Castle Defences The Keep The castles keep is

Castle Defences!

The Keep The castle’s keep is easy to find. The largest building standing in the heart of the castle. It was built higher than the rest of the castle so people inside could see out. Often the keep would be whitened with lime to dazzle the eyes of attackers.

Thick walls Castles had thick, stone walls. Why do you think this was? The walls would have parapets on top, where the defending soldiers would patrol.

Turrets A turret is a tower that was used for defensive purposes on a castle. These towers were placed at regular intervals protruding from the castle walls to provide line of sight to all parts of the castle. With most early stone castles, these turrets were square in shape. These square turrets had some disadvantages. Primarily, a square walled turret was easily undermined by tunnelling by the enemy. If one side of a turret wall was compromised, then likely the entire turret would fall!

Murder Holes Most castles had murder holes above the main entrance. Defending soldiers would throw different things down the holes at the attacking soldiers to put them off. Attackers had to get close to the castle to get in so they had to get under the murder holes to attack the main entrance. Items that would be used include: • boiling water • hot ashes • parts of dead bodies!!

Moat The moat of a castle is a large ditch, filled with water to keep the enemy at a distance. Castles were built near a water supply such as a river, stream, lake or spring.

Drawbridge The drawbridge was often made of wood and would swing up and down like a see-saw to let people in or out of the castle entrance.

Gatehouse The gatehouse guarded the entrance of the castle or its town. The portcullis inside the gatehouse was extremely heavy and was used to seal off the entrance. Behind the portcullis would usually be a thick, heavy wooden door.

Battlements and Arrow Loops Battlements were ramparts built around the tops of towers and walls firing arrows. Crenellations are the teeth shaped barriers at the top. Arrow loops, also known as arrow slits or bow loops, allowed defenders to fire their arrows from cover. They were normally just a simple vertical slot.