Defensive features

Most castles, from the earliest times, followed certain standards of design and construction. Central to the castle was the keep, or "donjon", the main commanding tower. Many early castles and certain later ones were nothing more than simple towers. The tower houses of Britain and Ireland, such as Blarney Castle, are examples of this type. Most, however, required outer walls of some sort. The tower was contained within the walls or attached to the walls. There was often more than one set of walls, creating inner and outer courts, the latter known as a bailey. Later castles were built on a concentric plan, where two heavily towered walls formed two rings around the keep.

Castles often featured an array of defences to delay the attackers' progress towards the keep. Moats and ditches formed the most obvious, as these would have to be filled in before heavy siege engines could be moved towards the walls. The gate was a weak point in the defences, so this could be strengthened with flanking towers and a heavy portcullis. In Russian castles, a single tower with a double gate running through it ("nadvratnaa bashnya") would be used instead. "Murder holes" and embrasures might be built into the walls and gatehouse so projectiles could be launched at the attackers.

Overhanging wooden hoardings could be constructed if a castle was under threat. These covered walkways would allow several lines of fire. Later, permanent fixtures known as "machicolation" were built in stone. Perhaps the most notable feature of castle defence were the crenellations and merlons, which offered relative cover for archers.

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