and beyond this, in the curtain wall, a door which seems to have led into a well-stair which gave access to the stepped rampart. Again, a few feet beyond this, at an angle of the enclosure, are the fragments of the great gateway beyond which, for about 100 ft. round the north angle of the court, the curtain is of full height and very perfect, having anglequoins of the same yellow ashlar used in the keep.
The hall (C) is placed on the east face of the ward, at its south end, and occupied above one-half of that face. The curtain formed its outer wall and was pierced by its windows, and strengthened at its south-east angle by a solid half-round buttress, 22 ft. diameter, probably an addition. The hall was on the first floor, the low basement being probably a cellar, and entered by a vaulted passage at its south end. The hall was about 30 ft. high from its timber floor to its wall plate. Two lofty windows remain, and traces of a third, and between them are the plain chamfered corbels whence sprung the open roof The window recesses have a low pointed arch and a bold bead moulding. The windows are of one light, trefoiled, with the cusp lights worked. There is no label. Within the recess are lateral seats.
North of and connected with the hall, is a rectangular projection (D), 36 ft. deep by 60 ft. in front, the lower floors of which are laid on the scarp of the ditch, considerably below the level of the ward. These were doubtless offices, but as nothing but the lower walls remain, little can be discovered of their detail. There remains, however, in the curtain the jamb of a large doorway, whence descends a flight of steps about 20 ft. probably to a postern, of which, however, there are no traces, on the edge of the ditch. These steps led into one of two apartments, at one end of each of which is what was probably a fire-place, though they more resemble the vent of a garde-robe shaft, which, however, they cannot well be, since the chambers were certainly not cesspools. The walls of this projection are substantial, and certainly carried an upper story, probably occupied by withdrawing-rooms and private apartments attached to the hall. No well has been discovered, nor oven, nor any signs of a garrison chapel, all which were probably placed in this ward.
The great gateway opened in the north-west face of the curtain, and from the fragment of a jamb that remains, and
