Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/307

Bronllys Tower, Brecknockshire, 285 west jamb, is a door 2 feet 5 inches wide, square headed, beneath a drop reheving arch ; from which rises a mural stair 2 feet 5 inches broad, hghted by two exterior loops, and with a flat covering, leading to the second floor. The window recesses are segmental, and are formed of excellent limestone tufa ashlar. The second story had a timber floor resting on twelve corbels, and is cylindrical, like the first, and of the same diameter, but higher. It was the best room. Besides its entrance door on the west, it has on the south-west a fireplace under a flat segmental arch with plain chamfer, above which are two slender octagonal corbels, which evidently supported a hood, probably of timber. There are also two windows beneath drop-arch recesses, towards the south-east and north east. The former has stone seats ; and the latter a light 2 feet broad, with a cinquefoil head, of which the central foil is an ogee. The head is made of two stones only. The moulding is plain, having a shutter rebate inside ; and outside, rounded jambs in place of the usual chamfer. This recess has a stone seat on the west side only. In the east jamb is a small square-headed door opening upon a mural stair of 2 feet 5 inches broad, of which nine- teen steps remain, and which led to the third floor. The stair is lighted by a small hole below, and above by a square- headed loop of 9 inches in a recess splayed to 3 feet 7 inches opening. The loop, though about 60 feet from the ground, was closed by one vertical and three horizontal bars. This floor may have been used as a prison. The third stage has walls 8 feet thick, and had a wooden floor. The stair from below opened into it on the south-east side, but seems to have been continued in the south wall, so as to reach the battlement platform, now entirely gone. This floor has a small mural chamber, no doubt a garderobe, on its west side, the door into which is narrow, and has an arch of two stones, which seems to be four-centred, or of Tudor pattern. This door is placed between a window on the north-west, the recess of which has a flat drop arch ; and another on the south-west, of which the recess is broken away. There is also a small fireplace on the north side, and another window to the north-east. In the wall close south of the mural chamber are two small square shafts, one of which was no doubt a chimney and the other perhaps a garderobe vent from the battlements. Bronllys Tower presents divers peculiarities. Though of rude masonry, its door and window dressings are excellent. In general design it resembles early English work ; but its doors, recesses, fireplace, and corbels, seem of early Decorated, and perhaps, in parts, of Perpendicular work. It is altogether superior in detail to Penrice, which it resembles in dimensions, and it is inferior to Tre-Tower. The walls may be safely assigned to the first quarter of the thirteenth century ; but it was no doubt inhabited as a place of defence, and afterwards as a dwelling, for two centuries and a half after this ; and from time to time it received certain alterations,