Airlie Castle (7)
Towards the north end of the east curtain wall rises the gate-tower, with its strongly guarded arched gateway.  It was fitted with a portcullis (the grooves for which remain) and a second inner door, no doubt of iron grille-work, and there was almost certainly a drawbridge spanning the ditch.  At the top of the entrance arch there is a flue for the pouring down of missiles or boiling liquid on intruders that might have got thus far, and on the inward facing side of the tower, there are two rows of stone corbels which formerly supported a timber gallery above the gateway, from which defenders could again assail determined attackers if they gained entry to the courtyard.

(These corbels are visible in photo #5 and the window on this inward facing side of the tower is the partially blocked up doorway that gave access to the platform.)

The upper part of the gate-tower, with its conical-roofed caphouse, is a late 16th century embellishment.  It provides access to the flat roof of the tower, as well as, via a lower door, the top of the curtain wall, which would originally have had a parapet wall.
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