Concentric castle

A ring castle is the evolved from a moth or tower castle design of a medieval castle.

Instead of the usual moths and tower castles annular earth walls or wooden palisades, which served as protection from predators, ring forts are surrounded by at least one closed ring wall of stone. During the late Middle Ages, the round Bering was gradually transformed into a polygon. However, the research also referred castle castles such as Castle Ring, whose enclosing walls have little or no resemblance to a circle.

In continental Europe, ring forts are usually pronounced as so-called edge house castles, whose buildings are mostly cultivated from the inside of the ring wall. Here Walter Hotz distinguishes between edge house castles without a tower, for example Vischering Castle and Castle Seinsfeld, and such plants which have at least one tower building. As examples of border castles house with a freestanding central tower, which could be both dungeon and residential tower, castle Hague apply in Upper Bavaria and Burglinde rock in the Odenwald. In addition, there are also ring castles with several towers such as the Hülchrath castle in Grevenbroich and Büdingen Castle in Upper Hesse.

In the British Isles also developed from the mid-13th century a special form of circular castle. This is equipped with a plurality of circular walls, the height of which increases from the outside inwards. In the event of an attack were defending bow or crossbow thus aim at attackers, without being hindered by the wall in the view while the attackers had to overcome several walls. The Welsh Castle Caerphilly Castle was the first of its kind that was planned from the outset as a ring castle. Other examples include Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey and built by the Knights of St. John Krak des Chevaliers in Syria.