Ascending from the eastern gatehouse, across a mass of almost untraceable ruins, the central ward of the castle is entered.
With the exception of a partial breach on the northern side, the curtains of this inner ward have suffered but little, and the height of the parapet and rerewall may still be inferred, by the projections at its junction with the towers.
The eastern gatehouse has been separated by a blast into two portions; of which the inner, towering to a prodigious height, still remains tolerably perfect; while the outer, broken into fragments, has crushed the lower gatehouse beneath its weight, and still encumbers it with its ruins.
The western gatehouse has been more fortunate; the staircases, however, are broken and irregular, and the vaulting injured. Through the floor of its central apartment a hole has been broken into the vaults of the portal, and of one of the lodges beneath.
In the floor of the Braose or triforial gallery are two large holes which open upon a staircase and passage below.
The buildings within the court have suffered severely. The hall is covered by a temporary roof, but the structure of its ancient roof is apparent from the remaining corbels. The pavement has been long removed: the sills of the windows have been cut away, and the tracery and mouldings which adorned them are broken and defaced.
A window and door at the east end have been shattered into one, and the vaulted passage leading to the offices is a shapeless and rugged hole.
The vaulted roof of the kitchen is broken, but enough remains to display its original structure. The steps of the water-gate gallery have been removed, but the vaulted roof is but little injured.
In the great court a depression in the sward indicates the ancient well. It has lately been opened a few feet down, but nothing of importance was discovered.
The four bastion towers of this ward deserve special notice, since it is the position of one of them which has conferred upon this castle much of the notoriety it possesses.