Outer bailey

[1] It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary buildings used for the management of the castle or the supply of its occupants.

These domestic buildings could include workshops, livestock stalls and stables; storage facilities such as barns, sheds and granaries, as well as quarters for servants such as maids, farm workers, and even the castle governors or castellans.

[1] The domestic buildings of the continental schloss, often a stately home or palace, may also be referred to as an outer ward (German: Vorburg).

In many cases the main entrance to the inner living quarters led through the outer bailey, which thus formed a kind of defensive buffer and often also served as refuge for the villagers who lived outside the castle walls.

This explains why the castle chapel was often found in the bailey: it served as the parish church for the commoners.