Castle Defences

The Defences Moat Ramparts Drawbridges High Walls Keep Curtain Walls Battlements Machicolations Murder Holes Round Towers Portcullis Iron door Drawbridges Keep Gatehouse

High Walls The walls of the castles were very high making it hard for attackers to climb over. Even If you got a very long ladder the defenders could push the ladder from the top of the wall leaving you to fall a very ugly death, but if the defenders weren’t feeling that merciful they could set fire to the ladder. You would probably have to use a Belfry. Go to defences page

Ramparts Go to Defences page Ramparts were steep banks of earth and rubble. Attackers had to climb over them to get close to the castle. A parapet was sometimes built on top of ramparts as a protected fighting platform for castle defenders. If a Castle had a moat then there would be a very little chance for attackers to get past it but if it had a moat and a rampart then the attackers would be to tired to climb up the ramparts so would have been less likely get to the castle. Go to Defences page

Moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled in water, that surrounds a castle to provide it with defence. Attackers were very easy to shoot if they tried to swim or row across the moat. The moat was a difficult obstacle to get past and many didn’t , but if they did they probably would have got shot before they even took a few steps to the castle. Back to defences page

Curtain Walls Tall thick curtain walls surrounded the castle buildings like a strong shield. The curtain wall was an outer wall which surrounded the bailey. The curtain wall was built for defence and varied in size from 6-20 feet thick up to 45 feet high and up to 1,500 feet long feet long. Go to Defences page

Battlements Go to Defences Page The top of castle walls were called battlements. A square gap was on the top of castle walls which allowed defenders to stick there out there arrows and shoot at the attackers. The gaps in the wall were called ‘crenels’ about 2-3 feet wide between two solid portions called ‘merlons.’ Merlons were 4-5 feet wide and 3-7 feet high. The defenders could hide behind the merlons if the attackers tried to shoot at them, while the attackers were in open space and couldn’t hide anywhere. Go to Defences Page

Machicolations Machicolation were projected parapets or platforms situated at the top of a castle wall, some spanned the whole battlements whilst other Machicolations protruded from the walls like balconies.The purpose of the full Machicolations was to provide clear access across the top of battlements enable the soldiers to quickly follow the attack point of the enemy. The balcony style of the Machicolation had holes in the floor for dropping various missile on the enemy which were called Murder Holes or Machicolations. Back to Defences page

Murder Holes Murder Holes were used for defences purposes. Murder Holes were holes in the ceiling of castle gateways, barbicans or passageways through were heavy missiles containing either heavy stones, hot sand, molten lead, boiling water and boiling tar or pitch. They were called murder holes because it is believed defenders in the chamber above dropped hot liquid down on the unfortunate attacker. Back to defences page

Round Towers Round Towers were built instead of square towers so that the attackers couldn’t dig under ground and try to set fire to the ground underneath so the tower would collapse like the square towers, but it didn’t work because of the shape of the tower. Go to Defences Page

Portcullis A spiked wooden or metal barrier, called a portcullis, helped protect it the doors from fire and battering. It was lowered by chains from a chamber above the gateway. Each portcullis was put in vertical grooves in castle walls and could be raised or lowered quickly by chains or ropes attached on it. Go to Defences Page

Iron Door Iron Walls were doors behind the portcullis. So if the attackers somehow got past the portcullis they would have trouble to get into the castle. Attackers might have to use something big to knock down the iron wall but this still would be difficult considering that they had to use a lot of strength. Go to Defences Page

Drawbridges The drawbridges were made of a wooden platform with one hinged side fixed onto the castle wall and the other side raised by ropes or chains. The purpose of a drawbridge was to allow, delay or prevent easy entry to the castle. Go to the Defences Page

Keep A castle keep was the tower which was built as the most protected part of the castle. The first keeps were square shaped and later keeps were designed in circular shapes to reduce the risks of attacks of vulnerable corners. Go to Defences Page

Gatehouse A Castle Gatehouse was fortified structure built over the gateway to a castle. The gatehouse, or main entrance, would be heavily barred. The castle gatehouse might be defended by the barbican. Go to Defences Page