The triple-towered gatehouse

Denbigh's prison tower, porter's lodge tower, and bishop's tower form a gatehouse that is almost a keep in its own right. Its position over the town gives it a defensive and psychological purpose: it protects the settlement while making lordly authority visible to inhabitants and attackers. The hill, castle, and extended town wall create several defensive layers that can be read as nearly concentric. Even the simpler town-wall circuit matters because its line defines the protected urban space and what the lordship chose to defend.