Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/146

 130 Medmval Military Architecttu^e in England. taller tower, also with a strong doorway. Outside this door- Avay the staircase was often broken by a drawbridge, as at Rochester. The staircase was not always covered over, but was protected by an exterior parapet of some height, as at Berkeley, where the shell keep has a forebuilding, a very unusual example. The battlements of the lower or entrance tower were reached by a little door in the adjacent angle of the keep high up. This is seen at Rochester, and at Middleham and Brougham, where the tower itself is removed. In the keep-wall by the side of the staircase was often a recess for the guard, as at Middleham. The bridge-pit had an exterior parapet concealing those who used the bridge. At Castle Rising where the middle gate is perfect, its battlements are reached by a small door from the keep. The vestibule at the stair-head was usually a good-sized chamber, often vaulted. In it was the main doorway of the keep, of not less than 6 feet opening, with flanking shafts and moulded architrave. At Castle Rising this ante-chamber is arcaded, and very handsome ; at Rochester it is plain, or nearly so. At Dover it contains a guard-chamber, at New- castle and at Middleham a chapel. The basement below the vestibule was usually a prison, and had a small door into the corresponding basement of the keep. At Rochester are two floors below the vestibule and two above it. The forebuilding is perfect only at Castle Rising, Norwich, Dover, and New- castle ; there are large remains of it at Rochester, Porchester, and Middleham, and some at Hedingham, Corfe, and Kenil- worth. At Scarborough, Brougham, Bramber, Canterbury, and Helmsley there are traces only. At Dover there are vaults below the staircase and lower tower, above which is a vestibule and a chapel, and in the first or upper floor a second chapel. Sometimes there is a way from the foot of the staircase of the forebuilding into the basement of the keep, but probably this is not original. It is seen at Dover, Newcastle, and Castle Rising. The White Tower has been so pulled about that it is difficult to say how it was originally entered. The forebuilding is essentially a Norman appendage, and, with the exception of Berkeley, and, perhaps, Chilham and Orford, confined to keeps of the rectangular pattern. It has been supposed to mark a late keep, but there is a forebuilding at Arques usually regarded as a very early one. In the smaller keeps, and some few of the larger ones, there is no forebuilding, and the entrance is by a plain arch, as at Clitheroe, Goderich, Bowes, Guildford, and Mailing. This entrance was on the first floor. In the latter case it is, indeed,