The bailey was the open space inside the castle. Today, in most castles open to the public, the bailey is a large open area covered with neatly-mown grass.
But the bailey was a very different place in medieval times. The surface would have been trodden stone, straw and mud, and the low lines of stone we now see in the grass would have been the bottoms of the walls of buildings.
When we visit castles, we often feel like being hushed. But the medieval castle would have been a crowded, noisy and smelly place.
