Glossary - A definition of Castle Terms

In the world of Castles, many terms help define the various parts and

A
Abacus	flat portion on top of a capital
Aisle	space between arcade and outer wall
Allure	wall-walk
Apse	circular or polygonal end of tower or chapel
Arcade	row of arches, free-standing and supported on piers or columns, known as a blind or dummy arcade when it is attached to a wall
Arch	a curved structure, normally in the vertical plane, that spans an opening
Architrave	a moulding surrounding, or framing, a doorway or window opening
Arrow-loop or slit	long, narrow and usually vertical opening in a wall or merlon, through which arrows were shot
Artillery	firearms, such as handguns and cannons
Ashlar	building stone precisely cut and finished to a smooth finish
Astragal	a bar in a window, often wooden, between the panes
Aumbry	recess to hold sacred vessels, often found in castle chapels

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Bailey or ward	area enclosed by castle walls, also known as the courtyard. Originally the defended area adjoining a motte
Bailiff	person in charge of allotting work to peasants, organising repairs to castles, and doing other jobs on a medieval castle
Ballista	siege engine taking the form of a giant crossbow, mounted on a stand
Balustrade	ornamental parapet of posts and railings
Barbican	outwork defending the entrance to a castle. Often a walled passage projecting from the front of the gatehouse which had large spaces in the roof, or no roof at all, so that defenders could fire upon any attackers trapped inside. It often had its own doors, portcullis and drawbridge in addition to those in the main gatehouse.
Barmkin	the small walled yard attached to a pele tower (generally Scottish)
Barrel Vault	semicircular (barrel shaped) roof of stone or timber
Barracks	building or group of buildings used to accommodate soldiers
Bartizan	small turret projecting from the corner or flank of a tower or wall, usually at the top
Base cruck	form of timber-framed construction where the roof is supported by curved timbers rising from the walls and not by aisle posts set on the floor
Basinet	close fitting medieval soldier's helmet, with a visor
Bastion	tower, turret or other construction that projects out from a wall length or commonly found projecting from the corner junction of two walls, that allows defenders to both see and fire upon the ground in front of the walls
Bastle House	Small tower house with a living room over a byre
Batter	sloping part of a wall at ground level, particularly of a great tower
Battering Ram	large beam used to break down the walls or doors of a fortification
Battlements	parapet on top of a castle wall, with a series of gaps (embrasures or crenelles) between raised portions (merlons), allowing defenders to shoot through; also called crenellations
Bays	internal divisions of a building , marked by roof principals or vaulting piers
Bay window	a window projecting out from a building at ground level, either rectangular or polygonal, of one or more storeys. A window that projects out from a building above ground level is known as an oriel window
Belfry	tall, movable wooden tower on wheels, used in sieges
Berm	level area separating a wall or tower and its moat
Billet	ornamental moulding used in Norman architecture, consisting of raised cylindrical or rectangual blocks at regular intervals
Bivalate	a hillfort defended by two concentric ditches
Blind arcade	line of arches on the face of a solid wall for decoration
Blockhouse	small fortified barrack
Bond	arrangement of bricks in courses
Bond tenant	a tenant who was bound to provide a labour service as part of his tenure; later changed to a money payment
Boss	a knob or projection to cover the intersection of ribs in a vault
Bow window	as bay window but curved in plan
Brattice or Hoarding	covered wooden gallery with holes in the floor, which was attached to the top of the external wall of a stone castle so that defenders could see and fire upon assailants at the base of the wall. Also spelt bractice or bretasche.
Breastwork	Timber palisade used to strengthen earthwork defences
Brewhouse	building or room where ale was brewed
Broch	A round tower-like structure, open in the middle, the double wall of dry-stone masonry being linked to form internal galleries at varying levels. Found in north and west Scotland, probably dating from the 1st century AD.
Bronze Age	in Britain, c. 1000 to 600 BC
Bulwark	bastion or (in first half of 16th century) a blockhouse
Buttery	chamber used for storing and preparing food and drink
Buttress	projecting pillar added to a wall to strengthen it

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Cable moulding	a Norman moulding carved like a length of rope
Cap-house	small chamber at the top of a spiral staircase in a tower or turret, leading to the open wall-walk on the roof
Camera	Private room used for both living and sleeping, set apart from the more public areas of a house
Campshedding	facing of piles of boarding along a bank
Capital	the head of a pillar, often decorated
Caponier	covered passage within a ditch
Casement	bomb-proof vaulted accommodation for troops, stores or guns
Castellan	officer in charge of a castle
Castellations	battlements and turrets
Chamfer	surface made by smoothing off the angle between two stone faces
Chevron	ornamental zig-zag moulding (12th century)
Citadel	stronghold within or close to a city
Cloister	four-sided enclosure with a covered walk along each side connecting a church with the principal administrative and domestic buildings
Clunch	hard chalk used as a building material. Often plastered with limewash for durability
Cob	unburnt clay mixed with straw
Colonnade	range of evenly spaced columns
Concentric castle	castle with two or more rings of defences, one inside the other
Constable	official in charge of castle in owner's absence
Corbel	stone bracket projecting from a wall or corner, to support other stonework or timber
Corbiestepped or Crowstepped	squared stones forming steps upon a gable
Cornice	decorative projection along the top of a wall
Counterfort	defence work of besieging force
Counterscarp	outer slope or wall of a ditch
Course	level layer of stones or bricks
Courtyard	walled enclosure in a castle
Courtyard castle	type of castle consisting of a stone curtain wall that surrounds a courtyard, with buildings built inside the courtyard, normally against the curtain wall
Covered Way	protected communication all round the works of a fortress on the outer edge of a ditch, covered by earthworks from enemy fire
Crenel or Crenelle	the space between merlons on a battlemented wall, also known as an embrasure
Crenellation	parapet on top of a castle wall, with a series of gaps (embrasures or crenelles) between raised portions (merlons), allowing defenders to shoot through; also called battlements
Crossbow	weapon with a bow arranged at a right-angle to a wooden stock; it was used to fire metal bolts
Cross-wall	internal dividing wall in a castle
crow-steps	step-gabled end to a roof. Also called corbie steps
Cunette	trench in the bottom of a ditch
Curtain wall	the perimeter wall of a fortification, or any wall within a castle that does not support a roof and is used to link towers i.e. a wall 'hung' between towers
Cusp	a projecting point forming a leaf shape in the tracery of a gothic door-arch or window-head

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Desmene	area of land reserved for a lord
Diaper work	decoration of squares or lozenges
Dogtooth	diagonal indented pyramid
Donjon	another name for a great tower or keep
Dormer window	window placed vertically in sloping roof
Drawbridge	wooden bridge that could be raised and lowered, sited in front of a tower or gatehouse, across a ditch
Dressing	carved or smoothed stonework around openings or along edges
Dripstone	a projecting moulding above an arch or lintel to throw off surface water
Drum-tower	large, circular tower, usually low and squat
Drystone Drystane (Scots)	unmortared masonry
Dubbing	ceremony in which a monarch or high ranking lord gives another person the title of knight; usually involving tapping each shoulder with a sword
Dun or Dum	An Iron Age fortified enclosure, built of dry-stone, often with galleried walls, dating from the 1st century AD

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E-plan tower house	tower house with a main block and at least two wings at right angles, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries
Earthwork	fortification made of earth mounds, banks and ditches
Eaves	the overhanging edge of a roof
Embattled	to have battlements
Embrasure	the space between merlons on a battlemented wall, also known as a crenel
Enceinte	a fortified enclosure
Enclosure	castle courtyard
Entresol	a low storey within two high ones (mezzanine)

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Feudalism	social system operating in the Middle Ages, according to which land was granted to nobles in return for services
Fillet	narrow flat band
Fluting	concave mouldings in parallel
Foliated	carved with leaves
Footings	bottom part of wall
Forebuilding	structure on the outside wall of a great tower or keep, protecting the entrance and all, or part, of the approaching staircase. Some forebuildings contained chambers and chapels over the stairs
Fort	fortification designed to protect defenders who did not usually live there
Fortalice	small fort or outworks of a fortification
Fosse	a ditch
Freestone	soft, easily worked, high-quality sandstone or limestone
Fresco	painting on wet plaster wall
Frieze	a horizontal band of ornament

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Gable	wall covering end of roof-ridge
Gallery	long, narrow passage or room, often overlooking a great hall or garden
Garderobe	latrine; privy, normally set over a stone shaft or drain
Garret	the top storey of a building within the roof
Garrison	the soldiers who manned and occupied a castle or fort
Gatehouse	the entrance building in a curtain wall; usually one of the most heavily fortified parts of a castle
Gauntlet	armoured glove, often with long cuff
Great chamber	lord's solar, or bed-sitting room
Great tower	main tower of a castle, often containing a hall, private chambers and storerooms; also known as a keep or donjon
Groin	junction of two curved surfaces in a vault
Gun-loop or gun-port	opening in a wall for a gun

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Half-shaft	roll-moulding on either side of an opening
Hall	principal room or building in a castle, used for meals, meetings and formal occasions. It also served as a sleeping area for servants
Hall House	a defensible two-storey building containing a hall above a basement
Hammerbeam roof	late-medieval form of roof supported on horizontal beams (hammerbeams) projecting from the walls; it enabled the central span of the roof to be open
Heraldry	the system of coats of arms used to identify noble families
Herringbone	brick or stone laid diagonally
Herisson	a barrier of stakes, arranged randomly in the ground to prevent a direct approach from attackers
Hill fort	Bronze or Iron Age earthwork of ditches and banks
Hoarding or Brattice	covered wooden gallery with holes in the floor, which was attached to the top of the external wall of a stone castle so that defenders could see and fire upon assailants at the base of the wall. Also spelt hourding.
Honour	large feudal estate, usually centred on a castle
Hood	arched covering

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Impost	wall bracket to support arch
Iron Age	in Britain from c.600 BC to Roman period

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Jamb	straight side of arch, door or window
Joist	timber stretched from wall-to-wall to support floorboards
Joust	combat, put on for entertainment, in which two knights rode towards each other with lances
Justiciar	Chief political and judicial officer under Noman and early Plantagenet kings

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Keep	fortified tower, the principal stronghold of a castle, also known as great tower or donjon
Knight	man who served his lord as a mounted warrior

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L-plan tower house	distinctive Scottish form of the tower house in which a wing was added at right angles to the main tower block
Label	projecting weather moulding above a door or window to deflect rainwater
Lancet window	long, narrow window with pointed head
Light	component part of window, divided by mullions and transoms
Lintel	horizontal stone or beam bridging an opening
Loggia	covered arcade or colonnade
Longbow	large, powerful wooden bow, used to shoot arrows, often over long distances
Loophole	narrow opening through which defenders could shoot
Lord	any male member of the nobility or knighthood, often holder of a castle or manor
Louvre	opening in roof to allow smoke to escape from central hearth

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Machicolations	a stone structure that projected from the top of a wall with gaps through which defenders could drop heavy objects, such as rocks, onto attackers below
Mail or chain mail	flexible armour made of interlocking metal rings
Mangonel	stone throwing catapult used as a siege engine
Mantlet	mobile wooden protective shield on wheels
Merlon	solid part of embattled parapet that provided shelter to a defender
Meurtrière	alternative name for murder holes
Mezzanine	a low storey beween two higher ones (entresol)
Mine gallery	siegwork to call wall collapse
Moat	a ditch around an enclosure, either filled with water or dry
Motte	a mound, often man-made, on which a castle was built
Motte-and-Bailey	earth-mound with wood or stone keep and an adjoining courtyard with a ditch and palisade
Moulding	masonry decoration
Mullion	vertical division of a window
Multivallate	hillfort with three or more concentric lines of defence
Mural	wall
Mural tower	tower projecting from the curtain wall of a castle
Murder hole	opening in ceiling through which defenders could fire or drop missiles on enemies below

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Nailhead	pyramid moulding
Newel	centre-post of a spiral staircase
Niche	vertical recess in a wall, often to take a statue
Nookshaft	shaft set in angle of jamb or pier

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Offset	ledge in a wall followed by reduced thickness of the wall
Ogee	a double curve, bending one way and then the other
Oolite	granular limestone
Open joint	wide space between faces of stones
Oratory	private chapel in a house
Oriel window	projecting window in wall
Oubliette	dungeon or pit under the floor, reached by a trap-door, used for incarcerating prisoners

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Page	young boy of noble birth who served the household of a lord, and sometimes became a squire
Palisade	timber defensive screen or fence
Pantile	a roof-tile of curved s-shaped section
Parados	low wall on inner side of main wall
Parapet	low wall on outer side of main wall
Pediment	low-pitched gable over porticos, doors, windows etc.
Peel	originally a palisaded court. Later a stone tower house
Pele tower	isolated keep-like tower, built during the later Middle Ages in northern England, but more commonly in Scotland and Ireland
Pend	an open ended passage through a building, at ground level
Perpendicular	English architectural style, c. 1330-1540
Pier	support for archor vault, usually square as opposed to pillar (round)
Pikeman	soldier carrying a pike or similar long-handled weapon
Pilaster	shallow pier used to buttress wall
Pinnacle	ornament crowning spire, tower etc.
Pipe rolls	annual accounts of sheriffs rendered to the king
Piscina	handbasin, usually set in or against a wall, with drain
Pitch	roof slope
Pitching	rough cobbling
Plate armour	armour made of jointed metal plates
Plinth	horizontal course(s) of finer stones at the base of a wall to provide better foundation, often projecting from the wall face
Portcullis	wood and iron grille-pattern gate which was raised and lowered in grooves by ropes or chains, in front of or behind an entrance
Postern	small doorway useful for entering or leaving a castle after the main gates had been closed
Put-log	beam inserted into a special hole in a great tower, gatehouse or curtain to support hoarding, or as scaffolding for building or repairs

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Quadrangle	inner courtyard
Quatrefoil	four sided
Quoin	dressed stone at corner of building

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Rampart	defensive stone or earth wall surrounding a castle or town
Rath	low, circular ringwork
Ravelin	outwork with two embankments forming a salient angle
Redan	outwork with two faces forming a salient angle
Redoubt	outwork or detached fieldwork defending a pass, hilltop etc. also a temporary defence work built inside a fortification as a last defensive position
Re-entrant	angle that points inwards (opposite of salient)
Reeve	peasant appointed as supervisor of work on the lord's land
Refectory	communal dining hall
Relieving arch	arch built in a wall to relieve the thrust of another opening
Rere-arch	arch that supports the inner face of a wall above a door or window opening
Revet	face with a layer of stone for more strength. Some earth mottes were revetted with stone
Revetment	retaining wall
Rib vaulting	arched roof with ribs of raised moulding at the groins
Ringwork	circular earthwork of bank and ditch
Romanesque	architectural style, 8th - 12th century with rounded arches
Roofridge	summit line of roof
Rubble	uncut or only roughly shaped stone, for walling
Rustication	worked ashlar stone with faces left rough

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Salient	angle that points outward (opposite of re-entrant)
Sally-port	side gate for defenders to go out on an attack; the postern was often used for this purpose
Saltire	diagonal, equal-limbed cross
Scarp	slope on inner side of ditch
Screen passage	service passage screened off at the service end of a hall
See	seat or area of authority of bishop or archbishop, also known as diocese
Segmental	less than a semicircle (e.g. segmental arch)
Shaft	narrow column
Shell-keep	round wall, usually built on top of a motte, in which the castle buildings are built up against the inner wall forming a circular courtyard
Sheriff	Royal official, based in a castle, who was in charge of law and order
Shifting house	building where gunpowder is checked and prepared
Shot-hole	hole for firearms, generally smaller than a gun-port
Siege engine	large weapon or device, such as a battering ram or big catapult, used to attack a castle
Siege tower	wooden tower on wheels which attackers used to climb over castle walls
Six-foil	six-lobed
Slight	to damage or destroy a castle to render it unfit for use or occupation as a fortress
Slit	a narrow opening in a wall for admitting light and for firing arrows
Soffit	underside of arch or opening
Solar	upper living room of medieval house or castle; often over the hall
Splay	chamfer, or sloping face
Splayed opening	a window or door opening with angled sides in the thickness of a wall that allow more light to enter than is possible with straight sides
Springer	point from which an arch or vault is struck from a wall face
Squinch arch	arched support for an angle turret that does not reach the ground
Squint	observation hole in wall or room
Squire	young man who served a knight, helping him with his horses and armour, who hoped to become a knight himself
Steward	official in charge of running a lord's estate; managing work, keeping accounts, etc.
Stringcourse	continuous horizontal mouldings on wallface
Stronghouse	a mansion capable of being defended

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Terreplein	surface of rampart behind the parapet where guns are mounted
Tower-house	form of small castle, common in Scotland, consisting mainly or entirely of a single tower
Tracery	intersecting ribwork in upper part of window
Transom	horizontal division of window
Trebuchet	siege engine in the form of a large catapult
Trefoil	three-lobed
Turret	small tower

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V
Vault	arched roof or ceiling of stone and mortar, usually supported by ribs
Vice	spiral stair
Voussoir	wedge-shaped stone forming part of an arch

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Wall-stair	staircase built into the thickness of a wall
Wall-walk	the flat pathway, usually protected by battlements, on top of a castle wall
Ward	a castle courtyard or bailey
Weathering	sloping surface to throw off rainwater
Wing-wall	wall down slope of motte to protect stairway