Licence to crenellate

Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of the counties palatine within their jurisdictions, i.e. by the Bishops of Durham, the Earls of Chester, and after 1351 by the Dukes of Lancaster.

[8] The term "licence to crenellate" was coined in the 19th century to describe documents that granted the holder permission to build fortifications.

The modern view, proposed notably by Charles Coulson, is that in time battlements became an architectural status-symbol much sought after by the socially ambitious, and licensing became not so much a control mechanism as the gateway to a status symbol.

"[4][13] In the opinion of archaeologist Matthew Johnson, the castle's defences are a sham, as there was no room for a parapet on top of the walls, and the gunports of the inner gatehouse were impractical.

[14] The castle's defences could, however, act as a deterrent against wandering bands of thieves, and Davis has suggested that the function of battlements was comparable to the modern practice of householders fitting highly visible CCTV and burglar alarms, often merely dummies.