A while ago, I posted about the purpose and basic lifestyle of castles. As a defensive structure and home, there needs to be more than a sturdy wall and tall spires that glisten in the sunshine. Describing all the mechanisms, fortifications, and inner workings can be tricky. Which is why I pulled out Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction‘s word list for castle construction.
Castle Construction: Outer
- Arrow Slit – narrow opening in a wall for bows and crossbows to be fired; inside surfaces angled to give archer more room to create arc while keeping the hole small on the outside
- Barbican – stone building reinforced with towers, normally a gatehouse or outwork; can be equipped with drawbridge
- Bartizan – small round tower mounted on wall or larger tower; could be firing area (arrow slits or murder holes in walls) or bathroom
- Bastion – structure built out from curtain wall; looked like a tower and allowed flanking fire along wall face
- Battlement – fighting area on wall; standing room with a parapet for protection ( up to torso) and alternating spaces and merlons
- Buttress/Flying Buttress – pillar of stone mounted against a wall for reinforcement/cathedral architecture: stone bridge attaches building to wall
- Catwalk – wooden platform mounted on narrow walks
- Crenellations – rows of alternating merlons and embrasures atop battlement
- Curtain Wall – straight defensive wall twenty feet high and five feet thick; base of walls normally 10% thicker than top most thickness
- Drawbridge – lowered/raised gate using winches and counterweights; moat needed; half-foot thick timber planks for bridge
- Earthworks – basic fortification: ditch with compact sides, one side with a built up wall made from excavated dirt
- Embrasure – open space in battlement between merlons; sometimes reinforced with shutters that can shift to allow firing down on enemies
- Gatehouse – large square tower (two-three levels) flanked by taller towers with the main gate and sometimes an iron-reinforced single/double door or drawbridge
- Hoardings – superstructure projecting from curtain wall: sturdy wooden catwalk, wall set with embrasures/arrow slits, peaked roof attached to battlement, murder holes in floor
- Keep – heavily fortified structure, defensive heart of castle; residency and final stand
- Loophole – hole in wall for shooting firearms
- Machiolations – permanent stone hoardings (murder holes in floor to attack enemies at base of wall)
- Merlon – raised section of battlement, three-four feet wide and four feet high
- Moat – ditch surrounding fortified area, dry or wet; if wet, can be stone-lined channel filled with rainwater or diverted from stream/river
- Motte-and-Bailey – 11th century European style: tower built on motte which dominated palisaded yard (bailey) containing domestic buildings
- Murder Hole – a hole, trapdoor, or slit in floor allowing attacks from above; normally in gatehouse
- Outwork – fortified structure projected or outside castle wall (e.g., gatehouse)
- Palisade – wall made of wooden stacks or beams; could be a field defense or used to cover and exposed area of curtain walls
- Parapet – low wall (three feet tall) built on rampart for cover
- Pilaster – pillar-like construction to reinforce walls
- Plinth (batters/splays) – sloping supports that strengthened bases of walls or towers
- Portcullis – grill of metal or reinforced timber that could be lowered/lifted into gateway via winches and counterweights
- Sally Port – small, heavily defended gate to launch surprise attacks against besieging army, provide escape, or send out a messenger
Castle Construction: Inner
- Armory – room with armor and weaponry, guarded by iron-bound door
- Aviary – tower chamber where birds of prey kept for hunting
- Barracks – Area full of bunks/pallets that served as living quarters for on-hand soldiers; higher ranks might share a tower room and single knights have own room
- Chapel – small area for worship (non-Christian religions would be considered “shrines”)
- Cisterns – large underground stone containers for holding water, used in areas with no access to a well or likely to be cut off from water while under siege
- Crypt – room underneath chapel where remains of long-dead lords and relatives resided
- Dungeon – imprisonment and torture area
- Garderobe – bathroom in outside wall or tower
- Great Hall – central social space: decorated with banners and weapons and lined with long banquet tables; most inhabitants slept in this space
- Harem – normally Muslim lord addition: area to house wives and concubines, guarded by eunuchs or female warriors
- Kennel – area for dogs (functioned during hunts or as guards)
- Kitchen – food preparation: small castles worked in the great hall fireplace while larger castles had separate, larger spaces
- Library – if literacy wasn’t common, this space would be small or nonexistent
- Smithy – blacksmith or farrier workshop; no armor or weaponry was fashioned in this area
- Stable – area for horses and storing tack; not underneath or near living spaces of larger palaces
- Storage – cool, dry areas to store supplies; basements under keep and lower levels of towers primary areas
- Well – dug deep into keep basement or within large tower
- Workshops – areas for producing necessities like fabric, furniture, barrels, etc.