What did castles have around them?

The moat around a castle was a deep ditch filled with water. A drawbridge could be lowered to allow people to cross over the moat into the castle, and the drawbridge would be raised to keep others out. In the center of the castle, the keep was a special tower designed to be the safest place within the castle walls.



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Other than simple towers, all castles have surrounding defensive walls. as the Romans knew, simple walls can be difficult to defend because the defenders need to be able to fire upon all areas outside but near the walls.

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moat, a depression surrounding a castle, city wall, or other fortification, usually but not always filled with water. The existence of a moat was a natural result of early methods of fortification by earthworks, for the ditch produced by the removal of earth to form a rampart made a valuable part of the defense system.

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Battlements were most often found surmounting curtain walls and the tops of gatehouses, and comprised several elements: crenellations, hoardings, machicolations, and loopholes. Crenellation is the collective name for alternating crenels and merlons: gaps and solid blocks on top of a wall.

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Moat - A deep trench dug around a castle to prevent access from the surrounding land. It could be either left dry or filled with water. Motte - An earthwork mound on which a castle was built.

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Top 10 Facts About Castles!
  • Castles were built to defend! ...
  • Castles were often surrounded by moats with a drawbridge. ...
  • Towers and turrets were perfect for guards to keep watch. ...
  • The keep was the safest place to be. ...
  • Castles were bustling and full of people! ...
  • Knights would defend the castle. ...
  • Castles had beautiful gardens.


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The typical features of a medieval castle were: Moat - a perimeter ditch with or without water. Barbican - a fortification to protect a gate. Curtain Walls & Towers - the perimeter defensive wall.

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Some castles had their lordly living rooms in a completely separate building; a castle within a castle, which could be defended even if the rest of the fortress fell. The Earls of Northumberland's Great Tower within Warkworth Castle had its own wine-cellars, kitchens, hall, chapel and bedrooms.

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A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles.

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Water cisterns to collect rainwater were also built within the castle walls; in the case of Dover Castle, these cisterns were in a building attached to and in front of the keep. Pipes carried rainwater from the roof into the cisterns, and it was also possible to get water from a well by using a bucket on a chain.

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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.

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Moat refers to a deep, wide trench surrounding a medieval castle, and maybe a city wall or other fortification, that is usually filled with water.

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Crenellations are one of the most recognizable elements of a medieval castle. These upright projections resemble teeth, bared at invaders to prevent their attempted entries and at allies to show the owner's strength. Each upright section is called a merlon or crenel, and they protected defenders from attacks.

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