The assessment uses geography, structure and garrison to compare castles. Harlech's thirty-man combat contingent is judged too small, even allowing for possible militia support from the nearby settlement. A force at least twice as large is proposed, and weak manning is suggested as one explanation for castle captures. Structural questions include wall height and strength, concentric layouts, battlements, machicolations, murder holes and the size of the gatehouse. Geography includes the rock or hill on which a castle stands and access to resupply by river or sea. Human geography adds both the population a castle was meant to impress or control and the communities from which its garrison was drawn.
Notable Point · 35:50-37:47
Geography, structure, and garrison
A comparison of geography, structure and garrison finds Harlech's thirty-man combat contingent too small despite the strength of its site.