Castle: Quick Facts

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The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Oct. 22, 2026

News •

Castle set for dazzling display of new daffodil type • Oct. 17, 2026, 2:00 AM ET (BBC)

Photos and Videos

Illustration comparing three main castle types: a motte and bailey with a wooden fort on a mound and enclosed yard, a stone keep castle with a central stone tower and surrounding walls, and a concentric castle with multiple layers of defensive walls, towers, and inner and outer baileys.

château of the dukes of Anjou

Tower of London

The stone keep of Cardiff Castle stands atop a grassy mound surrounded by a moat, with a flag flying from the tower in South Glamorgan, Wales.

Dunguaire Castle

Castillo de la Mota

Illustration of a typical medieval castle complex viewed from above, showing labeled features including the chapel, inner and outer baileys, kitchen, storehouse, stables, donjon or keep, postern gate, list or ward, moat, portcullis, and drawbridge within fortified walls.

Balmoral Castle, a large stone building with turrets and a central clock tower, stands amid manicured lawns and trees in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Warwick Castle stands in the background above the tree-lined River Avon, where several boats with people are paddling on the calm water in Warwickshire, England.

History of Hohenschwangau Castle

Maintaining a historical castle

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Topics

6 Stately Castles in Italy bailey motte motte-and-bailey castle Château moat keep portcullis barbican fortification Citadel Kremlin Martello tower alcazar 5 Famous Border Walls How was the Great Wall of China made?Parapet bastion battlement

Key People

Robert Adam, oil painting by an unknown artist; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Robert Adam

Scottish architect

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Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shropshire or Shrewsbury

Norman magnate and soldier

Northampton

Edward Godwin

British architect and writer

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Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann

German architect

Burges, William: St. Finbar's Cathedral

William Burges

British architect

Linderhof Palace

Georg von Dollmann

German architect

Hagia Sophia. Istanbul, Turkey. Constantinople. Church of the Holy Wisdom. Church of the Divine Wisdom. Mosque.

Architecture: The Built World