Carcassonne
In the highest examples of military skill in fortification—at Conway ([254]) and Beaumaris ([236]), for instance—the greatest care was taken to cover the gateways with oblique or right-angled approaches, so that straight access should be impossible to an enemy. The same method of hampering the path of an enemy with right angled turns is noticeable in French examples of fortification, and notably in the gateways of Carcassonne ([239]). In England, however, an entrance defended by a barbican in a straight line with it was generally preferred; and, even in castles like Caerphilly and Harlech, the strength of the entrances depended upon the disposition of the concentric wards of the castle, and they were guiltless of the devices and traps which are one leading feature of Beaumaris. A good example of an oblique approach to a thirteenth-century castle is at Pembroke, where the main gateway is covered by an open barbican, forming a rectangular vestibule, the entrance to which is in a wall nearly at right angles to the gateway. The west gate of Tenby is covered by an almost semicircular barbican, the original entrance to which, with a groove for a portcullis, is on the north side, so that an angle had to be turned before the gateway was reached. At a much later date other openings were pierced in the outer wall of the barbican, and the curious arrangement is known to-day by the misleading name of the “Five Arches.” The east side of the chief ward of Carew castle was protected by a rectangular outer court, entered from the field by a small gatehouse. The gatehouse of the inner ward is in the south half of the east wall, and is flanked by a round angle-tower and a tower which projects from the middle of the wall. The outer faces of these two towers were joined by a wall which thus covered the gatehouse, and was pierced by a doorway, set a little to the north of the main entrance, with its jambs sloping to the left. This gave access to a walled-in passage, with an upper floor, leading obliquely to the inner entrance. As this side of the castle was on level ground and was much exposed, special care was taken to guard the approaches; there was, however, only one portcullis, at the inner end of the main gateway; but the wooden doors, four of which had to be passed before the portcullis was reached, were of great strength, and each was closed with several very massive draw-bars.
Tenby; West Gate
The town gateway at Tenby may be compared to the Porte de Laon at Coucy, which was also covered by a semicircular barbican. While, however, the Tenby barbican was directly attached to the wall, the barbican at Coucy was separated from the gateway by the town ditch and a bridge, and was altogether more elaborate. The bridge itself crossed the ditch in two sections, describing an obtuse angle, at the apex of which was a round tower. The road passed through the tower, and turned the angle at its inner gate, from which the second section of the bridge passed straight to the actual gateway. At Coucy all the resources of fortification were displayed; while at Tenby the application of the same principle was simple and unpretending.[258] Equally masterly is the oblique entrance to the castle of Kerak in Syria, beside which the entrances to Pembroke and Carew are of small account.[259] The long rectangular castle of Kerak is divided into two nearly equal wards by a wall parallel to its major axis. The main gateway is on the east side of the junction of the cross-wall with the outer curtain; but, instead of leading directly into the castle, the path turns to the left after passing through the gateway, and is confined within a long inner barbican, from the end of which a gatehouse at right angles gives admission to the interior of the upper ward.
The importance attached, from the thirteenth century onwards, to the gateway and its approaches, and the prominence of the gatehouse in the concentric castle of Edward I.’s reign will now be understood. It now remains to speak of the defences of the exposed face of curtain between the towers, and of the towers themselves. The progress towards effective flanking has been traced already, and the towered curtains at Dover ([126]) or the Tower of London are examples of scientific flanking achieved by long experiment. The towers rose above the level of the curtain, and were entered on the first floor from the rampart-walk, which they commanded. The walk, in fact, passed through the towers, as it may still be seen passing through the gatehouses at York. Thus each tower was the key to a section of wall; and, as the Crusaders found at Antioch, the wall could be taken only by the capture of several towers, each of which guarded a separate section.
Outer stair to tower and rampart-walk in town wall
Carcassonne