What is a wall walk?
A wall walk, also called an allure or parapet walk, is an open or covered walkway on top of, or on the outer face of, a defensive wall such as a castle wall, town wall or fortress. Defenders could move along the whole wall, watch the surroundings and defend it. On the enemy side the walkway is bounded by a parapet, often crenellated: the alternating raised merlons and open gaps that give castles their familiar outline.
Layout
- Walkway: the top of the wall itself, or a timber or stone floor built against the wall.
- Parapet: the protective wall on the outer side, usually crenellated and sometimes pierced by arrow slits.
- Roof (optional): on a covered wall walk a roof rests on the wall; the space above the parapet stays open up to the roof so defenders could look and shoot outwards.
Variants
- Open wall walk: a parapet only, without a roof.
- Covered wall walk: with a roof, giving protection from rain and missiles from above.
- Projecting wall walk: a gallery that projects beyond the wall on corbels. Its floor often has openings through which defenders could drop or pour things straight down; these are called machicolations.
Recognising one
On a castle visit you usually spot the wall walk from the row of merlons on the wall top, or from a line of corbels just below it. Many wall walks have been restored or rebuilt. Work on a listed structure needs consent and should be guided by a conservation specialist.
Related terms
- Merlon
- Parapet
- Machicolation
- Keep
- Curtain wall
- Bastion
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