Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/479

 Conisbo7'07tgh Castle, 439 then lined to its present diameter. Exactly above it is a ragged hole, which represents the only entrance to the basement, and which must have been provided with a ladder. It is evident that this vault was a cellar or store, and by no means a prison. Space here, as indeed in most other keeps, was too valuable to be employed, save in some manner likely to be of use during a siege. The entrance to the tower is at the first-floor level, on the south- east side, at the top of the base, and therefore 20 feet from the ground. The doorway is 4 feet 9 inches wide, quite plain, and Hat topped, but the lintel is composed of five stones joggled together as a platband, and above is an arch of relief, the tynipanum of which is formed of two large stones, divided vertically. There was no port- cullis, only a stout single door of one valve, stayed by two bars, the holes for which, 7 inches square, are in the right or hinge-jamb 9 inches deep, and in the lock-jamb 6 feet. In the joints near the cill are two holes, evidently for the iron gudgeons of a small draw- bridge, so light as to be worked from within the doorway. The present exterior stone staircase is modern, but the original stair was probably much of the same character, only the support must have been separated from the tower by the length of the bridge, probably about 7 feet, or a foot longer than the height of the doorway. It is singular that there should be no portcullis, since it could have been worked conveniently from the window recess above, and its presence would have made the tower absolutely impregnable. From the doorway a vaulted passage, expanding from a breadth of 5 feet 3 inches to 6 feet 3 inches, leads direct into the first-floor