British Castles

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

they received vessels, held meeting: and upon occasion, defended themselves from rivals.
There are many different general styles of castles in Britain. One of the styles is a motte and bailey, which was one of the first types of castles built. The castle was made of a motte, which was a large man-made mound of earth. The top of the mound was surrounded by wooden palisades, which were like logs. Within those logs was a wooden keep. This was used as a lookout tower and a last refuge or keep (Farndon 7). The only way to get into the motte was across a sloping bridge, placed on high pillars. The bailey was next to the motte, and wooden palisades also surrounded it. A ditch of water protected the bailey. The motte and bailey were connected by a flying bridge that could be torn down if the bailey was not needed anymore. Since the motte and bailey were made of wood and earth none of the castles have survived completely today (Remfry 1). Norman’s were few so they must have ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

to be a last line of defense. They were surrounded by a stone curtain wall, which was defended by several towers. The wall was very thick, as, much as nine or ten feet thick and maybe 40 foot in height. The wall has an apron like based on it to thicken the wall base, and causing solid or liquid material (Simpson 14). A later design to these towers was a gatehouse. The gate caused a weak defense so they later surrounded it by a pair of Towers. These other towers would allow attackers to be defeated from above or on the side of the gatehouse. A portcullis was also used to protect the gate with a metal grate (Remfry 2).
Finally, a concentric castle was an unusual type of ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: