When the castle was first built in the 13th century the stone spiral staircase would have stopped just after the bedroom door and then the remaining part would have been a wooden ladder to get upto the attic and ramparts.
This was more of a defensive decision than a practical one, for example if someone did make there way onto the roof they would have struggled to gain entry to the main part of the castle giving the castle protectors enough time to climb the stairs and disable the enemy.
It was not until the late 19th century that a wooden spiral staircase was added and then in 1912 a permanent stone spiral staircase constructed as you can see today by Robert Stodart.
The metal handrail was created in the late 1980s and added to the left side of the wall to aid people walking up and down these stairs which are pretty steep at this point, prior to this a simple rope attached to the roof was the only support to aid assent and decent
This was more of a defensive decision than a practical one, for example if someone did make there way onto the roof they would have struggled to gain entry to the main part of the castle giving the castle protectors enough time to climb the stairs and disable the enemy.
It was not until the late 19th century that a wooden spiral staircase was added and then in 1912 a permanent stone spiral staircase constructed as you can see today by Robert Stodart.
The metal handrail was created in the late 1980s and added to the left side of the wall to aid people walking up and down these stairs which are pretty steep at this point, prior to this a simple rope attached to the roof was the only support to aid assent and decent
HUNTERSTON CASTLE
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