What Defensive Features are on a castle?
Over time, castles became more sophisticated in design to thwart assault and seige. 1. Moats (used to store water for sieges, make it more difficult to breach the walls). 2. Barbicans: an outer defense often channeling attackers into an confined area outside the walls. Often seen outside of castle or fort gates. 3. Braie: an outer wall used to reply initial assaults and behind which civilians and livestock would typically shelter. 4. Murder holes: often there would be a courtyard that the main gate would enter into. Attackers would breech the gate only to discover themselves contained in a tight enclosure from which defenders on the other side could fire into the packed attackers. 5. The earlier post about building on bedrock is very true. One of the most likely ways of taking the castle was to tunnel under the outer walls and either set fire to the foundation or just erode the earth under the wall so it would collapse. Far more likely than storming the castle walls. 6. Castles would o
