What is the ditch around a castle called?
What is the ditch around a castle called? 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.
What are the gaps in a castle called?
In this wall were gaps or spaces called crenels, which were usually square or rectangular and placed at regular intervals. They're the distinct two- to three-foot-wide gaps you see at the very top of castle walls. Sometimes crenels are also called embrasures.
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 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 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 is the first room in a castle called?
The great chamber was at the dais end of the hall, usually up a staircase. It was the first room which offered the lord of the household some privacy from his own staff, albeit not total privacy. In the Middle Ages the great chamber was an all-purpose reception and living room.
What do you call a trench around 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 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 a scarp on a castle?
A scarp and a counterscarp are the inner and outer sides, respectively, of a ditch or moat used in fortifications. Attackers (if they have not bridged the ditch) must descend the counterscarp and ascend the scarp. In permanent fortifications the scarp and counterscarp may be encased in stone.
What is the entryway to a castle called?
A portcullis is a latticed grille or gate made of wood, metal or a combination of the two. Portcullises fortified the entrances to many medieval castles, acting as a last line of defence during time of attack or siege.
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 is a castle balcony called?
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.
What is a berm in a castle?
Berm - Flat space between the base of the curtain wall and the inner edge of the moat; level area separating ditch from bank. Blockhouse - Small square fortification, usually of timber bond overlapping arrangement of bricks in courses (flemish, dutch, french, etc.)
What is a turret in a castle?
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification.
What is a Garderobe in a castle?
In a medieval castle, a garderobe was usually a simple hole discharging to the outside into a cesspit (akin to a pit latrine) or the moat (like a fish pond toilet), depending on the structure of the building.
What are the holes in castle walls called?
An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts.
What is the bailey of 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.