BRITISH CASTLES Great Britain’s castles exemplify artistic characteristics and were essential elements in the lives of kings, lords, nobles, and chieftains. The word castle means a building or group of buildings usually intended as a residence of a king, lord, noble, or chieftain. There are many different types of castles, and the features about them are simply amazing. Warfare was also an important issue involving castles. They had to have some means of protection. The castles reached their fullest development in the medieval period, even though fortified building had been around much earlier. The castles created a feudal system, which gave them th