A bartizan (an alteration of bratticing), also called a guerite, garita, or échauguette, or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging turret projecting from the walls of late-medieval and early-modern fortifications from the early 14th century up to the 18th century.[1] Most frequently found at corners, they protected a warder and enabled him to see his surroundings. Bartizans are generally furnished with oillets or arrow slits.[2] The turret was usually supported by stepped masonry corbels and could be round, polygonal or square.[3][4]

Drawing of a bartizan

Bartizans were incorporated into many notable examples of Scottish Baronial architecture. In the architecture of Aberdeen, the new Town House, built in 1868–74, incorporates bartizans in the West Tower.

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On walls

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On towers

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See also

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References

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  1. ^   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainWood, James, ed. (1907). "Bartizan". The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.
  2. ^   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bartizan". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 450.
  3. ^ Bradley, Simon, ed. (2010). Pevsner's Architectural Glossary. Yale University Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-300-16721-4.
  4. ^ Sturgis, Russell (1901). A Dictionary of Architecture and Building, Volume I. Macmillan. p. 219.