The furthest of the curtain walls would have been the smallest in height to allow the defenders to see an approaching enemy. Which is the best structure? The defenders could fire missiles through gaps crenels. The raised sections between, called merlons, helped to shelter the defenders during an enemy attack. These were stone boxes that projected from the walls of castles and had holes in the floors for dropping stones or boiling oil on attackers.
Wooden versions of these were called hoards. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. The last castle to fall in the English civil war was Castle Raglan in Wales in The main walls were 14 feet thick in stone. The free standing 'castle in it's own right' Great Tower was "slighted" subsequently but proved to hard to destroy and was left as was.
The tower wall breach was a product of labour intensive "slighting". The tower's top storey was removed but, when this proved excessively labour intensive, the tower was undermined with a propped tunnel, and once the foundations were gone on one side fires were lit to destroy the props - see photo below. Without this process I'd expect those walls to be good for far beyond the years that they have stood so far. You may need to add a new drawbridge - it is accessed on the 2nd or 3rd level from the main castle over a moat via a drawbridge.
If that has fallen in over the years it makes it almost instantly defensible. Floors would have been destroyed at the time. You may wish to posit stone floors of some sort to allow survival. Spiral stairways are stone slabs set into walls. Some survive, some have collapsed - try not to be on a collapsing one. Macduff castle - my photos from in Scotland needless to say.
Location and more photos. You have to remember, the Romans used volcanic sand in concrete and mortar, which works better, but too costly to ship to other locations. But here it looks like stacked stone with no mortar lasts very well. The trick would be to shape them so they don't move. Sign up to join this community.
The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. How long would a medieval castle last after people Ask Question. Asked 5 years, 4 months ago. Active 1 year, 10 months ago. Viewed 3k times. How long before the castle is no longer capable of serving as a castle like walls have been compromised or the roof has caved in?
How long before the castle is nothing more than a pile of rubble? Improve this question. Some castles had walls five or six metres thick. The round bits you can see sticking out are called bastions. Archers defending the castle could fire arrows from these at people attacking the walls. Arrows could also be fired through narrow slits in the walls called 'murder holes'. The battlements of castles were often made like this. The attackers might use huge catapults or battering rams or a kind of giant crossbow called an arbalest.
They climbed scaling ladders special ladders they could throw up and hook on to the walls , holding their shields over their heads while the defenders dropped rocks or poured boiling oil on them. A mixture of boiling oatmeal, like a kind of deadly porridge which stuck to the attacking soldiers, was also used. Soldiers defending a castle. Most castles had a ditch or water-filled moat around the walls to make it harder for attackers to get across.
Sometimes attackers would dig tunnels under the moat and the walls so that part of the walls would collapse into the water. Siege tower. Attackers in the top of the tower would cross over to the walls of the castle using their own wooden bridge.
Sometimes the attacking army simply surrounded the castle and waited for those inside to run out of food and surrender - but since all castles kept a supply of food ready, these sieges often lasted for as long as two years. The outer wall of a castle was called the Bailey. Inside the Bailey were buildings where the lord of the castle's cattle, horses and servants lived.
Some of the soldiers needed to defend the castle might live in part of the gatehouse known as the Barbican. Barbican at Harlech Castle in Wales. This is a picture of the Barbican at Harlech Castle in Wales. If you came to a castle as a friend and not an enemy, you would be allowed to cross the moat by a drawbridge and arrive at the Barbican. If the Porter there let you pass, you would leave your weapons and be taken into the castle itself.
If a castle was attacked, however, the defenders would raise the drawbridge and lower the portcullis below. They might also remove parts of the stairs inside the castle, leaving a long drop for any attackers who did manage to get in. In medieval castles, much of life for the lord and his followers went on in the Donjon.
Our word 'dungeon' comes from donjon, because the place for keeping prisoners was also here - though down in the darkest, dampest parts underneath. There were also rooms for storing food. These rooms had to be kept stocked with food to last for a long time in case there was a siege. There was usually a well, so people in the castle could get fresh water.
There were kitchens for cooking the daily meals, and pantries where food was stored for everyday use. The Great Hall and the bedchambers were there too. The Donjon might be as much as 70 metres high, with a watchtower where sentries kept watch for any attack and the lord's flag flew from the top. The most important room in a castle was the Great Hall.
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