The keep was the strongest part of the castle and that is why the lord and Lady lived there.

Palisade

When castles were wooden they had a palisade around the outside of the bailey to protect it. This was a high, wooden fence built so high that enemies could not climb over it.

There was not much that could be done to protect the wooden castle from fire so people started to build castles out of stone instead even though it was much more expensive than wood.

They thought very carefully about the design of the castle and made it as strong as they could from the start.

Stone Castles

The stone castles had outer walls that protected the people and animals living in the bailey. This stone wall was thick so it couldn't be destroyed very easily. Sometimes they even built double sets of walls for added protection.

Along these walls they built round towers that were stronger than square towers. Round towers also meant that enemies could be seen from where ever they came from not just in one direction.

The keep also had thick stone walls to keep the important people inside safe and a strong, well defended gatehouse.

Arrow slits The towers and walls had arrow slits. These meant the soldiers could fire arrows out of them easily but it was almost impossible to fire an arrow in through them. The soldiers were very safe using these and they were a good way to protect the castle.

The Gatehouse

	Once enemies were spotted the entrance to the castle could be closed to stop them getting in. There were huge doors that were bolted shut and very secure.
	The portcullis, a huge metal gate with sharp points on the bottom, was lowered down to block the entrance. This would have been lifted and dropped by men working huge chains and would slide up and down in a slit in the walls.
	The drawbridge was made of wood and made a bridge across the moat when it was down. When the castle was being attacked it was pulled upright which made it very difficult for enemies to get in. You can see the holes in the wall here where the chains would have gone through.
Murder holes were often used to stop people entering when they weren't welcome. These holes were all around the castle walls and were holes in the flooring which overhung the outer walls. The soldiers poured hot water down them onto the attackers below or dropped huge rocks onto them. Sometimes they dropped animal manure through them too.

Being Prepared

The people living in the castle were always very careful to make sure they had plenty of food in the castle grounds in case of attack. The attacking army might be ready to wait for weeks and try to starve them out of their castle by stopping food getting in. They also had wells inside the castle grounds which meant it was not possible to poison their water supply either.