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English medieval walls often contain a mixture of cobbles, rubble and re-used brick, though the picture from Thetford shows almost exclusively cobbles. Some cobblestone architecture shows consistent matching in the size of the stones used, shape, and color. [5] This method of construction has been referred to as a form of folk art. [10]
The first stone walls were constructed by farmers and primitive people by piling loose field stones into a dry stone wall. Later, mortar and plaster were used, especially in the construction of city walls, castles, and other fortifications before and during the Middle Ages. These stone walls are spread throughout the world in different forms.
The reason wood fell into disuse as a material is that it is quite flammable. Soon stone became more popular. Stone castles took years to construct depending on the overall size of the castle. Stone was stronger and of course much more expensive than wood. Most stone had to be quarried miles away, and then brought to the building site.
The walls vary in size, a few being upwards of 12 feet (3.7 m) high, and are so broad that they present the appearance of embankments. Weak parts of the defence are strengthened by double or triple walls, and occasionally vast lines of ramparts , composed of large blocks of unhewn and unvitrified stones, envelop the vitrified centre at some ...
Elements of a rampart in a stone castle or town wall from the 11th to 15th centuries included: Parapet : a low wall on top of the rampart to shelter the defenders. Crenellation : rectangular gaps or indentations at intervals in the parapet, the gaps being called embrasures or crenels , and the intervening high parts being called merlons .
The stone and mud brick houses of Kot Diji were clustered behind massive stone flood dykes and defensive walls, for neighboring communities quarreled constantly about the control of prime agricultural land. [3] Mundigak (c. 2500 BC) in present-day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun dried bricks. [4]
An enclosure castle is a fortified residence or stronghold, in which defence is facilitated by walls and towers. [1] Such fortifications were usually composed of wood or stone, but there are later examples built of brick.
In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (known for the huge stone blocks of its 'cyclopean' walls). A Greek phrourion was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or fortress. These constructions mainly ...