posted 07-05-99 02:25 PM           

Conisbrough Castle is near Doncaster in Yorkshire. The castle is now in the care of English Heritage http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/

The follow is the castles entry in Castles of the British Isles by Plantagenet Somerset Fry

Conisbrough stands on a natural mound which was given counter scarp banks to a provide a wide and deep moat that almost surrounds the castle. The castle was built in period c. 1174—c. 1190 by Hamelin Plantagenet, illegitimate half brother of Henry II.It is a great tower castle enclosed in a curtain wall (which was 35ft tall and 7ft thick), with flanking solid half cylindrical towers and a gatehouse with projecting barbican in front (of which there are a few remains). The barbican led out from the gatehouse, angled twice to the right, and then turned left downwards to the twin towered gate half-way down the mound, the gate having a drawbridge across the moat. The principal feature of the castle is the uniquely shaped great tower (unique, that is, in the UK, for there is a similar shaped tower in France). Built of limestone ashlar, the tower is basically cylindrical, but with six wedge-shaped buttresses placed equidistantly round the outer wall of the cylinder. Both cylinder and buttresses stand on a splayed plinth, and rise to 95ft tall, though the buttresses originally rose higher, to over lOOft. Only one buttress, the south-east, has accommodation of any size, a six-sided chapel. Two have water cisterns and two had space in the top where they emerged above the cylindrical wall for Shelter leading to staircases. Otherwise, the Stairs are in the wall thickness. There are fireplaces, hand basins and garderobes in the walls. The tower is notable for its Scarcity of window openings and arrow loops. The great tower had the disadvantage affecting most cylindrical towers, namely, that the entrance was not protected by a forebuilding. Entry was via a flight of steps (not those at present in position) into a simple doorway. The castle was not put to the test of siege.