ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Castles in Great Britain and Ireland

Okay, so imagine you are playing with blocks and you want to protect your blocks from your little brother who may knock them down. What do you do? You build a wall out of blocks! Just like that, castles were built in Great Britain and Ireland a very long time ago to keep people safe from bad guys who might try to hurt them.

Castles were really big and strong structures made of stones and bricks. They usually had really thick walls and towers that could help the people who lived inside see far away. They also had a moat, which was like a very big ditch filled with water around the castle. This made it really hard for the bad guys to get past the castle walls.

Castles in Great Britain and Ireland were built a very long time ago, like in the Middle Ages. People lived in these castles and worked hard to protect themselves and their communities from invaders. Castles had different parts like a keep, which was like a big house where the people who lived in the castle stayed, and a bailey, which was like a big yard for animals to live in.

People who lived in the castles were important people like knights and lords who worked for kings and queens. They held important jobs and needed to be protected. Over time, castles changed as people learned more about how to build them better. They became more decorative and had gardens, fancy walls, and even rooms with fireplaces!

Today, some of these castles still stand in Great Britain and Ireland, and we can visit them to see what life was like for the people who lived there a long, long time ago.