manorbier castle from south-west
Warkworth ([49]) is an example of a twelfth-century castle in which an approach was made to an adequately defended curtain, although with long distances between the towers. The arrangement, however, is a complete contrast to the haphazard projection of towers from earlier curtains, as at Ludlow. The castle stands high on the right bank of the Coquet: the river bends round it, so that the only level approach is from the plateau on the west side, and the town climbs the tongue of land between the castle and the river.[245] The mount is at the apex of the castle site, immediately above the town. On the west side of the enclosure the curtain, which is strong and thick, is unbroken by any tower: against the inner face are the domestic buildings. The south wall, which contains the gatehouse, is flanked by two angle-towers, on the west by the tower known as “Cradyfargus,” and on the east by a square tower, called the Amble tower. In the east wall, which commanded the ascent from the town, is a half-octagon tower, in each face of which is a huge loop for a cross-bow, so that a few archers could effectually rake the path outside with their fire. Of these towers, Cradyfargus projects into the castle enclosure with a blunt angle, its walls on this side being a mere continuation of the curtain. The basement was entered from the cellar behind the hall, the first floor from the great chamber above, and the second floor by a stair in the thickness of the wall from the vestibule or landing, west of the great chamber. The projection of the eastern tower is entirely outward: its internal face was flat. There was a basement and two floors: the first floor had an external stair from the ward, but it does not appear how the second floor was reached, though the jamb of a door may still be seen. The east tower had a garde-robe near the entrance of the basement and on the first floor: in Cradyfargus there are only traces of garde-robe arrangements. Although the space enclosed by the walls was large, and the flanking by no means perfect, the two most assailable sides of the fortress were very secure. The gatehouse, a building of about the year 1200 ([221]), formed an intermediate projection in the south wall between Cradyfargus and the Amble tower: the gateway is recessed between two half-octagon turrets. The preference of polygonal forms for the defences of this castle is rather characteristic of the north of England. There was, however, a conservative spirit in this district, which is seen in the retention of the rectangular form for the Amble tower. Even in a fourteenth-century castle like Dunstanburgh the angle towers are rectangular in form; while the “pele-tower” of the northern borders, throughout the middle ages, shows no important variation from the square form.
The importance given to the gatehouse at Warkworth was a sign of the times. We have seen how, at Lewes and Tickhill, the first thought of the builders was to provide their earthworks with a stone house of entry. Norman gatehouses were very simple in construction. The gatehouse at Warkworth, on the other hand, was anything but simple in its arrangements, and all the forethought possible was taken for its defence. There are three stories, the lowest of which is the vaulted hall of entrance to the castle, flanked, in the ground-floor of the half-octagon towers, by guard-rooms described in the survey of 1567 as a porter’s lodge and a prison. The defences of the passage need close attention. The entrance was closed by a gate which opened outwards, and stood about 4 feet in advance of the portcullis: the space between was commanded by arrow-loops in the walls of the guardrooms. The herse of the portcullis seems to have been worked from the second floor of the gatehouse:[246] the upper and broader portion ran in a groove which ceases at the level of the string-course below the vault of the passage, while the lower descended to the ground. Beyond the portcullis, the passage was kept under observation through cross-loops in the side walls. The vault stopped 5 feet short of the inner gateway, and the passage was covered by a wooden roof. On each side of the inner gateway were the entrances to the guard-rooms, which flanked the whole passage.
warkworth: gatehouse
warkworth: tower on mount