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Builders of castles and other defensive works knew that gateways were the most vulnerable parts of any defensive scheme. Various methods were developed to strengthen these gateways, finally adding barbicans or "outworks" as a first line of defence.
A barbican was a fortified outer gateway with its own towers, drawbridge and portcullis, outside the main defenses and usually separated from them by a wide moat. The barbican protected the approaches to the gateway and acted as a very strong blockhouse with its own small garrison.
Some of the earliest barbicans in stone castles were at Sherborne Old Castle in Dorset (1132 - 1137) and at Dover Castle in Kent (1170) - Dover's barbican no longer exists. Earlier motte-and-bailey castles of earth and timber almost certainly had similar outworks like these, but they leave little archaeological evidence in the ground.
The link takes you to a plan of Oxford castle as it was in around 1250; the wide moat is connected to the river Isis and the barbican (H) sits on an island in the moat:
The second link takes you to an image of the surviving barbican at Lewes Castle:
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