Bailey (castle)
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A bailey or ward in a
Upper, lower, middle, inner and outer wards or baileys
Baileys can be arranged in sequence along a hill (as in a
The most important and prestigious buildings, such as the great hall and the keep or bergfried, were usually located in the inner bailey of the castle, sometimes called the central bailey or main bailey. Nonetheless, there are a few castles where the keep is outside the inner bailey, such as Château de Dourdan and Flint Castle. The lower or outer bailey often held less important structures, such as stables, if there was not enough space in the inner bailey.
Outer baileys could also be largely defensive in function, without significant buildings. In the concentric castles of the military orders, such as
A particularly complex arrangement of baileys can be found at Château Gaillard. There is both a lower bailey separated from the main castle by a deep ditch, and a concentric arrangement inside the main castle with an inner and middle bailey.[2]
Holy Roman Empire
In the Germanic castles of the Holy Roman Empire, there is a distinction between a Vorburg and a Kernburg roughly corresponding to lower and upper baileys in English castles.[3][page needed] In German-speaking countries, many castles had double curtain walls with a narrow enclosure outside the main walls, acting as a killing ground between them, referred to as a zwinger. The outermost wall was a Zwingermauer or type of low mantlet wall. These were often added at vulnerable points like the gate of a castle or town, but were rarely as fully developed as in the concentric castles in Wales or the Crusader castles.
Gallery with examples of castle wards
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Château Gaillard in France had an elaborate sequence of outer and inner baileys
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Château de Dourdan, France, with the keep just outside the inner bailey
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The inner and outer baileys of the Château de Puilaurens, France (in yellow)
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Layout of Shuri Castle in Japan; multiple baileys were built around the main hall