The floor below,
onto which the door from without opened, was undivided save by two rows
of stone pillars that supported the beams of the floor above. In one
corner the floor, some fifteen feet square, was raised somewhat above
the general level. This was set aside for the use of the master and the
family. The rest of the apartment was used as the living and sleeping
room of the followers, and hinds, of the fortalice.
The basement--which, although on a level with the ground outside, could
be approached only by a trapdoor and ladder from the room above--was
the storeroom, and contained sacks of barley and oatmeal, sides of
bacon, firewood, sacks of beans, and trusses of hay for the use of the
horses and cattle, should the place have to stand a short siege. In the
centre was a well.
The roof of the house was flat, and paved with square blocks of stone;
a parapet three feet high surrounded it. In the centre was the lookout
tower, rising twelve feet above it; and over the door another turret,
projecting some eighteen inches beyond the wall of the house, slits
being cut in the stone floor through which missiles could be dropped,
or boiling lead poured, upon any trying to assault the entrance.
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