Outer Court Of Thornbury Castle And Walls Of Kitchen Court

OUTER COURT OF THORNBURY CASTLE AND WALLS OF KITCHEN COURT

The outer court comprises two long unroofed ranges of rubble stone, including pennant, lias and limestone, with ashlar dressing set in pink lime mortar. One range runs south to north, the other east to west, joined at their north-west junction by a bastion. The north range is two storeys with a basement; the west range is single storey, though both were probably intended to have upper floors.

The outer walls are built in defensive style with crossed arrow loop holes on the first floor instead of windows, and square lights to basement level on the north range and the north end of the west range. The courtyard elevations contain windows of standard design: paired lights with arched heads and hood moulds, without mullions.

The north range contains the main outer gate at its centre. On the inner face, the gate has a chamfered four-centred arch with a stopped hood mould; on the outer face, a double arch with a groove for a portcullis, also with stopped hood moulds above. Square mid-wall towers flank the gate on the east side, containing crossed arrow loop holes and basement lights. An in-filled arch occupies the west side of the gateway, with round blocked window openings on the elevations either side. Large towers stand at the west and east ends of this range. The outer wall of the north range extends eastward for approximately 87 metres as the rubble-stone wall of the former kitchen court, cut through in the middle to create a car park access on the north side.

The courtyard face of the north range has six unequal-sized bays. The main gateway divides the range centrally, with its polygonal towers flanked by a square tower to the left and two further towers to the right. These towers were intended to house staircases providing access to planned upper storeys; each originally had a four-centred arched doorway with hood mould. The west tower retains its doorway; the entrances to the two eastern towers, likely accessed via external stairs, have been partially blocked. The bays contain varying arrangements of arched windows at the intended first-floor level, cellar window openings below, and some arched door openings. The most easterly bay has a blocked opening, probably from a 19th-century lean-to outbuilding. The bay west of the gateway contains three windows and a four-centred arched door corresponding roughly with the blocked arch on the outer wall. The courtyard face extends southward for approximately 13 metres to connect with the Inner Court building's west range.

The external faces of the bastion joining the north and west ranges contain large slit openings.

The west range has two square towers and a tripartite tower on its outer (west) elevation, with a large central arch entrance and a corner tower. The inner elevation has four bays separated by two square towers to the south, containing paired doorways and a porch to the north. The first bay to the south is blind; the second contains two windows; the third has four windows; the fourth is blind.

The interior of both ranges is unfinished shell work without internal floors. A semi-basement exists in the north range and at the north end of the west range. In the north range, stone partition walls define the cross passage of the central gateway. The east end appears to have been intended primarily for lodgings, containing five fireplaces with four-centred dressed stone arches and relieving arches on the first floor; some retain their hearth slabs. The west end lacks fireplaces or evidence of intended wall partitions, though surviving floor joist sockets indicate an intended first floor. The towers in the east half show evidence of garderobe shafts. A modern lean-to shed is attached to the south wall at the east end, and a 19th-century door in the east wall leads to the adjoining tower. The east end tower contains a square central room with a four-centred arched fireplace lit by arrow slits, above a basement lit by two small cellar windows. Garderobe shafts have been built into one wall. A lean-to store with an attached low wall, built into the east side of the tower, bears a date stone of 1871.

The corner tower contains an angled recess for a newel stair in the north-west corner. Though no visible original joist sockets remain, the stair evidence indicates this part was intended to have an intermediate floor. The space has been divided in the 19th century, with some blocked doors that would have connected the north and west ranges.

The west range is divided centrally from east to west by a 19th-century internal partition wall; the two ends are linked by a doorway and small steps. The south end has remained largely unchanged since the 16th century, containing numerous fireplaces with relieving arches, evidence of grooves for panelling battens, and putlog holes for original scaffolding. These features indicate habitable rooms originally accessed via the courtyard. The north side of the partition, including the porch, was roofed in the 19th century, when walls were plastered and a solid concrete floor inserted, obscuring many original features including two blocked door openings (one an arched entrance within the porch, the other in the northern corner), arched windows, and in-filled basement lights. Evidence of blocked floor joist sockets appears in the north wall and a fireplace in the upper west wall. The use of this large single room is uncertain. It has been suggested as an early indoor real tennis court with viewing gallery—which, if built before 1525, would be among the earliest examples of a sport that became popular in the 16th century, particularly following Henry VIII's enthusiasm (a real tennis court was built at Hampton Court in 1532–3). Alternatively, it may have been intended as a large heated room with cellar below, similar to the north range.