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HAWARDEN CASTLE.

they would have formed lateral parapets, concealing the passage of the bridge. For this, about 15 ft. might be added to the existing wall.

Spur-work enclosing the main entrance.
Hawarden Castle. North-East side.

The fan-shaped chamber was probably an outlet for those who, having used the foot bridge, did not wish to go out by the sally ports, but to ascend into the barbican. The steps are no doubt inconvenient, but the whole passage was certainly only meant for occasional use, and is in no part particularly commodious. Probably the means of egress from the stair-head into the barbican were stairs of timber. The whole arrangement is very peculiar, and it may be doubted whether the safety proposed was worth the considerable expense bestowed upon it. As the whole of this bridge arrangement is clearly an addition, it is probable that though the original entrance was at this point, it was by an ordinary drawbridge, of which the lateral curtains of the spur-work, which are old, would be the protection.

Of the exterior earthworks there is little to be said. On the south-east side of the fortress the outer bank is cut through, as though for an entrance. If so, this must have been carried laterally along the ditches of the place until it reached the barbican.

Hawarden seems to present traces of at least three periods of construction, the oldest being that of the earth-