What are the grounds around a castle called?
What are the grounds around a castle called? A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence.
What is the front door of a castle called?
A portcullis is a heavy castle door or gate made of metal strips that form a grid. A castle guardian might lower the portcullis to protect the people inside from an invading army. It was common during medieval times for castles to be protected by a portcullis or two.
What is a basement called in a castle?
An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area which is relatively open to the sides, but covered by the building above.
What are the edges of a castle called?
A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals to allow for the launch of arrows or other projectiles from within the defences.
What is a bailey in a castle?
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.
What is the village around a castle called?
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.
What was the yard in front of a wooden castle called?
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade.
What is the trench that surrounds a castle?
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.
What is the area around a castle called?
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.
What is the yard outside a castle called?
Bailey - also known as the ward. The courtyard-like area of ground enclosed by a stone wall or wooden palisade, where the domestic buildings of the castle were. Includes exercise area, parade ground, emergency corral.
What are parapets in a medieval castle?
A parapet originally meant a defensive mini-wall made of earth or stone that was built to protect soldiers on the roof of a fort or a castle.