In the walls

I was in Caerphilly castle at a wedding fayre today, thought I'd take so photo#s in the wall for a change !

Castle walls are also called curtain walls. These are the walls that form a wall completely around a castle. Often these walls were built in concentric circles which created multiple lines of defense.

Medieval castle walls changed over the centuries. For the most part the most significant change was their height and their thickness but there were many other changes and improvements that they underwent over the centuries from about the 12th to the 17 centuries. This article takes a look at the construction of and parts of typical castle walls.

Up until around the 11th Century the walls of castles were typically built of wood and timbers. This type of castle was called a motte and bailey castle. The wooden walls while easier to build were not as strong as stone walls and were susceptible to fire. Much improvement of castle walls came as knights and soldiers returned from the crusades where they learned many architectural skills from their enemies in the Middle east.