Why do castles have walls?

Low outer walls served as barriers against siege towers and battering rams. If attackers managed to break through this outer ring of defense, castle defenders could retreat behind high inner walls. Corner towers stood out from the walls, giving defenders a better perspective on enemy movements.



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It protected the keep and the bailey from attack. There were only a few doors in the walls around the castle, and they were usually very tall so that attackers couldn't climb over them! The motte was a mound of dirt that the castle sat on. It made it harder for people to attack and was also great as a look-out point.

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High walls gave those inside a castle a tremendous advantage. At first castle walls were wooden, making them cheap and quick to build, but they were vulnerable to arson. Stone walls followed, and with each generation they grew thicker and taller.

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In medieval castles, the area surrounded by a curtain wall, with or without towers, is known as the bailey. The outermost walls with their integrated bastions and wall towers together make up the enceinte or main defensive line enclosing the site.

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Inside the Walls. The outer wall of a castle was called the Bailey. Inside the Bailey were buildings where the lord of the castle's cattle, horses and servants lived. Some of the soldiers needed to defend the castle might live in part of the gatehouse (known as the Barbican).

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What other rooms were there in a Medieval castle? At the time of Chr tien de Troyes, the rooms where the lord of a castle, his family and his knights lived and ate and slept were in the Keep (called the Donjon), the rectangular tower inside the walls of a castle. This was meant to be the strongest and safest place.

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The height of walls varied widely by castle, but were often 2.5–6 m (8.2–19.7 ft) thick. They were usually topped with crenellation or parapets that offered protection to defenders.

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These were often used as a means of escape or as a way to move around the castle undetected. The secret passages could be used as an escape route in case of a siege or an invasion, or as a way to move around the castle without being seen by enemies.

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Living in a medieval castle was often uncomfortable and even hazardous, particularly for those who were not part of the nobility or royalty. For example, despite their grandeur and imposing appearance, many castles lacked basic amenities like running water, central heating, and proper ventilation.

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Forde-Johnston describes such a site as a castle in which water plays a prominent part in the defences. Apart from hindering attackers, an abundant supply of water was also an advantage during a siege. Topographically, such structures are a type of low-lying castle.

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Often, these walls sloped away at the base to redirect objects dropped from the top of the castle wall, ricocheting them out at soldiers on the ground. Because they had walls to protect them, castle defenders would sometimes hunker down and try to wait out their attackers.

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A battlement is the upper walled part of a castle or fortress.

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After the 16th century, castles declined as a mode of defense, mostly because of the invention and improvement of heavy cannons and mortars. This artillery could throw heavy cannonballs with so much force that even strong curtain walls could not hold up.

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It turns out that those fairy tales you read as a child all left out a very important truth: The moats that surrounded medieval castles weren't just useful defenses against attack; they were also open sewers into which the castles' primitive waste disposal systems flushed human excrement and other foul substances.

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Over the centuries around 23 different siege attempts were made on Edinburgh Castle – making it the most besieged place in Europe.

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Over the centuries around 23 different siege attempts were made on Edinburgh Castle – making it the most besieged place in Europe.

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Castle of Zafra, Campillo de Duenas This partly restored castle in Spain was built in the late 12th century or early 13th century. It holds the distinction of never being conquered.

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