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| Author | Topic: Barbican |
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Sam Member |
posted 05-01-2000 03:50 AM
  
I cannot find any info on castle Barbicans. Can anyone help? |
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Philip Davis unregistered |
posted 05-01-2000 05:09 PM
A barbican is an additional set of defenses infront of a castle gate designed to make the castle more resistant to attack, although some barbicans are very ornate and are more designed to show the importance of the castle and it's owner. Not all castles have barbicans, some are to small and some have such strong gatehouses that they need no extra defenses. Barbicans were often later additions to castles, deisgned to strengthen an already existing castle. The barbican normal consists of two walls coming out at right angles from either side of the gate it protects. These walls often end in small turrets which are linked by a gate. In effect a gate is put infront of the original gate. These gates are stout oaken doors and could have other protection such as portcullises and drawbridges. Occasional the second gate was at an angle to the main gate so that you had to turn a corner. (this is the norm in Japenese castle I gather). The walls could have a wall walk so that if an attacker got past the first gate the defenders could launch arrows, or drop rocks, onto the attacker as he was trapped infront on the main gate. You can find a plan and section of the the eloborate barbican of Warwick castle on my site at http://www.castlesontheweb.com/members/philipdavis/Plans/album/pages/warwick_gif.htm (you'll probably need to download this image to you hard drive and then scale it down to see it properly. ------------------ |
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