An outwork is a minor

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponiers to shield

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s and fortification curtains from direct battery were developed in the 16th century. Later, the increasing scale of warfare and the greater resources available to the besieger accelerated this development, and systems of outworks grew increasingly elaborate and sprawling as a means of slowing the attacker's progress and making it more costly. When taken by an enemy force, their lack of rear-facing ramparts left them totally open to fire from the main works.''A Dictionary of Military Architecture Fortification and Fieldworks from the Iron Age to the Eighteenth Century''
by Stephen Francis Wyley. Retrieved 23 May 2015. An

advanced work An advanced work, advance-work or advanced outwork is a fortification or outwork in front of the main defensive building or castle.

, a fortification detached and forward of the main castle or fortification, is sometimes referred to as a type of outwork or 'advanced outwork'. The hornwork and crownwork are subtypes of outworks.

References

{{Fortifications Fortification (architectural elements) Castle architecture

See also

References