What is a crenel shutter?
A crenel shutter is a usually wooden shutter in the opening between two merlons of a stronghold, castle or town wall. In Dutch it is called a verweerluik or afweerschutsel (schutsel is an old Dutch word for a screen or partition). The shutter protected the defenders on the wall walk against arrows, stones and other missiles from the attackers.
How does a crenel shutter work?
The merlons are the upstanding sections of wall on top of a defensive wall; the openings between them are called crenels. In such an opening hung a wooden shutter, hinged at the top. The shutter angled outwards and downwards. This let a defender look and shoot down under the shutter while being largely shielded from the front. The shutter sometimes rested on special wedge-shaped stones on either side of the opening.
Where do you see crenel shutters?
Because they were made of wood, original crenel shutters have rarely survived. On restored castles they have sometimes been reconstructed, as at the Gravensteen in Ghent. What you can still see on many medieval walls are their traces: hooks, holes for hinge pins or recessed stones on the sides of the merlons.
Application in restoration
- Look for traces in the masonry before designing a reconstruction: hinge holes and recesses reveal the original size and position of the shutters.
- Durable timber and good detailing: a shutter on a wall top is fully exposed to wind and weather. Choose a durable timber species, provide drainage and do not let the timber rest on wet stone.
- Monument status: in the Netherlands, for a national or municipal monument you usually need an environmental permit (omgevingsvergunning) for such interventions.
Related terms
- Merlon
- Parapet
- Shutter (hatch)
- Environmental permit
- Monument
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