Virtual Tour

The Gatehouse & By-Gate Tower

One of the most impressive of the later buildings of Pembroke Castle is the Gatehouse. This with its adjacent Barbican Tower, form a fortified unit larger than many complete castles.The Gatehouse was an important residential part of the Castle. The rooms are large and were roofed with timber and lead.

The bare stone walls would, perhaps, have been hung with arrases depicting hunting scenes and there would be rushes on the floors. Furniture would have been basic - a few chairs and a table. If there had been no glass available for the windows, heavy wooden shutters would have helped keep out the cold with flickering rush-lights on the walls. Large tree-trunks would be blazing in the fireplaces and in winter it could be cosy, though it is difficult to imagine this now.The western half of the Gatehouse extends to form the By-Gate Tower, rebuilt in 1934, and this leads into a long chamber where exhibitions are mounted. The ground floor includes a guard room and a strongly built stone arched dungeon, access to which is obtained through the Guard Room.

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