Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/27

FRENCH EXAMPLES carried up in the thickness of the walls, usually at the angles. There are also frequently small chambers constructed in the thickness of the walls, used as bedrooms, garde-robes, etc. These generally enter from the ingoings of windows. The well is frequently under one of the walls, and a circular opening is carried up to the first floor, and sometimes to all the floors, for the supply of water.

Large keeps, like Rochester, are divided by a wall, which has often wide-arched openings on the principal floor so as to form one large hall, while the upper and lower floors are divided into two apartments with doors between. The passages and stairs are generally arranged so as to puzzle a stranger, and so that no one can go out or in without passing through the hall and being seen. Secret passages and exits are provided

. 2.—Château d'Arques. Exterior, showing Ditch.

for escape, and there are frequently subterranean passages and stairs cut in the rock beneath the castles, giving exit to the ditches and outworks.

These keeps are generally provided with fireplaces, and there is usually an oratory or chapel. The kitchen is frequently not observable, but is usually on the level of the hall, or even in the upper floors.

The following examples of Norman keeps in France and England will explain and illustrate the above general descriptions:—

The Castle of Arques (Fig. 1), in the north of France, comprises one of