Mediæval Military Architecture in England, Volume 1 (of 2)Clark, George Thomas
History
Mediæval Military Architecture in England, Volume 1 (of 2)
Clark, George Thomas
Architecture -- England; Architecture, Medieval; Military architecture
The flanking towers are alike, about 22 feet diameter and 55 feet high
from the exterior base, with walls 7 feet thick. The bases are either
solid or pierced by steps leading down to the galleries. There is a
regular basement story, and above it a floor on the level of the inner
ward. They are not vaulted and show no exterior herring-bone work,
though one has a little inside. A modern summer-house has been built
upon that to the south-east.
The central or gate-tower is 24 feet diameter. It is pierced at the
level of the scarp by a portal which opens upon the drawbridge, the
piers of which have been described; and there is a stage above this.
The portal ascends towards the keep; its details are much broken down,
and little can be made of them.
Of the _enceinte_ of the inner ward there remains to be noted the
_northern gatehouse_. This, the original and, probably, the only
entrance to the Norman fortress, though much ruined, does not appear to
have been materially altered. It consists in a rectangular building,
40 feet deep by 20 feet broad, set in the centre of the curtain, with
which its outer face is nearly flush. It is crossed by an outer,
middle, and inner wall, each pierced by an arch of 12 feet opening,
through which lies the passage. There remain the rectangular grooves
of a portcullis, and a few years ago there was evidence of a second,
and in the wall is herring-bone work. The arches are plain, without
moulding or chamfer. The inner one is round-headed, and springs from a
flat abacus, chamfered below. The joints of the ashlar work are about
1 inch wide. The curtains on either side of this gateway, though much
repaired, seem to be original, and there are traces of the old round
gate-towers. The pit of the drawbridge remains in front of the gate,
upon the original line of fosse.
The outer ward no doubt occupies the site of an earlier outwork.
It is built against the narrow and north end of the inner ward, is
four-sided, about 250 feet north and south, by a mean of 110 feet east
and west. Its west side is straight, being the continued line of that
face of the old fortress. The east face has a slight re-entering angle,
caused apparently by the shape of the ground. At the two southern
angles are two large drum towers, which connect the old and newer work,
and probably replace two smaller and older towers. These stand in
the line of the old ditch, and flank the Norman gateway. That to the
south-west, rather the larger of the two, and slightly oval in plan,
has a mean diameter of 60 feet; it is of two stages. Both are vaulted,
or rather domed. That to the south-east, of 50 feet diameter, is nearly
circular, but has a remarkable spur or keel-shaped projection towards
the field. It is of three stages, the two lower being domed. These
towers are in fact casemates, having embrasures for small culverins
towards the field. Each has a well-stair in its southern side, and is
entered from the gorge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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