the outer ward is across, accessed by a gatehouse on the eastern edge and defended by a stone curtain wall, a dry ditch and four mural towers. the gatehouse, which survives up to in height, originally had a portcullis and a drawbridge. three of the towers were circular in design, but one was rectangular and would have been used as lodgings for a household official. there was a large building, probably a barn, across, on the north-western edge of the ward, alongside a group of smaller buildings, but all have since been lost.