Why were castles built on high places surrounded by water?

The castle served as a way to defend their land and fight off attackers. Castles were usually built where there was a natural feature of the land that would help in the defense of the castle such as building on top of a hill or where they were surrounded by water.



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Castles are usually built on high ground with clear views of the surrounding lands – and both of these things make them difficult to attack.

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The entrance to the castle was always its weakest point. Drawbridges could be pulled up, preventing access across moats. Tall gate towers meant that defenders could shoot down in safety at attacks below. The main gate or door to the castle was usually a thick, iron-studded wooden door, that was hard to break through.

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The castles provided his troops with strong defensive structures to guard against any upstart Saxons bold enough to try to thwart William's ambitions. They also served as central points of supply and succour for the marauding bands of Norman soldiers that sallied out to terrorize and subdue the native population.

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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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By the 14th century, the golden age of castle building was coming to an end. With the advent of gunpowder, castles were no longer the impregnable fortresses they had once been. The pounding of cannon fire could breach the walls and leave the castle vulnerable and open to attack.

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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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Castles and manor houses often smelled damp and musty. To counteract this, herbs and rushes were strewn across the floors.

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In the chamber – the more private rooms of the castle – there were beds with curtains, giving an extra layer of warmth, and these rooms largely had fireplaces. When there were no fireplaces rooms were heated with moveable fire stands.

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Soldiers either scaled walls with ladders or overran castle walls breached by tunnels, battering rams, or artillery. Sometimes they attacked two or three spots around the castle at once to surprise their foe or divide castle defenses, and sometimes they approached the wall hidden within a trench or tunnel.

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Castles could serve as a centre for local government, administration and justice. They were also used by powerful lords to display their wealth and power through lavish architectural styles and decoration.

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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.

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When it comes to horrible jobs in a castle, gong farmer has to win the prize. Gong farmers, also known as nightmen, were responsible for cleaning out human excrement from the cesspits within the castle walls.

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Speaking of canons, it is important to note that Edinburgh Castle is one of the most attacked places in the world. In other words, battles were waged, walls were destroyed, and the castle changed hands repeatedly throughout the course of 26 documented sieges over 1,100 years.

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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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The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork (Polish: Zamek w Malborku; German: Ordensburg Marienburg) is a 13th-century Teutonic castle and fortress located in the town of Malbork, Poland. It is the largest castle in the world measured by land area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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The three main types of castles are the motte and bailey castle, the stone keep castle, and the concentric castle.

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