Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/498

 454 Alediceval Military Architecture. and drawbridge. One of these, Forth Uchaf, opens landward ; a second, Porth-isaf, upon a quay along the water's edge ; and a third, Porth-y-felin, opens in a shoulder of the wall upon the river below the castle, and gave a way to the castle mill. There is, besides, a postern, also below the castle, and opening upon the sea-shore. Besides these defences a thick spur wall, defended above by a double battlement, extends from the sea-front into the sea. For- merly this was carried to low-w^ater mark, and ended in a small round tower, and thus effectually prevented any attempt to turn the flank of the defences and attack the town from the sea-front. The town walls run up to, but their rampart walk does not communicate with, the castle, which, however, forms a part of the enceinte^ and has one front with its main entrance within and towards the town. It is said that the rock occupied by the castle originally extended some way eastward into the estuary, and was, therefore, a point of danger on that side. To remove this, the rock was quarried away and a passage opened, which is now the main channel of the river, and is spanned by the road and railway-bridges of Telford and Stephenson. It will be observed that Conway is not, like Gloucester and Chester, posted on the English side of the river, as if intended for defence only ; like Chepstow, it is placed beyond the stream, and intended as a tcte-dii-pont to cover the passage of troops across the water. In plan, the castle is somewhat of a parallelogram, loo yards east and west, and with a breadth ranging from 35 yards to 40 yards. The northern front is straight, the southern zigzag, following the irregularities of the rock. Its general level is several feet above the nearer parts of the town. There are eight towers, one at each of the four angles, and two, intermediate, upon each of the long faces. There is no gatehouse, a very unusual omission in an Edwardian castle, but one the cause of which is here very obvious. The towers are cylindrical, about 40 feet in diameter, but somewhat flattened and irregular on their interior faces, to enable the rampart walk or allure to be carried on without traversing their interior chambers. To allow of this, bold corbels, or sometimes a projecting shelf of masonry are applied to the internal or rearward face of the tower at the proper level. By this means there is secured an uninterrupted walk all round the place, communicating with, but not traversing each tower. The area is divided by a very thick cross curtain into two wards. The outer or western is 60 yards long, and contains the great hall, the chapel, the kitchen, and the water-tank; the eastern or inner ward, 40 yards long, contains the smaller hall and the state apart- ments. At each end the castle is covered by a small platform, at the level of the courts within, and supported by retaining walls of considerable height, crowned by two light parapets, each with three small half-round bastions flanking the curtains. Each of these plat- forms protects and covers an entrance. The main entrance is at the west end and from the town, and is a very curious piece of engi-