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 second story had a timber floor resting on twelve corbels, and is
cylindrical, like the first, and of the same diameter, but higher.
It was the best room. Besides its entrance door on the west, it has
on the south-west a fireplace under a flat segmental arch with plain
chamfer, above which are two slender octagonal corbels, which evidently
supported a hood, probably of timber. There are also two windows
beneath drop-arch recesses, towards the south-east and north-east.
The former has stone seats; and the latter a light 2 feet broad, with
a cinquefoil head, of which the central foil is an ogee. The head is
made of two stones only. The moulding is plain, having a shutter rebate
inside; and outside, rounded jambs in place of the usual chamfer. This
recess has a stone seat on the west side only. In the east jamb is a
small square-headed door opening upon a mural stair of 2 feet 5 inches
broad, of which nineteen steps remain, and which led to the third floor.
The stair is lighted by a small hole below, and above by a
square-headed loop of 9 inches in a recess splayed to 3 feet 7 inches
opening. The loop, though about 60 feet from the ground, was closed by
one vertical and three horizontal bars. This floor may have been used
as a prison.
The third stage has walls 8 feet thick, and had a wooden floor. The
stair from below opened into it on the south-east side, but seems to
have been continued in the south wall, so as to reach the battlement
platform, now entirely gone. This floor has a small mural chamber, no
doubt a garderobe, on its west side, the door into which is narrow, and
has an arch of two stones, which seems to be four-centred, or of Tudor
pattern. This door is placed between a window on the north-west, the
recess of which has a flat drop arch; and another on the south-west, of
which the recess is broken away. There is also a small fireplace on the
north side, and another window to the north-east.
In the wall close south of the mural chamber are two small square
shafts, one of which was no doubt a chimney and the other perhaps a
garderobe vent from the battlements.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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