FIG. 56. CASTLE OF ST ANDRÉ. Interior of Gateway.
FIG. 57. CASTLE OF ST ANDRÉ. Fireplace in Gatehouse.
Over the central gateway, and above the towers, rises a large square turret, which was also vaulted and flagged on the top, and provided with a machicolated parapet. This platform, as well as those over the towers, were thus well adapted to receive the large catapults, mangonels, and other military engines in use in the fourteenth century. The diagonal walls which fill up the angles next the walls of enceinte contained staircases, &c., and are set at an angle so as to present a front against assailants approaching from the flanks. The round wells of the staircases were continued above the roof with round enclosures, which were visible above the parapet in the form of crenellated turrets.
FIG. 58. CASTLE OF ST ANDRÉ. Walls of Enceinte.
The rooms in the gatehouse are well finished in ashlar work, and have ornamental chimneys, of which [Fig. 57] is a specimen. That over the entrance gateway contained the apparatus for working the portcullis. These chambers have been used as political prisons at various times; and the unfortunate occupants have relieved their weary hours by carving all kinds of memoranda on the walls and floor, amongst which religious symbols and pictures mingle with armorial bearings, initials, and scraps of verse. These carvings are often well executed, and they form a very interesting, although melancholy exhibition.