Death by Stairwell

[steveray]

I will usually tell them they are off and when they argue I ask them if they want me to go get my tape measure....I've got a pretty good eye. Walking with a job super on some temp school stairs and I told him the top rise was off by a 1/4 which was OK because 3/8 was allowed....Didn't believe me,He went and got his own tape. 1/4 it is...

 

[Paul Sweet]

I once heard that medieval castles were sometimes built with a shorter top step which would cause invaders to stumble. I don't know if this is true, or just an excuse for sloppy workmanship.

 

[classicT]

I once heard that medieval castles were sometimes built with a shorter top step which would cause invaders to stumble. I don't know if this is true, or just an excuse for sloppy workmanship.

I do not have a definitive source on this, but I have heard the same many times before. A brief google search shows many hits with indication that this was true.

The other notable trait to medieval stairs it that most castle stairs rose in a clockwise spiral to allow the defender to retreat up the stairs and use the central column as a shield while the attacker was left exposed when attacking with a sword in the right hand. Some notable families with a preponderance of left-handedness would reverse to counter-clockwise.

From a website called All Things Medieval - "The hidden secrets of Stairwells – Stairwells were often very carefully designed in Medieval Castles. Stairwells that curved up to towers often curved very narrowly and in a clockwise direction. This meant that any attackers coming up the stairs had their sword hands (right hand) against the interior curve of the wall and this made it very difficult for them to swing their swords. Defenders had their sword hands on the outside wall, which meant they had more room to swing. Another ingenious design of stairs was that they were designed with very uneven steps. Some steps were tall and other steps were short. The inhabitants, being familiar with the uneven pattern of the stair heights could move quickly up and down the stairs but attackers, in a dimly lit stairwell, would easily fall and get bogged down in the stairwells. This made them vulnerable to attacks and slowed their attacks down significantly."​

 

[Glenn]

I do not have a definitive source on this, but I have heard the same many times before. A brief google search shows many hits with indication that this was true.

The other notable trait to medieval stairs it that most castle stairs rose in a clockwise spiral to allow the defender to retreat up the stairs and use the central column as a shield while the attacker was left exposed when attacking with a sword in the right hand. Some notable families with a preponderance of left-handedness would reverse to counter-clockwise.

From a website called All Things Medieval - "The hidden secrets of Stairwells – Stairwells were often very carefully designed in Medieval Castles. Stairwells that curved up to towers often curved very narrowly and in a clockwise direction. This meant that any attackers coming up the stairs had their sword hands (right hand) against the interior curve of the wall and this made it very difficult for them to swing their swords. Defenders had their sword hands on the outside wall, which meant they had more room to swing. Another ingenious design of stairs was that they were designed with very uneven steps. Some steps were tall and other steps were short. The inhabitants, being familiar with the uneven pattern of the stair heights could move quickly up and down the stairs but attackers, in a dimly lit stairwell, would easily fall and get bogged down in the stairwells. This made them vulnerable to attacks and slowed their attacks down significantly."​

OMG!! As a code history fan I absolutely love this so much. Did they write code books back then? I mean... I have a Hammurabi code translation from 1904, so it's possible.

I also saw something recently about how the moats were designed to be sickening cesspools of disease. The castle bathrooms drained to it. It was a sanitary sewage defense system.

 

[ADAguy]

I do not have a definitive source on this, but I have heard the same many times before. A brief google search shows many hits with indication that this was true.

The other notable trait to medieval stairs it that most castle stairs rose in a clockwise spiral to allow the defender to retreat up the stairs and use the central column as a shield while the attacker was left exposed when attacking with a sword in the right hand. Some notable families with a preponderance of left-handedness would reverse to counter-clockwise.

From a website called All Things Medieval - "The hidden secrets of Stairwells – Stairwells were often very carefully designed in Medieval Castles. Stairwells that curved up to towers often curved very narrowly and in a clockwise direction. This meant that any attackers coming up the stairs had their sword hands (right hand) against the interior curve of the wall and this made it very difficult for them to swing their swords. Defenders had their sword hands on the outside wall, which meant they had more room to swing. Another ingenious design of stairs was that they were designed with very uneven steps. Some steps were tall and other steps were short. The inhabitants, being familiar with the uneven pattern of the stair heights could move quickly up and down the stairs but attackers, in a dimly lit stairwell, would easily fall and get bogged down in the stairwells. This made them vulnerable to attacks and slowed their attacks down significantly."​

Yes but how does that account for the lack of a handrail or rails in many cases?

 

[e hilton]

Yes but how does that account for the lack of a handrail or rails in many cases?

Cuz when you stab the attacker you want him to fall off the stairs onto the cardboard boxes like the Errol Flynn movies.

 

[ADAguy]

"Cute"