Elevated entrance

An elevated entrance is a type of entrance, common in the design of medieval castles, that is not accessible from ground level, but lies at the level of an upper storey. The elevated entrance is the lowest and frequently the only way of entering a fortified building or residence. In the case of circular towers, a large opening in the main wall at ground level was a potential weakness and experts on castle design have argued that the elevated entrance served a structural as well as defensive purpose.

Elevated entrances were also used in Antiquity. For example, the numerous Limes watchtowers only had this type of entrance.

The majority of elevated entrances were between five and ten metres above the ground level and facing the courtyard side in order to protect them from shell fire. Several examples were located in rather unsuitable places, however, for example above the outside of a castle. Heights of above 15 metres are only rarely recorded. The entrance was usually only accessible from another building in the nearby vicinity that is occasionally still is archaeologically discernible. Many elevated entrances today are only two to three metres above the ground because the original ground level, often several metres lower, has been filled with building rubble.

The elevated entrance was usually reached on a wooden or stone staircase or from a footbridge from another part of the building. Immediately in front of the entrance there was usually a wooden platform; on particularly long stairways there could be intermediate landings. A steep stairway and narrow landing in front of the entrance made it difficult for attackers to use heavy demolition equipment such as battering rams. Below the entranceway the corbels or putlog holes have often survived. Even the fixtures of the original wooden stairways are frequently still visible. In several cases, elevated entranceways built in the Late Middle Ages or Early Modern times were accessed by staircase towers with spiral staircases.

Occasionally an elevated entrance was also guarded by a small drawbridge. Wooden stairways were often protected from the weather by a porch. Such a structure is shown in a 1449 votive picture by the Bavarian castle builder (Burgpfleger), Bernd von Seyboltsdorf (Schärding, Upper Austria). The entrance of the oriel opens at the side and access is gained over a wooden staircase, complete with railings, that is clearly firmly fixed.

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Wikipedia