Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Fortifications

 The weakest portion of any wall is the gate. An opening that is blocked by doors, portcullis, or other device, the gate lacks the necessary strength to withstand massive blows. Castle walls routinely were a dozen feet thick, gates only inches so. To bolster the strength of the gate, castle builders fortified the gate with towers and walls built outside the existing wall. The towers flanked the neck, a tunnel leading to the main gate, added gates inside the neck and defended it with murder holes. Anyone breaking through the first gate of the barbican, would find themselves pushing against a second gate, the actual city gate, and exposed to enfilading fire from left, right and above.

 
The Neck

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Anonymous said...

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