Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/45

 THE KEEP PLAN 25 INTRODUCTION date. Here the entrance (Fig. 19) (now destroyed, but restored in the drawing) was on a landing half-way between the basement and the first- floor level, and was approached by a drawbridge from the wall of the enceinte. The aperture over the door opens into a small room in the thickness of the wall, from which the drawbridge was worked. A stair in the thickness of the wall leads to the upper floor, and also descends to the basement, where the well is still to be seen. The upper floors were vaulted in a peculiar manner ; the imposts of the arches still exist. M. Viollet-le-Duc gives a very interesting restoration of this build- ing, showing how the upper floors were utilised in connection with the defence of the keep. The sketch indicates (to the left) the probable appearance of the keep in time of peace, and also (to the right) the " hoards " or overhanging wooden defences with which it was armed in time of siege. The Chateau Gaillard, on the Seine, built by Richard i. at the end of the twelfth century, is a splendid example of the castles of this transition period. It is situated on a lofty and detached promontory of chalk rock overlooking the course of the Seine, and defending the passage from the royal domain into Normandy. The disposition of the various parts of the buildings and defences may still be distinctly traced, although the buildings are now much ruined. The plan of the Castle is given in M. Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionary. The keep (Fig. 20) is of a rounded form, but it has the wall strength- ened with a sharp angle or keel jutted out opposite the weakest side. It is placed on the enceinte at the highest and most precipitous part of the cliff. The defensive works are peculiar, and consist of a parapet with large machicolations, an invention which M. Viollet-le-Duc attributes to King Richard. The parapet is set on the top of buttresses, which rise out of the sloping wall of the building, and the arches thrown across between these buttresses left a long opening or machicolis between them and the wall, from which missiles could be thrown on besiegers. The enceinte of the inner bailey is of a remarkable form, consisting FIG. 19. Chateau d'Etampes.