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Castles on the Web Castle Terms Category: Architecture and Buildings More specific: Castles County & Date: USA, 10092007 Words: 200

Abacus
Flat portion on top of a capital.

Aisle
Space between arcade and outer wall.

Allure
Walkway along the top of a wall.

Ambulatory
Aisle round an apse.

Apse
Rounded and usually of a chancel or chapel.

Arcade
Row of arches, free-standing and supported on piers or columns; a blind arcade is a 'dummy'.

Arch
Can be round-headed, pointed, two-centered, or drop; ogee

Arrow Loop
A narrow vertical slit cut into a wall through which arrows could be fired from inside.

Ashlar
Squared blocks of smooth stone neatly trimmed to shape.

Aumbry
Recess to hold sacred vessels; typically in a chapel.

Bailey
The ward or courtyard inside the castle walls, includes exercise area, parade ground, emergency corral

Baluster
A small column.

Balustrade
A railing, as along a path or stairway.

Bar hole
Horizontal hole for timber bar used as a door-bolt.

Barbican
The gateway or outworks defending the drawbridge.

Barrel vault
Cylindrical roof.

Bartizan
An overhanging battlemented corner turret, corbelled out; sometimes as grandiose as an overhanging gallery; common in Scotland and France.

Bastion
A small tower at the end of a curtain wall or in the middle of the outside wall; solid masonry projection; structural rather than inhabitable.

Batter
A sloping part of a curtain wall. The sharp angle at the base of all walls and towers along their exterior surface; talus.

Battlement
Parapet with indentations or embrasures, with raised portions (merlons) between; crenelations; a narrow wall built along the outer edge of the wall walk for protection against attack.

Bay
Internal division of building marked by roof principals or vaulting piers.

Belvedere
A raised turret or pavillion.

Berm
Flat space between the base of the curtain wall and the inner edge of the moat; level area separating ditch from bank.

Bivalate
A hillfort defended by two concentric ditches.

Blockhouse
Small square fortification, usually of timber bond overlapping arrangement of bricks in courses (flemish, dutch, french, etc.)

Bonnet
Freestanding fortification; priest's cap.

Boss
Central stone of arch or vault; key stone.

Brattice
Timber tower or projecting wooden gallery; hoarding.

Breastwork
Heavy parapet slung between two gate towers; defense work over the portcullis.

Bressumer
Beam to support a projection.

Broch
Drystone freestanding tower with interior court, no external windows (which face into the court), spiral stair inside wall, typically iron age Celtic refuge in Scotland.

Burg
German stronghold.

Burh
Saxon stronghold; literally a 'neighborhood'.

Buttery
Next to the kitchen, a room from where wine was dispensed.

Buttress
Wall projection for extra support; flying

Capital
Distinctly treated upper end of a column.

Carotid
Heart-shaped.

Casemates
Artillery emplacements in separate protected rooms, rather than in a battery.

Cesspit
The opening in a wall in which the waste from one or more garderobes was collected.

Chamfer
Surface made by smoothing off the angle between two stone faces.

Chancel
The space surrounding the altar of a church.

Chemise wall
Formed by a series of interlinked or overlapping semicircular bastions.

Chevron
Zig-zag moulding.

Choir
The part of a cruciform church east of the crossing.

Clasping
Encasing the angle.

Clunch
Hard chalky material.

Cob
Unburned clay mixed with straw.

Column
Pillar (circular section).

Concentric
Having two sets of walls, one inside the other.

Coping
Covering stones.

Corbel
A projecting block of stone built into a wall during construction; step-wise construction, as in an arch, roof, etc.

Corinthian
Elaborately foliated capital.

Cornice
Decorative projection along the top of a wall.

Counterguard
A long, near-triangular freestanding fortification within the moat.

Counterscarp
Outer slope of ditch.

Course
Level layer of stones or bricks.

Crannog
Celtic Scotland timber-built fortified lake village.

Creasing
þ-shaped mark on a wall, marking the pitch of a former roof.

Crenel
The low segment of the alternating high and low segments of a battlement.

Crenelation
Battlements at the top of a tower or wall.

Crocket
Curling leaf-shape.

Cross-and-orb
Modified cross slits to accommodate gunnery.

Crosswall
Interior dividing wall; structural.

Crownwork
Freestanding bastioned fortification in front of main defenses.

Cupola
Hemispherical armored roof.

Curtain Wall
A connecting wall hung between two towers surrounding the bailey.

Cushion
Capital cut from a block by rounding off the lower corners.

Cusp
Curves meeting in a point.

Cyclopean
Drystone masonry, ancient, of huge blocks.

Daub
A mud of clay mixture applied over wattle to strengthen and seal it.

Dead-ground
Close to the wall, where the defenders can't shoot.

Diaper work
Decoration of squares or lozenges.

Diaphragm
Wall running up to the roof-ridge.

Dog-legged
With right-angle bends.

Dogtooth
Diagonal indented pyramid.

Donjon
A great tower or keep.

Dormer
Window placed vertically in sloping roof.

Double-splayed
Embrasure whose smallest aperture is in the middle of the wall.

Drawbridge
A heavy timber platform built to span a moat between a gatehouse and surrounding land that could be raised when required to block an entrance.

Dressing
Carved stonework around openings.

Drum Tower
A large, circular, low, squat tower built into a wall.

Drystone
Unmortared masonry.

Dungeon
The jail, usually found in one of the towers.

Embattled
Battlemented; crenelated.

Embrasure
The low segment of the altering high and low segments of a battlement.

Enceinte
The enclosure or fortified area of a castle.

Fascine
Huge bundle of brushwood for revetting ramparts or filling in ditches.

Fillet
Narrow flat band.

Finial
A slender piece of stone used to decorate the tops of the merlons, spire, tower, balustrade, etc.

Fluting
Concave mouldings in parallel.

Foliated
Carved with leaves.

Footings
Bottom part of wall.

Forebuilding
An extension to the keep, guarding it's entrance.

Fosse
Ditch.

Freestone
High quality sand- or lime-stone.

Fresco
Painting on wet plaster wall.

Gable
Wall covering end of roof ridge.

Gallery
Long passage or room.

Garderobe
A small latrine or toilet either built into the thickness of the wall or projected out from it; ; projects from the wall as a small, rectangular bartizan

Gate House
The complex of towers, bridges, and barriers built to protect each entrance through a castle or town wall.

Glacis
A bank sloping down from a castle which acts as a defence against invaders; broad, sloping naked rock or earth on which the attackers are completely exposed

Great chamber
Lord's solar, or bed-sitting room.

Great Hall
The building in the inner ward that housed the main meeting and dining area for the castle's residence; throne room

Groined
Roof with sharp edges at intersection of cross-vaults.

Half-shaft
Roll-moulding on either side of opening.

Half-timber
The common form of medieval construction in which walls were made of a wood frame structure filled with wattle and daub.

Hall
Principal room or building in complex.

Herringbone
Brick or stone laid in alternate diagonal courses.

Hillfort
Bronze or iron age earthwork defenses of concentric ditches and banks.

Hoarding
Upper wooden stories on a stone castle wall; the living area; sometimes, a temporary wooden balcony suspended from the tops of walls from which missiles could be dropped.

Hood
Arched covering; when used as umbrella, called hood-mould.

Hornwork
Freestanding quadrilateral fortification in front of the main wall.

Impost
Wall bracket to support arch.

Inner Curtain
The high wall the surrounds the inner ward.

Inner Ward
The open area in the center of a castle.

Jamb
Side posts of arch, door, or window.

Joggled
Keyed together by overlapping joints.

Joist
Wall-to-wall timber beams to support floor boards.

Keep
A strong stone tower; main tower; donjon; stronghold.

Keystone
Central wedge in top of arch.

Lancet
Long, narrow window with pointed head.

Lantern
Small structure with open or windowed sides on top of a roof or dome to let light or air into the enclosed space below.

Lattice
Laths or lines crossing to form a network.

Lias
Greyish rock which splits easily into slabs.

Light
Glazing; component part of window, divided by mullions and transoms.

Lintel
Horizontal stone or beam bridging an opening.

Loophole
Narrow, tall opening, wallslit for light, air, or shooting through.

Louvre
Opening in roof (sometimes topped with lantern) to allow smoke to escape from central hearth.

Lozenge
Diamond shape.

Machicolations
Projecting gallery on brackets, on outside of castle or towers, with holes in floor for dropping rocks, shooting, etc.

Mantlet
Detached fortification preventing direct access to a gateway; low outer wall.

Merlon
The high segment of the alternating high and low segments of a battlement.

Meurtriere
An opening in the roof of a passage where soldiers could shoot into the room below. Also see 'Murder Holes'.

Moat
A deep trench usually filled with water that surrounded a castle.

Moline
Ends curling outward.

Mortar
A mixture of sand, water, and lime used to bind stones together; as opposed to drylaid masonry.

Motte
A mound of earth on which a tower was built; artificial conical earth mound (sometimes an old barrow) for the keep

Motte-&-bailey
Earth mound with wood or stone keep, surrounded by ditched and palisaded enclosure (or courtyard).

Moulding
Masonry decoration; long, narrow, casts strong shadows.

Mullion
Vertical division of windows.

Mural
Wall (adjectival).

Murder Holes
A section between the main gate and a inner portcullis where arrows, rocks, and hot oil can be dropped from the roof though holes. Provides good cover for defenders and leaves the attacker open. Only used when outer gate has been breach.

Nailhead
Pyramid moulding.

Narthex
Enclosed passage between the main entrance and nave of a church; vestibule.

Nave
Principal hall of a church, extending from the narthex to the chancel.

Necking
Ornament at the top of a column, bottom of the capital.

Newel
Center post of spiral staircase.

Nookshaft
Shaft set in angle of jamb or pier.

O�lite
Granular limestone.

Offset
Ledge marking the narrowing of a wall's thickness.

Oilette
A round opening at the base of a loophole, usually for a cannon muzzle

Open joint
Wide space between faces of stones.

Oratory
Private in-house chapel; small cell attached to a larger chapel.

Order
One of a series of concentric mouldings.

Oriel
Projecting window in wall; originally a form of porch, usually of wood; side-turret.

Orillons
Arrowhead bastions.

Oubliette
A dungeon reached by a trap door; starvation hole

Outer Curtain
The wall the encloses the outer ward.

Outer Ward
The area around the outside of and adjacent to the inner curtain.

Palisade
A sturdy wooden fence usually built to enclose a site until a permanent stone wall can be constructed.

Palmette
Looped like a palm-leaf.

Parados
Low wall in inner side of main wall.

Parapet
Low wall on outer side of main wall.

Pediment
Low-pitched gable over porticos, doors, windows.

Peel
A small tower; typically, a fortified house on the border

Pellet
Circular boss.

Perpendicular
English architectural style (1330-1540).

Petit appareil
Small cubical stonework.

Pier
Support for arch, usually square.

Pilaster
Shallow pier used to buttress a wall.

Pinnacle
Ornamental crowning spire, tower, etc.

Piscina
Hand basin with drain, usually set against or into a wall.

Pitch
Roof slope.

Pitching
Rough cobbling on floor, as in courtyards.

Plinth
Projecting base of wall.

Portcullis
A heavy timber or metal grill that protected the castle entrance and could be raised or lowered from within the castle. It dropped vertically between grooves to block passage or barbican, or to trap attackers.

Postern Gate
A side or less important gate into a castle; usually for peacetime use by pedestrians

Prow
Acute-angled projection.

Puddled
Made waterproof.

Putlog
Beams placed in holes to support a hoarding; horizontal scaffold beam

Putlog Hole
A hole intentionally left in the surface of a wall for insertion of a horizontal pole.

Quadrangle
Inner courtyard.

Quirk
V-shaped nick.

Quoin
Dressed stone at angle of building.

Rampart
Defensive stone or earth wall surrounding castle.

Rath
Low, circular ringwork.

Ravelin
Outwork with two faces forming a salient angle; like in a star-shaped fort.

Re-entrant
Recessed; opposite of salient.

Rear-arch
Arch on the inner side of a wall.

Redoubt
Small self-contained fieldwork, a refuge for soldiers outside the main defenses.

Reeded
Parallel convex mouldings.

Refectory
Communal dining hall.

Relieving arch
Arch built up in a wall to relieve thrust on another opening.

Respond
Half-pier bonded into a wall to carry an arch.

Retirata
Improvised fieldwork to counter an imminent breach.

Revetment
Retaining wall to prevent erosion; to face a surface with stone slabs.

Rib
Raised moulding dividing a vault.

Ringwork
Circular earthwork of bank and ditch.

Roll
Moulding of semi-circular section.

Romanesque
The prevailing architectural style, 8-12th cent.; massive masonry, round arches, small windows, groin-and barrel-vault.

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