Wicket gate

Wickets are typically small, narrow doors either alongside or within a larger castle or city gate.

The purpose of wickets was to avoid the risk of having to open the main gates to the castle or city for just one or two individuals on foot.

In the Middle Ages the narrow doors in the city walls also enabled late arrivals to gain entry after the main gates had been closed.

The narrow side entrance could be protected by its own drawbridge and sometimes even opened into a gate passage separated from the main one as, for example, at Hohenwang Castle.

[4][5] The wickets in main gates that were easily visible should not be confused with the small, hidden sally ports in the walls of castles and fortifications.