Editing Conisbrough Castle (section)

===Inner and outer baileys===
[[File:Plan of Conisbrough Castle, early 13th century.svg|thumb|300px|Plan of the inner bailey of the castle in the early 13th century. Key: A – solar block; B – hall; C – kitchen and pantry; D – keep and stairs; E – barbican and gatehouse; F – chapel. Grey indicates splayed footings]]
Conisbrough Castle has an outer and an inner bailey, approximately {{convert|260|by|120|ft}} and {{convert|290|by|205|ft}} across respectively.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=9, 12–13}}; {{harvnb|Clark|1884b|p=124}}.</ref> The castle was entered through the outer bailey, a rectangular enclosure protected by earthworks, which would have contained the castle's barns, stables, and other service facilities.<ref name=Johnson1984P9>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=9}}.</ref> A [[drawbridge]] on the northern side of the outer bailey, now replaced by an earth causeway, linked it with the inner bailey.<ref name=Johnson1984P9/>

The oval inner bailey was formed by [[Scarp (fortification)|scarping]] and counter-scarping the natural contours of the hill, producing a bank, now largely destroyed, and a protective ditch.<ref name=Johnson1984P9/> The early 13th-century [[Curtain wall (fortification)|curtain wall]] is mostly of roughly dressed, coursed stone, up to {{convert|7|ft}} thick and {{convert|35|ft}} high, with two sections repaired with [[ashlar]] facings.<ref name=Johnson1984PP9Johnson1980PP78>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=9–10, 18}}; {{harvnb|Johnson|1980|pp=78–80}}; {{harvnb|Clark|1884b|p=128}}.</ref> The wall was defended by six mural towers along its southern and western sides, of which three still survive reasonably intact, and strengthened with [[pilaster]] [[buttress]]es along the northern edge.<ref name=Johnson1984PP9Johnson1980PP78/> The bases of the walls and the towers were splayed, spreading their weight out more broadly, but their footings are only {{convert|0.6|m}} deep in places.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=9}}; {{harvnb|Johnson|1980|p=78}}.</ref> A [[barbican]] protected the link from the drawbridge to the [[gatehouse]] of the inner bailey, complete with an additional corner turret.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=10–12}}.</ref> The remains of the collapse of the curtain wall are still visible in the ditch.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=10}}.</ref>

Various buildings were constructed along the inside of the inner bailey wall of similar rough stonework to the curtain wall, but only their foundations remain today.<ref name=Johnson1984P18>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=18}}.</ref> In the south-west corner was the solar block, containing the [[Solar (room)|solar]] and various chambers.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=20–21}}.</ref> Along the north side was the hall, pushed into an awkward corner of the curtain wall, {{convert|70|by|30|ft}} in size and originally probably built two storeys high.<ref name=Johnson1984P18/> Initially constructed with a central hearth, a fireplace was added into the outer wall in the later 13th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=20}}.</ref> Alongside the hall were a kitchen and [[pantry]], the former with a cellar.<ref name=Johnson1984P18/> On the south-east side of the inner bailey was the [[castle chapel]], {{convert|20|by|40|ft}} across.<ref>{{harvnb|Thompson|1969|pp=215–216}}.</ref>