Page 87 - (DK) Smithsinian - Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare

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CASTLE DEFENSES
▶ CORNER TOWER ▼ LOOPHOLE
The round towers were excellent The walls are dotted with loopholes
vantage points from which to keep and arrow-slits that enabled the
watch over the surrounding land. defenders to shoot outward.
Their curved surfaces deflected BODIAM CASTLE
missiles hurled by siege engines.

▼ GATEHOUSE
MACHICOLATIONS
Defenders could rain missiles onto
the enemy through openings called
machicolations between the
battlement’s corbels.

CASTLE INTERIOR
▲ BATTLEMENTS
Supported by projections called corbels, the castle’s
battlements have crenels (gaps) through which
archers could take aim at attackers below.

▲ GREAT HALL WINDOWS
The hall, the castle’s main room, was
designed in a contemporary Gothic
fashion, with arched windows.

▲ VAULTED CEILING
The castle’s inner chambers had elaborate ceilings,
emphasizing the owner’s wealth and taste.

▲ STURDY WALLS
Deep window embrasures (recesses)
reveal the impressive thickness of
the castle’s outer walls.