A castle’s Turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall. Turrets provided a projecting defensive position that covered fire to its adjacent walls.
A turret could have a circular top with crenellations, a pointed roof, or an apex of some kind. Turrets sometimes contained a staircase that projected higher than the rest of the building.
Quick jump to: Battlements – Chapel – Keep – Ward – Barbican – Arrow Loops – Turret – Tower – Portcullis – Moat – Gatehouse – Curtain Wall – Drawbridge
Building a Turret
The difference between towers and turrets is that turrets project from the edge of a building, instead of continuing to the ground. This creates additional stresses on the structure, so they were usually supported by a corbel – a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall. For these reasons, turrets were usually rather small.
A castle could have both towers and turrets. In time, turrets became more ornamental than defensive.
