The walls were thicker, stronger and higher with turrets! The Inner Walls were higher than Outer walls! Drawbridges were added!
The interiors were more comfortable! Concentric Castles were very expensive! What were Concentric Castles made of? Concentric Castles were made predominantly of Stone which was generally mined in quarries. The Romans were great builders in Britain and local Roman structures were also pillaged for old Roman bricks. Different types of stone was used:. Lime mortar kept the stones in place. Lime Mortar was made of water, coal, and lime mixed together. Lime stones was first burnt - put into kilns and burnt with coal.
It was then mixed with water making Lime Mortar. White plaster was used to cover the walls of castles and also cover the interior walls. The plaster was made from quick lime, sand, water and horse hair.
The earliest example of a concentric castle is the crusader castle of Belvoir c , whose regular rectangular layout has been described as one castrum nested inside another. Some historians have plausibly argued that the concentric defence arose as a response to advances in siege technology in the crusader states from the 12th to the 13th centuries.
In a concentric castle the outer wall protected the inner one from siege engines, while the inner wall and the projecting towers provided flanking fire from crossbows.
In addition, the strong towers served as platforms for trebuchets for shooting back at the besiegers. Walls typically include intramural towers, arrow slits, and wall-head defences such as crenellations or machicolations all aimed at an active style of defence.
In addition, the gate and posterns are typically strengthened using a bent entrance with flanking towers. Krak des Chevaliers in Syria is the best preserved of the concentric crusader castles. While a concentric castle has double walls and towers on all sides, the defences are not necessarily uniform in all directions. There can be a concentration of defences at a vulnerable point. At Krak Des Chevaliers, this is the case at the southern side, where the terrain permits an attacker to deploy siege engines.
Concentric castles were expensive to build, so that only the powerful military orders, the Hospitallers and Templars, or kings such as Edward I, could afford to build and maintain them.
The concentric layout particularly suited the requirements of military orders such as the Hospitallers in resembling a monastery and housing a large garrison of brothers.
Such castles were beyond the means of feudal barons. A unique event from each day of the year is to be found in this book. Concentric Castles A concentric castle is a much larger construction than Motte and bailey or Stone keep castles. Source A. Diagram of Beaumaris Castle. Source B. Modern day image of an outer Curtain Wall at Caerphilly Castle. Activity 3 Use the information in your textbook and previous notes to try and establish ways in which a concentric castle could have been attacked successfully.
Close this module. Any individuals wishing to attack the castle would have had to run a real gauntlet of hazards and obstacles in order to reach the centre of the castle, and capture this mighty fortress for themselves. Look again at the blueprint and photo of Beaumaris Castle, just above. Well, be scared. However, most concentric castles were even equipped to overcome siege.
These castles had wells built at their centre for water supplies, and some advanced designs were built alongside the sea. They were strong that intruders would try to starve out the castle by laying it to siege, rather than mounting a full-scale attack. Of course, this also highlights the another huge disadvantage of concentric designs — their vast cost. The best examples of concentric castles can be found in Wales.
Most are can be attributed to King Edward I. My book, Exploring English Castles , is filled with stories and more than spectacular photos.
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