Putlog hole

Putlog holes, as the name implies, are small holes that were intended to receive the ends of logs or squared wooden beams in the walls of buildings, especially in the Middle Ages.

Sometimes these logs were used for temporary scaffolding in construction, and sometimes they seem to have been used to ease the construction of hoardings. Evidence for the former can sometimes be seen from the spiral pattern they have left on the surface of round towers.

The inconsequential size and the spacing of the holes meant that they did not affect the solidity of the walls.

Hoardings were useful, as they gave archers greater mobility and a wider field of fire in times of siege; they also (through holes in the floor) facilitated dropping boulders (etc) directly onto the enemy's heads, without the need to expose oneself to danger.

In well-preserved castles, like Beaumaris, the putlog holes can be seen to this day.

Putlog holes are still used in modern scaffolding.

Gallery

Putlog holes for hoarding can be seen running along the top of the wall at Aigues-Mortes, France.

Putlog holes were used to support building scaffold in castle construction.