The main approach to the castle lies through the town, on leaving which, a road, passing the church, leads up to the entrance, and crosses the ditch by a permanent bridge, by which the draw-bridge was superseded by Henry Lord Berkeley in 1587, and beyond and partly standing in which is the _outer Gate-house_. This is a rectangular building of no great merit, pierced by a portal having a low drop arch on each face. The passage is plainly vaulted in calcareous tufa, and in the crown of the vault are three square holes or _meurtrières_. There is no upper story, nor, at present, are there any flanking towers or curtain. There is a basement below the road-way level, entered from the ditch, but, probably, at one time filled with earth. This gate-house may be of Decorated date. It has no portcullis. From the ditch, the side walls of the bridge look original, and may have been, as at Goderich, the lateral walls between which was the pit of the draw-bridge. Entering the outer gate, the visitor finds himself upon a triangular platform, of which the outer gate-house is the apex, and the inner gate-house and part of the keep the base; on the left a modern wall, which replaces the curtain, crests the scarp of the ditch, and forms the north side of the platform 66 yards long. On the right a low parapet, 54 yards long, forms the south side, and caps a revetment wall of about 10 feet in height, at the foot of which the ancient scarp has been laid out in good taste in a terrace garden. This triangular platform is scarcely an outer ward: it is rather a barbican covering the main entrance and the keep. Its area is 7,750 square yards. There is no trace of a second ditch in advance of this side of the keep and the inner gate, but it is very probable that there was one, though, if so, it must have been filled up when the courts were added to the keep, as otherwise it would have completely occupied them. The keep covers about 35 yards, or above half of the base of the barbican, and lies to the left or north of the gate-house. Part of it has been removed and a large breach formed, showing that the interior is full 22 feet above the ground level outside. The _inner Gate-house_ is in the same position as at Alnwick. It is in truth not a regular gate-house, and has no flanking towers or _machicoulis_, but the entrance passage pierces a lofty pile of buildings which connect the domestic apartments with the keep, and complete the circle of the main court. The portal is about 11 feet broad and 30 feet deep, and its roof is flat and of timber. It has two drop arches. On the right is a lodge door, and the inner archway has a half round portcullis groove. Above are two stories through which are doors, no doubt modern, into the keep. Probably the Norman entrance was here, a mere opening in the wall. Much of the structure seems Decorated with later alterations. South of, and flanking the gate, between it and the south-east angle of the place, is a small Tudor building.