Medieval castles were not built for comfort, they were built for safety. Castles were built to protect the lord. The castle wasn't the most comfortable place to live in, there was no heat in the castles, only the lord and his family would have heat. The reason why it's cold is because the castle is made out of stone.
In the middle ages the castles were built with:
- Wood
- Any type of stone, including flint, sea pebbles, and chalk
The walls of a castle needed to be very strong and sturdy because they were made of stone they were also extremely heavy. The walls were often made of something called Ashlar. Ashlar is a name for stones cut into shapes with square edges. The space between the ashlar stones are filled with mortar. Mortar would bring the ashlar stones together to make cement. Mortar is a mixture of water, sand and lime. When the ashlar wall was completed it would often be coated over with plaster and whitewash. Another name for castle walls were called curtain wall.
Arrow Loops: Slits in the wall that allowed the castle defenders to shoot arrows.
Batter: An angled section at the bottom of the wall.
Battlements: Another name for the crenellations.
Crenellations: This is the top of the wall.
Embrasures: The gaps in the crenellation between the merlons.
Machicolations: The openings between the corbels of a parapet. These are openings that point down from the top of the wall. This allows defenders to drop items like boiling oil and large stones down upon attackers.
Merlons: The part of the crenellation that stuck upward.
Rubble Core: The filling between the outer and inner parts of the wall.
Wall Walk: This is the top of the wall where defenders could patrol the wall.
Some tools that were used. . .
Hammers and Chisels: used to design the stone blocks into the shape and size necessary for the construction of walls, columns, and towers. Chisels were also used to create detailed designs in the stone for decorative or religious purposes.
Scaffolding: This is a temporary structure on the outside of a building. It is usually made of wood and rope, in the medieval time. Now they have metal poles.
Woodworking: saws, wooden nails, metal nails, hammers and chisels.
Template Tools: templates were used to create exact shaped and size blocks.
Hammers and Chisels: used to design the stone blocks into the shape and size necessary for the construction of walls, columns, and towers. Chisels were also used to create detailed designs in the stone for decorative or religious purposes.
Scaffolding: This is a temporary structure on the outside of a building. It is usually made of wood and rope, in the medieval time. Now they have metal poles.
Woodworking: saws, wooden nails, metal nails, hammers and chisels.
Template Tools: templates were used to create exact shaped and size blocks.