OTHER DEFENSIVE FEATURES

Merlons and embrasures – also called crenulations, are one of the first parts of a castle a child recognises. A defender was protected by the merlon, and could then fire through the embrasure.

The merlon is the part that sticks up.

The embrasure is the gap between two merlons.

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Bratticing – temporary wooden defences to allow defenders to fire at the base of the wall. A good way to see where bratticing was used is to look for the holes for the joists which went through the wall.

Attackers were at their most dangerous when they were at the foot of the wall. In order to shoot at, or even drop things on men at the foot of the wall, defenders had to lean right out – and this made them good targets.

Bratticing was a way to get round this problem. It was a wooden extension built out from the top of the wall. It had firing places through the floor and at the front.

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Barbican - a series of defences around a gateway.

The barbican did several things: 2. Machicolations mean the defenders can shoot at any • it used a series of barriers, drawbridges, attackers who get to the door, doors, and portcullises to block the way in in relative safety. From • it made the attackers concentrate their underneath notice all the forces in a small space, so they were places defenders can shoot crowded together and easy to kill and drop things from. • it gave the defenders many places, often in good cover, from which to fire at the attackers.

Looking up from underneath 1. Stone walls and a bridge the machicolations. concentrate the attackers in a small space, which makes them easier to shoot and kill.

3. There was a door and a portcullis here.

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