Caslte •Red Fort •Agra Fort •Fort William •Junagarh Fort Materials used Stone or brick Stone or brick
- 17. THANK YOU - NEHA RAMPURIA