Subject:
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Re: Insights from a trip to France...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.castle
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Date:
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Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:09:19 GMT
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Viewed:
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958 times
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In lugnet.castle, David Eaton writes:
> Insight number 1: Drawbridges
> there were two long wooden beams projecting out from the castle wall, above
> each side of the drawbridge. At the ends of these beams were the chains/ropes
> (well, alright, only chains) that attached to the outer corners of the
> drawbridge, so instead of a triangle, you'd get a square:
I'm no historian or anything, but I'd guess that the reason a lot of
drawbridges are built with overhead lifting beams is for ease of
counterbalancing. You hang a big heavy weight on the ends of the overhead
beams, across the fulcrum from the chain end, so the weights go down when the
bridge goes up, see-saw style. You could do this without the overhead beams,
but you'd need to dig a big hole for the counterbalance weights to go down
into, and if you have a moat, the hole would fill with water and your main gate
would probably collapse into the moat. Thus the use of overhead beams and
overhead counterweights.
Us Americans have a pretty warped idea of what castles were (are) like. Most of
the architecture we see is post-industrial revolution and exhibits all the
uniformity and consistency of design which is the hallmark of the last century.
Even the grand mansions and American "Castles" were built with money made by
industrialists. We don't realize that European castles were often built one
wall or building at a time over several centuries and using whatever materials
and building techniques were available at that time and place.
-Phil
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Insights from a trip to France...
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| Ok, I just got back from France, where (of course) I saw a few actual historic castles. I have to say I've never really seen them before, since I've only ever really been in North America, where we lack the abundance of Mideaval architecture that (...) (25 years ago, 26-Apr-00, to lugnet.castle) !
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