Salisbury Castle, also called Sarum, is a modern (i.e., in the Arthurian era) stone castle. It sits upon a great motte in the center of the city, and is the main seat for your lord, the Earl of Salisbury.
Curtain walls 8 feet thick and 20 feet tall surround the inner bailey, which is roughly circular and about 300 feet in diameter.
Within this bailey are the earl’s domestic buildings, including the bakery by the east gates. The castle well is in the center
of this bailey.
Sarum Castle has four towers. Two regular gates and one postern gate pierce the wall. The gates have defensive towers and
drawbridges that cross the ditch surrounding the motte. The east tower protects the postern gate, which goes through it. The south tower is large and stands attached only to the wall, while the northern tower is attached to the keep.
The keep, or donjon, is the center of domestic and administrative activities. Four other rectangular, two-story buildings, all
surmounted by battlements, surround a central courtyard that is paved with crushed chalk to cast more light within its enclosure.
The keep can be entered only by ascending a staircase and crossing over a wooden drawbridge on the second floor. The
ground floor is used mainly to store food and supplies.
The private chambers of the earl, his family, and county officers occupy the eastern and northern buildings.
The north tower, situated along the wall, is connected to the keep.
The western building holds the great, high-ceilinged hall where the earl meets his petitioners and otherwise holds court.
Here most of the household knights sleep at night.
The south building contains the kitchen and chapel, and above it more private chambers for county and castle officers,
and for guests.
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