and shape to the current castle: he suggests that it was fortified and was protected by a moat similar to that seen today. The foundations of the first residence discovered between 1912 and 1913 were left uncovered after the excavations and remain visible in the castle lawns. Design The 15th-century castle is rectangular in shape, across, similar in design to Farleigh Hungerford Castle in Somerset or Baconsthorpe Castle in Norfolk. Although incomplete, the surviving elements and the foundations show that it was designed with a square tower on each corner, with less substantial side towers on the north-east, south-east and south-west edges, and a large gatehouse on the north-western side. An inner range of buildings, deep, ran around the inside of the curtain wall, set back slightly from the wall itself and forming a central courtyard. The towers projected into the water-filled moat which surrounded the castle. The moat was supplied with water from a small brook, which also fed a suite of stew ponds for the castle. Two dams were constructed to create the moat, the first to divert water from the main stream, and the second to control the water level in the moat. The current sluices are modern, but the originals were made from wood and leather. The moat, between and wide, was crossed by an oak bridge. Only the gatehouse and the west tower still survive, partially intact. The gatehouse was originally protected by a drawbridge and a portcullis. The gatehouse was rectangular, built from brick with stone detailing, with four polygonal turrets. Had it been completed, it might have been tall and have resembled the gatehouse at Layer Marney Tower. On the ground floor, two chambers, including the porter's lodge, flanked the gate passage. The first floor housed the portcullis mechanism and a garderobe. If the second floor was ever completed, it has since been lost. The west tower is across externally and internally, made of simple patterned brickwork, with three floors and two, slightly taller, turrets on the inside corners. Each floor had a single chamber, with a fireplace and an adjacent garderobe, which would have formed lodgings for senior members of the household. The castle was primarily built from bricks, with stone used for the detailing, such as doorways. The brickwork was decorated with patterns of darker bricks, called diapering, which was used to show symbols associated with Lord Hastings, as well as