The three main types of castles are the motte and bailey castle, the stone keep castle, and the concentric castle.
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Castle TypesFour primary castle designs mark the period; Motte and Bailey, Shell keep, Stone keep, and Concentric; however, sub-types, such as Square Stone keep and Round Stone keep emerged over the years.
At the beginning of the Conquest the most common form of castle is the timber or stone motte and bailey castle, such as the one shown in the Bayeux Tapestry of Hastings, which was constructed as early as the first day of the conquest.
In the medieval period the room would simply have been referred to as the hall unless the building also had a secondary hall, but the term great hall has been predominant for surviving rooms of this type for several centuries to distinguish them from the different type of hall found in post-medieval houses.
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great chamber for eating and relaxing.
A bailey is the sturdy wall around a castle that keeps invaders out. The bailey of a medieval castle was usually built of stone. You might see a bailey — or the remains of one — if you tour a castle in England or France.
As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible.
Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world and has been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years. It is an official residence of Her Majesty The Queen and is still very much a working royal palace today, home to around 150 people.
Medieval Castle: Motte and Bailey CastlesMotte and Bailiey castles were the earliest form of medieval 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.
Belvedere Castle (New York)Sitting pretty in the middle of New York City's Central Park is one of the country's most famous castles. Completed in 1872, the park's co-designer, Calvert Vaux, wanted the Gothic structure to serve as a surprising landmark for visitors to discover on their walks.
Beaumaris on the island of Anglesey is famous as the greatest castle never built. It was the last of the royal strongholds created by Edward I in Wales – and perhaps his masterpiece.
In medieval fortification, a bretèche or brattice is a small balcony with machicolations, usually built over a gate and sometimes in the corners of the fortress' wall, with the purpose of enabling defenders to shoot or throw objects at the attackers huddled under the wall.
In the medieval period luxury castles were built with indoor toilets known as 'garderobes', and the waste dropped into a pit below. It was the job of the 'Gongfarmer' to remove it – one of the smelliest jobs in history?
Most domestic servants would have slept in shared chambers in either the cellars or attics of the castle buildings. There might also be simple buildings outside the castle for herdsmen, mill workers, wood-cutters, and craftspeople such as rope-makers, candle-makers, potters, basket-weavers, and spinners.