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 _first floor_, about 13 feet high, seems to have had loops in plain
round-headed recesses in the north, south, and west sides, of which
the latter is broken away, and a two-light Tudor window inserted. The
northern loop has also been replaced by a similar window. In the south
wall the loop is represented by a small square opening. In the ruins of
the east side may be traced the remains of a doorway and the base of
a lobby and staircase in the wall. It is clear that the external door
was in this face, near the south end, and that it opened direct into
the first floor, while right and left, in the thickness of the wall,
was a mural passage, at its south end a mere lobby, but to the north
containing a straight staircase which rises 13 feet by twelve steps, 4
feet 4 inches broad, towards the east angle, where was a small lobby
which opened on the second floor, and was lighted by a loop in the east
wall.
Thus, the _second floor_ was entered in its east side by a direct
mural stair, like those at Carlisle, at Chepstow, and at Ludlow.
In each of the sides, north, south, and west, of this floor is an
original round-headed recess, and in the east wall, over the mural
stair, are traces of a shorter recess, placed higher up, whence
seems to have been a passage into a mural chamber in the south-east
angle. The southern recess alone contains its original window. This
is a small coupled window of two lights, square headed, but within a
round-headed arch. The dividing shaft is decidedly Norman, as is the
whole character of the opening. The north window is also coupled and
round headed, but looks like a Stuart insertion. The east and west
windows are square headed, of Tudor date. In the north-west angle is a
mural recess with loops, possibly a garderobe, and in the north-east
angle a square-headed doorway opens by a lobby into a well-stair, which
commences at this level and ascends to the roof. It is 7 feet 6 inches
in diameter, and rises 31 feet by forty-six steps to the allure, or
rampart walk. This second was originally the principal and uppermost
floor, lofty, and with a high-pitched roof, the weather moulding of
which is still seen on the east and west walls. The roof ridge was at
the level of the rampart walk, and, as the north and south walls seem
original, there must have been a deep cavity on either side, with the
gutter in its bottom. Subsequently this roof was removed, and replaced
by a flat roof, at the rampart level, the line of which is marked by a
row of corbels in the north and south walls. The cause of this change,
common, probably, to all Norman keeps, was the superior convenience for
defence of a flat roof, rendered possible by the introduction of sheet
lead as a roofing material.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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