Governor’s House on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland
What is the best kind of tower to defend a castle?
Not a square! While square towers are easy to build, attackers can just as easily tunnel under the corner to make the whole structure collapse. It lacks strength. We’ll have to think outside the box.
We can round out our defenses with circular or cylindrical towers, which have greater strength to withstand direct hits from projectiles and won’t fall for the tunneling trick. Round towers do have a disadvantage, though: they’re harder to build because every stone must be the perfect shape to fit.
How about a compromise? Polygonal towers have stronger corners but don’t require such exacting measurements from the quarry.
What do these options look like? Check out this photo of the Governor’s House on Calton Hill. A round tower dominates the front with two octagonal towers on either side and a square structure peeking out from the back. Normally, towers are spaced out along a defensive wall, but this unique building certainly gives an easy view of all the options!
Thought for writers: What kind of towers best fit your peoples’ architectural capabilities and strategy?
Want to know more about castles? Check out the castle compendium and the castle archive!
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