\paperw5085 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \pard\tx3255\tx6525\tx9780\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 \f1 \fs22 The concentric castle made its appearance during the last decades of the
13th century. This consisted of one or more rings of \ATXnt901 fortification\ATXnt0 around the nucleus of a central keep. Water often played an important defensive role in castle design. The \ATXnt902 moats\ATXnt0 which surrounded early castles and
manor houses were wide ditches filled with water that could only by crossed by means of a wooden drawbridge. In \ATXnt903 case\ATXnt0 of danger or aggression, such bridges could be raised by a system of chains and windlasses located in an upper chambe
r in the gatehouse. However, more settled \ATXnt904 conditions\ATXnt0 accompanied the waning of the Middle Ages, such that there was less need for defence and a greater demand for comfort. In Tudor times, some of the medieval castles were converted in
to more \ATXnt905 elegant homes\ATXnt0 , though many were later destroyed in the Civil War of the 1640s. Only in Scotland, where the tower house prevailed, did the castle continue to serve its essential defensive purpose until well into the 17th century
