THE MIDDLE AGES: THE FORTIFICATION OF THE CASTLE WALLS AND GATES

The Fortification of the Castle Walls and Gates
| Introduction | Size | Tower Structure | Gatehouse Structure |

The castle walls were the primary barriers between the inhabitants of the castle and marauding armies. They were designed to be impenetrable because a breach in them could mean certain death to the people inside. The castle walls were built in the same form as the town walls. The walls and towers were covered with merlons like the town walls. There were a few differences, however. They were of the same construction as the town walls, but much larger. Their greater size was the most obvious difference. There were also two castle walls, the inner curtain and the outer curtain. The outer curtain was the first line of defense against a direct castle attack. If the outer curtain was breached, then the inner curtain still provided another barrier to the attacking armies. The third difference was the construction of the towers. Another change was objects that were built into the castle walls. They gave relief to the people in the castle. Garderobes, or toilets, were located in the castle walls. They were reached through passageways in the walls themselves. They usually consisted of a round hole cut in a stone bench. From the hole, a tunnel led down to the bottom of the wall to a space called a cesspit. Waste collected here and had to be periodically cleaned out. The last difference between the town walls and the castle walls was that they castle walls were often canvassed with ladders, shops, and signs. Around the town walls, there wasn't as much activity, at least until the town grew around the walls.

Size:

The wall and towers of the castle's two curtains were generally bigger than those same objects in the town wall. The inner curtain was always the biggest, standing higher than anything else in the area of the castle. The outer curtain wall was usually about 25 feet high with it's towers being approximately 35 feet high. The inner curtain's towers were almost twice as wide as the other towers of the wall. They were also taller. The towers of the inner curtain were actually two towers built on top of each other. The first tower was about 45 feet high. The second, much slimmer tower, was built on top of the wider tower. It was about 20 feet high, making the whole structure about 65-70 feet high. The surrounding walls of the inner curtain were about 40 feet high, making the inner curtain the most massive defense network of the castle.

Tower Structure:

The men arming the castle walls controlled the walls from the towers. Many of them lived in the castle towers, usually the ones in the outer curtain. The inner curtain towers were reserved for other purposes. The towers of the castle walls were also built much higher than those of the town walls. This was done so that men patrolling the towers and walls could see over the surrounding town. There were major differences between the castle towers and the town wall towers. A spiral staircase led up to other floors. This staircase was enclosed. At each floor, a large wooden door barred entrance unless it was open. Also, only one person could emerge from the doorway at a time because it was built very narrowly. The only other entrance to a tower was through a doorway in the side of the tower. This doorway opened onto the wall-walk, or battlement. There was also a large wooden door located here. This doorway was very narrow too. It was thus easier for defenders to attack the enemy trying to enter a room in the tower. Because of this network of defenses, each tower could be isolated in an attack. Additionally, unlike the towers of the town wall which where in the shape of a semicircle, the towers of both castle walls were completely closed off in a full circle. There was also a roof on the towers of the castle which allowed people to live in them. Goods were also often stored in the towers, relatively safe from the elements.

Gatehouse Structure:

There were two gatehouses in the castle walls. One was for the outer curtain wall and the other was for the inner curtain wall. Like the town gatehouses, they were the weakest points in their respective walls so they were built with security in mind. There were only minor differences between these gatehouses and the town wall gatehouses. The biggest difference, as with the walls themselves, was their size. They were taller and wider than the town gatehouses. Like the town gatehouses, each gatehouse was essentially constructed of two towers with a space in between. A room was built over the space. Also similar to the town gatehouses, murder holes were created in the floor of this room. In the castle gatehouses, it was covered with a roof. Arrow loops were also in the sides of the towers. The other difference besides size was the number of barriers constructed in the gatehouses. Each castle gatehouse had two portcullises, as opposed to the town gatehouses' one. Additionally, the outer curtain gatehouse had a drawbridge that could be raised. This prevented anyone from crossing the moat surrounding the outer curtain. The portcullises and the drawbridge were raised by a system of winches and chains that was housed in the room above the gatehouse.

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