 There has been much discussion amongst academics about the extent to which Raglan was influenced by contemporary French designs ; one school of thought suggests that it was heavily influenced by designs that were then popular in the south of France ; others oppose this " diffusionist " school of thought , and argue that there is insufficient evidence to draw such a conclusion . Another line of debate has been over the nature of the castle 's defences , in particular its gunloops . Many castles built around the same time as Raglan appear to have been built with less concern for defences than in the past , their military features more symbolic than real . At Raglan , there are numerous gunloops throughout the castle 's defences , but many were ill @-@ placed if the intention was to use them in a conflict ; some could barely have been used at all . Traditionally , an evolutionary explanation for this was given : Raglan 's gunloops were of an early period , later surpassed in other castles . More recent explanations emphasis the prestigious symbolism of gunloops for the Herbert family when they built the castle , even if many might have been impossible to use . Anthony Emery notes that Raglan 's gunloops were better sited than many at the time , and at least " the owner was up to date in his symbolism " ; Robert Liddiard suggests that the poor placing of some of the gunloops for aesthetic purposes might have actually been a conversation point for those visitors with experience of fighting in France and the " correct " placing of such defences . 
