Description
The castle is built predominantly in brick, which was a new, expensive, and fashionable material at that time. Such lavish construction was in part afforded by the immense power and wealth that William had gained in the service of King Edward IV. The red bricks were formed and fired in a kiln either on, or nearby the site. The castle also featured a new type of defensive detail for the period: gun ports for artillery emplacements.
The surviving buildings comprise of the Gatehouse and the west Tower. The gatehouse is partly complete to the first storey, and has black brick patterned into the red brick. The initials "W.H." are visible above the gateway along with the arms of Hastings, a ship, and the lower half of a possible figure. The plan of the gatehouse has octagonal turrets. There are two rooms at ground floor either side of the entrance with vaulted brick ceilings. These were to serve as the porters lodge and the guardroom, they had windows to the court and housed large fireplaces. The Porters Lodge is used today as a visitors reception. There are also spiral staircases to the first floor level, which was never completed and is unroofed, but and would have been where the drawbridge and portcullis were worked. It is probable that a further story was planned for the Gatehouse. Within the octagonal towers facing the moat there are circular gun-ports, with sighting slits above, for canon artillery. Two of these are located beneath the water level of the moat, which would appear to be ineffectual unless the moat was dry. The gun-ports therefore appear to be more for show than for actual use of defence.
The West Wing was the only part of the castle to be fully completed, and comprises three storeys of accommodation rooms, each room having a lavatory. Today the interior of the Wing is un-floored, but a spiral staircase affords access to ante-chambers up to the second storey.
The prospective hall and the north wing were to contain the main living rooms, retained from the old house. Footings of the outlines for the pantry, buttery and passage leading to it are visible, although the kitchen and the rest of the original manor house remain hidden beneath the current ground level.
The moats are 60 ft (18 m) wide and are spanned by a timber drawbridge allowing access to the gatehouse. The supply of water to the moat is via a small brook. Two dams were constructed, the first is used to divert the water to the main stream, and the second controls the water level in the moat. It incorporates a sluice which allows the moat to be emptied when opened. To plug the shaft of the sluice, a tapered piece of wood covered with leather was used, remains of which were found when the moat was cleared during restoration.
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