Worksheet by RJ Tarr at www.activehistory.co.uk / 1
THE CASTLE BUILDER: KEY WORDS WORKSHEET
Using the Castle Builder activity at www.activehistory.co.uk, complete this
worksheet by clicking on the key words on the screen as you build your castle!
Key Word
Details
Moat
Castle moats could either be wet or dry. Moats were used from the earliest medieval
castles throughout the Middle Ages.
Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a heavy wooden bridge over a moat. In times of attack, it can by
winched up over the entrance of the castle to serve as a door.
Portcullis
A portcullis is a large wooden gate that was lowered through slots in the gatehouse to
defend the entrance to the castle.
Barbican
A barbican is a stone outbuilding which encases the gatehouse to provide it with extra
protection.
'Curtain' wall
The curtain wall was the perimeter wall which ran all around the edge of the castle to
provide it with its first real line of defence. For extra protection, some castles
had concentrating walls.
Concentric walls
Concentric castles have several rings of defensive walls. There would firstly be a low
curtain wall. If the attackers got through this, they would face another wall (or even
several).
Merlons and embrasures
Merlons are the protective bits of wall on the battlements.
Round towers
Round towers were more expensive and complicated to build, but much more secure.
Castle towers were a vital part of defence. From the towers, archers could fire at
attackers. Trebuchets and mangonels could be positioned on the towers to fire at
attackers.
Square towers
Square towers were easy to build, but they could sometimes be demolished if the
enemy mined underneath them.
Motte
A mound of earth on which a wooden tower was built to act as defendable position
and a look-out point.
Bailey
The Bailey is simply the name given to the main courtyard of the castle. The bailey
had room for buildings to house the Lord and his immediate followers plus space for
animals and storage.
Machicolations
Built of stone (and so more durable than
hoardings), machicolations were built
jutting out from the curtain wall of the
castle to allow defenders to drop stones
and oil onto attackers.
Hoardings
Hoardings are wooden "sheds" jutting out from the main castle walls.
Crossbowmen
The crossbow was developed from a weapon called the Ballista (pictured).
Worksheet by RJ Tarr at www.activehistory.co.uk / 2
Longbowmen
the weight of the arrow meant that it did not travel as far as one loosed from a
longbow.
Mangonels
The magnonel is a type of catapult. A large arm, loaded with rocks, would be attached
at right angles to a a shaft of wood.
Trebuchets
The trebuchet works by tying a massive weight to one end of a beam that is hinged at
its centre. On the other end, the missiles are placed.
Oil
Stones and boiling oil can be dropped onto attackers over the sides of the castle walls.
Stones
Stones and boiling oil can be dropped onto attackers over the sides of the
castle walls.
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