Movement inside the keep was facilitated by an
internal staircase in the NW corner of the keep, leading from the first floor to the
second, and from there to the roof; access to the basement level was via a trap
door. The keep did not contain any of the utilities one may have grown used to
finding in a keep - the chapel and hall, for example, both lay in the courtyard
area. That the hall was situated elsewhere may indicate that the lord lived in
separate quarters to his garrison (an example of Bastard Feudalism), or that the
constable's quarters were in the keep. An alternative explanation may lie in the
fact that the castle's builders - the Fitz Baderons - were a relatively poor noble
family, and could not afford to build such facilities into their castle along with
the rest of the initial outlay cost. The walls of the keep were protected by clasping
buttresses at the angles, and a buttress central to each of the flat sides - these
were intended to deflect catapult shot. A visit to the castle today allows the
visitor to see 2 original windows on the top floor of the keep, and the marking of
the uppermost storey with a string coursing of chevron ornamentation.
 

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