Why did they stop building castles? Castles were great defences against the enemy. However, when gunpowder was invented the castles stopped being an effective form of defence. ... The medieval castle with its high vertical walls was no longer the invincible fortification it had been.

Why were castles not built as much after the Middle Ages?

Castles were often built at the top of hills or where they could use some natural features of the land to help with their defense. After the Middle Ages castles weren't built as much, especially as larger artillery and cannon were designed that could easily knock down their walls.

How were castles destroyed?

Fire might be used, especially against timber structures; digging underneath stone structures (known as mining) could cause them to collapse; dismantling a structure by hand was sometimes done, but was time- and labour-intensive, as was filling ditches and digging away earthworks; and in later periods gunpowder was ...