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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1b35a9e --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64187 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64187) diff --git a/old/64187-0.txt b/old/64187-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5cc7715..0000000 --- a/old/64187-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,22094 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Mediæval Military Architecture in England, -by George Thomas Clark - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Mediæval Military Architecture in England - -Author: George Thomas Clark - -Release Date: January 02, 2021 [eBook #64187] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: MWS, Robert Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEDIÆVAL MILITARY ARCHITECTURE IN -ENGLAND *** - - - - - MEDIÆVAL MILITARY - ARCHITECTURE - IN - ENGLAND. - - BY GEO. T. CLARK. - - VOL. I. - - WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. - - ... Time - Has moulder’d into beauty many a tower, - Which, when it frown’d with all its battlements, - Was only terrible....—MASON. - - LONDON: - WYMAN & SONS, 74-76, GREAT QUEEN STREET, - LINCOLN’S-INN FIELDS, W.C. - - 1884. - - LONDON: - WYMAN AND SONS, PRINTERS, GREAT QUEEN STREET, - LINCOLN’S-INN FIELDS, W.C. - - TO - E. A. FREEMAN, ESQ. - THE HISTORIAN OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST, - THESE PAPERS, - COLLECTED AND PUBLISHED AT HIS SUGGESTION, - IN THEIR PRESENT FORM, - ARE APPROPRIATELY INSCRIBED. - - - - PREFACE. - - -The articles comprehended in the present volumes were written at very -long intervals of time, some half a century ago, and printed in the -Transactions of various Societies in different and distant counties. -Many also appeared in the _Builder_ newspaper. Each paper was intended -to be complete in itself, and was written with no expectation that -they would ever be collected and reprinted as one work. This I mention -to account for, and I hope in some degree to excuse, the occasioned -iteration of certain views concerning the connexion between the banks -and earthworks, the moated mounds of the ninth century, and the -buildings in masonry afterwards placed upon them,—which the Author -was the first to set forth, and which are explained at length in the -Introduction. - -The latter and greater part of the work is occupied by minute, and, -it is hoped, generally accurate accounts of most of the principal -castles of England, and of one or two of a typical character in France -and Scotland. The account of Caerphilly was drawn up in 1834. It was, -I believe, the first attempt to treat, in a scientific and accurate -manner, the plans and details of a great mediæval fortress. - -My cordial thanks are due to the editors of the various Archæological -Journals in which the original papers appeared, and especially to the -late editor of the _Builder_, Mr. Godwin. I have also especially to -thank an old friend and school-fellow, Mr. Murray, of Albemarle Street, -for leave to reprint the paper on the Tower of London, and for the use -of the woodcuts with which he so liberally embellished the original in -his “Old London.” - -To Mr. Freeman my obligations are of a different and less personal -character. Other historians have visited the scenes of events which -they were about to describe, but no one has shown himself so familiar -with the ancient divisions, civil, ecclesiastical, and military, -of English ground, and with the buildings connected with them. -His accomplishments as a topographer and as a master of mediæval -architecture are peculiar to himself among historians, and materials -which in their original form are dry and uninstructive give, in his -hands, weight and substance to some of his most brilliant sketches. As -a collector of some of these materials, I have often felt surprise and -delight at the use to which they have been applied; and, although my -work has been rather that of a quarryman or brickmaker, I am sometimes -led almost to regard myself as sharing in the glory of the architect. - - - - - CONTENTS OF VOL. I. - - - CHAPTER. - - I. INTRODUCTION _Page_ 1 - - II. EARTHWORKS OF THE POST-ROMAN AND ENGLISH PERIODS 12 - - III. OF THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AT THE CONQUEST AND UNDER THE - CONQUEROR 35 - - IV. OF THE POLITICAL VALUE OF CASTLES UNDER THE SUCCESSORS - OF THE CONQUEROR 48 - - V. THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF CASTLES IN THE REIGN OF - HENRY II. 60 - - VI. THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AND WALES AT THE LATTER PART OF - THE TWELFTH CENTURY 68 - - VII. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED 85 - - VIII. THE SAME SUBJECT CONCLUDED 99 - - IX. THE RECTANGULAR KEEP OF A NORMAN CASTLE 121 - - X. OF THE SHELL KEEP 139 - - XI. CASTLES OF THE EARLY ENGLISH PERIOD 147 - - XII. OF THE EDWARDIAN OR CONCENTRIC CASTLES 157 - - - ALNWICK CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND 175 - - ARQUES CASTLE, NEAR DIEPPE 186 - - ARUNDEL CASTLE, SUSSEX 195 - - BARNARD CASTLE 204 - - BEAUMARIS CASTLE, ANGLESEY 213 - - BEDFORD CASTLE 217 - - BERKHAMPSTEAD CASTLE, HERTS 223 - - BERKELEY CASTLE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE 228 - - BODIHAM CASTLE, SUSSEX 239 - - BORTHWICK TOWER, MIDLOTHIAN 247 - - BÔVES CASTLE 256 - - BOWES CASTLE 259 - - BRAMBER CASTLE, SUSSEX 264 - - BRIDGENORTH, OLDBURY, AND QUATFORD, SHROPSHIRE 273 - - BRONLLYS TOWER, BRECKNOCKSHIRE 283 - - BROUGH AND BROUGHAM CASTLES, WESTMORELAND 286 - - BUILTH CASTLE, BRECKNOCKSHIRE 304 - - CAERNARVON CASTLE 309 - - CAERPHILLY CASTLE, GLAMORGAN 315 - - CARDIFF CASTLE, GLAMORGAN 336 - - CARLISLE CASTLE 350 - - CASTELL COCH, GLAMORGAN 358 - - CASTLE RISING, NORFOLK 364 - - CHÂTEAU-GAILLARD, NORMANDY 378 - - CHRISTCHURCH CASTLE, HANTS 385 - - CLIFFORD CASTLE, HEREFORDSHIRE 393 - - CLITHEROE KEEP, LANCASHIRE 397 - - CLUN CASTLE, SHROPSHIRE 402 - - COCKERMOUTH CASTLE, CUMBERLAND 409 - - COLCHESTER CASTLE 418 - - CONISBOROUGH CASTLE 431 - - CONWAY CASTLE 453 - - CORFE CASTLE, DORSET 461 - - COUCY-LE-CHÂTEAU 476 - - COYTY CASTLE, GLAMORGAN 487 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. I. - - - ALNWICK CASTLE, Plan of _Page_ 185 - - ARQUES, Castle of, Plan of the 189 - - BARNARD CASTLE, Plan of 206 - - Ditto The Keep 208 - - BEAUMARIS CASTLE, Ground Plan 213 - - Ditto Entrance 214 - - Ditto Bird’s-eye View 215 - - BERKHAMPSTEAD CASTLE, Plan 225 - - BERKELEY CASTLE, Plan _face p._ 229 - - Ditto Keep 〃 233 - - BORTHWICK TOWER: Section 248 - - Ditto Plan of First-floor and Basement 249 - - BOWES CASTLE, Plan of First Floor and Ground Floor 260 - - BRAMBER CASTLE, Plan and Section _face p._ 268 - - BRIDGENORTH CASTLE, Plan of Keep 274 - - BROUGH CASTLE, Plan 287 - - BROUGHAM CASTLE, Ground Plan 295 - - Ditto Ground Plan of Keep 297 - - Ditto Keep, Vertical Section 301 - - Ditto Keep, from the South-West 302 - - BUILTH CASTLE, Ground Plan _face p._ 307 - - CAERNARVON CASTLE, Bird’s-eye View 313 - - Ditto Battlements, Eagle Tower 314 - - CARDIFF CASTLE, Ground Plan _face p._ 341 - - CAERPHILLY CASTLE 320 - - Ditto Ground Plan _face p._ 320 - - CARLISLE CASTLE, Plan 〃 352 - - CASTLE RISING, Plan of Keep 366 - - Ditto Plan of Upper Floor 367 - - CHÂTEAU-GAILLARD, Plan 382 - - CHRISTCHURCH CASTLE, Plan 386 - - CLITHEROE KEEP, Plan 398 - - Ditto Section 399 - - CLUN CASTLE, Plan _face p._ 404 - - COCKERMOUTH CASTLE, Plan 〃 410 - - COLCHESTER CASTLE, Plans of Ground Floor and First - Floor _face p._ 424 - - CONISBOROUGH CASTLE, Plan of Castle and Earthworks 432 - - Ditto Ascent from the Gatehouse 434 - - Ditto Pilasters as seen from the Outside 435 - - Ditto Detail of the Base of one of the - Buttresses of the Keep 436 - - Ditto Keep from outside the Curtain 437 - - Ditto View of the Keep as at Present _face p._ 437 - - Ditto Keep 〃 438 - - Ditto Plan, First Floor 439 - - Ditto Plan, Second Floor 440 - - Ditto Window in Second Floor 441 - - Ditto Interior of the Keep _face p._ 442 - - Ditto Plan, Third Floor 442 - - Ditto Capitals of Centre Arch, North Side 443 - - Ditto Interior of the Oratory or Chapel _face p._ 443 - - Ditto Plan at Rampart Level 444 - - Ditto Suggested Original Appearance 446 - - CONWAY CASTLE, Plan 455 - - Ditto Bird’s-eye View 456 - - Ditto Bird’s-eye View of the Town 459 - - CORFE CASTLE, Sections of Lodge Door 464 - - COUCY CASTLE, Plan 481 - - COYTY CASTLE, Ground Plan _face p._ 488 - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - INTRODUCTION. - - -The art of construction in Europe from the fall of the Roman empire to -the dawn of the Reformation, though of late years much and successfully -investigated, has been approached almost exclusively from its -ecclesiastical side. This was, for many reasons, to be expected. The -service of the altar justified, perhaps required, the highest degree -of taste in the design of the temple, and the utmost richness in its -ornamentation. Moreover, the greater number of our ecclesiastical -buildings are still in use, and even the remains of those that are -in decay, being chiefly monastic, are interesting from the intimate -connexion of their foundations and endowments with early piety and -learning, and from the evidence supplied by their records of the -descent of landed property and of the ancestry of the older historic -families of the country. - -The coëval military structures exhibit, generally, no such splendours -of design or excellence of execution, nor do they awaken such -sympathies in our breasts. The parish church is the common concern -of all who worship within its walls, or whose dead are laid within -its sacred precinct; but the castle, always a dangerous and unpopular -neighbour, and often associated with local tyranny or the disasters -of war, was in most instances ruined or swept away with the general -use of gunpowder, and even where preserved, its narrow dimensions and -inconvenient arrangements, particulars more or less essential to its -value as a place of defence, rendered it, except in a few instances, -unfit for a modern residence, and have thus tended to sever it still -more completely from the current sympathies and interests of humanity. -Nevertheless, there is in these structures, obsolete as they are, or -because they are obsolete, much to attract those who care to know of -the life and customs of former generations. Many of these buildings -were the work and residence of persons who have left their mark -upon the history of our country. Some, as York, Lincoln, Norwich, -Dover, Rochester, Chester, Colchester, Wallingford, have been the -seats of Saxon thanes or Danish jarls, succeeding a Roman or perhaps -British occupant; others, as Bamborough, Taunton, Sarum, Tutbury, -and Hereford, are associated with the earliest, most celebrated, or -most patriotic of our purely English kings; others, as the Tower, -Windsor, Winchester, Berkeley, Pontefract, Newark, Carisbrook, were the -scene of the splendours of our greatest or the miseries of our most -unfortunate monarchs; some, as Oxford, Northampton, Lewes, Kenilworth, -are connected with great constitutional struggles between prince and -subject; some, as Exeter, Bedford, Rochester, Pembroke, Chepstow, and -Raglan, remind us of bloody combats and sieges from the times of the -Conqueror to those of Charles the First. Some castles, as Sherborne, -the Devizes, Malmesbury, Wolvesley, Newark, Farnham, Norham, and -Durham, were constructed by lordly ecclesiastics who brought the arm -of the soldier to support the brain of the priest and statesman; some -again, as Hedingham, Bungay, Axholm, Alnwick, Raby, Tonbridge, Warwick, -Wigmore, Powderham, Goderich, and Helmsley, are intimately bound up -with the great baronial names of De Vere, Bigot, Mowbray, Percy, -Neville, Clare, Beauchamp, Mortimer, Courtenay, Talbot, and De Ros, -those “ancient stocks that so long withstood the waves and weathers -of time.” Ludlow is identified with the fairest creation of Milton’s -genius; Caerleon and Tintadgel glitter bright in mediæval romance; -while Shrewsbury, Chester, the Welsh castles, Carlisle, Newcastle, -Prudhoe, Ford, Hermitage, Jedburgh, Berwick, and a host of subordinate -towers and peels, are celebrated in Marchman’s warfare or Border -Minstrelsy, and played a part in the politic but unjust aggressions of -our earlier Henrys and Edwards. - -The histories and remains of these fortresses are full of interest -to the antiquary, whether his branch of study be legal, social, -architectural, or military. Almost all the most important of our -English castles date, in some form or other, from remote antiquity, -and their associations were of slow growth, and deeply rooted in -many centuries of the national history. Most were the centres of -estates which had become great in the course of many generations, and -for the protection of which they were established; and the tenure -and services of the tenantry had grown up gradually, so that the -castle, or rather the fortified hall, was closely connected with the -institutions, laws, and customs of the estate, or it might be the -shire, wapentake, rape, or hundred, of which it was the defence. Such -castles as Belvoir, Clitheroe, Gloucester, Totnes, Dunster, Hastings, -Bramber, and Tickhill, were the “capita” or chief seats of ancient -sokes, honours, and baronies, having peculiar privileges within their -garths and demesnes, with manorial dependencies scattered through many -counties, and accumulated in some considerable degree even before -the Norman era. Many of the lands were held, even in Saxon times, by -the ancient tenure of military service, which, reduced into a system -under the Norman kings, often took the form of guarding and keeping in -repair some specified part of the lord’s castle, a tower, gate-house, -hall, or wall, to be paid either in person as castle-guard, or by the -commutation known as ward-silver. Something like castle-guard appears -indeed in the history of Norwich castle as early as the seventh -century, and it was common in the tenth. Like the castle of Chester, -that of Durham was the seat of an Earl-Palatine, the subject of the -grim humour of Cœur-de-Lion, who of an aged Bishop made a young Earl, -whose successors, more fortunate than those of their lay brother, -preserved their Earldom and its more than Vice-regal appendages almost -unshorn till the Reformation, and with a splendid remnant of judicial -and social power to our own day; and indeed, even now, though his mitre -no longer springs out of a coronet, nor is his crozier as formerly -combined with a sword, and though the baronial hall has been liberally -surrendered for the purposes of education, the lord of Durham is not -altogether wanting in pride of place, nor reduced, as yet, even to -episcopal poverty. - -The “Registrum Honoris de Richmond,” a very curious Custumary, -specifies the precise part in that castle that each tenant was to -defend. At Belvoir, Staunton tower, at Berkeley, Thorpe’s tower, are -so called because families of those names were responsible for them, -and at Dover, Magminot and a score of other towers still bear the names -of the chief tenants of that important lordship, and thus preserve the -memory of a tenure the substance of which has long been abolished. The -connexion between the military tenant and his lord was intimate, and -much imbued with the ancient Teutonic equality and independence. The -lord held his “aula” for his own safety and that of his tenants; their -mutual support gave power to the one and security to the others; no man -was degraded by such a tenure. The most powerful barons were almost -always also tenants holding fiefs under other lords, often far their -inferiors in rank and power. - -It is this ancient history, this connexion with the earliest works of -defence, that gives so great an interest to the older castles. When, in -later days, and under extraordinary circumstances, it suited the king -or some great baron to erect a castle in a new place, the fabric had no -root, no associations. The grand characteristic of an old castle, the -mighty earthwork, was wanting, and its place was ill supplied by masses -of masonry and a ditch of moderate dimensions. No tenants clustered -round the place, to it no manors were attached, no dependents held -lands by the tenure of its defence. Thus Bere, Beaumaris, Caernarvon, -Diganwy, Conway, Harlech, and Caerphilly, grand structures as were most -of them, were mere intrusions upon the soil, and when the need that -produced them ceased, as they represented no private estate, and were -the residence of no great baron, they were left to fall into decay. -Not the less are they of great architectural interest. They are mostly -of one date, laid out and constructed upon one plan. Though intended -for military purposes, within the palace shares with the fortress. The -accommodation afforded is ample, the main apartments are spacious, the -ornamentation rich. The inner court, gatehouses, and hall of Caerphilly -are grander than anything of the sort in Britain. - -The castles of a still later period, when built on new sites, were -scarcely Castles in the military sense of the term. They were not -posted for the defence of a March or a threatened district, but -for the residence, more or less secure, of the lord, usually of -a newly-acquired estate, very often purchased with the ransoms -of prisoners taken in the French wars. Even where the castle -most predominated, as at Bodiham, built, as Arundel was largely -repaired, with the spoils of war, or at Tattershal, they were rather -palace-castles than castle-palaces, and this was especially the case -with Bolton, Wressil, and Sheriff-Hutton, works of the latter part -of the fourteenth century. In such works the salient towers, loops, -embattled parapets, and bold machicolations, are introduced partly for -their appearance, partly from custom, but scarcely for any military -purpose. - -To the student of military architecture, or of the art of the defence -of strong places before the introduction of gunpowder, the ground-plans -of defensive works and the details of castellated architecture of -every period are interesting; sometimes they are to be admired for the -grandeur of their earthworks or the enormous strength of their walls; -sometimes for their happily-selected site and the skilful disposition -of their arrangements for a flanking defence; or, as at Arques, Dover, -Sarum, and Windsor, for their subterranean outlets and countermines. -Some, as Clitheroe and Peak, were structures purely military, intended -to contain only a captain and a small garrison, and provided with -scanty accommodation, and quite destitute of ornament; in others, as -Ludlow, Caerphilly, and Beaumaris, the interior arrangements were on a -scale and of a character to accommodate a Royal Court. Even where the -walls are destroyed, there often remain, in the earthworks, traces of -a much earlier people than the Normans, a people who, as at Old Sarum, -Castle-acre, Marlborough, Clare, Tonbridge, and the Devizes, occupied -the ground with bank, ditch, and palisade, long before native skill -had attained to the construction of wall or tower. Finally, although -the stern necessities of war did not admit of the banded shafts, lofty -vault, or woven window-tracery of Tintern, or Fountains, or many a -less distinguished church, the ornamentation of the richer castles, as -Dover, Rochester, Hedingham, Newcastle, Knaresborough, Castle Rising, -and Coningsborough, is marked by a chastened fitness peculiar to such -works; and of the ruder and less ornate castles, the ruins of very -many present a savage grandeur which few who have visited Caerphilly, -Harlech, or Scarborough, can fail to appreciate; any more than that -union of strength with beauty so conspicuous in Chepstow, Raglan, and -Ludlow, which, enhanced by an illustrious history, attains its highest -perfection in Warwick. - -The history of such castles as are connected with public events -is seldom difficult to trace. They are mentioned by the ancient -chroniclers, and their repairs and various particulars concerning them -are often entered on the Pipe rolls, and in other of the records of the -realm. About a score, such as Arundel, Bamborough, Taunton, Wigmore, -and Hereford, are named in the Saxon annals, and in charters of the -eighth and following centuries; and others, though unnamed in these -authorities, may from their general similarity safely be attributed -to the same people and period. The castles on the Welsh Marches, as -Ludlow, Montgomery, Chester, Rhuddlan, Cardiff, Chepstow, and Pembroke, -had their special jurisdictions; their courts of law and of record; -their chancellor, chancery, and official seal; the lord’s “Vicecomes” -exercised powers of pit and gallows, and his court passed fines and -recoveries, and other early instruments for the conveyance of land. -In the northern Marches such castles as Norham, Prudhoe, Cockermouth, -Alnwick, Naworth, Caerlaverock, and Home, constructed for the defence -of an exposed frontier or a debatable district, the home of those -who lived by “snaffle, spur, and spear,” are commemorated in the -records of either country. Others were originally royal castles, as -Dover, Canterbury, Winchester, London, Nottingham, and York; or, as -Kenilworth, Bridgenorth, and Rochester, fell by escheat or forfeiture -into the hands of the crown, and so were maintained at the public -expense, and the cost of their repairs charged in the sheriffs’ -accounts of each county. - -However complete, and it is usually much the reverse, may be the -history of a castle, any knowledge we may desire as to its particulars -greatly depends upon what may remain of the structure, either in -masonry or earthworks, and to understand these the first thing -necessary is a plan, and this is just what is wanting in most guides -or handbooks of castles. With a good plan not only the age and much of -the details of any castle can be ascertained, but sometimes the work -recorded in the Pipe or Fabric rolls may be recognised. Original plans -indeed there are none; no doubt the military architects, like their -ecclesiastical brethren, drew and worked from designs and plans, but -these have not been preserved. No such thing is known to exist as an -original design or a working drawing of a Norman or even an Edwardian -castle. In ecclesiastical researches, from the known uniformity of the -arrangements, this want is scarcely felt, but the plan and details of -a castle vary with the disposition of the ground or the caprice of -the builder, and although a hall, a kitchen, a chapel, a well, and -a barrack are indispensable features in a castle, these parts have -nothing of the regularity of position of a nave or choir, a cloister, -a chapter-house, or a refectory. Nevertheless, great as is the variety -in both the plans and details of castles even of the same age, their -architects and engineers worked by certain rules, so that if these be -studied a clue will be obtained to the age of the work executed. The -dimensions, plan, and profile of the earthworks, the presence, absence, -or figure of the keep, the thickness of the walls, the plan, figure, -proportion and position of the mural towers, the character of the -entrance, the material employed, and the particulars of the masonry, -all, if carefully observed, afford a clue to the date of the building -or of some of its parts, so that as a general proposition, a Norman -castle may be known from one of the early English period, or from those -of the first or second Edward, and still more readily from those built -in the reign of Richard the Second. What these rules are, in what these -differences consist, will appear further on. - -Mediæval architecture has only been scientifically studied during -the last forty or fifty years, and military architecture for a still -shorter period. Rickman, who first taught us to read the date of -a building in its details, was induced to turn his attention to -architecture by the advice of Mr. Blore, who died but the other day. - -But Rickman, a member of the Society of Friends, scarcely notices -castles, and they have by no means shared in the flood of light -directed by Willis upon our cathedrals. Rickman’s rules, however, -apply as much to one class of buildings as to the other. What has been -done, and what has to be done, towards a history of the architecture -of castles, though aided by contemporary records and especially by -sheriffs’ accounts and Fabric rolls, has been mainly attained by -attention to the internal evidence afforded by the buildings themselves -and their earthworks. Even where the castle is a ruin, where the ashlar -casing has been stripped off, and little left but the rubble and -concrete of the interior of the walls, as at Bramber, Saffron-Walden, -and Thurnham, and the disintegrating effect of the weather has had full -play, it is not impossible, nor very often difficult, to detect the -general age of the several parts of the building by the thickness of -the walls and the character of the materials and workmanship, as well -as by the outline of the works. The absence of ornament and the general -removal of window-dressings and door-cases often, it is true, render -the absolute date difficult to discover, but even then, the general -figure of the openings, the rough contour of the arches, the position -and proportion of the buttresses may be detected, and a tolerably safe -conclusion formed. Perhaps, on the whole, the greatest difficulties the -military antiquary has to contend with are those where, as at Norwich, -Lancaster, York, Oxford, Caermarthen, or Haverfordwest, the building is -converted into a gaol, or where, as at Appleby and Chilham, it is part -of or attached to a modern residence. Warwick, so remarkable on many -accounts, is especially so for the skilful manner in which it has been -made suitable for modern habitation without materially obscuring its -ancient parts, and this merit may be claimed for Tamworth, and perhaps -for Raby. - -Our county historians are often diffuse upon the descent of a castelry, -and the particulars of its area and tenures, but their descriptions of -the buildings are seldom intelligible. Even Surtees, so distinguished -for the wealth and lucidity of his style, whose history of Durham -contains, entombed in folio, chapters that in a more accessible form -would have met with far more than antiquarian attention, never attempts -scientific description. Hunter, whose histories of Hallamshire and -of the Deanery of Doncaster are perfect as records of the descent of -families and property, is not at home in architectural detail; and even -Whitaker, who, with Hunter, was quite aware of the interest which -attaches to earthworks, gives plans of but few of them, and says very -little about the details of the castles. To come down to the latest -period, even Raine, Hodgson, and Eyton, in their histories of Durham, -Northumberland, and Salop, so copious and so accurate in all matters -of record, pass by with but short notice the various earthworks and -castles in which those counties are so rich, and the details of which -would be so valuable. We look in vain in the pages of these writers for -any general conclusions as to the age, style, and points of resemblance -or difference between these works, points which certainly fall within -the province of the topographer. - -The great work of King, the “Munimenta Antiqua,” three-quarters of -a century or more older than most of the above, and full of absurd -theories, misplaced learning, and fanciful and incorrect descriptions, -recognises the importance of plans and details, and although those -given with great show of accuracy are often very incorrect, they are -worth a good deal, and with all its absurdities the book is on the -whole valuable. - -The “Vetusta Monumenta,” a work of the same school and period, -includes a few castles, and gives plans and sections of two, the Tower -and Hedingham, correctly, and in great detail. Unfortunately, these -large and needlessly expensive plates are accompanied by no proper -descriptions. The voluminous works of the industrious Britton include -very few castles, but what there are, as Rochester, Kenilworth, and -Castle Rising, are drawn and planned with extreme accuracy. The -drawings of Grose and the brothers Buck serve to show the condition of -many English castles a century ago, though the descriptions of Grose -are poor, and his drawings are by no means clear. Buck’s perspective -is very incorrect, but this allows of the bringing into view more of a -building than can really be seen at once, which has its advantages. - -Since the rise, during the last twenty years, of numerous county -archæological societies, castles have received more attention; but no -distinct work has appeared upon English castles, though many of the -most remarkable are noticed by Mr. Parker in his excellent works on -domestic architecture. More recently has appeared the book of the late -Mr. Wykeham Martin upon his ancestral castle of Ledes, a work not only -well illustrated and furnished with an excellent ground-plan, but in -which the architecture and arrangements of the fortress are treated in -a scientific manner, and his conclusions supported, in many instances, -by original documents. - -England contains many curious and some grand examples of military -architecture; but that insular position and those industrious habits -which have given her internal peace have not been favourable to the -erection of fortresses of the larger class: for these we must pass to -the Continent, and especially to France. In France not only were the -works of imperial Rome of a grand and substantial character, but they -were adopted and employed by the people after the fall of the empire, -and both Franks and Visigoths, unlike our English Saxons, practised -the arts of attack and defence upon Roman principles, and remodelled -the older works to meet the later circumstances of the period. In the -southern provinces, especially, are still to be found castles and -fortified towns such as Tholouse, Narbonne, Beziers, and Carcassonne, -where the old Roman circumvallation has been preserved, and may still -be recognised amidst the additions and alterations of succeeding ages. - -Like the Romans, their successors made use of earthworks and of timber -both for attack and defence, and for permanent works employed masonry -of a very Roman character. Such accounts as have descended to us of -the great sieges of the Middle Ages show that the machines and methods -in use were those handed down by tradition from Rome, many of them -being such as Cæsar employed, while others were the same as those -sculptured on the column of Trajan or described by Vegetius. Mines and -countermines, battering-rams, balistæ, catapults, the cat, the mouse, -the sow, and a large family of devices for reaching under cover the -wall to be undermined, were all derived from Roman warfare, and were -employed, if not with the skill and discipline of Rome, with a degree -of vigour and boldness that was scarcely less effective. - -Moreover, the political circumstances of France were eminently -favourable to the construction of great military works. The great -duchies and scarcely subordinate kingdoms which afterwards composed -the French monarchy were, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, -independent states, each with an open frontier needing defences, and -with a brave and wealthy baronage very able and very willing to supply -them. Hence France contains within its present borders not only cities -of Roman origin and celebrated under the immediate successors of the -Romans, but the remains of the castle-palaces of the dukes and barons -of Normandy and Brittany; of Burgundy, Provence, Navarre, Flanders, -Anjou, and many a lesser province; and he is but little qualified to -judge of castles or of fortified mediæval cities who is unacquainted -with Arques, or Falaise, or Loches; Coucy or Château-Gaillard, or -Etampes; Carcassonne, Avignon, Villeneuve, or Beaucaire, or the -splendid restoration of Pierrefonds. - -The possession of these great works has drawn forth, though tardily, -a few writers capable of comprehending and describing them. Those in -Normandy are the subject of the well-known lectures of M. de Caumont, -delivered at Caen in 1830 and published in 1835. They contain a very -interesting section on military works, with plans and elevations -which, though roughly executed and on a small scale, are valuable; his -descriptions are clear, and his conclusions generally sound. Others, -before M. de Caumont, have described particular structures, but he -seems to have been the first to attempt a general classification based -upon a critical examination of the examples in his own province. - -Of detached writings, monographs, may be mentioned those of M. Deville -upon Château-Gaillard, Tancarville, and Arques, published in 1828, -1834, and 1839. The first is particularly strong in its history of the -castle and of its famous siege, and the last excellent both in history -and description; and all three are accompanied by clear ground-plans. - -The great work of Viollet-le-Duc, though not confined to military -architecture, contains by much the most comprehensive, as well as the -most detailed, account of French castles yet given to the world; and -as, besides the general resemblance between all European castles, -those of the eleventh and twelfth centuries in Normandy are almost -counterparts of those of the same period, and often built by the same -nobles or their sons, in England, it has deservedly become our chief -authority. Also the castles of France, being on a larger scale and -often more perfect than our own, M. Le-Duc has been able to explain -more satisfactorily than could have been done here, certain details, -such, for example, as those of the gateway, drawbridge, and portcullis, -and especially of the timber superstructures for vertical defence, -known as “_hourdes_” and “_bretasches_,” terms represented with us -by the “hoard” of a London builder, and the “brattice” of the mining -engineer. M. Le-Duc’s work has given occasion and matter for a small -volume from the press of Mr. Parker. There is besides a work in German, -“_Geschichte der Militär-Architectur des fruhern Mittelalters_,” by -M. G. H. Krieg von Hochfelden, which contains much of great interest -concerning German castles, as well as a general notice of those in -France and England. - -Although military architecture in England, setting aside the works of -the Romans, begins with the age, and probably with the actual period, -of the Norman Conquest, the country contains numerous examples of -military works of an earlier, and in many instances no doubt of a -very remote, time. These works, executed in earth, or at least of -which no parts but banks, mounds, and ditches remain, are sometimes -of great size, but usually of extreme simplicity of plan. Of most of -them, the Roman again excepted, the relative age is all that we can -hope to ascertain, but even from this knowledge we are at present -very far; and although it is probable that the simple encampments, of -irregular outline, and on high ground, are the work of the earliest -inhabitants of Britain, and those of circular or more regular outline, -having higher banks, and placed in more accessible positions, are the -works of the post-Roman period, yet the outlines are often so mixed, -and the arrangement of the mounds and banks so alike, that it cannot -always certainly be said what is sepulchral, what merely commemorative -or monumental, and what military; what the works of the earlier or -later Celts, what of the Saxons, what of their Danish conquerors, and -sometimes even, though not often, what is Roman. - -The particulars of these various earthworks, so different in plan -and extending over so many centuries, deserve a separate notice, and -therefore, though originally intended to have been here treated of, it -seemed more prudent to lay this branch of the subject aside for the -present, in the hope that it may be taken up when the completion of -the larger scale Ordnance Maps shall afford more accurate and copious -data than now can conveniently be procured. The subject, in fact, -should have entered into the instructions given to the officers of the -Survey, by which means we should at least have avoided the obscure and -sometimes contradictory system of nomenclature by which these works -have been designated at different periods of this great, and in most -respects admirable, national undertaking. - -But, although it be expedient here to pass by in silence those -earthworks, irregular, rectangular, or concentric, which have no direct -connexion with the subsequent castles of masonry, and therefore with -military architecture, there remain, nevertheless, certain earthworks -which are so connected, and which must therefore here be noticed, and -are of importance sufficient to require a separate chapter for their -consideration. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - EARTHWORKS OF THE POST-ROMAN AND ENGLISH PERIODS. - - -But little is recorded of the internal condition of Britain between the -departure of the Legions, A.D. 411, and the arrival of the Northmen -in force thirty or forty years later; but whatever may have been the -effect of Roman dominion, or of the infusion of Roman blood, upon the -social or commercial character of the Britons, it is at least certain -that they had made little progress in the construction of places of -defence. The Romans dealt rather with the country than with the people. -The foreign trade under the Roman sway was no doubt considerable, and -much land was under cultivation, but the Britons seem to have acquired -but few of the Roman arts, and nothing of the Roman discipline. -Neither have their descendants, the Welsh, many customs which can -be traced distinctly to a Roman origin; and although there are many -words in their language which show its origin to be cognate with the -Latin, there are comparatively few which can, with any probability, -be shown to be derived from the Latin. How far against the Scots and -Picts they made use of Roman tactics or employed Roman weapons is but -little known. In defending themselves against the Northmen they, no -doubt, took advantage of the Roman walls at Richborough and Lymne, and -afterwards of Pevensey, but on the whole with only temporary success; -and from these they were driven back upon the earthworks of their -probably remote predecessors. There is not a shadow of evidence that -they constructed any new defensive works in masonry upon the Roman -models, or even repaired those that were left to them in the same -material. - -There do, however, remain certain earthworks which seem to be laid -out according to Roman rules, but which contain no traces of Roman -habitations, are not connected with great Roman roads, and the banks -and ditches of which are of greater height and depth than those -generally in use among the Romans in Britain, and which therefore -there seems reason to attribute to the post-Roman Britons. Such are -Tamworth, Wareham, Wallingford, possibly Cardiff, though upon a -Roman road, and the additions to the Roman works at York. The name -Wallingford, “the ford of the Welsh,” may be quoted in support of -this view. It is difficult to understand how it is that there are no -remains in masonry which may be attributed to this period, for it is -impossible that with the example of the Romans before their eyes, and -a certain admixture of Roman blood in the veins of many of them, the -Britons should not have possessed something of the art of construction. -This difficulty does not occur in Gaul, whence the Romans were never -formally withdrawn. On the Continent indeed, generally, buildings are -found of all ages, from the Roman period downwards. Gregory of Tours, -in his “Historia Francorum,” written towards the end of the sixth -century, describes the fortified place of Merliar as of great extent -and strength, in which there were included a sweet-water lake, gardens, -and orchards; and M. de Caumont cites a description of an episcopal -castle on the Moselle in the same century, which was defended by thirty -towers, one of which contained a chapel, and was armed with a balista, -and within the place were cultivated lands and a water-mill; and there -were many such, like the defences of Carcassonne, of mixed Roman and -post-Roman work, that is, of work executed before and about the fifth -century. - -In Britain, the course of events was different. The Northmen, men of -the sea, and accustomed to life in the open air, had no sympathies with -the Celts, and utterly disdained what remained of Roman civilisation; -slaying or driving out the people, and burning and destroying the -Roman buildings, which, in consequence, are in England fragmentary, -and in most cases only preserved by having been covered up with earth -or incorporated into later structures. The Roman works were mostly -on too large a scale for the wants of new settlers, and even where -these occupied the Roman towns they cared not to restore or complete -the walls, but buried what remained of them in high earthen banks, -upon which they pitched their palisades, and within which they threw -up their moated citadels. The Northmen respected nothing, adopted -nothing. Their earliest mission was one of violence and destruction. -They appear, in the south and east at least, in a large measure to have -slain and driven out the people of the land, and to have abolished such -institutions as they possessed. But not the less did they carry with -them the seeds of other institutions of a far more vigorous and very -healthful character. Whether Saxons, Angles, or Jutes, though landing -on the shores of Britain in quite independent parties, they had the -substance of their speech, their customs, and their gods in common. -They had the same familiarity with the sea, the same indisposition -to occupy Roman buildings, the same absence of all sympathy with the -native Britons. If they still held most of their lands in common, the -house and the homestead were already private property. Their family -ties were strong, as is shown in the nomenclature of their villages. As -they conquered, they settled, and practised agriculture, and as they -embraced Christianity they gradually established those divisions, civil -and ecclesiastical, sokes and rapes, tythings, hundreds, wapentakes, -and parishes, which still remain to attest the respect to which they -had attained for law and order, for the rights of private property, and -their capacity for self-government. - -Much akin to, and before long to be incorporated into the English -nation, were the Norsemen from the seaboard country north of the Elbe, -the Danes of English history and of local tradition, who in the eighth -century played the part of the Saxons in the fifth. They scoured the -same seas, and harassed the Saxons as the Saxons had harassed the -Britons, only the invaders and the invaded being, generally, of the -same blood, finally coalesced, and the distinctions between them became -well-nigh effaced; still, for three centuries, the ninth, tenth, and -eleventh, the Danish name was the terror of the British Isles. They -infested every strand, anchored in every bay, ascended every river, -penetrated and laid waste the interior of the country. - -Orkney is full of their traces, their language is the key to the -topographical nomenclature of Caithness, the gigantic works at -Flamborough Head are attributed to them; the great cutting, by which -they carried a branch of the Thames across Southwark, is on record. In -the year A.D. 1000, Ethelred found them forming much of the population -of Cumberland. Such terminations as _eye_, _ness_, _holm_, and _by_, so -common along the shores of England, or over the lands watered by the -Trent and the Humber, the Tees and the Tyne, and not unknown on the -western coast, show the extent and permanence of their settlements. -It does not, however, appear that the Danish earthworks differed -materially from those thrown up by the other northern nations in -England. Camps tending to the circular form and headlands fortified -by segmental lines of bank and ditch belong to all, and all when they -settled and acquired property underwent very similar changes in their -habits and modes of life. - -No doubt, among the earlier works of the Northmen, those thrown up to -cover their landing and protect their ships, were the semicircular -lines of ditch and bank found on capes and headlands and projecting -cliffs on various parts of the sea-coast. Usually they are of limited -area, as the invaders came commonly in very small bodies, but the -Flamborough entrenchment has a line of bank and ditch three and a half -miles long, of a most formidable character, and including a very large -area. - -Along the coast of South Wales are many small camps, probably of -Danish origin, such as Sully, Porthkerry, Colhugh, Dunraven, Pennard, -Penmaen, five others on the headland of Gower, and five or six along -the southern shore of Pembrokeshire. Besides these material traces -of the invaders, are a long list of such names as Haverford (fiord), -Stackpole, Hubberton, Angle, Hubberston, Herbrandston, Gateholm, -Stockholm, Skomer, Musselwick, Haroldston, Ramsey, Strumble, Swansea, -savouring intensely of the Baltic. The Dinas’ Head between Newport -and Fishguard bays, though bearing a Welsh name, is fortified by an -entrenchment due without doubt to the Northmen. - -These and similar works evidently belong to the earlier period of the -northern invasions, when the long black galleys of the vikings visited -at not infrequent intervals the British and Irish shores, before they -settled in either land. In the fifth and sixth centuries settlements -began to be formed in Britain, and speedily assumed dimensions very -formidable to the natives. The south-eastern coast of Britain, infested -even in Roman times by the sea-rovers, and thence known as the Saxon -shore, had been fortified by the Romans, but the works, intrinsically -strong, were too weak in British hands to stem the progress of the foe. -In A.D. 530, Cerdic and Cynric took the Isle of Wight, and slew many -Britons at a place where Wightgar was afterwards buried, and where he -probably threw up the work which bore his name, and afterwards, as now, -was known as Carisbroke. In 547, Ida, the “flame-bearer” of the Welsh -bards, founded Bebbanburgh, now Bamborough, and enclosed it first by -a hedge [hegge], and afterwards by a wall; and in 552 Cynric engaged -the Britons at Sorbiodunum, afterwards Searo-burh, and now Old Sarum; -as did in 571 Cuthwulf or Cutha at Bedcanford or Bedford, in each of -these two latter places, as at Carisbroke and probably at Twynham or -Christchurch, throwing up the works which yet remain. The conquest of -the Romano-British cities of Cirencester, Bath, and Gloucester, and -the whole left bank of the Severn, from the Avon of Bristol to that -of Worcester, was the immediate consequence of the victory of Deorham -in 571, and was followed by the possession of Pengwern, afterwards -Shrewsbury, a most important post, and one by means of which the -Mercians, and after them the Normans, held the Middle March of Wales. -All along the line from Christchurch and Carisbroke, by Berkeley and -Gloucester, Worcester, Warwick and Shrewsbury, earthworks were then -thrown up, most of which are still to be seen. - -With the social changes among the invaders changed also the character -of their military, or rather of their mixed military and domestic, -works. The British encampments, intended for the residence of a tribe -having all things in common, were, both in position and arrangements, -utterly unsuited to the new inhabitants. The Roman stations, intended -for garrisons, save where they formed part of an existing city, were -scarcely less so, nor were the earlier works of the Northmen suited -to their later wants. These were mostly of a hasty character, thrown -up to cover a landing or to hold at bay a superior force. No sooner -had the strangers gained a permanent footing in a district than their -operations assumed a different character. Their ideas were not, like -those of the Romans, of an imperial character; they laid out no great -lines of road, took at first no precautions for the general defence or -administration of the country. Self-government prevailed. Each family -held and gave name to its special allotment. This is the key to the -plan of the later and great majority of purely English earthworks. They -were not intended for the defence of a tribe or territory, nor for the -accommodation of fighting men, but for the centre and defence of a -private estate, for the accommodation of the lord and his household, -for the protection of his tenants generally, should they be attacked, -and for the safe housing, in time of war, of their flocks and herds. - -These works, thrown up in England in the ninth and tenth centuries, -are seldom, if ever, rectangular, nor are they governed to any great -extent by the character of the ground. First was cast up a truncated -cone of earth, standing at its natural slope, from twelve to even -fifty or sixty feet in height. This “mound,” “motte,” or “burh,” the -“Mota” of our records, was formed from the contents of a broad and -deep circumscribing ditch. This ditch, proper to the mound, is now -sometimes wholly or partially filled up, but it seems always to have -been present, being in fact the parent of the mound. Berkhampstead is -a fine example of such a mound, with the original ditch. At Caerleon, -Tickhill, and Lincoln it has been in part filled up; at Cardiff it was -wholly so, but has recently been most carefully cleared out, and its -original depth and breadth are seen to have been very formidable. -Though usually artificial, these mounds are not always so. Durham, -Launceston, Montacute, Dunster, Restormel, Nant cribba, are natural -hills; Windsor, Tickhill, Lewes, Norwich, Ely, and the Devizes, are -partly so; at Sherborne and Hedingham the mound is a natural platform, -scarped by art; at Tutbury, Pontefract and Bramber, where the natural -platform was also large, it has been scarped, and a mound thrown up -upon it. - -Connected with the mound is usually a base court or enclosure, -sometimes circular, more commonly oval or horseshoe-shaped, but if -of the age of the mound always more or less rounded. This enclosure -had also its bank and ditch on its outward faces, its rear resting on -the ditch of the mound, and the area was often further strengthened -by a bank along the crest of the scarp of the ditch. Now and then, -as at Old Sarum, there is an additional but slighter bank placed -outside the outer ditch, that is, upon the crest of the counterscarp. -This was evidently intended to carry a palisade, and to fulfil the -conditions of the covered-way along the crest of one of Vauban’s -counterscarps. Where the enclosure is circular, the mound is either -central, as at Pickering, or Mileham, or at Old Sarum, where it is -possibly an addition to an older work, such as Badbury, or it stands on -one side, as at Tutbury. Where the area is oblong or oval, the mound -may be placed near one end, as at Bramber. At Windsor and Arundel it -is on one side of an oblong enclosure, producing a sort of hourglass -constriction, and where this is the case a part of its ditch coincides -with the ditch of the place. Where the court is only part of a circle -it rests upon a part of the ditch of the mound. At Sarum there are -two ditches concentrically arranged. At Berkhampstead the mound is -outside the court. On the whole, as at Tickhill, Castle Acre, and -Lincoln, it is most usual to see the mound on the edge of the court, -so that it forms a part of the general “enceinte” of the place. Where -the base court is of moderate area, as at Builth and Kilpeck, its -platform is often slightly elevated by the addition of a part of the -contents of the ditch, which is rarely the case in British camps. At -Wigmore and Builth, where the mound stands on the edge of a natural -steep, the ditch is there discontinued. The base court is usually two -or three times the area of the mound, and sometimes, as at Wallingford -or Warwick, much more. No doubt the reason for placing the mound on -one side rather than in the centre of the court was to allow of the -concentration of the lodgings, stables, &c., on one spot, and to make -the mound form a part of the exterior defences of the place. - -The mound and base court, though the principal parts, were not always -the whole work. Often there was on the outside of the court and applied -to it, as at Brinklow and Rockingham, a second enclosure, also with -its bank and ditch, frequently of larger area than the main court, -though not so strongly defended. It was intended to shelter the -flocks and herds of the tenants in case of an attack. At Norham, the -castle ditch was used for this purpose as late as the reign of Henry -VIII. There are several cases in which the mound is placed within a -rectangular enclosure, which has given rise to a notion that the whole -was Roman. Tamworth is such a case, and there, fortunately, the mound -is known historically to have been the work of Æthelflaed, as is that -of Leicester, similarly placed. From this and from the evidence of -the earthworks themselves a like conclusion may be drawn as to the -superadded mounds at Wareham, Wallingford, and Cardiff. At Helmsley, as -at Castle Acre, Brougham, and Brough, the earthworks stand upon part of -a Roman camp, and at Kilpeck and Moat Lane, near Llanidloes, part of -the area may possibly be British. - -East Anglia contains some fine examples of these moated mounds, -combined with rectangular encampments. Castle Acre is an excellent -example, as are, in a less degree, Mileham and Buckenham. - -When the English lord took up his abode within a Roman camp or station, -he often turned the Roman works, whether of earth or masonry, to -account, and threw up his bank in one corner, altering the contiguous -banks and ditches to suit his new arrangements. Thus at Pevensey, -Leicester, Cambridge, Lincoln, Southampton, Winchester, Chichester, -Caerleon, Chester, English mounds and base courts are placed within -Roman enclosures which either are or were walled. At Auldchester, near -Bicester, the Roman Alauna, is a mound of later date than the camp. -At Plessy, Tamworth, Wallingford, Wareham, Cardiff, are found mounds -decidedly of later date than the enclosing works. There are also cases -where the mound is placed within an earthwork with something of a -tendency to the rectangular, though scarcely to be pronounced either -Roman or Romano-British. Such are Clare, Hereford, Eaton-Socon, where -the mound is very small indeed; and Lilbourne. Tempsford is very -peculiar: it is a small rectangular enclosure close to the Ouse, and in -one corner, upon the bank, is a small mound. - -The group of works, of which the mound was the principal feature, -constituted a Burh. The burh was always fortified, and each inhabitant -of the surrounding township was bound to aid in the repair of the -works, almost always of timber, a material which the Saxons, like other -German nations, appear usually to have preferred for building purposes -to stone, though some of their towns were walled, as Colchester and -Exeter, and Domesday records the custom of repairing the walls of -Oxford, Cambridge, and Chester. - -In these English, as before them in the British works, the ditches were -sometimes used to contain and protect the approaches. This is well seen -at Clun and Kilpeck. At Tutbury the main approach enters between two -exterior platforms, and skirts the outer edge of the ditch, until it -reaches the inner entrance. The object was to place the approach under -the eyes and command of the garrison. - -As there are still some archæologists whose experience entitles their -opinions to respect, who attribute these moated mounds to the Britons, -it will be necessary to point out that the attribution of them to the -English, though materially strengthened by the evidence of the works -themselves, does not wholly, or even mainly, rest upon it. While the -British camps are either præhistoric or unnoticed even in the earliest -histories, and the age of the Roman works is only deducible from their -plan and style, and from the known and limited period of the Roman stay -in Britain, English works are continually mentioned in the chronicles, -and the names of their founders and date of the construction of many -of them are on record. Thus Taunton was founded by Ine a little before -721-2, when Queen Æthelburh destroyed it. The original earthworks -still remaining are considerable, and formed part of the defences -of a fortress erected long afterwards. In the ninth century, as the -Danish incursions became more frequent, works of defence became more -general, and are largely mentioned directly, or by implication, in the -Anglo-Saxon chronicle. In 868-9, the Danish army was at Nottingham, a -strong natural position, in which it was besieged by the West-Saxons. -In 870, the Danes were a whole year at York and wintered at Thetford, -where large earthworks remain. In 875 they were at Cambridge, and in -876 at Wareham, a West-Saxon fortress, whence they attacked Exeter, -and at all these places are earthworks. In 878, we read that Ælfred -“wrought” a fortress at Æthelney, and in 885 the Danes laid siege to -Rochester and “wrought” another fortress about their position, no doubt -the great mound that still remains outside the castle and the Roman -area. In 893, the Danes ascended four miles along the Limen or “Lymne” -river in Kent, and there stormed a work, “geweorc,” which was but half -constructed. In the same year Hæsten entered the Thames and “wrought” -him a work at Milton, and other Danes landed at Appledore, at the mouth -of the Limen. In 894 Ælfred fought with the Danes at Farnham, where -the episcopal keep still stands upon a burh. Hæsten or Hastings had -already constructed a burh at Benfleet, which was stormed by Ælfred, -who in the same year blocked him up at Buttington, on the Severn. In -896, the Danes threw up a work on the Lea, twenty miles from London, -whereupon Ælfred threw up another work on each bank of that river lower -down, and diverted the waters through a number of shallow courses, thus -effectually shutting in the Danish ships. The Danes, in consequence, -marched inland, and crossed the country to Quatbridge, on the Severn, -and there “wrought a work” and passed the winter. Some of these works -remain, and are good examples of moated mounds. - -In the tenth century the number of English fortresses was prodigiously -increased, chiefly by the energy of Æthelflaed. Ælfred died in 901, -and was succeeded by Eadward, his son, who attacked, in the fortress -of Badbury, his cousin Æthelwald, who held Christchurch and Wimborne. -In 907, Chester, the Roman walls of which had long lain in ruin, -was strengthened, probably by the earthworks still to be seen in -its south-western corner, though the mound has been almost entirely -removed. In 910, Æthelflaed, sister to Eadward and Lady of the -Mercians, comes upon the scene as the greatest founder of fortresses in -that century. In that year she built a burh at Bramsbury, and in 913 -one at Scergeat or Sarrat, and at Bridgenorth (Oldbury). In 913, about -the 14th of April, Eadward built the north burh at Hertford, between -the rivers Memera or Maran, the Benefica or Bean, and the Lygea or -Lea, upon which long after stood the shell keep of the Norman castle; -and after May and before midsummer he encamped at Maldon while Witham -burh was being built. Then also the second burh of Hertford, south of -the Lea, was built. In the same year, 913, Æthelflaed and her Mercians -built the burh of Tamworth in the early summer, and in August that -of Stafford; and in the next year, 914, also in the summer, that of -Eddesbury, and towards the end of autumn, that of Warwick, on which are -still traces of a later keep. - -In 915, Æthelflaed constructed a burh at Chirbury, probably in the -field still known as the King’s Orchard, and at Wardbury, and before -mid-winter that of Runcorn, where was afterwards a Norman castle. -In that year the Danes ascended the Bristol Channel and entered -Irchenfield, west of Hereford, remarkable, amongst many others, for -its burhs of Kilpeck and Ewias-Harold, whence they were driven back by -the men of Hereford and Gloucester, and of the surrounding burhs. In -916, Æthelflaed stormed the mound of Brecknock, and took thence the -Welsh king’s wife and thirty-four persons. Late in the year Eadward -was some weeks at Buckingham, and there constructed two burhs, one on -each bank of the river, on one of which afterwards stood Earl Giffard’s -keep. In 917, Æthelflaed took Derby, the gates of which town are -mentioned, and in 918 the burh of Leicester, soon after which she died -in her palace in Tamworth. In 919, Eadward went to Bedford, took its -burh, the site of Lord Beauchamp’s keep, and there remained for four -weeks, during which time he threw up a second burh on the opposite -or south bank of the river Ouse. In 920 he constructed the burh at -Maldon, and in 921, in April, that at Towcester, which in the autumn -he girdled with a wall of stone. In the following May he directed -the burh at Wigmore to be built, and in August the whole Danish army -spent a day before Towcester, but failed to take it by storm. In that -year the Danes abandoned their work at Huntingdon and wrought one at -Tempsford, and thence moved to Bedford, whence they were repulsed. -They also attacked the burh at Wigmore for a day, but without success. -This was a busy year. In it the English stormed Tempsford burh, and -beset Colchester burh, and slew there all but one man who escaped -over the wall. Maldon burh also was attacked by the Danish army, but -without success. In November, Eadward repaired the burhs at Huntingdon -and Colchester and raised that at Cledemutha. In 922, the same great -English leader, between May and midsummer, “wrought” a burh at Stamford -on the south bank of the Welland, opposite to that already existing. -He reduced the burh at Nottingham, repaired it, and garrisoned it with -Englishmen and Danes. In 923, Eadward erected a burh at Thelwall, and -in 924 one at Bakewell, and a second at Nottingham, opposite to the -existing one, the Trent flowing between them. In 943, Olaf the Dane -took Tamworth by storm. In 952, mention is made of the fastness of -Jedburgh, and of the town of Thetford. In 993, Bamborough was stormed. - -[Illustration: TOWCESTER BURGH BURY MOUNT] - -Of the fifty burhs named in the chronicle, about forty-one have been -identified, and of these about twenty-nine still exist. Of this number, -twenty-two are moated mounds, mostly with base courts also moated. At -Taunton, as at Chirbury, there is reason to suppose that there was a -mound, and the works at Exeter, Rochester, Colchester, and Pevensey, -which are Roman, possibly succeeding earlier British works, have been -taken possession of and altered by the English, as is the case also -at Chester, where was, and at Pevensey, where still is, a mound. At -Rochester is a large mound, though outside the fortress. Rougemont in -Exeter is itself a natural mound, and Bamborough, from its great height -and steepness, needed neither mound nor earthwork of any kind. Of -double burhs, commanding the passage of a river, the chronicle mentions -Nottingham and those on the Lea, and others at Hertford, Bedford, -Stamford, and Buckingham. Unfortunately, none of these are perfect. -At Nottingham and on the Lea both mounds have long been removed; one -is remembered at Stamford and Buckingham, and one may still be seen -at Hertford. But the only double mounds remaining to show how, in the -tenth century, the English defended the passage of a river, are those -at York, which are not mentioned in the chronicle. - -It appears then, that setting aside works that have not been -identified, or which have been destroyed before note was taken of them, -there are above a score of burhs, the date of the erection of which, -and the name of the founder, are entered in a trustworthy record, and -which are still to be seen. What then is a burh? A burh is a moated -mound with a table top, and a base court, also moated, either appended -to one side of it, or within which it stands. But the burhs, the dates -of which are on record, and which are thus described, are but a very -few of those found all over England, in the lowlands of Scotland, and -on the marches bordering on Wales, which from their precise similarity -in character to those actually identified must be assumed to be of like -date and origin, and may therefore safely be attributed to the ninth -and tenth and possibly to the eighth centuries, and to the English -people, that is to the Northern settlers generally, as distinguished -from the Britons and the Romans. - -It happens also that, in very many cases where these burhs are found, -they can be shown to have been the “caput” or centre of an estate. -It is probable that this was always the case, but as a rule it is -only with respect to the very large estates that this can be proved -from records. Thus the mound of Wallingford was the seat of Wigod, -whose heiress married Robert D’Oyley; Bourne or Brum was held by Earl -Morcar in 870; Edwin, Earl of Mercia, Lord of Strafford Wapentake, in -Yorkshire, had an “aula” at Laughton-en-le-Morthen, and Conyngsborough -was the centre of a royal fee. The English Lord of Richmondshire had -a seat at Gilling, the mound of which has not long been levelled. The -mound at Halton was the seat of Earl Tosti. At Berry Banks, near Stone, -dwelt Wulfer, Lord of Mercia. The chief seats of the English lords -of Hallamshire are not known, but in that district the latter thanes -were Waltheof, Tosti, Sweyn Lord of Sheffield, and Harold, whose seats -must be sought for in the mounds and banks of Castle Hill and Castle -Bailey, near Bradford; Castle Hill, at the meeting of the Sheaf and -Don; Tickhill, Wincobank, and Mexborough, all moated mounds; also in -Lancashire and Yorkshire are Melling and Hornby in Lonsdale, Castle -Hills at Black Bourton, Robin Hood’s butt at Clapham, and Sedbury -or Sedda’s burh, a well-known mound with oval courts, Castle-dykes -at Ledescal and Langwith, Maiden Castle at Grinton, and Kirkby -Malessant. The great mound at Clare in Suffolk was the fortified seat -of Earl Aluric, who held an enormous estate in that district. Eye, -in the same county of Suffolk, the seat of Earl Edric, has a fine -mound, as have Thetford and Haughley. The hill of Hedingham and that -of Norwich are natural, but the latter was raised artificially and -fortified with a ditch and horseshoe appendages, probably in the ninth -or tenth centuries. Dudley also was a great English residence, as was -Bennington mound in Hertfordshire. Hereford was fortified by the great -Harold, Ewyas by another Harold; Kilpeck and Richard’s Castle were also -early seats, as were the mounds of Clun, Oswestry, and Whittington, in -Shropshire. In Scotland upon the mound called the “Butte of Dunsinane,” -tradition places the residence of Macbeth early in the eleventh -century. The butte stands within an oval area defended, says Pennant, -by banks and ditches. Opposite Kingussie on the Spey is a very curious -natural mound, rising on three sides out of the marshes of the river, -and which is known to have been the residence of the celebrated Wolf -of Badenoch. There is also a moated mound with appended courts on the -banks of the Clyde. - -[Illustration: LAUGHTON-EN-LE-MORTHEN] - -The burhs are mentioned in the early laws of England, but by this time -the signification of the word had become extended, so that it was -frequently applied not only to a moated mound but to the town that had -sprung up around it. By the laws of Æthelstan, every burh was to be -repaired within fourteen days after the Rogation days, and money was -allowed to be coined at royal burhs. By the laws of Edmund the king’s -burh was a place of refuge, and under those of Æthelred, he who fought -in a king’s burh was liable to death. Burh-bryce was the violation -of a castle or dwelling. Burh-bote, a payment for keeping burhs or -fortresses in a state of defence, was a branch of the well-known -“trinoda necessitas.” Originally, the English burh was a fortified -house, the “Domus defensabilis” of Domesday, the “Aula,” the German -“Saal,” of the owner of the surrounding estate or manor, which the -tenants were bound to defend; of which the designation may sometimes be -Norman, but the thing designated is undoubtedly of far earlier origin. -The term burh naturally became extended to the cluster of surrounding -huts, and a hedge with a ditch was their primary enclosure, the repair -of which is provided for in very early Saxon laws. A good stout hedge, -even of quickset, is not to be despised, and the cactus and bamboo -hedges of India will turn a band of soldiers. The word “Haia” is not -infrequent in Domesday, and it there means an enclosure into which -wild beasts were driven, “Haia in qua capiebantur feratæ.” It was also -used for the enclosure of a park, as the Haye Park, at Knaresborough, -and the Hawe Park attached to Skipton Castle. King Ida’s hedge at -Bamborough was for the defence of annexed pasture lands, for the castle -scarce needed any such addition to its surpassing strength. The word -was also extensively used in Normandy, both for a defence and for an -enclosure. One of the old Herefordshire castles bears the name of Hay. - -[Illustration: CASTLE HILL MEXBOROUGH] - -The Edictum Pistense of Charles the Bald, in 864 (cap. i.), expressly -orders all “Castella et firmitates et haias,” made without his license, -to be destroyed, “disfactas,” because they were injurious to the -district. “Vicini et circummanentes exinde multas deprædationes et -impedimenta sustinent” (“Rerum Gallicarum Scriptores,” vii., 677). -Hedges therefore were not always mere enclosures, but sometimes a -military defence. - -These mounds, where they have descended to us, and have undergone no -change at the hands of the Norman architect, are mere green hillocks, -clear indeed in their simplicity, though having lost by time the -sharpness of their profile, and more or less of their height and of -the depth of their ditches. No masonry has ever been observed upon -them which could by any possibility be attributed to their founders, -or which could be supposed to be part of their original design. It -is evident, however, that the earthwork was only the support of some -additional defence. On the mound was certainly a residence, and both -its crest and base, as well as the appended courts, must have been -encircled by some sort of barrier besides the earth-bank. We read that -Towcester was defended by a wall, which however was built very quickly, -and probably was like a field wall, without mortar. But with or without -mortar, no wall could have been placed upon a fresh heap of earth, and -that spoken of must have stood upon the natural ground at or around -the base of the mound. No doubt Exeter was walled by Æthelstan, and -Colchester had walls, partly, as we see, Roman, but partly no doubt, -English; and Derby had gates, though of what material is not stated. -At Corfe is some masonry, certainly older than the Conquest, and part -of its outer defences; but Corfe is a natural hill. It is well known -that the English were from a remote period conversant with masonry, -and constructed churches of stone or timber as suited them best; and -nothing is more natural than that they should have employed the former -where the object was to resist an attack. But upon a burh, or upon an -artificial earthwork of any height, masonry of any kind was obviously -out of the question. Timber, and timber alone, would have been the -proper material. Timber was always at hand, and it was a material of -which, possibly from their early maritime habits, the English were -very fond. Also the rapidity with which these burhs were constructed -shows that timber must have been largely employed. They were thrown up, -completed, attacked, burnt, and restored, all within a few months. - -There are not wanting descriptions of these timber-defended works. M. -de Caumont cites a curious passage from Ernaldus Nigellus, an author of -the ninth century, who relates an expedition under Louis le Debonnaire -against the Breton king, Marman, whose strongholds were protected by -ditches and palisades. - - “Est locus hinc silvis, hinc flumine cinctus amoeno. - Sepibus et sulcis atque palude situs.” - Intus opima domus.... - -This however was a Breton work, and there is no mention of a mound. Two -centuries later the mound was in general use, and another quotation, -taken also from M. de Caumont, from the life of John, a canonised -prelate of the church of Terouane, by Archdeacon Colmier, gives an -account of the fortress of Merchen, near Dixmude, in which the material -employed and the mode of construction are clearly set forth. The -original, taken from the “Acta Sanctorum,” is appended to this paper, -and is in truth a description of a moated mound, with its fence and -turrets of timber, its central dwelling, and the bridge across the -ditch rising to the top of the mound. The description is illustrated -by the representation of the taking of Dinan, in the Bayeux tapestry. -There is seen the conical mound surmounted by a timber building, which -two men with torches are attempting to set on fire, while others are -ascending by a steep bridge which spans the moat, and rises to a -gateway on the crest of the mound. - -Many of these mounds under the name of motes (motæ) retained their -timber defences to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and that too -on the Shropshire and Welsh border, crowded with castles of masonry. - -Ducange defines mota as “Collis, seu tumulus, cui inædificatum -est castellum. Olim castella numquam nisi in eminentissimis locis -extruebantur. In Flandria vero, humili ac planissima regione, congestis -undequaque terrarum molibus, fieri solebant motæ, quibus arces -imponerentur”; and adds that mota is the same work known in Dauphigny -as “poypia,” and in Auvergne as “mote seigneuriale.” From Lambertus -Ardensis he quotes: “Motam altissimam, sive dunjonem eminentem in -munitionis signum firmavit, et in aggerem coacervavit.” And Orderic -tells that, in 1098, Pain de Mont-Doubleau delivered up to William -Rufus, “Fortissimam, quam apud Balaonem possidebat, motam, per quam -totum oppidum adversariis subactum paruit.” And in 1119, Fulk of Anjou, -with 500 knights laid siege, “ad motam Galterii,” which the king had -fortified. Also near Ponte-Corvo was “Motam magnam, quam faciebat -facere Dominus Canis cum mulfossis et tajatis ad claudendum Paduanos,” -like the great mound at Rochester, just outside the city wall. In the -Roman de Rou:— - - “Hubert de Rie est à sa porte - Entre le mostier et sa mote.” - -“Mostier” being the church. Also in “La Bataille des Sept Arts”:— - - “Qui fu fier cum chastel sur mote.” - -Also the _Consuetudines Trecensis_ speak of “Le principal chastel ou -maison-fort, mote, ou place de maison seigneuriale”: and in _Colletus_, -“Il y a des masures qui ont des droits très considérables; nous avons -des simple poypes [ce sont des terres élevées et fossoyées] qui ont -les plus beaux droits.” The _History of Dauphigny_ has, in 1290, “Item -castrum seu Poypiam de Montlyopart; item castrum seu fortalicium de -Pusigniano.” Ducange is copious on this subject. - -The use of the mound as the site of the “maison seigneuriale” -was general in England, and several such—as Barwick-in-Elmet and -Laughton-en-le-Morthen—are still pointed out as the seats of early -English nobles and kings; and of others thrown up primarily for -defence, as Tamworth and Leicester, and afterwards occupied as royal -and other residences, the date is on record. - -After the Conquest, the English term “burh” seems to have given place -to the Latin “mota,” at least in public records. It is true that in -a charter by the Conqueror, given by Rymer, occurs “Et in burgis, et -muro-vallatis, et in castellis,” but “burgis” may be held to mean -borough towns. In the charter of Matilda, 1141, bestowing the earldom -of Hereford on Milo de Gloucester, she grants “Motam Hereford et -cum toto castello,” words which evidently refer to the mound, now -destroyed, and not, as has been supposed, to the right to hold a -moot there. Also, in the convention between Stephen and Henry of -Anjou the distinction is drawn between “Turris Londinensis et ‘Mota -de Windesora,’” London having a square keep or tower, and Windsor a -shell keep upon a mound. Probably when, as at Durham, keeps of masonry -superseded the “ligna tabulata firmissime compacta,” the fortress -ceased to be called a mote, and became a castle; but in very many -instances this change was a long time in coming about, and in many of -the less important and private residences it never occurred at all. -Thus, the moated mounds on the Upper Severn show no trace whatever -of masonry, and as late as the reign of Henry III., 159 years after -the Conquest, and years too of incessant battling with a warlike and -sleepless foe, timber was still the material of their defences. The -Close Roll of 9 Henry III., 30 May, 1225, thus addresses the Custos of -Montgomery:— - - “Rex etc. dilecto et fideli suo Godescallo de Maghelins salutem. - Precipimus tibi quod ex parte nostra firmiter precipias omnibus - illis qui motas habent in valle de Muntgumery quod sine dilatione - motas suas bonis bretaschiis firmari faciant ad securitatem et - defensionem suam et parcium illarum.”[1] And not only in the - defences of these lesser motes and fortified private houses did - timber play an important part. Turrets of timber were prepared for - the castle of Montgomery, and even Shrewsbury itself, the seat - successively of three most powerful earls and the chief place - in their earldom, was by no means wholly a work in masonry. In - the reign of Edward I. the jurors appointed to report upon the - condition of the castle, state: “Quod unus magnus turris ligneus - qui edificatur in castro Salop corruit in terram tempore domini - Uriani de St. Petro tunc vice comitis et meremium ejusdem turris - tempore suo et temporibus aliorum vice comitum preterea existencium - ita consummatur et destruitur quod nichil de illo remansit in - magnum dampnum domini Regis et deterioracionem ejusdem castri.” - In a French charter of 1329 occurs, “Premierement le motte et les - fossez d’entour le motte de Maiex,” and in 1331, “Le motte de mon - Manoir de Caieux et les fossez entour.” It appears, then, that - from an early period, certainly from the ninth century, it was a - common practice in constructing a strong place, whether a private - dwelling or a military post, to place it upon the summit of a - mound, and to surround both the mound and an appended enclosure - with defences of earth, and that in many, probably for some time - in all, cases the building within and the defences around such - places were of timber, and indeed, so far as they stood on made - ground, necessarily so. Sometimes probably, when the front was - more extended, as when a small pasture ground attached to the main - fortress was to be protected from sudden assaults, recourse was had - to a “haia” or “clausura.” - -In viewing one of these moated mounds we have only to imagine a central -timber house on the top of the mound, built of half trunks of trees -set upright between two waling pieces at the top and bottom, like the -old church at Greensted, with a close paling around it along the edge -of the table top, perhaps a second line at its base, and a third along -the outer edge of the ditch, and others not so strong upon the edges of -the outer courts, with bridges of planks across the ditches, and huts -of “wattle and dab” or of timber within the enclosures, and we shall -have a very fair idea of a fortified dwelling of a thane or franklin in -England, or of the corresponding classes in Normandy from the eighth or -ninth centuries down to the date of the Norman Conquest. - -The existence of these mounds in distinct Welsh territory is very -curious and requires explanation. That this form of dwelling was in -common use among the Welsh is certainly not the case. Where moated -mounds occur in Wales it is usually on the border, or near the -sea-coast, or in or near the open valleys accessible to the English, -which the English or Northmen are known to have invaded in the eighth -and ninth centuries. The mound near Llanidloes is an exception, being -distinctly within the hills. But that of Tafolwern, from which the -Welsh princes dated several charters, is near the open valley. That -of Talybont, whence Llewelyn dated a letter to the Archbishop of -Canterbury in 1275, and which was afterwards visited by Edward the -First, is on a plain within easy reach of the sea. Hên Domen and Rhos -Diarbed on the Upper Severn are also good examples. Still, as the Welsh -princes intermarried and had frequent communication with the English, -they must have been familiar with a form of fortification very simple -and easy to construct, and yet very capable of being held against a -sudden attack. It must be observed, also, that the English hold upon -the Welsh border was of a very fluctuating description, and the -Welshmen must not only have been perfectly familiar with the English -method of construction, but from time to time have been actually -in possession of their strongholds. That the Welsh used timber for -defensive purposes appears from their law by which the vassals were to -attend at the lord’s castle for its repairs or for rebuilding, each -with his axe in his hand. In some cases in these Border works there -is scarcely any mound, at others the mound is low and hollow in the -centre. Caer Aeron and another small earthwork near Builth seem to have -been the earthen bases of a mere circular wigwam. Caer Aeron cannot -have been a mere temporary structure, as the circumscribing ditch has -been cut with considerable labour in the rock. - -It is very evident, both from the existence of Offa’s dyke, and from -the immense number of these moated mounds thrown up along its course, -that the English had early and long possession of large tracts of the -border territory. Offa ruled over Mercia from A.D. 757 to 796, and -his dyke extends from the mouth of the Wye to that of the Dee. At its -northern part, for about forty miles, is a second work, known as Wat’s -Dyke, a little in its rear, and thought to be a somewhat earlier work, -also by Offa. Before the actual line of a work so galling to the spirit -of a turbulent people could have been decided upon there must have been -many years of contest along the border, and the English must have had -something like permanent possession of the land on either side, and -have held estates of which the mounds still existing were the “capita” -or chief seats. The dyke, it should be remembered, was rather a civil -boundary than a military defence. - -It is further to be remarked that moated mounds corresponding precisely -in pattern to those in England, are very numerous in Normandy. In -size they vary within much the same limits. All have or had a proper -ditch, some, as Briquessart and Des Olivets, stand in the centre of -the court, some at one end, others on the edge. The court is sometimes -circular, most commonly oblong, very rarely indeed rectangular. The -outer enclosures have their ditches, which communicate with those of -the inner defences. M. de Caumont gives a list of fifty-four of these -mounds, within a radius of sixty miles from Caen, and since he wrote -many more have been observed. These also were, from an early period, -the seats of great landowners, and from very many of them came the -knights and barons who accompanied William to England, and there -settled in posts very similar. Sir F. Palgrave gives a list of 131 of -these fortified residences in the Cotentin, the Avranchin, and the -Bessin, which includes only six of those mentioned by de Caumont. A -large number of those earthworks seem never to have had, at any time, -defences of masonry. Others, upon the mounds, had Norman shell keeps. - -Besides the British theory, these mounds have been claimed as -sepulchral. It is of course possible that such mounds as Arundel -or Marlborough may have been originally sepulchral, and therefore -older than their defensive additions. To few if any has the crucial -experiment of opening them been applied; but this is not a very -probable explanation, and could certainly not be applied to those -mounds as a class. Among many other reasons for taking this view, it -may be observed that sepulchral mounds are always artificial, whereas -moated mounds are often natural, and still more frequently partly -so. No one could suppose Hawarden, or Dunster, or Montacute, to be -sepulchres, and yet these are as much moated mounds as Arundel and -Tonbridge. Moreover, sepulchral mounds are not often placed where -a defensive work is obviously needed, and most rude nations are -superstitious, and would object to dwell upon or around a grave. The -Tynewald in Man, Cwichelmsley Knowe in Berkshire, and a work upon -the Clyde in Lanarkshire, are the only known sepulchral mounds which -have been employed for other purposes, and of these the two former -are judicial, not residential. The barrows round York, though smaller -than most burhs, are big enough to have carried residences, but do not -appear to have been so employed. Moreover, the common testimony of the -country has generally given to the moated mounds some name, such as -Castle Hill or Burh, indicative of their military origin. - -It has been observed that moated mounds are usually near the parish -church. This might be expected, since the parish, like the manor, was -usually a private estate, and the church was originally provided by the -lord for the accommodation of his tenants and himself. - -There is a class of mounds due probably to the same people with those -above described, but very seldom moated, and not usually accompanied by -base courts and enclosures. These are the moot-hills, used for civil -purposes, as the holding of courts-leet, of which the mound at Barton, -in Northamptonshire, is a fine example. They are not uncommon. There -is one near Kenilworth, close to Stoneleigh Church, one at Hawick, -one called the Mote Hill, in Hamilton Park; there is also one on the -right bank of the Neckar, below Heidelberg. Sometimes they are called -toot-hills; hence Tothill Fields, though the mound is gone. - -In claiming for these moated mounds a northern and in Britain an -English origin it would be too much to assert that in no other class -of works is the mound employed, or by no other people than the -Northmen; but it may be safely laid down that in no other class of -early fortification does the mound occur as the leading and typical -feature. In Roman and Norman, and possibly in purely British works, -the mound may be occasionally seen, like the cavalier in the works of -Vauban, as at Kenilworth, or as an outwork, as at Caerphilly, or it -may be employed to cover or divide an entrance; but such mounds are of -irregular shape, mere detached and elevated parts of the general bank, -and not likely to be confounded with the moated mound described above. - - - APPENDIX. - - Vita Sti Johannis Epis: Morinorum. Ob: 1130. - - [_Acta Sanctorum_, Januarii 27.] - - Contigit ut in villa, cui Morchem vocabulum est, hospitii mansionem - haberet [Johannes]. Erat autem secus atrium ecclesiae munitio - quaedam quam castrum vel municipium dicere possumus valde excelsa, - juxta morem terrae illius, a domino villae ipsius multis retro - annis extructa. Mos namque est ditioribus quibuscunque regionis - hujus hominibus et nobilioribus, eo quod maxime inimicitiis - vacare soleant exercendis et caedibus, ut ab hostibus eo modo - maneant tutiores, et potentia majore vel vincant pares, vel - premant inferiores, terrae aggerem quantae praevalent celsitudinis - congerere eique fossam quam late patentem, multamque profunditatis - altitudinem habentem circumfodere, et supremam ejusdem aggeris - crepidinem vallo ex lignis tabulatis firmissime confacto undique - vice muri circummunire, turribusque, secundum quod possibile - fuerit, per gyrum dispositis, intra vallum, domum vel, quae omnia - despiciat, arcem in medio aedificare, ita videlicet ut porta - introitus ipsius villae non nisi per pontem valeat adiri, qui ab - exteriori labro fossae primum exoriens est in processu paulatim - elevatus, columnisque binis et binis, vel etiam trinis altrinsecus - per congrua spatia suffixis innixus, eo ascendendi moderamine per - transversum fossae consurgit, ut supremam aggeris superficiem - coaequando oram extremi marginis ejus, et in ea parte limen prima - fronte contingat. - - In hujus-modi ergo asylo Pontifex, cum suo frequenti et reverendo - comitatu hospitali, quum ingentem populi turbam tam in ecclesia, - quam in atrio ejus, manus impositione, et sacri Chrismatis unctione - confirmasset, ut vestimenta mutaret, eo quod coemiterium humandis - fidelium corporibus benedicere statuisset ad hospitium regressus - est, unde illo, ut propositum perficeret opus, iterum descendente, - et circa medium pontis, triginta quinque vel eo amplius pedum, - altitudinem habentis, certa de causa subsistente, populique non - modica caterva ante et retro, dextra lævaque circumstipante, - continuo antiqui machinante hostis invidia, pons ponderi cessit, et - dissipatus corruit, magnamque illorum hominum turbam cum episcopo - suo ad ima dejicit; fragore autem ingenti e vestigio consecuto, - transtris, trabibusque tabulatis, et ruderibus magno cum impetu - pariter et strepitu concidentibus: nebula quaedam tenebrosa ita - omnem illam ruinam repente circumfudit, ut quid ageretur vix - quisquam discernere potuerit. - - TRANSLATION. - - It chanced that in a town called Merchem, Bishop John had a - guest-house. There was also close to the court of the church a - strong place, which might be regarded as a castle or a municipium, - very lofty, built after the fashion of the country by the lord of - the town many years ago. For it was customary for the rich men - and nobles of those parts, because their chief occupation is the - carrying on of feuds and slaughters, in order that they may in this - way be safe from enemies, and may have the greater power for either - conquering their equals or keeping down their inferiors, to heap - up a mound of earth as high as they were able, and to dig round it - a broad, open, and deep ditch, and to girdle the whole upper edge - of the mound, instead of a wall, with a barrier of wooden planks, - stoutly fixed together with numerous turrets set round. Within was - constructed a house or rather citadel, commanding the whole, so - that the gate of entry could only be approached by a bridge, which - first springing from the counterscarp of the ditch, was gradually - raised as it advanced, supported by sets of piers, two, or even - three, trussed on each side over convenient spans, crossing the - ditch with a managed ascent so as to reach the upper level of the - mound, landing at its edge on a level at the threshold of the gate. - - In this retreat the bishop with his numerous and reverend retinue, - after having confirmed a vast crowd of people both in the church - and its court, by laying on of hands and the unction of the sacred - chrism, returned to his lodging that he might change his vestments, - because he had resolved to consecrate a cemetery for the burial - of the bodies of believers. When, in again descending from his - lodging, in order to effect the proposed work, he halted for some - reason about the middle of the bridge, which had there a height of - thirty-five feet or more, the people pressing behind and before, - and on each side, straightway, the malice of the old enemy so - contriving, the bridge yielded to the weight and fell shattered; - and the crowd with the bishop fell to the bottom with a great crash - of joists, beams, and planks, with great force and noise, while a - thick dust at once enveloped the ruin so that scarce any one could - see what had happened. - - • • • • • - -The following is also curious:— - - (Ludovicus Grossus, A.D. 1109.) “Puteolum regreditur antiquam - antecessorum suorum destitutam _Motam_ castro jactu lapidis - propinquam, occupat. Castrum fundibalariorum, balistariorum, - saggitariorum, emissa pericula sustinentes; etc.” - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - OF THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AT THE CONQUEST AND UNDER THE CONQUEROR. - - -It has usually been assumed that the rapidity of William’s conquest -was due to the absence of strong places in England. There is, however, -ground for believing that England, in this respect, was exceedingly -well provided,—quite as well provided as Normandy; and that, with the -possible exception of a very few recently-constructed strongholds, -the works in the two countries were very similar in character. The -older sites of the castles of the barons in Normandy are nearly all -ascertained, and are for the most part distinguished by a moated mound -with an appended court or courts also moated. This simple and very -effective form of defence has been shown to have been in use among -the Northern nations, invaders both of England and the Continent, and -in the ninth and tenth centuries was as common on the banks of the -Thames, the Humber, and the Severn, as on those of the Seine and the -Orne. It was in the eleventh century, and chiefly during the troubles -attendant upon the accession and minority of Duke William, that the -Normans seem to have adopted a new and more permanent description -of fortress, and the old-fashioned structure of timber began to be -replaced by walls and towers in masonry, and especially by keeps of -that material. Of these the best-known, because the most durable, form -was the rectangular, of which not above half a dozen examples can be -shown with certainty to have been constructed in Normandy before the -latter part of the eleventh century, and but very few, if any, before -the English conquest; nor is there known to be in Normandy any specimen -of the polygonal or circular form of keep as early as that event. De -Caumont, indeed, attributes the rectangular keep of Langeais, in which -brick is largely used, to the year 992; but there is great reason to -doubt this conclusion, and Du Pin and St. Laurent are probably among -the oldest of this form, and do not seem to be earlier than the reign -of Duke William; and this is true also of Arques and Nogent-le-Rotrou. -In Normandy, as in England, the polygonal or shell keep, though on -the older site, seems usually to be in masonry, which is the later -construction; that of Gisors was built by Robert de Belesme in 1097, -and that of Carentan at about the same time. Many even of the most -considerable mounds, as Briquessart and Vieux-Conches, show no trace of -masonry. The shell keep of Plessis-Grimoult was held by De Caumont to -have been constructed before 1047; but if this be so, it is certainly a -singular exception. Castle-building in Normandy seems to have preceded -the English conquest, if at all, by but a very few years. - -The Romans left behind them in Britain many walled towns; but it is not -known to what extent these defences were preserved by the Northmen, or -in what condition they found them. At the conquest, Chester, Lincoln, -Exeter, Hereford, Leicester, Oxford, Stafford, and Colchester, seem to -have been already walled, and the walls of Exeter had been repaired or -rebuilt by Æthelstan. Canterbury, Nottingham, and York were defended -by a ditch. There were also probably some others, and possibly a -few military towers in masonry of English workmanship; but there is -no evidence of there having been anything like a rectangular keep, -notwithstanding the special mention in 1052 of Richard’s Castle, the -work of Richard, the son of Scrob. There is no reason to suppose that -it possessed a tower of that character, which would have been quite out -of keeping with the moated mound which even now marks the spot, and -upon which the remains of the shell keep are still to be seen. Still -less had the English any shell keeps constructed in masonry. What there -really was in the way of military masonry and what was its character -are not so clear. It was said of Dover, by William of Poictiers, that -it was by Harold “studio atque sumptu suo communitum,” and that there -were “item per diversa loca illius terræ alia castra ubi voluntas Ducis -ea firmari jubet”; also in the account of the advance of William from -Canterbury it is added, “Veniens ... ad fractam turrim castra metatus -est,” pointing to a work in masonry, though no doubt it might, as at -York, be Roman. Arundel, named in “Domesday” as having been a castle in -the reign of the Confessor, was probably, from the size of its mound -and the depth of its ditches, as strong as any castle of its type in -Normandy; but no masonry has been observed there, either upon or about -the mound, of a date earlier than the Conquest, if as early. - -That there existed in England, at the Conquest, no castles in masonry -of English work it may be too much to assert; but it may safely be -said that, save a fragment of wall at Corfe, no military masonry -decidedly older than that event has as yet been discovered. In 1052, -when the Confessor and Earl Godwin came to terms, and the attack on -London was set aside, it is stated that Archbishop Robert and his -Frenchmen fled, some westward to Pentecost Castle and some northwards -to Robert’s Castle; so that these places probably, like Richard’s -Castle, were in Norman hands, though it does not follow that they were -constructed of the material or in the fashion then coming into use in -Normandy. - -“Domesday” mentions directly forty-nine castles as existing at the date -of the survey, and of these at least thirty-three were on sites far -older than the Conquest; and of them at least twenty-eight possessed -artificial mounds similar to Arundel and the castles in Normandy. -“Domesday,” however, is notoriously capricious both in its entries -and omissions on such matters as were not included in its proper -view, and its list of castles is nearly as incomplete as its list -of churches. Neither were required to be noted. “Of the forty-nine -castles recorded,” says Sir H. Ellis, “eight are known, either on -the authority of ‘Domesday’ or of our old historians, to have been -built by the Conqueror himself; ten are entered as erected by greater -barons, and one by an under-tenant of Earl Roger; eleven more, of -whose builders we have no particular account, are noticed in the -‘Survey,’ either expressly or by inference, as new.” The fact is, -however, that although the number of castles actually mentioned may -be only forty-nine, of castles and castelries (which imply a castle) -there are named in “Domesday” fifty-two. The castles reputed to have -been built by the Conqueror himself are Lincoln, Rockingham, Wareham, -two castles at York, Dover, Durham, London, and Nottingham, of which -the last four are not mentioned in “Domesday.” Exeter, also omitted, -is generally reputed to be one of William’s castles, as was Stafford; -which, however, was constructed and destroyed before the date of the -survey. “Terra de Stadford in qua rex percepit fieri castellum, quod -modo est destructum,” a very short period for the construction and -destruction of a work in masonry. Mr. Pearson, who has given great -attention to the subject of Norman castles in England, tabulates the -result of his researches in the atlas attached to his “History.” He -there enumerates, as standing in the reign of the Conqueror, forty-nine -castles belonging to the King and fifty to his subjects. Of these, at -least thirty-eight have mounds. He gives also a list of fifty-three -belonging to private persons in the reign of William Rufus, of which at -least five have mounds. Probably there were of each class many more -than these. Colchester, for example, is not included, nor Farnham, nor -Berkhampstede. - -Of the ninety-nine castles enumerated by Mr. Pearson as belonging to -the reign of the Conqueror, at least fifty are on old sites. These are -Arundel, Berkeley, Bramber, Cambridge, Carisbrook, Chester, Clare, -Clifford, Caerleon, Coningsburgh, Dover, Durham, Dunster, Dudley, Eye, -Ewias, Guildford, Hastings, Huntingdon, Launceston, Leicester, Lincoln, -Lewes, L’wre, Marlborough, Montacute, Norwich, Oxford, Pevensey, -Pontefract, Quatford, Raleigh, Richard’s Castle, Rochester, Rockingham, -Shrewsbury, Striguil, Stafford, Stamford, Tickhill, Tonbridge, -Trematon, Tutbury, Wigmore, Windsor, Wallingford, Wareham, Warwick, -Worcester, and York. Almost as many are doubtful, and probably not more -than two or three, such as Richmond, London, and possibly Malling, -were altogether new. The fact is, that all these lists, however -valuable they may be as showing what castles were taken possession of -or re-edified or strengthened by the Normans, give no adequate idea -of the fortresses already existing in England, and omit scores of -earthworks as large and as strong as those occupied by the Normans in -England or left behind them in Normandy, of a date long before the -reign of William,—probably before the end of the tenth century. If, as -said by William of Newbury, the castles were the bones of the kingdom, -it must be admitted that the English skeleton was a very perfect -one. Every part of England, much of Scotland, and the accessible -parts of the Welsh border, were covered with strong places, which -were, no doubt, defended, and well defended, with palisades, as more -suitable to made ground than work in masonry such as was more or less -in use for ecclesiastical purposes. If, at the Conquest, no English -stronghold held out, it was not that such places were less capable of -defence than those in Normandy, but that England was broken up into -parties. Harold’s seat was too insecure and the few months of his -reign far too brief to allow his great administrative talents to come -into play; and his early death left the English without a leader. The -power of the other earls was local. There was no organised opposition. -Notwithstanding the assertion of Orderic that the English were mere -tillers of the soil, a convivial and drinking race, they by no means -submitted quietly to the Norman rule; but their efforts for freedom, -boldly devised and gallantly executed, were ill-timed and ill-combined, -and were in consequence put down in detail. Under such circumstances, -the strongholds of the country availed little. Dover, Lewes, Arundel, -Bramber, Tonbridge, Rochester, Guildford, Farnham, Wallingford, and -Berkhampstede, had their strong earthworks been held in force, would -have rendered William’s advance too imprudent to have been attempted; -and that these and other not far distant positions were well chosen -is shown by the fact that they were all adopted by the Conqueror. The -conquest of England was made possible, not by the absence of strong -places, but by the want of organisation for their defence. - -But whatever may have been the character of the defences in use in -England before the arrival of the Normans, it is certain that from -that period they underwent a considerable and probably a rapid change, -though scarcely so rapid as has been supposed. The Normans, who had -so long, in common with the English (probably by reason of their -common ancestry), employed the moated and palisaded mound, proceeded -to carry out in England the important improvements they had already -commenced in Normandy. William’s chief object, having conquered, was -to secure his conquest; and his first care, on obtaining possession -of each division of the kingdom or each capital city or town, was to -regard it from a military point of view, and to order the construction -of such strong places as might be necessary for the holding of it. -How completely, in so doing, he trod in the footsteps of those who -had gone before, is shown by what he found and what he did towards -the covering of London and the maintaining of his communication -with the sea. Thus he found and reinforced castles at Chichester, -Arundel, Bramber, Lewes, Hastings, and Dover. On his road he found and -strengthened Canterbury, Tonbridge, Rochester, and Ryegate. In London -he founded the Tower, an entirely new work; but for the defence of the -basin of the Thames he trusted to the ancient sites of Guildford and -Farnham, possibly Reading, and certainly Wallingford and Berkhampstede. -And so all over the kingdom, such strongholds as were central, in -good military positions, or of unusual strength, or were placed in -the ancient demesne lands of the Crown, were taken possession of or -reconstructed for the sovereign; but every baron or great tenant in -chief was permitted,—and, indeed, at first expected, and was no doubt -sufficiently ready,—to construct castles for the security of the lands -allotted to him, which in the vast majority of instances meant to -remodel the defences of his English predecessors. This was under the -pressure of circumstances; for William seems always to have been awake -to the danger of uniting extensive hereditary jurisdictions, and even -from the first to have contemplated governing the counties through -the intervention of _vice-comites_, or sheriffs, who were appointed -and could be displaced at pleasure. But this policy was at first, in -certain districts, necessarily postponed; though even then William made -it to be understood that the chief castles of the realm, by whomsoever -built, were royal castles; and their actual acquisition was always an -important part of the policy of both him and his successors so long as -castles were of consequence. Thus Windsor, Cambridge, Exeter, Corfe, -Wareham, Winchester, Porchester, Southampton, Carisbrooke, Canterbury, -Dover, Lincoln, Rockingham, Nottingham, Stafford, Guildford, Warwick, -Marlborough, and York were royal castles from the commencement. -Wallingford, Gloucester, Bristol, Oxford, Tutbury, Worcester, though -built by subjects, were not the less claimed and officered by the -Crown. Even Durham, though held by the bishops, and Leicester, Lincoln, -and Huntingdon, by the lords of those earldoms, were from time to time -in the hands of the Crown, whose rights over them were of a far more -direct character than those it claimed to exercise over the lands and -other feudal possessions of the same lords. - -Arundel, Shrewsbury, Montgomery, Bridgenorth, and some less important -fortresses, fell to the Crown on the overthrow of the house of Talvas; -and with this event a number of castles on the Welsh border, built by -tenants of Earl Roger, became fiefs _in capite_, dependent directly -upon the Crown. Besides these, there are on record in England about -forty or fifty castles built by local barons, which, when it suited the -Crown, were taken in hand and repaired and garrisoned at its charge. - -Of nearly all the castles on record, as existing in the reigns of the -Conqueror and his sons, the sites are well known; and of very many, -fragments of the masonry remain. What is very remarkable is, that of -this masonry there is but little which can be referred to the reign -of either the Conqueror or William Rufus,—that is, to the eleventh -century. Of that period are certainly London and Malling, Guildford, -Bramber, Carlisle, the gate-house of Exeter, the lower story of -Chepstow, the keeps of Chester, Goderich, Walden, Wolvesey, Colchester, -and Newcastle, though this last looks later than its recorded date. -Newcastle was probably on the site of an earlier castle; at least, the -entry in the Hundred Rolls (ii., 119),—“Juratores dicunt quod Vicecomes -... fecit quandam inquisitionem ... super motam castri predictæ -villæ,”—looks like it. There is some reason to regard the keep at -Malling as the earliest Norman military building now extant in England, -and as the work of Gundulf, the architect of the Tower keep. The North -or Gundulf’s tower at Rochester Cathedral is by the same great builder, -and possibly was intended as a military building: if so, it may rank -with Malling. Probably there is more of this early masonry; but not -much. Dover, Rochester, Porchester, and Hedingham, among our finest -examples, are certainly later. Part of Durham Castle is, no doubt, of -the age of the Conqueror; but the shell keep has been rebuilt, and -it is doubtful whether the original work was of the age of the early -Norman chapel and hall attached to it. Speaking generally, those -castles in England which belong to what is called the Norman period are -too late to be the work of the Conqueror or his personal followers, and -too early to allow of any preceding work in Norman masonry (usually -sound and solid), having been constructed and swept away. What is the -solution of this difficulty? Of what character and material were the -great majority of the castles which William ordered to be constructed? -Of what character were those mentioned in “Domesday”? - -That William ordered many castles to be constructed is certain; and -among the orders left with Bishop Odo and William Fitz Osborn, when -acting as joint regents of the kingdom, was one specially charging -them to see to the building of castles; and no doubt these orders were -obeyed. But it has been hastily assumed that the castles constructed -were of masonry. The keeps of Dover and Rochester, for example (if -such were erected under the Conqueror), were certainly not those now -standing, which belong to the reign of Henry II.; and so of Norwich, -and probably of Nottingham, now destroyed. And yet the masonry of -William’s reign was of a very durable character, as is seen in the -Tower of London, and in not a few still standing churches. Also it is -stated that William “custodes in castellis strenuos viros collocavit, -ex Gallis traductos, quorum fidei pariter ac virtuti credebat.” This -looks very much as though the castellans were at first, at any rate, -put in charge of existing castles; which must mean that in most -cases some temporary arrangement was made, and the existing works -strengthened until it was convenient to replace them by others more in -accordance with the new ideas of strength and security. - -William and his barons evidently employed two classes of castles,—one -always in masonry, and one very often in timber. Where a castle was -built in a new position, as in London, or where there was no mound, -natural or artificial they employed masonry and chose as a rule for the -keep the rectangular form,—a type said to have been introduced from -Maine, and seen at Arques, at Caen, and at Falaise; but where the site -was old, and there was a mound, as at Lincoln, Huntingdon, Rockingham, -Wallingford, or York, they seem to have been content to repair the -existing works, usually of timber only, and to have postponed the -replacing them with a regular shell till a more convenient season, -which in many cases did not occur for a century. - -Nor was the postponement very serious, for the native fortresses, if -well manned, were strong, at least for a limited time. The attacks of -the Danes upon Towcester, Bedford, and Wigmore are on record; and yet -these, of all of which the earthworks remain, were not burhs of the -first class, and certainly would not contain a hundred men,—or, even -if the base-court were occupied, more than thrice that number,—and the -Danish army could scarcely be less than ten times as numerous. The fact -is, however, that such a mound as Arundel or Tonbridge, palisaded, -could be held for a short time by three or four score of resolute men -against a sharp attack from any number, armed as men were armed in the -tenth and eleventh centuries. No doubt, towers of masonry were more -secure, because less dependent upon the vigilance of the garrison, less -obnoxious to fire, and less liable to be taken by surprise. But the -Normans were stout soldiers, well disciplined, and could from the first -expect no quarter from the insurgent English. - -Among the castles ordered by William to be built, one of the most -important was York. The order was given in the summer of 1068; and it -is known that the new castle was to be upon the old English site, which -contained a moated mound of the first class, commanding and protected -on one side by the Roman city, and on the others by the swamps and -waters of the Ouse and Foss. William’s castle was to be garrisoned by -three leaders and five hundred knights, which implied a considerable -following. Its area, therefore, must have been spacious, and no doubt -included with the mound its ample base-court as seen at the present -day. In 1069, the castle was attacked by the citizens in revolt, and -was even then capable of being held, and was held, till William came -to its assistance. He then ordered a second castle to be constructed -upon the Bayle Hill, the mound still to be seen on the opposite or -right bank of the river; and this was completed in eight days, before -he left the city. A few months later, before September, 1069, the -citizens, aided by the Danes, again attacked and burned the castles, -which in 1069-70 were again renewed. Now, York was the metropolis of -the most disaffected half of the kingdom. There, if anywhere, a castle -of stone would be desirable, and stone could readily have been brought -by water; and yet York Castle was constructed and made capable of -being defended in a few months, and its subsidiary fortress in eight -days; and both soon after were taken and burned, and at once ordered -to be reconstructed. It is clear, from the time occupied by the whole -sequence of events, that these castles were not of masonry. Moreover, -the masonry of the present York keep contains nothing that can be -attributed to the eleventh century; but much that is far too early to -have replaced a really substantial keep or curtain of Norman date had -such been built. Upon the great and artificial mound of Bayle Hill, the -site of the second castle, there is neither trace nor tradition of any -masonry at all. - -The building of a Norman castle required both time and money. The -architects, overlookers, and probably the masons, had to be imported -from Normandy, and in many cases the stone for the exterior; and as -most of the existing square keeps, and very nearly all the shell keeps, -are of the twelfth century, it seems probable that the Conqueror was -to some extent content with such defences as he found in England; -strengthened, no doubt, very materially by the superior skill and -resources of his engineers. This is quite consistent with the fact that -the art of castle-building did, from the building of the White Tower, -undergo a great and somewhat rapid change. It is true of William, both -in Normandy and in England, as Matthew Paris observes, “ad castra -quoque construenda, rex antecessores suos omnes superabat”; and he, -no doubt, as we are told by William of Jumieges, “tutissima castella -per opportuna loca stabilavit.” Lanfranc, writing to Roger, Earl of -Hereford, before his rebellion, assuring him of William’s confidence, -adds, “et mandat ut quantum possumus curam habeamus de castellis suis, -ne, quod Deus avertat, inimicis suis tradantur”; and in the subsequent -rebellion, it was when Ralph Guader found the men of castles against -him, that he left his wife and children to make terms from Norwich -Castle, while he himself fled. Lanfranc’s despatch informs William, -“Castrum Noruuich redditum est, et Britones qui in eo erant et terras -in Anglia terra habebant, concessis eis vita et membris.” Besides the -Bishop and Earl Warrene, the castle contained three hundred “loricati,” -with cross-bowmen and many artificers of military machines. Also the -same prelate charges Bishop Walcher, of Durham, “Castrum itaque -vestrum, et hominibus, et armis, et alimentis vigilanti cura muniri -facite.” - -Castles, no doubt, there were at William’s command, many and strong. -All that is here contended for is, that whatever he may have desired, -William was able to construct but few castles such as London or Durham; -and that the greater number of those that remain and exhibit the Norman -style of architecture belong, some to the close of the eleventh, and a -greater number to the twelfth century. But if William did not actually -build so many castles as is supposed, he and his followers certainly -restored and occupied an immense number, upon which those who came -immediately after him built structures, the ruins of which we now see. - -There is much to be learned from the consideration of the positions -of these fortresses. William’s first care, on obtaining possession of -each district, was to order the preparation of such strong places as -might be necessary for the holding of it. But it is evident that he was -influenced also by another consideration: he desired to be regarded -as the legitimate heir of the Confessor, rather than as the conqueror -of the kingdom; and so far as was consistent with his own security, -he strove to administer the ancient laws, and to leave the ancient -tenures and private estates, and even English owners, undisturbed. This -indeed, owing to the strong national discontent, shown by repeated -insurrections and by a general current of ill-will of which these were -the indications, he speedily found to be out of the question. But even -while driving out the native magnates, he was careful to associate the -new men, as far as possible, with the past, in the hope (well founded) -that before long the “successores et antecessores,” as they are called -in “Domesday,” would be looked upon as part of a continued line,—Earl -Roger, for example, as the representative of Edwin of Shrewsbury, Hugh -Lupus of Morcar, and William Fitz Osbern of Ralph the Earl of Hereford -under the Confessor. - -And this policy is particularly evident in the sites of the castles. -Where circumstances absolutely required it, an entirely new position -was selected; but this was extremely rare, and probably did not occur -in half a dozen instances, if indeed in more than London and Richmond. -Usually it was found that the English lord had attached to his estate -an earthwork upon which he and his ancestors had lived for centuries, -which was identified with the estate or district, and regarded with -respect and confidence by the surrounding tenantry. It is surprising to -find how completely the leading positions in the country had thus been -occupied. The upland passes; the margins of the rivers; the summits, -where readily accessible, of the detached hills; the spots rendered -strong by cliffs or ravines, or extended or impracticable marshes. Each -had its _aula_, where a succession of lords had identified themselves -with their people, afforded them protection, and received in return -their support. Such were Guildford, Farnham, and Berkhampstede, in -the clefts of the belt of chalk by which London is girdled; Hertford, -Bedford, Wallingford, Tamworth, Worcester, Shrewsbury, Durham, and -York, upon the banks of deep or rapid streams; Windsor, Belvoir, -Lincoln, Corfe, and Montacute, placed on the summit of more or -less detached hills, commanding a broad sweep of country; Dover, -Scarborough, and Bamborough, upon rugged and lofty sea-cliffs, isolated -by deep and formidable ravines; Huntingdon, Cambridge, Ely, and Oxford, -more or less covered by marshy fens at that time almost impassable; -while attached to and so placed as to overawe their adjacent cities or -towns were such fortresses as Exeter, Leicester, Winchester, Chester, -Chichester, Taunton, York, Norwich, and Nottingham. Each, including -many that belonged to the Crown, represented an English estate. To many -of them military service had long been paid; and now into them the -knights and barons from Normandy and the lieutenants and governors for -the Crown were inserted. - -So far, the policy was sound and promised to be successful; but when -the new lords began to build castles of stone they became obnoxious to -both sovereign and people. The possessor of a strong castle was ever -ready for rebellion, and was not uncommonly a tyrant even to his own -people, of whom this made him independent: hence, castles properly so -called,—buildings in masonry,—were hated by both king and people. The -old-fashioned residence, half mansion, half fortress, formed of earth -and timber or at best of a rude kind of masonry, such as Scott more -by intuition than inquiry attributes to the Saxon Cedric, was strong -when held by brave men in sufficient numbers for a short time; but -under ordinary circumstances it could easily be attacked, and set on -fire. These fortified residences were out of fashion with the Normans, -and fell into disuse. The English lords were of the same immediate -lineage with their tenants; and if they occasionally squeezed them, -they did it as a man squeezes his own milch cow, tenderly. But the -castle of stone was held by a stranger whose language, arms, and armour -were strange to the people, and by them feared and hated. The Norman -castle was a purely military building. It was not only strong when -well garrisoned, but its passive strength was also great; and when the -bridge was up and the gates closed it was at all times safe against an -enemy unprovided with military engines. Fire, the ordinary and ready -weapon of the populace, against such a wall, for example, as Cardiff -(40 feet high and 11 feet thick), or against such a Tower as London, -could do nothing. The garrison also, composed in the English times -of the tenants of the lord, under the Normans were not unfrequently -mercenaries,—men without ruth or conscience, distrusted even by their -employers, whose trade was war and whose gain was plunder, and of -whom Maurice de Bracy was a very favourable specimen. “Quot domini -castellorum,” it was said “tot tyranni.” No wonder, then, that the -Norman castles came to be regarded as the symbol of rebellion on the -one hand, and of tyranny on the other. - -Although the personal attention of the Conqueror was necessarily -confined to the chief cities and central towns of England, to Exeter, -Gloucester, Nottingham, Lincoln, York, or Durham, his western frontier -was not neglected, although he was obliged to depute its ordinary -defence to others. The Welsh, hardened by centuries of constant -warfare, held with tenacity their strip of mountain land between Offa’s -Dyke and the sea, and were ever on the watch to spoil that other -more fertile tract which lay between the Dyke and the Severn and the -Dee, known as the March. Foremost among the barons of the March were -Roger of Montgomery and Hugh D’Avranches, Earl of Chester, to whom -later generations gave the surname of the “Wolf.” The _caput_ of this -latter earldom, protected by the deep and rapid Dee, was posted at -one angle of the old Roman enclosure; and the castle of Earl Roger, -girdled by the convolutions of the Severn, was an almost impregnable -citadel. From these fortresses these great earls exercised more than -regal power over the counties of Salop and Hereford, composing the -Middle March. The border barons, their feudatories, succeeded to no -peaceful heritage; but by degrees they possessed themselves of the -older English possessions upon the border, and along with them of -the fortresses by which in Mercian times the Welsh had been held so -long at bay. That these were numerous is evident from the remains of -their earthworks; and that they were strong and well held against -the Welsh is evident from the English names along and beyond the -frontier. “Domesday,” however, though compiled after Earl Roger had -held the Earldom of Shrewsbury about twelve years, only mentions four -castles upon his border,—Oswestry, Montgomery, Shrewsbury, and Stanton -or Castle Holgate, and the Earl’s house at Quatford. Bridgenorth and -Carreghova were built a few years later, in the reign of Rufus; but -Bridgenorth represented the burgh of Æthelflæda, the remains of which -are possibly seen at Oldbury, as are earthworks of still stronger -type, actually employed by Earl Roger at Quatford. Besides these, -Wattlesborough and Clun exhibit rectangular Norman keeps; and eleven -or twelve more castles in those districts are mentioned in records as -early as the reign of Henry I. Altogether, by the close of the twelfth -century there were from fifty to sixty castles in the county of Salop -alone. Now, although the masonry of these castles, or of such of them -as remain, can very rarely indeed be attributed to the Norman period, -the earthworks show that they existed as fortresses long before that -time; and it seems, therefore, certain that here, as in other parts of -England, Earl Roger and his barons made the most of such works as they -found ready to their hands; and this applies equally to the Palatinate -of Chester and to the southern Marches, where also Norman castles took -the place, with more or less of interval, of strongholds of the English -type. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - OF THE POLITICAL VALUE OF CASTLES UNDER THE SUCCESSORS - OF THE CONQUEROR. - - -It is rather remarkable that castles should not occupy, even -incidentally, a more prominent place in the “Domesday Survey,” as -they formed a very important feature in the country; were closely, -for the most part, attached to landed property; and were of great -political importance. No great baron was without a castle upon each -of his principal estates, nor was any bishop secure of his personal -safety unless so provided. At the death of the Conqueror, it was the -possession of Winchester Castle that gave to William Rufus the royal -treasure, and enabled his adherents to acquire the castles of Dover -and Hastings, and thus, at the commencement of his reign, to secure a -safe communication with Normandy. The king, it is true, had the people -on his side and owed his eventual success to their support, but the -barons of his party depended largely upon their fortresses. Archbishop -Lanfranc held Saltwood, which the earthworks show even then to have -been strong; Willam de Warren held Lewes and Ryegate and the strong -hill of Coningsburgh in Yorkshire; Chester belonged to Earl Hugh, who -was supported by his fifteen barons, each of whom had his castle; and -in North Wales the Earl held Diganwy, which, covered in front by the -Conwy water, closed the seaward pass from that aggressive district. -With the Earl and on the side of Rufus were Robert de Tilliol, who -held Flint and Rhuddlan, and Scaleby and other castles on the Scottish -border; while Bishop Wolstan, representing the English feeling, held -his episcopal castle of Worcester against Urso d’Abitot and a swarm of -Marcher barons who crossed the Severn to assail him. - -Nevertheless, the lords of the castles were mostly on the side of Duke -Robert. Such were Alan the Black and Ribald his brother, the lords of -Richmond and Middleham; Stephen of Holderness, strong in his sea-girt -rock of Scarborough; the Mowbrays, Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutance, -Justiciary to the Conqueror, and a great soldier; and Robert Mowbray, -his brother’s son, who held the impregnable rock of Bamburgh and the -great castle of Axholm in the fens of Lincolnshire; both strong, though -in a different kind of strength. With them was the powerful Earl Roger -of Shrewsbury with his border following; and at a later period Robert -de Belesme, his successor, builder of Bridgenorth and Carreghova, and -superior lord of many border castles. In the west, Duke Robert was -supported by Bernard Newmarch, who held the castles of Brecknock and -Builth, and a large and fortified tract of Monmouthshire; with whom -were William of Breteuil, son of William Fitz-Osborn, and lord of -Hereford; Roger de Lacy of Ewias; and William Earl of Eu, the owner -of the strong rock of Hastings, who at that time held the castle and -walled city of Gloucester. Besides these great leaders were, on the -same side, Ralph Mortimer of Wigmore; Walter Giffard, whose castle -on one bank of the Buckinghamshire Ouse, combined with a similar -moated mound on the other, commanded that town and its river; Ralph -Guader, who held Norwich; and Hugh Bigot, his successor there, lord of -Framlingham, after Norwich the strongest place, both in earthworks and -masonry, in East Anglia. Between Bristol and Bath the Mowbrays ravaged -the country up to the tower of Berkeleyness, the present castle being -then but an earthwork; and with them were Hugh de Graintmaisnel, who -held Hinckley and Leicester castles; and William de Carileph, at first -one of William’s prime councillors; but who afterwards changed sides, -and was enabled to do so with safety from his possession of the keep -of Durham. Bishop Odo, who held Rochester Castle (even then a place of -great strength), and with it the passage of the Medway, placed there -Eustace of Boulogne; and himself, with his brother Earl Robert and five -hundred knights, held the Roman Pevensey, strengthened by a mound and -some other English additions in earth. - -Rufus, however, with far more energy than his brother Robert, had also -the popular feeling on his side, which enabled him to make head even -against this powerful combination. He laid siege to Pevensey, and took -it after a seven weeks’ siege. He then assailed and took Rochester, -and finally Tonbridge, held by Gilbert Fitz-Richard, the consequence -of which success was the banishment of Bishop Odo. Robert Mowbray was -beaten back from before the walls of Ilchester Castle, now utterly -destroyed; and Bishop William was forced to surrender Durham. Carlisle, -wasted by the Danes in 877, received from Rufus a castle and a keep, -now standing; and Newcastle, similarly provided in 1080, also retains -its keep, and a gatehouse with some traces of the exterior wall. In -1098 Malcolm of Scotland, the husband of St. Margaret, was slain -before Alnwick, then better known as Murielden; and Mowbray was driven -from Tynewald Castle back upon Bamburgh, which seems to have been -finally taken by means of a “malvoisin,” which in this instance was -evidently an entrenched camp thrown up to the west of the castle, and -employed probably as the headquarters of a blockade. In this reign also -the conquest of South Wales was completed, and the foundations laid of -a chain of castles from Gloucester and Hereford to Pembroke, the main -links of which were Chepstow and Abergavenny, Caerleon and Cardiff, -Builth and Brecknock, Caerkennen, Caermarthen, Cardigan, Tenby, and -Carew. How far these Welsh castles were at once constructed of masonry -is uncertain. Besides Chepstow, two only, or at most three, and those -subordinate, Ogmore, Penlline, and Newcastle, exhibit decided Norman -features; but however this may be, neither Fitz-Hamon, Newmarch, nor -Arnulph of Montgomery were likely, in the face of foes so formidable, -to be satisfied with defences in any way inferior to the strongest of -that day. - -The reign of Henry I. was prolific in castles. It is probable that to -him is due the greater number of our extant rectangular keeps, by the -construction of which he carried to completion the plans sketched out -by his father, which his brother had been too busy and too much pressed -to take in hand. In this reign, especially between 1114 and 1121, most -of the Welsh castles were completed. Bristol and Cardiff castles were -the work of Robert Earl of Gloucester. Bishop Roger of Salisbury built -Sherborne, Salisbury, the Devizes, and Malmesbury; and his brother, -Alexander of Lincoln, Sleaford and Newark. “Castella erant crebra per -totam Angliam.” Most of these were great and strong, very different -from the hasty and unlicensed structures of the succeeding reign. - -Henry, like Rufus, commenced his reign with the taking of Winchester -with its treasures. Flambard, who had been entrusted with the great -episcopal castles of Durham and Norham, was imprisoned in the keep -of London. The outlawry of Robert Malet and Robert de Lacy, in 1101, -gave Henry their castles in Yorkshire and Suffolk; and in 1102 Ivo -de Graintmaisnel was driven from his mound at Hinckley, and forced -to flee the country. Also the King obtained, by forfeiture, the -castles of William de Warenne, though these were afterwards restored. -Henry, in 1103, laid his hands upon Arnulph de Montgomery’s castle of -Pembroke, and on those of Robert of Poitou, his brother, between the -Ribble and the Mersey. The death of William Earl of Moretaine brought -in the almost impregnable hill-castle of Montacute, with Trematon, -Launceston, Tintagel, Boscastle, and Restormel, and other Cornish -fortresses. The fall of Robert de Belesme gave the crown the castles -of Arundel,—a lesser Windsor in its plan, and scarcely inferior in -its position; of Shrewsbury, the mound of which still towers over the -Severn, and dwarfs even the extensive and incongruous railway-station -at its foot; of Bridgenorth, where a fragment of the keep shows what it -must once have been; and of Carreghova, of which the very traces are -well-nigh effaced. Belesme retired to Normandy, where he is said to -have been lord of thirty-four castles; but the fragments of his power -only betrayed him into further rebellion, so that he ended his life a -prisoner and an exile on the castled mound of Wareham. - -There still remained, indeed, in private hands a considerable number -of castles, the owners of which found it convenient to give way, and -thus to retain a portion of their influence. Such were Bourne in -Lincolnshire; Malton, held by Fitz-John, in Yorkshire; Beaudesert in -Warwickshire; the episcopal castles of Newark and Sleaford, and that of -Oakham. There were also Warblington in Hampshire; and in Cumberland, -Egremont and Cockermouth. - -The rebellion of 1118 gave to Henry the castles of Hugh de Gournay -in the west, of Stephen of Albemarle at Scarborough, of Eustace of -Breteuil, of Richard de l’Aigle, and of Henry Earl of Eu; together -with the Mowbray castles of Thirsk, Malzeard, and Burton in Lonsdale. -Nearly the whole of the strongholds thus acquired were retained by -Henry in his own hands, and Suger states that in Normandy the principal -castles were by him either destroyed or held: “Fere omnes turres et -quæcunque fortissima castra Normanniæ ... aut eversum iri fecit ... -aut si dirutæ essent propriæ voluntati subjugavit.” In either country -he laid hands on the castles; but where the delinquents held in both, -it was upon those in England that the forfeiture was most rigidly -enforced. Among the exceptions were William de Roumare, who was allowed -to hold Lincoln; and similar protection was shown to Ralph de Conches, -William de Tancarville, William de Warenne, Walter Giffard, and William -d’Albini. Among their castles were Ryegate, Lewes, Coningsburgh, and -Castle Rising, Buckingham and Arundel. - -It has been said that Henry did not himself construct any new castles. -This is probable enough, as all the sites of importance had been -occupied by his father; but it is not improbable, judging from the -internal evidence afforded by their remains, that he completed such of -his father’s castles as were left unfinished. Of baronial castles, the -grand fortress of Kenilworth, by far the most important strong place -in the midland counties, was constructed in this reign, though very -probably upon an English site, by the founder of the house of Clinton. -In this reign also were probably constructed the masonry of Northampton -Castle, by Simon de St. Liz, and that of Old Sarum and Odiham by Bishop -Roger. The keep of St. Briavel’s, now destroyed, was reconstructed, or -built of masonry; and Ralph Flambard laid the foundations of and seems -to have completed the keep of Norham. - -The issue of the contest between Matilda and Stephen turned very much -upon the castles over which each had control. It was again by the -seizure of Winchester Castle and its treasure that Stephen was able -to celebrate his coronation in the adjacent cathedral. It was under -the walls of Reading Castle, strongly placed between the meeting of -the Kennet and the Thames, that he trusted himself to meet Matilda’s -adherents, and with them to lay the corpse of her father before the -altar of the great Abbey that he had founded, and the ruins of which -have long survived those of its secular neighbour. From Oxford, strong -in its walled city and partially water-girdled keep, Stephen issued -his first charter, so full of promises to his new subjects; and thence -he went to Durham, one of the strongest castles of the North, to -meet David of Scotland, who had wasted the border from Carlisle to -Newcastle, and taken Alnwick and Norham, though foiled before Wark -and Bamborough. One of David’s principal concessions was the castle -of Newcastle. On the other hand, he obtained the confirmation to him -of that of Carlisle, long the gate of Scotland. The two, posted one -at each end of the lines of Severus and Hadrian, are still tolerably -perfect, as is the impregnable Bamburgh, the Norman keep of which, in -Stephen’s time, was new. - -From Oxford, still his central stronghold, on his return to the -South, Stephen conceded his second charter, less distinct in its -promises as the danger of his position seemed less pressing. On the -report of his death in 1136, it was trust in their strong castles of -Exeter, Plympton, Okehampton, Norwich, Framlingham, and Bungay, that -encouraged Baldwin de Redvers and Hugh Bigot to rise in arms. Bath had -then a castle and was a walled town. Stephen laid siege to and took -the castle, and thence, with two hundred horse, rode to Exeter, where -Rougemont, its citadel, was strong and well garrisoned. The siege -was a remarkable one, and the warlike machines employed both within -and without were of a formidable character. The citizens were with -Stephen, so the attack was on the city front. The bridge from the city, -still standing, was one point of attack. A “malvoisin” was constructed, -whence stones were poured in upon the garrison; the walls were ruined, -and the towers much injured. Finally the well ran dry, and the garrison -surrendered upon terms. Plympton also capitulated, and Norwich was -taken. - -On Stephen’s arrival from Normandy, in 1137, he secured the castles -of Bourne, Wareham, and Corfe, the two latter held by Fitz-Alured and -Redvers. A second rising, in 1138, timed with an invasion by the Scots, -turned in some degree upon the strength of the castle of Bedford, then -including a pair of moated mounds on the opposite banks of the Ouse, of -which one is entirely removed, and the other remains deprived of its -masonry, and shorn of its fair dimensions. This castle was held by the -sons of Milo de Beauchamp, its owner, and only surrendered after a long -and severe siege conducted by Stephen in person, which terminated in a -blockade. The defence was very able, and the surrender upon fair terms. - -Meantime David, linking the interests of Matilda with his own claims to -the great earldom of Huntingdon, twice crossed the border in the spring -of 1128, retiring as Stephen approached, but a third time returning -in August. He took Norham, and much injured its superb keep, built -by Bishop Flambard in 1121, a noble ruin which still frowns over the -Tweed, and is rich in historical recollections. Bamburgh, Alnwick, -and Malton were held for Stephen by Eustace Fitz-John. Parts of the -wall and inner gate of Alnwick are of about this date; but Malton has -disappeared, though the earlier Roman camp may still be traced. David’s -progress was also checked by Clitheroe, a very strong castle, of which -the Norman keep, one of the very smallest extant, crowns the top of an -almost impregnable rock. - -At this period Stephen’s position was most critical. Against him, on -the Welsh Marches, Talbot held Goderich and Hereford, while Ludlow -and Dudley, Shrewsbury and Whittington, were in the hands of Paganel, -Fitz-Alan, and William Peverel. Further south, the barons of Somerset -were encouraged against him by William de Mohun from his hold at -Dunster, strong naturally and by art; and by Fitz-John at Harptree, -a castle in the defiles of the Mendips; while Maminot both held and -strongly augmented Dover. Stephen, however, was active and he was -brave. Leaving Archbishop Thurstan to muster and encourage his northern -supporters, he himself marched south, strengthened the garrison of -Bath, and threatened Bristol. Thence he entered Somerset, and took by -siege the Lovel seat of Castle Cary, of which the earthworks cover a -hillside; secured Harptree by surprise, and thence doubled back upon -Hereford, which won, he next recovered the old British and English -fortress of Pengwern or Shrewsbury. Bristol alone held out, strong in -its newly-built keep, and in the presence of Robert Earl of Gloucester, -its builder. - -The “battle of the Standard,” A.D. 1138, was fought in the open field, -under the leadership of D’Aumâle; but it was also named from North -Allerton, where, intersected by the railway, are still seen formidable -earthworks far older than Bishop Puiset’s castle which surmounted them, -and which was afterwards entirely razed by Henry II. The victory of -North Allerton was enhanced by the capture of Dover by Stephen’s Queen. -The castle of Carlisle still remained in the possession of King David, -and thence he renewed the war, and in the following year obtained -for his son Henry the earldom of Northumberland; with the exception, -however, of the castles of Newcastle and Bamburgh. - -When, in 1139, Stephen’s change of policy lost him the support of -the clergy, led by his ambitious brother the Bishop of Winchester, -his first blow was struck at the episcopal castles. Of these, the -Devizes, Sherborne, and Malmesbury belonged to Bishop Roger of Sarum. -Malmesbury, an episcopal encroachment upon the adjacent Abbey, was -wholly the Bishop’s work, and is now utterly destroyed. Sherborne, -a very ancient episcopal seat, still retains its early earthworks, -and a keep and gatehouse, the work of Bishop Roger; and although of -the Devizes there remain but a few fragments of its circular keep, -the earthworks (the grandest in England) show that it may well have -deserved its great reputation. These Stephen seized upon, and he also -took Newark-upon-Trent, still admired for its lofty and extended front, -and for its magnificent Norman entrance. With Newark fell Sleaford, -both built by Bishop Alexander of Lincoln, nephew of Bishop Roger, and -also a great builder of castles. Sleaford is utterly demolished, and -being entirely post-conquestal, had scarcely any earthworks to preserve -its memory. - -Among the events of this important year were the taking of Nottingham -and Marlborough Castles by Stephen; his attack on Ludlow; the -appearance on the scene of his rival, the Empress Matilda; and his -siege of Arundel, in which castle she took refuge with D’Albini and -Queen Adeliza his wife. Nottingham is gone. Of Marlborough only a fine -mound remains, upon which stood its circular keep. Much of Ludlow, -especially its rectangular keep, played a part in Stephen’s siege, as -did a part of the existing exterior wall, whence the grappling-hook -was thrown by which the King was hooked, and was being dragged up to -its battlements, when he was rescued by the Scottish Prince Henry. -Arundel preserves its earthworks pretty much as they must have appeared -in the reign of the Confessor; and with its shell-keep on its mound, -and the original gatehouse at its foot, gives to the modern visitor -a fair notion of the appearance of the defences before which Stephen -pitched his camp. It was also in 1139 that De Redvers, returning to -England, landed under the Conqueror’s castle of Wareham, on the margin -of the Poole water. From Wareham he proceeded to Corfe, a seat of the -Kings of Mercia, where he was besieged by Stephen. - -It was during this period of the war between Stephen, Matilda, and -the Church party, that were constructed the multitude of unlicensed -castles (“castra adulterina”) employed not merely for the security -of the builders, but to enable them to prey upon their neighbours -with impunity. Nothing could well be worse than the circumstances -under which these castles were built, and the purposes for which they -were employed. “Stephen,” says John of Tynemouth, quoted by Dugdale, -“concessit ut quilibet procerum suorum munitionem, seu castrum, in -proprio fundo facere posset.” William of Jumieges and Malmesbury -compare the times to those of Normandy during the minority of Duke -William; and other writers declare the state of England to have -resembled that of Jerusalem during the Roman siege. There was no rule -and no responsibility. The unhappy peasants were forced to labour in -the construction of the strongholds of tyranny. It would seem that -these castles were built with great rapidity, and with but little -expenditure of labour upon earthworks, for in the next reign they -were destroyed without difficulty, and scarcely any of their sites -are now to be recognised. They were the work of the lesser barons, -probably with the connivance of their chief lords, or even of Stephen -and Matilda, who were little scrupulous as to the terms on which they -accepted assistance. This multiplication of castles without the licence -of the sovereign was no novelty, and was forbidden on the Continent by -the celebrated “Edictum Pistense” of Charles the Bald in 864, already -cited. - -Another irregularity was the admission to the title of earl of several -persons unfitted to receive so great an honour, and whose only claim -to distinction was that they were leaders of mercenaries. Stephen was -not in a condition to endow all of them with the third penny of the -revenues of a county, the usual appanage of an earl. Many of the earls -created by Stephen stood, however, in a very different position. Such -were Geoffrey de Mandeville, Lord of Plessy and Walden, who accepted -the Earldom of Essex from both parties; Alberic de Vere, who built the -noble keep of Hedingham, and was the first of the long line of the -Earls of Oxford; Hugh Bigot, who held the Earldom of Norfolk; Richard -de Clare, who held that of Hertford; D’Aumâle, of Yorkshire; Gilbert de -Clare, of Pembroke; Robert de Ferrers, of Derby; and probably William -de Ypres, the Earldom of Kent. Stephen seems to have created, in all, -eight; and the Empress six,—Cambridge, Cornwall, Essex, Hereford, -Salisbury, and Somerset. - -From Arundel, Matilda, it is said by Stephen’s courtesy, moved to -Bristol, where her brother, Robert Earl of Gloucester, held his castle -on the marshy confluence of the Frome with the Avon. Robert also at -that time held the royal castle of Gloucester, long since destroyed, -and a prison built on its site; and he was probably builder also of -the shell-keep still standing upon the mound of Cardiff. At that time -Matilda’s friends held Dover, with the square keep of Canterbury, -placed just within the _enceinte_ of the yet older city ditch, and -almost within bowshot of the still more venerable mound of Dane John. -Mention is also made of the castles of Trowbridge and Cerne as recently -erected. The latter was taken by Stephen by storm, before the attack on -Malmesbury. Trowbridge held out with success. - -The great event of 1141 was the siege, or rather the battle, of -Lincoln. The castle had been surprised, and was held by Ranulph Earl of -Chester and his half-brother William de Roumare. As Stephen approached, -Earl Ranulph left the place secretly to procure assistance from the -Earl of Gloucester. This was afforded, and the two earls, with 10,000 -men, some of them Earl Robert’s Welsh followers, crossed the Trent, and -found Stephen drawn up to receive them. The result of the battle was -the capture of Stephen, and the confirmation of Earl Ranulph in Lincoln -Castle. On this Matilda went to her royal castle at Winchester, a part -of the defences of the old Venta Belgarum, and characterised by a large -mound, now removed. Here Bishop Henry, safe in his rectangular keep of -Wolvesey, still standing near the Cathedral, in the opposite angle of -the city, treated with her almost as equal with equal, but acknowledged -her as Lady of England. Their accord, however, was neither cordial nor -of long duration. Upon the Queen’s return, in some discredit, from -London, an open quarrel broke out. She attacked Wolvesey, and the -Bishop retaliated upon the royal castle with better success. - -Under the escort of Brian Fitz-Count and Milo, to whom Matilda had -given the Earldom of Hereford and the “Castle and Mote” of that ancient -city, she fled from Winchester, Earl Robert guarding her rear. They -were pursued. Matilda reached Ludgershall Castle in safety, and then -went to the Devizes; but Earl Robert was taken on the way by William -of Ypres, and imprisoned in Rochester Castle. Stephen was then a -prisoner in Bristol Castle; and in November, 1141, the Earl and King -were exchanged. A month later, at the Synod of Westminster, the pains -of excommunication were denounced against all who built new castles, or -offered violence to the poor,—a significant conjunction. - -Stephen’s illness and Earl Robert’s absence in Normandy checked for -a short time active hostilities, and meantime Stephen held the Tower -of London, and Matilda the castle of Oxford. Late in 1142, Stephen -attacked and took Oxford, and blockaded the castle until the winter set -in, and the stock of provisions fell short. The Thames was frozen, and -the ground covered with snow, by the aid of which Matilda, robed in -white, escaped across the river, and fled to Fitz-Count at Wallingford. -The castle was then surrendered. Its grand mound is yet untouched; -and below it, upon the river, is a large square tower of the eleventh -century. Part of the city wall also remains. - -Before Reading, Stephen had taken several strong but less important -fortresses, such as Bow and Arrow Castle on the Cliff of Portland, -which still remains, and Carisbroke, the strength of the Isle of -Wight. He took also Lulworth, in Purbeck, represented by a far later -residence. Cirencester, which he burned, seems never to have been -restored; and Farringdon, built in haste by the Earl of Gloucester, -was also swept away. Stephen’s strength, however, lay in London and -the east; and that of Matilda about Gloucester and Bristol, and in the -west. Stephen also held Pevensey. The great midland barons stood aloof, -biding their time. Thus Roger de Bellomont and his brother Waleran, of -Meulan, held Leicester with its Roman walls and English earthworks, -protected by the meads of the Soar; along the edge of which, and at -the foot of the mound, is still seen the Norman Hall, and hard by the -stately church of St. Mary de Castro, also in large part Norman. They -also held Mount Sorrell, at that time a strong castle built upon a rock -of syenite, but now quarried away, both rock and castle, to macadamise -the highways of the metropolis. Saher de Quincy was strong about -Hinckley, where the early mound, stripped of its masonry (if, indeed, -it ever received any), still guards the eastern entrance to the town. -The Earl of Chester held Lincoln as his own; and the hill of Belvoir, -the cynosure of the Midland, was guarded by the grand shell-keep of -Trusbut and De Ros, burned down and rebuilt after a tasteless fashion -in our own days. - -In 1146, death deprived Matilda of the Earls of Gloucester and -Hereford. She retired to Normandy; but her place was taken by the -younger Plantagenet, her son. In this year also Stephen availed himself -of the presence of the Earls of Chester and Essex at his court to seize -their persons, and to force them to render up, the one the castles of -Lincoln and Northampton, the other that of Plessy, of which the moated -mound and contained church are still seen, and Stansted Montfitchet, -now almost merged in a railway station, and which then vied with the -old castle of the Bishop of London at Stortford. Walden, also thus -gained, is still famous for its earthworks, and for the fragment of -its Norman keep, composed, like Bramber and Arques, of flint rubble -deprived of its ashlar casing. - -Earl Geoffrey having thus purchased his liberty, employed it in burning -the castle of Cambridge, the mound of which, sadly reduced in size, -still, from the interior of the Roman camp, overlooks the river. While -in pursuit of the Earl, Stephen is said to have built certain new and -probably temporary castles. More probably he refortified with timber -some of the moated mounds, such as Clare, Eye, and Bures, of which -there are many in Essex and Suffolk. Works in masonry he certainly had -neither time nor means then to construct. Soon afterwards the Bishop -of Winchester ceased to be papal legate, and found it convenient to -support his brother’s party, and persuaded him to refuse permission -to Archbishop Theobald to attend the new Pope at Rheims. Theobald, -however, defied the King, and on his return took shelter within the -unusually lofty walls and strong earthworks of Framlingham, a Bigot -castle in Suffolk. About this time mention is made of castles at -Cricklade in Wilts, at Tetbury and at Winchcombe in Gloucestershire. At -Coventry also there was a castle, and another at Downton in Wiltshire, -still celebrated for its moot-hill. - -In 1149, York opened its gates to young Henry of Anjou, who assembled -a considerable force, with which he met the royal army at Malmesbury, -though without an actual collision. Of 1151 is on record a curious -convention in which the Earls of Leicester and Chester were concerned, -under which no new castles were to be built between Hinckley and -Coventry, Coventry and Donnington, Donnington and Leicester; nor at -Gateham, nor at Kinoulton, nor between Kinoulton and Belvoir, Belvoir -and Oakham, Oakham and Rockingham. In 1152 occurred the celebrated -siege of Wallingford, held for Matilda by Brian Fitz-Count. Enough of -Wallingford remains to show how strong it must formerly have been; and -the temporal was fully equalled by the spiritual power, for the town, -always small, contained just twice as many churches as apostolic Asia. -Stephen, unable to approach the Castle from its landward side, threw up -a work still to be traced at Crowmarsh, on the left bank of the river, -and there posted his engines. Young Henry, holding Malmesbury, Warwick, -and about thirty other not very distant castles, marched to the relief -of Wallingford, and invested the lines of Crowmarsh, besieging the -besiegers. Stephen advanced to their aid from London, and Henry seems -to have moved into the town, holding the passage of the river at the -bridge by a special work. Wallingford was thus saved, and Henry, early -in 1153, laid siege to Stamford, where, as at York, Hertford, and -Buckingham, two mounds commanded the river; and stormed Nottingham, -where were similar works upon the Trent. Stephen, falling back into the -eastern counties, took Ipswich, a castle of which even the site is lost. - -The death of Eustace, Stephen’s son, in August, 1153, paved the way -to an arrangement between the rivals. Stephen was to remain King, and -Henry became his acknowledged successor. William, Stephen’s surviving -son, was to retain the Warenne castles and estates, which included -Ryegate, of which traces remain; Castle-Acre, with its mound and other -earthworks, placed within a Roman encampment; Castle-Rising, one of -the least injured and most remarkable Norman keeps in England; Lewes, -with its double mound and strong natural position; and Coningsburgh, an -English site of excessive strength, though not then as yet celebrated -for its noble tower. He also had the castles of Wirmegay and Bungay, -Norwich, and the castle and honour of Pevensey. It was also agreed that -the garrisons of the royal castles generally should swear allegiance to -Henry and to Stephen; and the castellans of Lincoln, London, Oxford, -Southampton, and Windsor gave hostages that on Stephen’s death they -would give them over to Henry. It was also agreed at a conference at -Dunstable in 1154, that all castles built since the death of Henry -I. should be destroyed (a clause which may be taken to show that no -absolutely new castles of very great importance had been built by -Matilda or Stephen); and that all mercenary troops should be sent back -to their own countries. The office of sheriff, as representing the -crown in the counties, was to be strengthened. - -Stephen died in October, 1154, and his rival ascended the throne as -Henry II. without opposition. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF CASTLES IN THE REIGN OF HENRY II. - - -Henry II. was a great builder, and especially of military works. “In -muris, in propugnaculis, in munitionibus, in fossatis, ... nullus -subtilior, nullus magnificentior, invenitur.” This, however, does not -so much refer to new castles, of which he built but few, as to the -completion or addition of new keeps to the old ones, such, for example, -as Dover. - -A few days after his arrival in England he received the fealty of -the magnates of the realm at Winchester Castle, and was crowned at -Westminster, 19th December, immediately after which he granted to -William, Earl of Arundel, the castle and honour of Arundel and the -third penny of the county of Sussex. This was probably for life, for -upon the Earl’s death in 1176 the castle and county reverted to the -Crown, and were re-granted. Notwithstanding this beginning, Henry was -fully determined to carry out the policy agreed upon at Wallingford -in the face of the nation. A few days later he attended a council at -Bermondsey, at which it was decided to order all foreign mercenaries -to quit the kingdom on pain of death, and to raze all castles erected -in the reign of Stephen. This decision was felt on all sides to be -absolutely required; and it was, to a great extent, at once acted upon. -Of these “castra adulterina” he destroyed, by some accounts, 375; by -others, 1,115. Unfortunately, their names and sites have rarely been -preserved, and can only be inferred where a castle played a part in the -wars of Stephen and Matilda, and is not afterwards mentioned. These -castles were, no doubt, built usually by men of limited means, and in -haste; but even a small and badly-built castle of masonry would require -some labour and outlay of money for its destruction. Possibly many of -these buildings were of timber, upon the existing mounds. Also there -are found slight earthworks of no great height or area, the plan of -which seems that of a Norman castle, and which not improbably belong -to this period. At Eaton-Socon, in Bedfordshire, and Lilbourne, in -Northamptonshire, are such earthworks. Farringdon and Mount Sorrel -Castles, and those of Stansted and Hinckley, Coventry, Cricklade,and -Winchcombe, are thought to have been dismantled at this time. Drax -Castle, in Yorkshire, stood out, and was destroyed, as, though far -less completely, were Bungay and Tutbury, Thirsk, Malzeard, and Groby. -Under the pressure of the times even ecclesiastical buildings had -been occupied as castles. Ramsey and Coventry Abbeys were so used -by Geoffrey Glanville and Robert Marmion, and the fine church of -Bridlington by D’Aumâle. - -Henry strove to carry out the new policy without respect for rank or -party; but when he threatened the strongholds of the great nobles -his difficulties began. Hugh Mortimer and Roger, son of Milo Earl of -Hereford and High Constable, old supporters of Matilda, refused to -surrender Wigmore, Cleobury, Bridgenorth, Hereford, and Gloucester. -Henry at once took action. Leaving Wallingford Castle in the spring -of 1155, he laid siege to Bridgenorth, whence one of his letters is -dated “apud Brugiam in obsidione.” He also took by siege Cleobury and -Wigmore. This success caused the Earl of Hereford to surrender Hereford -and Gloucester, where Henry had received much of his education; and -on his protestation of submission, the Earl was allowed to retain -Hereford. Henry, Bishop of Winchester, Stephen’s brother, was forced -to flee the country, and his castles were ordered to be destroyed; -and that this order was executed appears from the charge for the work -entered in the Pipe Roll for 1155-6. In like manner D’Aumâle, a baron -of the house of Champagne, whose power lay in Holderness, and who had -commanded at Northallerton, was forced, in January, 1155, after a short -resistance, to give up Scarborough, the strongest castle in Holderness, -and Skipsea, not far its inferior. Henry also visited Northampton, -Nottingham, Lincoln, and York, and some of the western castles and -counties. At Windsor the “fermor” of the castle expended £4. 15s. -5d. in his reception “in corredio regis.” According to Mr. Eyton, -140 castles were destroyed in the course of 1155. William of Ypres, -a turbulent leader of Flemish mercenaries, who had been created Earl -of Kent by Stephen in 1141, was banished. He was one of the “pseudo -Comites.” - -A part of the new policy, though not at once enforced, was the -introduction, to a certain extent, of a money commutation for personal -military service. The new payment, under the name of “scutage,” became -an important branch of the revenue of the Crown. A rule was also -established, which, if not always acted upon, was well understood, -that no man should build a castle, or convert his dwelling into a -“domus defensabilis,” without a licence from the King. - -In 1156 Henry went, by way of Dover, to the Continent, where he took -Mirabeau and Chinon, one of his charters being dated “Mirabel in -obsidione,” and another, “apud Chinon in exercitu”; nor did he return -to England till 1157, when he was at Southampton Castle, and went -thence to Ongar, Richard de Lacy’s Essex castle, and received from -William Count of Mortaine, King Stephen’s son, Pevensey and the Warenne -castles, which had fallen to him with the name and estates of that -family. Hugh Bigot also gave up Norwich, and made a general submission. -Henry then visited Colchester and other Essex castles, and thence -proceeded to Northampton. Malcolm of Scotland was fain to follow the -example of his English friends, and gave up Carlisle, Bamborough, and -Newcastle, together with the three northern counties. His personal -submission was made to Henry at Peveril’s Castle in the Peak, on which -occasion the sheriff’s expenses on his behalf were considerable. -Malcolm was allowed to retain his grandmother’s honour and castle of -Huntingdon. - -The destruction of so many smaller and later castles restored to their -former prominence those of greater strength and older date, which, -being for the most part necessary for the defence of the kingdom, were -preserved and strengthened, and entrusted to castellans of approved -fidelity. Becket, before his ecclesiastical promotion, thus received -the castles of the Tower and of Berkhampstead, and the castle and -honour of Eye. - -One of Henry’s chief difficulties arose out of the position of the -marcher-lords, such as the De Clares and the Mareschals, whose almost -regal powers, granted originally to enable them to hold the frontier -against the Welsh, were more frequently used, in conjunction with the -Welsh, to coerce the sovereign. - -In 1157 Henry invaded North Wales, and while traversing Counsyth, a -Flintshire pass, was for a moment in great personal peril. It was on -this occasion that Henry de Essex threw down the standard and fled, -and thus forfeited his castle of Raleigh. On his way back Henry -repaired the castles of Basingwerk and Rhuddlan, and probably directed -the construction of Bere Castle, a very curious fortress with some -ornamental details in the Early English style, built upon a detached -rock in a valley west of Cader Idris. - -In 1158 Henry visited various parts of England. At Carlisle, in -January, he knighted Earl Warenne, but refused that honour to Malcolm -King of Scotland. While there he fortified Wark Castle, the sheriff’s -charge for which was £21. 8s. 11d. At Nottingham he gave to Richard de -Haia the custody “castelli _mei_ de Lincoln,” showing that he claimed -it for the Crown. In August he embarked at Portsmouth or Southampton -for Normandy; and while abroad took the castles of Thouars, Amboise, -Fretevel, Moulins, and Bon-Moulins. In 1159 he was occupied three -months at the siege of Thoulouse, which he failed to take. Other -castles in Normandy he took and repaired; others, again, he destroyed; -and he built a few altogether new. - -In January, 1163, Becket came to England with the King, and gave great -offence to the baronage by claiming Tonbridge Castle for his see. -Towards the close of the year Henry deprived him of the charge of the -castles of Eye and Berkhampstead; and in December admitted him to a -personal interview at Oxford Castle. In this year Henry was again at -Peak Castle, and in March, 1164, at Porchester. Soon afterwards the -strong castle of Tickhill fell to the Crown by escheat; and Henry spent -Christmas at Marlborough, a royal castle. - -In 1165, after a short visit to Normandy, during which the Queen -visited Sherborne Castle, Henry was at Rhuddlan, and caused Basingwerk -and the Flintshire castles to be again put in order. This was -fortunate, for the campaign was unsuccessful. Expenses on that occasion -were allowed at Oswestry (then called Blancmont), Shrawardine, and -Chirk Castles. This was an assertion of ownership on the part of the -Crown, although Oswestry was part of the private estate of William -Fitz-Alan, then a minor. Henry retired to Shrewsbury, and soldiers were -brought up from Worcester and Abergavenny, some of whom were quartered -in the Corbet Castle at Caus. Grosmont, Llantilio or White Castle, and -Scenfrith, the Monmouthshire trilateral, also contributed soldiers. -From Shrewsbury, Henry, reinforced, advanced into Powis-land, and -encamped on the Berwyn Mountain, where he was near being cut off by the -Welsh, and had to take refuge at Shotwick Castle, a small fortress on -the root of the peninsula of Wirrall, whence he retired to Chester, and -returned to London. - -In February or March, 1166, was compiled the return of military fiefs -and tenants in chief, known as the _Liber Niger_, and which professes -to represent the feudal military force of the kingdom, though so far -only as the division of the land into military fees was then completed. -The _Liber Ruber_ states the fees, in the reign of Richard I., to have -been 32,000. Orderic gives them at nearly double this, or 60,000. But -there are no data for estimating, with any approach to correctness, -the force that the King could bring into the field. Under Henry I. and -Stephen, mercenaries were largely employed, drawn mainly from Flanders. -The _Liber Niger_ has received very valuable attention at the hands of -Mr. Eyton and Professor Stubbs. - -Early in Lent in this year Henry embarked at Southampton for Normandy, -where he reduced the castles of Alençon and La Roche Mabile, and -received a visit from the King of Scotland. Late in the year Geoffrey -de Mandeville and Richard de Lacy engaged in an unsuccessful expedition -into North Wales, and again strengthened Basingwerk Castle, during -which they were attacked by the Welsh. Henry remained absent in -Normandy, Gascony, and Brittany about four years, landing at Portsmouth -in March, 1170; but he returned to Normandy in June. In October he -wrote to Prince Henry, directing him to restore the honour of Saltwood -to the Archbishop. On the 29th of December, Becket was murdered, the -assassins having rested at Saltwood the preceding night. After the -murder they went to Knaresborough Castle, then held by Hugh de Morville -as castellan. - -In August, 1171, Henry landed at Portsmouth, and early in September was -in South Wales, where he took Caerleon from Iorwerth ap Owen, and went -on to Pembroke Castle to meet Prince Rhys, to whom he made over a large -part of Cardigan. From Pembroke, or rather from Milford, he went, in -October, to Ireland, whence he returned, by St. David’s and by Cardiff, -to England in April, 1172, and thence embarked from Portsmouth for the -Continent in May. - -In April, 1173, the confederacy between the King of France and Prince -Henry, who carried with him the discontented party among the English -barons, broke out into open war in both countries. Henry the elder -remained at Rouen, and with the doubtful exception of a short visit -to England was content to leave the conduct of the war there to the -faithful and able Richard de Lacy. - -The English rebellion was of a very grave character. Among the rebels -were the Earls of Chester and Leicester, Ferrars Earl of Derby, -Mowbray, and Paganel. Ferrars held Groby, Tutbury, Burton, and some -other castles; Mowbray held Kinnard’s Ferry Castle in Axholm, Thirsk, -and Malzeard, which seem again to have been repaired or rebuilt; David -of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, held that castle; as did Bishop Puiset -Norham and Durham. These northern castles were strong, and supported -by the Scottish levies; but the great body of the baronage was with -the king, and even in the North his party preponderated. It included -Umfraville of Prudhoe, De Vesci of Alnwick, Ros of Hamlake, Bruce of -Whorlton and Skelton; and in the south almost all the great barons. -Lacy laid siege to and burned Leicester town; but the castle seems to -have held out. He also, accompanied by Bohun, marched into the North -and wasted the border country and the Lothians. The royal castles -generally were ordered to be victualled and garrisoned. - -In September, Robert, Earl of Leicester, landed at Walton in Suffolk -with a body of Flemish mercenaries. Suffolk was, no doubt, selected for -the landing as being opposite to the Flemish ports, and under the local -influence of the house of Bigot, who held the castles of Framlingham -and Bungay, and were hereditary Constables of Norwich, an office often -forfeited, but which gave them great influence in the city. Leicester -and his Flemings were at once received at Framlingham, and thence -besieged Haganet Castle, governed for the king by Ranulph de Broc. This -they took; but failed before the walls of Dunwich, and thence marched -towards Leicester. Meantime Lacy and Humphrey de Bohun had hurried -back from the Scottish border, were reinforced near Bury by the earls -of Arundel, Cornwall, and Gloucester, and in October came up with the -Flemish army at Fornham St. Geneviève. The invaders were routed, and -Leicester and his countess taken and sent prisoners to Normandy. Lacy’s -work was, however, but half completed. Mowbray still held Axholm, -and Earl David, or probably for him, Anketil Mallori, held Leicester -Castle. The King of Scots laid siege to Carlisle, while his brother -took the castles of Knaresborough, Brough, and Appleby. In May, 1174, -Leicester Castle was still untaken, and the Scots had reduced Warkworth -and laid siege to Prudhoe and Alnwick. Lacy was engaged in the siege -of Huntingdon, aided by St. Liz, who claimed it. But a second body of -Flemings had landed, had attacked Norwich, and much injured Nottingham -and Northampton. The Bishop of Lincoln had, however, taken Axholm. - -In the midst of this critical state of affairs, Henry landed at -Southampton in July, 1174, with his prisoners, whom he sent to Devizes. -His arrival coincided with a sudden and material improvement in the -state of his affairs. While Henry was engaged in an act of penance at -Becket’s tomb, William, King of Scots, was taken before Alnwick. After -a short illness in London, Henry went to Huntingdon in time to receive -the surrender of the castle, and thence to Framlingham, which, with -Bungay, was surrendered to him by Hugh Bigot. Prince Rhys, then in -alliance with Henry, besieged and took Tutbury, and the Mowbray castle -of Malzeard was also taken. At Northampton, in July, Henry received the -submission of the Bishop of Durham, with the castles of Durham, Norham, -and Northallerton. Thirsk Castle was given up by Roger de Mowbray; -Tutbury and Driffield by Earl Ferrars, with Leicester, Mount Sorrell, -and Groby. - -Henry’s success was complete; but the rebellion showed how dangerous -were the great castles to public order, and how necessary it was to -dismantle a large number of them, and to keep the rest, as far as -possible, in the hands of the Crown. This policy he continued to act -upon to the end of his reign, treating all conquered rebels with great -clemency as regarded their persons and their estates, but retaining -their castles in his own hands. Even Richard de Lacy, to whom the -hundred of Ongar was granted in 1174, was not allowed to retain the -castle. - -In May, 1175, Henry was in England, and in June received the surrender -of Bristol Castle from William, Earl of Gloucester. In January, 1176, -was held the council at Northampton, at which the kingdom was divided -into six circuits, with three justiciaries for each circuit. Among the -edicts which they were to enforce were those relating to castles. A -strict inquisition was to be made into the tenure by castle-guard, and -how far its duties were discharged. - -It does not appear to what extent the new regulations were carried out; -but the general effect of the new system was to check marauders, and to -render insurrections more difficult and less frequent. Northallerton, -more than once dismantled, was at last (1177) entirely destroyed; and -the Bishop of Durham, its owner, had to pay a fine of a thousand marcs -for his share in the last rebellion. Such castles as Durham, Norham, -and Scarborough, which it was expedient to preserve, were attached to -the Crown, and placed in the hands of faithful castellans. Bamburgh -was entrusted to William de Stuteville, and Norham to William de -Neville, Scarborough to the Archbishop of York, Berwick to Geoffrey de -Neville, and Durham to Roger de Coniers. The assize of arms, by which, -in 1180, it became the duty of each freeholder to provide himself with -arms and armour according to his means and condition, rendered the -commonalty more capable of resisting tyranny, and on the whole tended -to strengthen the hands of any not very unpopular sovereign against the -barons. - -The general result of Henry’s domestic policy was undoubtedly -successful, and his latter years were untroubled by any serious -outbreak. In 1177, he returned to Normandy; but both there, and during -his subsequent visits to England, he paid great attention to the -castles of each country, visiting many of them, appointing and changing -the castellans, and causing the defences to be kept in proper order. -In February, 1187, he visited the very singular castle of Chilham by -Canterbury. He died in the castle of Chinon, July, 1189. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AND WALES AT THE LATTER PART OF - THE TWELFTH CENTURY. - - -However numerous may have been the castles destroyed under the -Convention of Wallingford, or during the subsequent reign of Henry II., -they seem to have been almost entirely fortresses of recent date, in -private hands, and of little importance as regarded the general defence -or the orderly administration of the kingdom. Among those that played -at all an important part in the internal wars of the sons or grandsons -of Henry, there are missing but very few known to have been built or -restored by his predecessors or by himself; and the names that occur -in the chronicles of the period, or are entered from time to time in -the records of the realm, show that the country continued to be amply -provided with castles, and that almost all of the first class were -occasionally repaired at the cost of the Crown, and were governed by -castellans holding office during the king’s pleasure, whom moreover -it was the custom frequently to change. It is here proposed, at some -length, to enumerate the fortresses of England and in the Marches of -Wales, as they stood at the close of the reign of Henry II., so far -at least as their names and positions or any account of them can be -recovered. - -Taking London as the centre, military and political, of the kingdom, -we have, upon the Thames, the Tower, the first and chief fortress -founded by the Conqueror, and which he considered sufficient to -protect and overawe the city. In the city itself, also upon the banks -of the Thames, near the outlet of the Flete, was Baynard’s Castle, -the stronghold of the Barons Fitz-Walter, standard-bearers to the -City of London, and an important branch of the House of Clare. At -various distances from this centre, according to the disposition of -the ground, were posted within the northern and southern passes of the -chalk ridge, Berkhampstead, an appanage of the earldom of Cornwall, and -Guildford, the early keep of which stands in part upon an artificial -mound. Also, to the immediate south of London, were the episcopal -castle, still inhabited, of Farnham, and Earl Warenne’s castle on -the hill at Reigate, of which some traces remain. Higher up the -Thames were Windsor, Reading, Wallingford, and Oxford, all fortresses -of high antiquity and of the first rank. Between the Thames and the -sea-coast the country was well guarded, and the communications with -Dover, Portsmouth, and Southampton, so important to sovereigns with -possessions on the Continent, rendered secure. Dover, called by William -the Conqueror, according to Matthew Paris, “Clavis et repagulum,” -the key and bolt of the kingdom, was one of its oldest, largest, -and strongest fortresses, and covered a nearly impregnable area of -thirty-five acres. It crowned the crest of a chalk rock which seemed to -rise out of the sea, and steep by nature was rendered still more so by -art, and bore traces of Norman, English, Roman, and probably British -occupation. Its well of water is particularly specified, according to -M. Paris, in Harold’s celebrated covenant with Duke William. Indeed, -there seem to have been two wells in the keep, besides another, no -doubt that of Harold, in the outer ward, probably a Roman work. The -town also was walled. In the rear of Dover lay the city of Canterbury, -mentioned in “Domesday” as fortified. It was strong to the landward, -with a formidable bank and ditch, revetted by a Norman wall, and -towards the water was covered by the marshes of the Stour, at one time -navigable up to the quays of the ancient city. At one angle and just -within the area, was a strong rectangular keep, a Norman addition, and -near it was the Danejohn, a far older moated mound, older even than -the bank and ditch of the city, which were laid out at an angle to -include it. Near to Canterbury was Chilham, a Norman tower of peculiar -form, on the site of a work burned by the Danes in 838-51; and at no -great distance was Saltwood, given to the see of Canterbury in 1036, -and said to owe the formidable banks and ditches which still surround -it to a son of Hengist. West of Dover William d’Abrincis had built the -castle of Folkestone, now, with the cliff it stood upon, swallowed -up by the sea. It was preceded by an earlier work in earth a little -further inland; Sandwich, one of the cinque ports, was also embanked -and walled. Between Dover and London, upon the marshy windings of the -upper Medway, stood the mound of Tonbridge, with its Norman walls and -shell keep, a place of immense strength, and the subject of a long -contest between the archbishops and the earls of the race of De Clare. -Again, in the rear and upon the same road was the castle of Rochester -sharing its defensive strength with the oldest tower of the contiguous -cathedral and the walled city standing within or on the lines of a -Roman enclosure, and commanding the lowest bridge upon the deep and -rapid Medway. Many of the castles of Kent, especially those in private -hands, were founded in the thirteenth century, or later; but Horton, -Eynsford, and Lullingston, on the Darent, and that of Sheppy, on the -Swale, are far more ancient. Besides these Otford, an archiepiscopal -castle, was the “caput” of an Honour. Cowling is mentioned in Mercian -charters in 808. The manor belonged to Leofwin, brother of Harold, and -was held by Bishop Odo. Allington Castle was demolished by the Danes -and afterwards held by Earl Godwin, and later on by Odo. The Norman -additions were probably the work of Earl Warenne. Near to Maidstone is -Malling, thought to be as early a Norman keep as any in England, and -tolerably perfect though small; Thurnam or Godard’s Castle also has a -square Norman keep and some early earthworks, and near to it were the -very perfect moated mounds of Binbury and Stockbury. Ledes Castle, -still inhabited, has a detached and water-girdled keep and a very -complete barbican. The keep of Sutton, afterwards Sutton-Valence, seems -to be Norman. Tong Castle, in Bapchild manor on the Swale, attributed -to Hengist, was built as a castle by the St. Johns. Bayford Castle -occurs in Sittingbourne; and Queenborough, in Sheppey, though called -from the queen of Edward III., is probably of much older date. At -Alfrington Alfred is said to have had a strong place, called afterwards -Burlow. At Verdley, and Castlefield in Hartfield, are vestiges said to -represent castles. - -In Sussex each rape had its castle, founded probably by the Jutish -settlers. Of these under the Norman rule Hastings, almost equal to -Dover in its natural strength, though of smaller size, was the head -of the barony of the earls of Eu. It is first mentioned in the Bayeux -tapestry, where in one of the compartments is written, “Iste [comes -Moretaine] jussit ut foderentur castellum ad Hasteng.” This probably -relates to the double line of ditches by which the castle is cut off -from the body of the hill. The town also was walled. Pevensey, strong -in its Roman wall and added English earthworks, was the castle of De -Aquila, the seat of the Honour called by the English of “The Eagle.” -Here, in 1118, the Custos of Windsor expended £118. 4s. in repairing -the palisades (“palicii”) of the castle. Lewes, with its mounds -crowning each end of an isolated hill, was the favourite strength of -the Warennes, Earls of Surrey. The natural platform, added ditches -and mound, and square keep of Bramber, on the Adur, rendered almost -impregnable this seat of the turbulent and powerful Barons Braose of -Gower, who also owned Knepp Castle, nearer the head of the river, -where a mound and some Norman masonry may still be seen. Knepp was -afterwards held by King John on the attainder of William de Braose, and -in 1216 was ordered to be destroyed. Arundel, the only castle named -in “Domesday” as existing in the reign of the Confessor, and the seat -successively of Earl Roger of Montgomery, of d’Albini, and the race -of Fitz-Alan, still overlooks the dell of the Arun, and wears many of -its older features; and finally Chichester, also a Montgomery castle, -long since destroyed, or reduced to its primal mound, stood within the -fortified area of the Roman Regnum. Besides these there seem to have -been Norman castles at Eastbourne and Firle, all traces of which have, -however, disappeared. Mention is also made of Sedgewick Castle, near -Horsham. - -More to the west in Hampshire, upon the Havant water, was Boseham, -a very famous castle long since swept away; and upon the inlet of -Portsmouth, Porchester, a noble combination of Roman and Norman -masonry. Within its area is contained a parish church and churchyard, -and here was the favourite muster-place for troops destined for -Havre. On the opposite side of the Solent, in the centre of the Isle -of Wight, is Carisbroke, celebrated for its keep and mound, and its -wells of unusual depth, and on the opposite mainland, at the marshy -junction of the Stour and the Wiltshire Avon, stands the ancient -keep of Christchurch, placed exceptionally upon the mound of the -earlier Twynham. Here also is preserved the Castle Hall, a late -Norman building, almost a duplicate of a corresponding structure -in Fitzgerald’s castle at Adare, near Limerick. Upon the verge of -Southampton Water, between the Anton and the sea, occupying a strong -peninsula, is the town of that name, still preserving the remains of -its Norman walls, and of the keep of a very formidable castle once -included within its area. - -Inland of this line of castles from the sea northwards to the Thames, -the counties of Wilts and Berks showed with Hampshire an abundance of -strong places. There, though actually in Hampshire, was Winchester, -the British Caerwent and the Roman Venta Belgarum, which in its -English days contested with London the supremacy of the South. -Strongly fortified with broad and high earthworks and deep ditches, it -contained, attached to one angle, the royal castle, and within another, -its diagonal, the episcopal keep of Wolvesey, of which the one is now -represented by its noble hall, and the other by its rectangular Norman -keep. The Hall at Winchester, though of very early English date, is -after the Norman type, having three aisles. The castle was the prison -of Archbishop Stigand in 1066. Before its gates, in 1075, Earl Waltheof -was beheaded. Here, in 1102, was tried the memorable dispute for -precedence between York and Canterbury. In 1141 it was defended by the -Empress Maud, and here Henry II. held several Parliaments, and Cœur de -Lion paused when in the adjacent cathedral he was a second time crowned -on his return from captivity in 1189. - -Scarcely second to Winchester in strength, and its equal in undefined -antiquity, is Old Sarum, a hold of mixed but uncertain origin, where -the concentric lines of masonry, girdling and crowning the central -mound, included the cathedral of the diocese, and to which, according -to the historians of Wiltshire, King Alfred caused an exterior bank -and palisade to be added. In Wilts was also the Devizes, reputed the -finest castle on this side the Alps. “Divisæ quod erat Salesberiensis -Episcopi castellum, mirando artificio, sed et munimine inexpugnabili -firmatum,” but of which there now remains little besides the gigantic -mound and profound ditches. Of Marlborough the burh alone remains, -while of Malmesbury, an encroachment of the secular upon the lands -of the regular clergy, all traces are removed. Over the Hampshire -border is Old Basing, where the Saxons were worsted by the Danes in -a pitched battle in 871, which became the “caput” of the fifty-five -lordships held by Hugh de Port in “Domesday,” and afterwards of the -St. John’s oldest barony. Even in the time of Henry II. it was called -the old castle, and in a rather later reign Robert, Lord St. John, -had a licence to fix a pale along the base of his mote at Basing, and -to maintain it so fortified during the king’s pleasure. The original -circle of earthwork is nearly all that now remains. At no great -distance is Odiham, once a possession of the see of Winchester, where -is an early tower, stripped of its ashlar, and surrounded by marshy -ground once famous for its forest sport. Castle Coombe was a famous -and very early Wiltshire castle, now reduced nearly to an earthwork, -and Warblington, a stronghold of the Montacutes, and the castle of -Cirencester are both gone, the latter destroyed by Henry III. - -Still further to the west are the castles of Dorset and Somerset, -Devon and Cornwall. Wareham, the ancient Frome-mouth, placed between -the Frome and the Piddle, once marked the limits of Poole harbour, and -was a place of great strength and fame. As early as 876 its west side, -the root of the twixt-waters peninsula, was criticised as weak. In one -corner of its rectangular and pseudo-Roman area, a moated mound has -been thrown up, as at Tamworth, by the river-side, and its earthworks -and position justify its reputation as the key of Purbeck, of which -Corfe was the citadel. Corfe, perched upon the summit and slope of a -chalk hill between two clefts whence it derives its name, is now a -magnificent ruin. Half its noble rectangular keep still stands, and -incorporated into the wall of its middle ward is a fragment of the -palace of the old West Saxon kings, probably the only material evidence -extant that they ever employed masonry in their military works. Of -Sherborne, an ancient episcopal seat, the spacious earthwork still -contains much of a late Norman keep, and is still entered through a -Norman gatehouse. Ilchester and Shaftesbury Castles are gone, and only -a part of the earthworks of that of Dorchester remain. West of Purbeck, -in Portland, is Bow-and-Arrow Castle, upon the sea-cliff, a curious and -somewhat peculiar structure of early date, built or occupied by the De -Clares. From Portland to the mouth of the Exe there do not appear to -have been any strong places of importance. - -Just within the mouth of the Exe is Powderham, the work of an Earl of -Eu and of De Redvers, and their Courtenay successors, and higher up -and opposite, Rougemont, the citadel of Exeter, which still exhibits -the high banks, deep ditches, and ancient gatehouse, fragments of the -defences behind which the citizens braved the fury of the Conqueror. -Inland from the Exe is Okehampton, the earliest of the English -possessions of the great family of Courtenay, and the work of Baldwin -of Exeter, of the lineage but not bearing the name of De Clare. He was -the builder also of Tiverton Castle which is now destroyed, as also is -Bridgewater. Among the early castles of the district was Stoke Courcy, -now a ruin; Stowey, “pulchrum et inexpugnabile in pelagi littore -locatum”; and Dunster, the strongest place in the west, the “Domesday” -castle of the Mohuns, and after them, as now, of the Luttrells. In the -west of Devon there remains the mound of Plympton, a Redvers castle, -and the shell keep of Totnes, the work of Joel of that place, and -afterwards inherited by the Barons Braose. Barnstaple town was probably -walled, and certainly had four gates. At Taunton a Norman keep and part -of a Norman hall still stand on the banks of the Tone, and rise out of -earthworks attributed to King Ine. At Montacute, the high ground marked -by an immense Romano-British camp, ends in the sharp-pointed hill -which William Earl of Moretaine selected for his castle, of which the -name, appropriately transported from his Norman castle, alone remains, -and but little more of Castle-Carey, the Lovell seat, besieged and -taken by Stephen, or of the Norman keep of Harptree, in a pass in the -Mendip range. - -Of importance beyond all these more or less local castles was that of -Bristol, founded by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, but found too valuable -to be intrusted to his successors in the earldom. Its square Norman -keep stood between the Frome and the Avon, and was strong both in works -and in position. After centuries of contest for its possession between -the earls of Gloucester and the Crown, it ceased to be of military -value and was taken down. Upon and beyond the Tamar, as at Montacute, -Wallingford, and Berkhampstead, may be traced the footsteps of the -powerful noble who held the great earldom of Cornwall. Their principal -Cornish castles,—Trematon, Launceston, where the town also was walled, -and Restormel,—were the work originally of Robert, half-brother of -the Conqueror. Their remains are considerable, and their strength and -position were such as to give them immense influence in that wild and -almost impenetrable district. St. Michael’s Mount remains strongly -fortified; Carnbrea, the work of Ralph de Pomeroy, still marks the -rocky ridge whence it derives its name, and there are traces of -Boscastle, the hold of the Barons Botreaux, and of the Arthurian castle -of Tintagel. There are besides in Cornwall a few fortified houses, and -a multitude of strong places,—camps rather than castles, very peculiar -in character, and probably the work of the native Cornish before the -arrival of the stranger. - -It appears, then, that south of and upon the Thames and Bristol Avon -there stood, at the close of the twelfth century, at least eighty-nine -more or less considerable castles, a very large number of which -were kept in repair by the sheriffs of the counties and governed by -castellans appointed by the king and holding office during pleasure. Of -these, at least thirty contained shell keeps placed on moated mounds, -and were in some form or other far older than the Conquest; and about -seventeen were characterised by rectangular keeps, of which two only, -Guildford and Christchurch, were associated with mounds, and of these -very few indeed were of pure Norman foundation. Of the remaining -forty-two the particulars are doubtful, so they cannot be counted -with one class or the other, but most of them are also older than the -Conquest. - -Passing into the middle belt of country extending from the Thames -and Avon to the Tees and the Lune, and from the German Ocean to the -Severn, the provision for defence is found to be fully equal to that -in the South. In the East Anglian province, in the counties of Essex, -Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridge, the chief strongholds were Colchester, -Hedingham, Bungay, Framlingham, Castle Acre, Castle Rising, Norwich, -and Cambridge. Colchester, the work of Hubert de Rye or his son, acting -in some measure for the Crown, is built of Roman, or quasi-Roman, -material upon a Roman site and within the area of a town mentioned in -“Domesday” as fortified. It commanded the inlet of Harwich and the -Blackwater, and in its rear, higher up the Coln, was the De Vere keep -of Hedingham, still a very perfect structure, and unusually though -severely ornate. This keep stands upon a natural mound, protected by -a formidable ditch, and appended to it is an outer enclosure, older -evidently than the keep. In the same county is Rayleigh, celebrated -for the extent of its earthworks, and, with Clavering, attributed to -Swegen or Suenus, sheriff of Essex under the Confessor, and ancestor of -Henry de Essex, Henry I.’s disgraced standard-bearer. The earthworks of -both places are, however, probably much earlier than the masonry. There -also is Plessy, a Mandeville restoration in masonry, with the parish -church within its enclosure; Ongar, for the time the castle of Richard -de Lucy; and Stansted Montfichet, the remaining earthworks of which -indicate its site. Bishops Stortford, or Weytemore, was an early manor -of the Bishop of London, who there had a castle. These four last-named -castles all had moated mounds. At Bures also was a moated mound eighty -feet high, hence its name of Mount Bures; also at Birch Castle, near -Colchester, and at Benyngton were castles. Canewdon was either a castle -or a very old fortified house, dating from the time of Henry de Essex, -and at Canfield, called from its castle, “Canefield ad Castrum,” the De -Veres had a fortress of which the mound is still seen. - -Framlingham is the chief castle of Suffolk. It is attributed originally -to Redwald, king of East Anglia, at the close of the sixth century. -Here there is at present no keep, but the Norman walls, of unusual -height, forty to fifty feet, and eight feet thick, still enclose the -court, and are protected by enormous earthworks, deep and high and of -great extent. This was the chief of the Bigot castles, said to have -been built by Hugh Bigot in 1176, and to the same powerful family -belonged Bungay, “hard by the river Waveney,” with grand earthworks, -a mound, and the remains of a square keep. Walton, another Bigot -castle, was destroyed by Henry II. Clare, the manor whence the earls of -Gloucester and Hertford derived their family name, retains its mound -with part of a polygonal keep, and outworks in earth and masonry on a -scale commensurate with the power of their lords. The area is occupied -in part by a railway station. Eye, the mound of which remains, was a -castle at Domesday, the seat of Robert Malet, and afterwards was given -by Henry II. to Ranulph, Earl of Chester. Dunwich, though not a walled -town, was protected by a deep ditch and high bank, upon which as late -as the reign of Henry III. was a palisade. - -The chief castle of Norfolk was Norwich, a place of immense strength -and high antiquity. Its rectangular keep of great size and more ornate -than usual, though much injured by injudicious repairs, and closed -against the antiquary by its conversion to the base uses of a prison, -still predominates grandly over the fine old city, of which it was long -the glory and the dread. Its deep, single ditch, far older than its -works in masonry, is now for the most part filled up and built over. -The city also was strongly walled. Haganet, a Norfolk castle taken by -the Earl of Leicester and his invading Flemings, is utterly destroyed. -Mileham, of which the moated mound, though low, and a fragment of a -square keep remain, was the work of Alan, son of Flaald, who held the -manor from the Conqueror. To him also is attributed the adjacent castle -of Burghwood, of which large earthworks remain. Orford, an almost -solitary example of a Norman polygonal keep, is tolerably perfect. -The keep of Castle Rising, though smaller in dimensions than Norwich, -resembles it in type. It is the most highly-ornamented keep in England, -and, though a ruin, is well preserved and cared for. Here also is -that great rarity, a tolerably perfect and unaltered fore-building -and entrance. This keep stands within a lofty bank, beyond which, -on one side, is a spacious outwork, also heavily embanked. Castle -Acre, best known for its Norman priory, contains also the mound and -other earthworks and part of the shell keep of a large castle, and -near to these is the town of Lynn, once strongly fortified, and still -possessing an early gatehouse. At Thetford, girt by a double ditch, is -the great mound thrown up by the Danes in 865-6 to command the then -adjacent city, but this post, so important before the Conquest, does -not seem to have been occupied afterwards. Other Norfolk castles were -Buckenham and Tateshall, of which the date is doubtful, and Marnham, of -which it was reported in the reign of Edward I.—“Quod erectio castri de -Marnham est in præjudicium domini Regis.” Wirmegay, a Warenne castle, -strong in its marshy approaches, was certainly earlier. At Weting, near -the church, was a castle with a mound, on which a few years ago was a -fragment of the keep. It was the seat of De Plaiz, who represented Mont -Fitchet, and whose heiress married the ancestor of the house of Howard. -There was also a castle at Kenningdale, near Diss. - -Cambridgeshire contained but a few castles, the fens presenting little -to attract the spoiler, and being in themselves a secure defence. At -Cambridge, upon the banks of the sluggish and winding Cam, a prison -has taken the place of the castle ordered by the Conqueror; but a part -of the mound and a fragment of its subsidiary banks remain, and are -not to be confounded with the still earlier Roman enclosure. At Ely a -large mound with appended earth banks is thought to have been the site -of the ancient castle of the bishop of that see. All traces of masonry -are gone, as at Wisbeach. The camp at Castle Camps, the seat of the -Saxon Wolfwin, once held a Norman castle, the work of the De Veres. Of -Chevely, an episcopal castle, a fragment remains. Burwell, the masonry -of which belonged to one of Stephen’s improvised castles, is remembered -as that before which Geoffrey de Mandeville received his fatal wound. A -fragment of its wall and the mound remain. Swavesey and Bassingbourne -were early castles. - -Hertford, Bedford, and Buckingham, the inland positions of which -were insufficient to secure them from invasions from a foe beyond -the sea, were not unprovided with castles. Hertford, visited by the -Danes in 894, was fortified by Edward the Elder in 914, who there -threw up a burh between the rivers Lea, Mineran, and Bean, and in -the year following a second burh on the opposite bank of the Lea. -Hertford, says Smith in 1588, has two castles, one on each bank of the -Lea. These corresponded to the two banks already mentioned. Upon the -still existing mound Peter de Valoines placed the keep ordered by the -Conqueror. The Magnavilles next held it, and Henry of Huntingdon calls -it, “castrum non immensum sed pulcherrimum.” Berkhampstead, as old, and -a far more considerable fortress, and the head of a great Honour, has -been mentioned as one of the northern defences of the metropolis. Its -mound, wholly artificial, still supports the foundations of a Norman -shell keep, and appended to it is a large oval platform, the walls and -entrances to which remain. The whole is partially encircled by several -concentric lines of bank and ditch, the character of which shows that -they were protected by stockades instead of walls of masonry. Here the -Black Prince spent his latter days, and here he died. - -The chief castle of Bedfordshire, the head of the Beauchamp barony, -was at Bedford, where the Ouse, menaced by the Danish galleys, was -protected early in the tenth century by a mound upon each bank, one -of which is now removed and the other was crowned by the keep of the -Norman castle. Bedford Castle is famous for two memorable sieges in -the reigns of Stephen and Henry III. Of its works, once extensive, the -masonry has been removed, the fosse has also been filled up, and the -mound somewhat reduced in size. Risinghoe, The Giants hill, on the -Ouse below Bedford, seems to have had a shell keep, and at Tempsford -is to be seen a curious but small earthwork thrown up by the Danes in -921, and taken by Edward the Elder late in the year. Whether this was -the site of the subsequent Norman castle is very doubtful. There was -also a castle at Odell or Wahull, the seat of the barons of that name. -It is uncertain when was founded Bletsoe, a castle and the head of a -Beauchamp barony. Below Bedford, on the Ouse, are the earthworks of -Eaton-Socon, also a Beauchamp castle, but dismantled at an early period. - -The remains of the castle of Huntingdon, though reduced to banks, -ditches, and a mound, nevertheless show how spacious and how strong -must have been this chief seat of the broad earldom of Countess Judith -and her descendants the kings of Scotland, earls also of Huntingdon. -The Danes were encamped here in 921, and the burh which had been ruined -was restored by Eadward in the same year. The ditches were fed from the -Ouse, which expanded before the castle as a broad marsh, now a fertile -meadow. Of the early military history of the castles of Connington, -Kimbolton, and Bruck, but little is recorded. - -The castle of the Giffards, earls of Buckingham, included one of the -two burhs which were thrown up on opposite sides of the Ouse, in 915, -to command the river and protect the town. The castle was probably -destroyed in the reign of Stephen, and the further mound levelled. The -Paganels had a castle at Newport; the Hanslapes at Castlethorpe; the -Barons Bolbec at Bolbec, now Bullbanks, in Medmenham; and there seem to -have been castles at Winslow, Lavendon, and Whitchurch. - -West of this district came Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and Gloucestershire. -Windsor, Wallingford and Reading have been mentioned. The keep of -Windsor has a late Norman base, and the foundation of a gateway is of -that date, as is the entrance to a very curious gallery in the chalk, -which ran from the interior of the place beneath the buildings and -the wall and opened as a postern upon the scarp of the main ditch. -The mound upon which the round tower is placed is artificial and was -surrounded by banks and ditches much on the plan of Arundel. Reading -was an early castle and strongly posted between the Thames and the -Kennet, upon an earthwork long before contested between the Danes -and the Saxons. The castle is supposed to have been demolished by -Henry III., in pursuance of the treaty of Wallingford: no trace of it -remains. Wallingford has had better fortune: its mound and enclosure, -the seat of the English Wigod, occupy one corner of the rectangular -earthworks of the town, and rest upon the river. It was attached to the -earldom of Cornwall, and was a place of great strength and splendour. -A few fragments of masonry still remain, and some traces of Stephen’s -camp on the opposite bank at Crowmarsh. There were also castles, -though of small consequence and doubtful age, at Newbury, Brightwell, -Farringdon, and Aldworth, the latter the seat of the Barons de la Beche. - -Oxford Castle was a place of great antiquity and very strong, and -formed a part of the defences of the city. The mound remains and a -crypt within it, but the keep is gone. There is seen, however, above -the river bank a rude and early square tower of Norman work, now a -prison. At Banbury, Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, built a castle in -1125, which was held by the Crown under Edward II. At Middleton was a -strong castle, held by Richard de Camville in the reign of John, and -there were others, smaller buildings, at Bampton, Bedington, Dedington, -and Watlington, possibly demolished by Henry II. Broughton, the castle -of the Lords Say, is in this county. Woodstock, though a royal manor, -does not seem to have been fortified. The castles at Ardley and -Chipping-Norton were destroyed by Stephen. The latter had a moated -mound. - -In Gloucestershire, besides Bristol, which was more connected with -Somerset, is Berkeley Castle, mentioned in the survey, but in its -present form built for its lord by Henry II. in acknowledgment of -services rendered to the Duke of Anjou, which remains marvellously -little altered to the present day. Gloucester, a royal castle, stood -on the Severn bank at one angle of the Roman city. It had a mound and -a shell keep, now utterly levelled, and the site partially built over. -It was the muster-place and starting-point for expeditions against -South Wales, and the not infrequent residence of the Norman sovereigns. -Sudeley and Winchcombe were early castles; the latter stood near St. -Peter’s Church, and was the seat of Kenulph, a Mercian king. There were -also castles at Dursley and at Brimpsfield, built by Osbert Giffard. -The only Gloucestershire castle of any consequence beyond the Severn -was St. Briavels, built by Milo, Earl of Hereford, probably about 1130, -upon or near the site of an earlier work, represented by an artificial -mound. In the reign of Henry I. it was in the hands of the Crown. It is -the special head of Dene Forest, of which the constable of the castle -was warden. Here were held the miners’ courts, the usages of which -were very peculiar. St. Briavels formed the connecting link between -Gloucester and such of the Monmouthshire castles as were in the hands -of the Crown. Of smaller castles in this district may be mentioned one -at Aylesmore near Dymock, one near Huntley, and others at Ruardean and -Penyard. - -North of Gloucestershire came the castles of the more purely midland -shires of Worcester, Warwick, Stafford, Northampton, Leicester, and -towards the eastern seaboard, Lincoln. The castle of Worcester stood -on the bank of the Severn, hard by the cathedral. The mound, now -removed, was occupied with masonry by Urso d’Abitot, who, however, -did not always get the best of it in his conflicts with the bishop. -Also on the Severn was Hanley, long since destroyed, and Emly, also a -Beauchamp seat. Hartlebury, the episcopal castle, is further inland, as -is Dudley, the seat of the Barons Somery, a place of high antiquity and -great natural strength. - -Warwick was one of the greatest, and by far the most famous of the -midland castles, famous not merely for its early strength and later -magnificence but for the long line of powerful earls, culminating in -the king-maker, who possessed it and bore its name. It was founded as a -burh early in the tenth century, and the keep, said to have resembled -Clifford’s Tower at York, stood upon the mound: both are now removed. -The castle as usual formed a part of the _enceinte_ of the town, and -the wall from the west gate to the castle stood upon an early earth -bank. Near to Warwick is Kenilworth, the chief fortress of the midland, -including a large area, and strongly though artificially fortified. -Of the English Kenelm nothing is recorded, but the founder of its -Norman work was the first of the house of Clinton, one of Henry I.’s -new earls, probably the only extant family descended in a direct male -line from the builder of a Norman keep of the first class. The square -keep and much of the existing wall are original, but the broad lake, -which added so much to its strength and is now drained and converted -into meadow, was probably a rather later addition, of the age of the -gatehouse on the dam, and of the curious earthwork covering its head. -The central earthworks are probably very early. Of Maxtoke, also a -Clinton castle, there are remains. Of the castle at Fillongley, the -chief seat of the Lords Hastings till they married the heiress of -Cantelupe, and removed to Abergavenny, only a few fragments remain. -Ralph Gernon had a castle at Coventry. Brownsover, Sekington, and -Fullbrook castles were probably adulterine, and are known only by vague -tradition, and it is doubtful whether the castle of the De Castellos -included the burh at Castle Bromwich or was on the site of the later -manor house. The burh at Sekington is very perfect. The Limesis had -a castle at Solihull, of which the moat long remained, as had the -Coleshills at that place. The Birminghams had a castle in the manor of -that name, near the church; there were early castles at Erdington, at -Studley on the Arrow, and at Oversley, long the seat of the Butlers, -whose ancestor was “Pincerna” to the Earls of Leicester. Beldesert, -built by Thurstan de Montfort soon after the Conquest, received a -market from the Empress Maud, and Dugdale mentions Simili Castle, -probably the seat of a family of that name. Ragley was a later castle. -Coventry was strongly walled. - -The line of the Trent on its passage through Staffordshire was amply -fortified. Stafford, otherwise Chebsey castle, constructed by the -Conqueror, probably upon the burh thrown up by Eathelflaeda in 913, was -destroyed before the date of the Survey, and was, therefore, probably -not a work in masonry. The town was fortified. The castle of the -Barons Stafford was near the town, but outside it. Its foundations are -original. Of the Ferrers castles Chartley is only indicated by a mound. -Beaudesert and Burton are destroyed. Tamworth, their chief seat, as -that of the Marmions before them, still retains its shell keep and part -of the curtain wall, remarkable for its herringbone masonry. It was a -royal Saxon residence in the eighth century, and the mound on which -stands the keep was thrown up in 931. As at Wareham and Wallingford, it -is placed near the river in one corner of a rectangular earthwork open -on that side. Tutbury, also a Ferrers castle, occupied a natural knoll -above the Trent, raised on one side by an artificial burh, and covered -on the other by extensive works in earth of early date, probably -original. The present masonry is chiefly the work of John of Gaunt, but -the fine old Priory church, founded by the early lords, still stands -just outside the ditch. Lichfield is reputed to have had a castle -at the south end of the town. At the north end is the cathedral, -“Lichfield’s moated pile,” defended by a broad and deep ditch, and on -one side by a lake or pool. It is not improbable that these works, -which are rectangular in plan, were executed by the Romanised Britons, -and that their existence caused the selection of this spot as the seat -of the bishopric. The Bishop’s castle of Eccleshall has lately been -alienated. There was a castle at Heley, and at Alton, now Alton Towers, -and at Stourton. Of the castle of Newcastle-under-Lyne, held by the -Earl of Chester for John, all trace is lost. - -The Northamptonshire castles stood mostly upon the lines of the Nene -and the Welland. Northampton, built by Simon de St. Liz, certainly -upon an earlier site, was a strongly walled and celebrated place, -the scene of important events in English history. Its castle has -long been reduced to a few earthworks and a fragment of masonry, and -very recently these also have been destroyed. Of Fotheringay, a very -ancient fortress, the scene of a siege by Henry III., there remains -little in masonry, although the bank and mound are perfect. It was -dismantled by James as the scene of his mother’s execution. Barnwell -Castle is probably late, as is the fine fortified gatehouse of the -Sapcote family, at Elton. At Castle Ashby, all trace of the castle is -lost in the grand old house which has succeeded to it. Of Lilbourne, a -moderate mound and a rectangular earthwork are the sole remains of the -castle. Near Towcester at Moor End in Potterspury, and at Alderton, -were castles, probably built and destroyed in the reigns of Stephen -and Henry II. Towcester itself does not appear to have been fortified -by the Normans, nor the curious burh at Earls Barton, the moot hill -for the earldom of Countess Judith. But of all the Northamptonshire -castles the most interesting, both from its history and its remains, -is undoubtedly Rockingham, founded by the Conqueror upon an old site, -standing in its old shire and forest, and which has been always -inhabited and cared for. Near to Rockingham, but in Rutland, is Oakham, -built by Walkelin de Ferrars in 1180, where the keep is gone, but the -original late Norman hall is quite perfect and still in use. Of the -defences of this remarkable fortress there remain ditches and banks, -with a part of the curtain wall and a large outwork of earth. Belvoir, -well deserving of the name, the only other Rutland castle, was the seat -of the Todenis, ancestors of the D’Albini and Ros families, and of its -present lords. Like Windsor, its circular keep, rebuilt nearly from its -foundations, crowns a detached hill, and from its terrace is one of the -richest views in England. - -In Leicestershire, Leicester Castle, the seat of its powerful and -turbulent Norman earls, stood, and in part still stands, between the -Soar and the Roman Ratæ, the walls of which are said to have been -destroyed in 1173. Of Hinckley, the seat of the Grantmaisnils, and -the “caput” of their Honour, the mound alone remains by the side -of the Roman way. The castle was probably dismantled by Henry II. -Groby, a Ferrers castle, has long been reduced to a small mound, and -Mount Sorrel, once so strong, is utterly destroyed. By a convention -at Mount Sorrel in the reign of Stephen, between Robert, Earl of -Leicester, and Ralph, Earl of Chester, already cited, it was agreed -that Ralph Gernon’s castle of Raunston should be destroyed and Whitwick -strengthened, but that no new castle should be built between Hinckley, -Donnington, Leicester, Belvoir, Okeham, and Rockingham. Should any be -so built, the two earls agreed to demolish the works. Sauvey Castle was -an early work. Of Castle Donnington, the house of the Zouches of Ashby, -the early history is obscure. - -The main castles of Lincolnshire were Lincoln and Axholme. Axholme, -built in the fens of that name, was a place of immense strength, and -the head of a barony of the Mowbrays, a race always on the side of -disorder. The castle has long been destroyed, and the fen, to which it -owed much of its strength, is drained. Lincoln Castle has been more -fortunate. The hill of Lincoln has been thought to retain traces of -British occupation, and its Roman buildings and English earthworks are -very remarkable. Soon after the Conquest 166 houses were destroyed to -make room for the castle itself, and 74 more to give space around it. -Its enormous banks occupy an angle of the Roman station, and contain -parts of the ruined wall and gate, both Roman. The great mound, the -larger of two, is occupied by the original shell keep, which, placed at -the foot of the cathedral, towers high above the city, and overlooks -the broad plain beyond. Often visited by the Norman kings, Lincoln -Castle is specially famous for the great battle fought beneath its -walls in 1141, in which Stephen was taken prisoner by Robert, Earl of -Gloucester, and his men from Glamorgan. - -There was a Mowbray Castle at Epworth, now destroyed, and one at -Kenefar, laid level by Henry, Bishop of Lincoln, in the reign of Henry -II. Bourne or Brun was in 870 the seat of a Saxon Thane, whose mound, -after the Conquest, was occupied by the Lords Wake. It was at one -time an important place, and the remaining earthworks show its area -to have been considerable. Bolingbroke Castle, once the “caput” of an -Honour, is now destroyed. Stamford-on-the-Welland was guarded by two -mounds, thrown up in 922, of which one has disappeared, but the other, -as at Bedford and Buckingham, was saved by its incorporation into a -Norman castle, to be seen no longer. Sleaford, an episcopal castle, -occasionally mentioned in the twelfth century, is now gone, as is -the castle of Horncastle, restored to Adelais de Condie in 1151, but -at the same time ordered to be demolished, and which probably stood -within the walls of the Roman station, of which large fragments remain. -Bitham also is gone, taken by siege and levelled by Henry III. in 1218. -Folkingham, the “Mansio capitalis” of Ulf the constable, was held by -Gilbert de Garod, and long afterwards fell to the Lords Beaumont. -Boothby was a fortified house of the Paynells or Paganels, and is of -late Norman date. Topclyve Castle was built by Geoffrey, bishop-elect -of Lincoln, in 1174. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AND WALES AT THE LATTER PART OF - THE TWELFTH CENTURY (_continued_). - - -The castles of the shires of Nottingham and Derby, of Yorkshire, -Lancashire, and Cheshire, complete the tale of the fortresses south of -the Tees and Lune. Nottingham, one of the castles ordered and possibly -built by the Conqueror, on a rock high above the Trent, contained -one of the grandest of the rectangular keeps. It was removed in the -seventeenth century, and replaced by a building of about the same -dimensions, but of very different character. At the foot of the rock -were the two mounds thrown up in the tenth century to command the -passage of the Trent, but these also have been removed. Another castle -upon the Trent was that of Newark, the work of Alexander, Bishop of -Lincoln, in the twelfth century. The very considerable remains include -the front towards the river, an imposing mass of masonry, the effect -of which is heightened by the great gatehouse upon its flank, a Norman -work of very unusual size and splendour. The ground plan of this castle -is nearly square, and may represent a Roman encampment. There was a -castle at Worksop. - -The oldest and most remarkable of the Derbyshire castles is that of -Castleton or Peveril in the Peak, with its small but strong rectangular -keep, built on the edge of the precipice, at the base of which is the -celebrated cavern, one of the marvels of the Peak. Bolsover, now nearly -all rebuilt, was also a Peveril castle. Of Sheffield, the castle of -the Furnivals and Talbots, placed upon the junction of the Sheaf and -the Don, nothing now remains. There seem to have been early castles, -or perhaps fortified houses, at Codnor, a Zouch seat, Melbourne, and -Gresley. Also Bogis and Hareston were Derbyshire castles in the reign -of Henry II. - -The wide expanse of Yorkshire contained much worthy of defence, and was -inhabited by a race of men not indisposed to provide it. The mounds of -York, both of the first class in bulk and elevation, were posted on -either bank of the Ouse, here a deep and broad stream. Of these mounds, -one stands on the junction of the Foss with the Ouse, above a tract -of marshy ground, between it and the wall of the Roman Eboracum. Here -the Conqueror placed his first castle, and in the keep and within the -spacious area below he posted William Malet and his 500 knights and -their followers. Amidst much of modern work the old walls may still -be traced, and a very fine shell, though of Early English date, still -stands on the summit of the mound. The other mound, the Bayle Hill, -south of the river, and connected with the earthworks of the later -city, was also fortified by William, but in haste and with timber only, -which does not appear ever to have been replaced with masonry. The -city is strongly fortified with walls and a ditch, and the celebrated -gateways or bars contain each a nucleus or core of Norman masonry. Next -to York in importance is Scarborough, the stronghold of William le -Gros, Earl of Aumarle, and the citadel of Holderness. The castle may -be said to contain the whole table top of a rocky promontory, defended -on three sides by a precipitous cliff, at the foot of which is the -German Ocean, while towards the land is a deep natural depression. The -approach was over a narrow causeway, raised upon arches, broken in -the centre by a drawbridge and bridge tower, covered at the outer end -by a strong barbican, and terminating below a lofty rectangular keep, -much of which still remains, and by the side of which was the final -entrance, and probably another drawbridge. In the words of Robert de -Brunne— - - “Was there none entree - That to the castle gan ligge - But a straight causee - At the end a drawbrigge.” - -Scarborough is not only a strong castle by nature and by art, but is -capable of containing several thousand men,—in fact, a small army. -South of Scarborough, also upon the coast, but where the natural -advantages of the cliff had to be supplied by enormous earthworks, was -Skipsea, held and strengthened by Drogo, William’s Flemish lieutenant -in that country. Aldbrough was also a Holderness castle, built by Odo -of Aumarle, of which there remain only the mound and the wall. - -Between Scarborough and York stood Malton, a seat of Earl Siward, and -held by David of Scotland against King Stephen. The masonry is now -gone, but the site is still marked by the Roman camp within or upon the -edge of which the castle stood. North of Malton is Pickering, once -the burh of the English Morcar, where are the remains of a shell keep -upon the mound. Here the mound is central between and common to both -wards. The general enclosing curtain is tolerably perfect, and the -whole affords an excellent example of the manner in which the Norman -architects dealt with an earthwork when the mound stood in the centre -of an enclosure, instead of as usual upon one side of it. On the edge -of the Honour of Pickering is Hamlake or Helmsley, the seat of the -Barons de Ros before they inherited Belvoir, and where the remains -of a very late rectangular keep stand on one side of a rectangular -court, having two regular gatehouses, walls built against lofty banks, -and beyond them strong and extensive outworks in earth and masonry. -It is difficult to form an opinion upon the age of these earthworks. -They impinge upon and are certainly later than a small Roman camp. At -Mulgrave and Normanby were castles; at the latter are still parts of a -rectangular Norman keep. Mulgrave stands on the sea cliff. It was the -seat of the Saxon Wada and afterwards the Castle of Nigel Fossard and -the Mowbrays. At Gilling some early vaults and walls are worked into -the later castle of the Fairfaxes. Thirsk, Black Bourton in Lonsdale, -and Malzeard, the “capita” of three Mowbray Baronies, all contained -castles of some importance in the twelfth century. Of Malzeard and -Bourton the earthworks are considerable. Tadcaster, a place of strength -both in Roman and Danish times, possessed also a Norman castle, of -which, however, only the mounds remain; and there is even less of Hugh -Puisèt’s work of Northallerton, surrendered to Henry II. in 1174, and -ordered to be destroyed in 1177. Its earthworks are intersected by a -railway. Of Tanfield, a Fitz-Hugh and Marmion castle, there are still -some small remains. - -The great castle of North Yorkshire is Richmond, so called by Earl -Alan, who obtained in 1070 the possessions of the English Edwin, and -removed the seat from the adjacent Gilling, where the earthworks long -remained, to a stronger position on the Swale. The Norman Castle was -built in 1071: it includes a large area, most part of which is defended -by a natural cliff. The containing wall is mostly original, and within -its substance is a curious small Norman chapel. The rectangular keep -is placed at the weakest part of the circuit next to the town, and in -front of it are the remains of a barbican. The well-known “Registrum -Honoris de Richmond” specifies to which part of the castle the castle -guard of each great tenant was due, and the Hall which the family of -Scolland were bound to maintain and guard to this day bears their -name. The town was also walled. Near Richmond are the scanty and late -remains of Ravenswath, a Fitz-Hugh castle, and lower down the Swale -was Bedale, the castle of “Le beau Bryan de Fitz-Aleyne,” now entirely -gone, though the site is still pointed out. The warlike habits of the -Lords are, however, represented by a curious portcullis closing the -door of the belfry in the parish church. Middleham Castle, on the edge -of its celebrated moor, was founded by Ribald, brother to Earl Alan, -and ancestor in the female line of the great family of Neville, under -whom the Norman keep received its handsome addition and gained its -fame. Masham, a castle of the Scropes, is now a mere ruin. Drax seems -to have been held by Ralph Paganel as early as the reign of Stephen. -Merhall, in Weston, a castle of the Barons Lancaster, is reputed to -have been demolished by King John. Killarby, Albruck-on-Tees, and -Cawdwell were early castles, as were Armanthwaite, Bowes, Hatlesey, -Sigston, and Whorlton. Of Gleaston, the moot-hill remains, which is -thought to have been surmounted by a keep; and Hornby was also a -Lonsdale castle. The passes of the Lune were, however, more celebrated -for their defensive earthworks, due to the Danes or the English, than -for Norman castles. - -Coningsborough, on the Don, is no less from its position than its -architecture one of the most remarkable of Yorkshire castles. Its grand -cylindrical tower, supported by buttresses of great depth and height, -is superior in design and workmanship to that of Pembroke, and almost -rivals Coucy. It stands on the summit of a steep rocky knoll, and has -been inserted into an earlier Norman wall, which is built upon the -steep edge of the rock and encloses a court of moderate area. Upon the -slope are the remains of the entrance and fortified approach, and at -the base of the hill is a ditch, or rather a ravine, and on one side -beyond it an outwork in earth. Probably the hill has been occupied as -a place of strength from a very early time, but the masonry is the -work of the Warrens Earls of Surrey, and is worthy of their greatness. -Knaresborough Castle, on the Nidd, visited by Henry II. in 1181, -occupies the top of a rocky promontory. Here the keep, though of Norman -form and dimensions, is of Decorated date, and remarkable for the -excellence of its details. The adjacent town has also been fortified, -though apparently by a ditch and bank only. Pontefract, another -celebrated Yorkshire castle, is also peculiar. Here the castle encloses -a large and elevated platform of rock, scarped and revetted all round, -and at one end of which, enclosing an earthen mound, is the circular -keep. Much of its masonry is of the eleventh or the early part of the -twelfth century. Its subterranean passages and chambers, of Norman -date, are curious. Besides these, Yorkshire contains many other castles -connected for the most part with great baronial families, and playing -their part in the defence of the country against the Scots. Harewood, -reputed a Danish seat, was the castle of Robert de Romeli; Skipton, -also built by that family, contains some early parts, and has always -been inhabited. Kilton was a castle of Cleveland, as was Castleton, -where the Bruces fortified a moated mound. Burton was granted by the -Conqueror to the same family, having been a seat of Earl Morcar; Danby -was also a Bruce castle, and Skelton Castle, built in 1140, was the -head of their barony. There was also the Archbishop’s castle of Cawood, -and Crake, a castle of the Bishops of Durham, said to be mentioned -in the seventh century. Baynard was a castle of the Lords Wake of -Cottingham; Leeds Castle was besieged by Stephen in 1139; Wilton was an -early castle of the Bulmers; Guisborough was founded in 1120; Sandal -Castle, under the walls of which was fought the battle of Wakefield, -was a late Warren castle, but the mound and earthworks are on a large -scale and old. Yorkshire contained also a considerable number of -fortified houses, some of which bore the names of castles, though -whether of early date is uncertain; such were Ryther and Slingsby. -There is said to have been a castle at Upsal, and one at Hilderskelf, -in the grounds of Castle-Howard. Wressill and Sheriff Hutton in their -present forms are very late, but the latter has an early history, and -near the parish church are some remarkable earthworks, which it is -thought mark the site of an early castle. - -Yorkshire is rich in earthworks, and especially in moated mounds. Many -have already been mentioned as having been incorporated into later -castles; there are others of at least equal age and strength which do -not seem ever to have been connected with masonry: such are Mexbrough, -Castleton, Wakefield, Levington on the Leven, and others on the Lune. -Some of these are known to have been the seats of English Earls and -Thanes, and after the Conquest fell into disuse and decay, though at -that period they were probably formidable. - -Lancashire, in the castle-building age, was not recognised as a county, -but was divided between the part then included in Yorkshire and the -tract between the Mersey and the Ribble. This latter formed the great -Barony of Roger of Poitou, a younger son of Earl Roger of Shrewsbury. -His castle of Penverdant or Penwortham is named in “Domesday,” and its -colossal mound is still called the Castle Hill, but the “caput” of -the barony was the Castle of Clitheroe, the small but strong square -keep of which stands on the point of a steep promontory of rock, and -must have been nearly inaccessible to assault. Upon Earl Roger’s fall, -Clitheroe came to the Lacys. The great castle of Lancashire is at -Lancaster, well placed high above the broad water of the Lune, and -within the area of a Roman castrum, whence it derives its name. Here, -as at Carlisle, the railway is so laid out as to show the castle to -great advantage. The castle is attributed to Roger of Poitou, but the -Norman keep, a grand structure, ninety feet high, appears somewhat -later, as is the Edwardian gateway, also a superb specimen of military -architecture. Unfortunately, being a prison, the whole is closed -against antiquarian visitors. There was a castle at Liverpool said -to have been built by the same Roger in 1076. Merhull and Kirkby are -Lancashire castles attributed to Gilbert Fitz-Reinfrid. There seems to -have been a castle at Manchester, on the Irwell, just outside the old -town, in Leland’s time, and one at Greenhalgh, and one near Rochdale, -probably at Castleton, where was the burh of the English lord. At -Halton is also a lofty burh, as usual near the church, indicating the -site of the “aula” of the English lord, and of the keep of his Norman -successor. Castlehead in Atterpole, near Cartmel, is also reputed -an early castle. The castles of Holland, Hornby, Peel, Thurland, -Ulverston, and Glaiston are probably of later date. - -Cheshire, the palatine earldom of Hugh, named, probably by his -posterity, “the Wolf,” standing upon the Welsh border, demanded and -was supplied by many strong places. Chester, the seat of the earldom, -represents the Roman Deva, the Castra Legionum; and the Norman castle, -with a small and early rectangular keep occupying one corner of the -area, stands on the verge of the river Dee. Near to Chester in Wirrall -was Shotwick, of which the earthworks remain, and higher up upon the -Dee was Holt. Beeston is almost the only remarkable fortress in the -county. It stands on the platform of an inaccessible rock. The masonry -is probably late, but the deep well may be a part of the Norman castle. -All the fifteen barons of the palatinate, feudatories of Earl Hugh, -had castles, but these, representing private estates, mostly continued -to be occupied and became fortified houses. The sites and more or less -of the remains are to be seen of Halton and Kinderton, the castles of -William Fitz-Hugh and Venables; Shipbrook of the Vernons; Nantwich -of Piers Malbanke; Malpas of Robert Fitz-Hugh; and Dunham of Hamo de -Massy. There were also castles at Frodsham, Oldcastle, Uttersford, -Pulford, Dodleston, Shockleach, Nantwich, Stockport, Burton, -Ullerwood, Runcorn, West Derby, Northwick, Castle Cob, and probably -some others. A large number of these sites are marked by moated mounds, -and there are besides many similar mounds in the county to which -masonry does not appear to have been added. - -Thus, between the Thames and the Tees, the Bristol Avon and the Lune, -the central parts of England contained at the close of the reign of -Henry II. at the least 214 castles, of which about 17 had rectangular -and 44 shell keeps. As to the remaining 153, nothing is accurately -known, or they are found not to have belonged to either of the great -types. Of these castles probably at least 180 stood on old English -sites, and very few indeed can be said with certainty to have stood -upon altogether new foundations. - -There remain to be considered the castles of the northern counties, -Westmoreland and Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland, for centuries -exposed to invasions from beyond the Tweed, and fortified accordingly. -In this tract were at least four castles of the first class,—Durham, -Bamburgh, Norham, and the strongly-posted town and castle of Berwick; -and of the second class Brough, Appleby and Brougham, Cockermouth, -Carlisle, Prudhoe and Newcastle, Ford and Alnwick, and Warkworth. -Besides these were others, some perhaps at times almost their equals -in importance, but the continued incursions of the Scots were fatal to -the English fortresses, as were those of the English to the Scotch, -and thus many on both sides the border were again and again burned and -levelled, until they were either not rebuilt or only represented by -peel towers and castellets, which again were destroyed, so that of very -many castles the names only are preserved. - -The lake country of Westmoreland was strong and contained little to -attract plunderers; but on its edge on the winding Eamont is Brougham -Castle, with a pure Norman keep, bearing testimony to the power of -the Barons Vipont, its early lords. It stands upon the side of a -well-preserved Roman camp, as does Brough, another Norman castle, also -with a rectangular keep. A similar keep at Appleby is still inhabited. -Kendal Castle is probably an early fortress, though nothing remains -of it but an encircling and not very early wall. Westmoreland is -peculiarly rich in fortified manor-houses, some of which may be on old -sites, though the greater number, like the castle of Penrith, belong -to a later period. There were peels or castellets at Bewly, Hartley, -Howgill, and Pendragon. - -Carlisle is the citadel of Cumberland, and was for centuries the -most important fortress in the North, playing a considerable part in -every Scottish war. The name proclaims it to be of British origin, and -its position led to its adoption by the Romans; and, indeed, it is -said that the ditch of the southern of the two great lines of defence -thrown up by that people divides the castle from the town. Cumberland -bears many marks of Danish invasions, and in one of these in the -ninth century Carlisle was laid waste, and so remained, until in 1093 -William Rufus founded the castle and added the town to his kingdom. His -successor raised the town into an episcopal city and completed what -was needed in the castle. Patched and neglected as is the keep, still -the principal features of the castle and the encircling walls are for -the most part original. Rose Castle, the episcopal seat, higher up the -river, is on an old site and in part old. Cockermouth, a castle of -William de Meschines and the Lords Lucy, remains, and near it, towards -St. Bees, is a fragment of Egremont, also built by De Meschines. -Scaleby, on the most exposed frontier, a De Tilliol castle—though -not of the eleventh century—is perfect; which cannot be said of -Bewcastle, built by the Lords de Vaux. Naworth, still inhabited, was -inherited by the Howards from the Dacres, who also probably gave name -to Dacre, rather a strong house than a castle. Besides these there -are or were strong places at St. Andrews, Askerton, Blencraik, St. -Bees, Castle-Corrock, Corby, Cannonby, Dalby, Dilston, Down Hall, -Dunvalloght, Drawdykes, Greystock, Horton, Harington, Hay-Castle, -Heton, Highgate, Irton, St. John’s, Featherstone, Kirk-Oswald, Kyloe -tower, Liddell Strength, Linstock, Lorton, Millom, Ousby, Rowcliffe, -Shank, Triermain, and Wolsty. Many of these are dotted about the more -exposed parts of the county; others are in the rear of the Roman wall. - -The castle of Durham, taken alone, is rivalled both in position and -grandeur by Bamburgh, but taken in conjunction with the cathedral and -attendant buildings, - - “Half church of God, half fortress ’gainst the Scot,” - -the group is without an equal. The main feature of the castle is the -circular keep, a rebuilding of probably the oldest and most complete -of that type in Britain. The lower ward also is spacious, and includes -many buildings, some of them of early Norman date. The castle is posted -upon the root of the rocky peninsula included by a fold of the Tees, -and stands between the city and the grand old shrine and final resting -place of St. Cuthbert. The older parts were probably built in the reign -of the Conqueror, about 1088, when William, having banished Carileph, -held the temporalities of the see; other authorities attribute the work -to Bishop Comyn in 1072. The two chief castles of the Bishopric are -Raby and Barnard Castle, for Norham is virtually in Northumberland. -Raby, the celebrated seat of the Nevilles, is of Norman origin, as is -Barnard Castle, though its fine round tower is later. In plan this -castle much resembles Ludlow, to which its position is not inferior. It -is named from Barnard de Baliol. Branspeth, also a Neville castle, is a -noble structure, but of later date than Raby. Bowes has a late Norman -keep. Besides these may be mentioned Lumley, Staindrop, Streatlam, -Witton, Stockton, and Bishop Auckland. In the local quarrels the names -also occur of Evenwood Castle, near Auckland, Hilton, Holy Island, and, -better known from its later possessors, Ravensworth. The Bishopric was -well fortified, and was besides intersected by the deep ravines of the -Tees, and possessed the Tyne for a frontier. - -“Foremost,”—the quotation is drawn from the writings of an author who, -beyond any other of the present day, makes his own mark upon what he -writes,—“in interest among the monuments of Northumberland, in the -narrower sense of the earldom beyond the Tyne, stand the castles; -the castles of every size and shape, from Bamburgh, where the castle -occupies the whole site of a royal city, to the smallest pele-tower, -where the pettiest squire or parson sought shelter for himself in the -upper stage, and for his cows in the lower. For the pele-towers of -the Border-land, like the endless small square towers of Ireland, are -essentially castles. They show the type of the Norman keep continued -on a small scale to a very late time. Perhaps many of the adulterine -castles which arose in every time of anarchy, and were overthrown at -every return of order, many of the eleven hundred and odd castles -which overspread the land during the anarchy of Stephen, may not have -been of much greater pretensions. At any rate, from the great keep of -Newcastle,—were we not in Northumberland we should speak of the far -greater keep of Colchester,—to the smallest pele-tower which survives -as a small part of a modern house, the idea which runs through all is -exactly the same. The castles and towers then, great and small, are -the most marked feature of the county. They distinguish it from those -shires where castles of any kind are rare; and the employment of the -type of the great keeps on a very small scale distinguishes it from -the other land of castles. In Wales the Norman keep is not usual; -the castles are, for the most part, later in date and more complex in -plan; and the small square private tower, the distinctive feature of -the North, is there hardly to be found. Northumberland has much to show -the traveller in many ways, from the Roman wall onward, but the feature -which is especially characteristic is that it is the land of castles.” - -Northumberland is said to have contained sixty castles, but this must -include many fortified houses and castles of the private gentry. -Alnwick, better known as the seat of the earls of Northumberland than -from its builder and early lords, is a very fine example of a baronial -castle. The keep or central ward includes an open court, entered by a -Norman gateway encrusted by a Decorated gatehouse, and round which, -incorporated with the curtain, were the hall, kitchen, chapel, and -the lord’s lodgings. Most of the court has been rebuilt, but the old -lines and much of the old foundations have been preserved, and the -effect is probably not unlike that of the original Norman court. The -concentric defences, walls, towers, and barbican are old, though not -original. The castle stands between the town and the Alne, beyond which -is the park. The builder seems to have been Eustace de Vesci in the -late Norman period, before 1157. Three miles to the north is the tower -of Highfarland. Warkworth, built by one of the Fitz-Richard family in -the reign of Henry II., was much injured by William the Lion, who laid -siege to it in 1176, but still retains large remains of the original -work. Tynemouth, an island fortress, seems to have been a seat of Earl -Waltheof; it was long afterwards a Percy castle. Prudhoe, a castle of -the Umfravilles, built in the middle of the eleventh century, has a -small Norman keep, and most of the original curtain wall. The additions -include a barbican and a curious chapel over the gateway. The original -castle was attacked without success by William of Scotland in 1174. -The castle of Newcastle, high upon the bank of the Tyne and included -within the walls of the town, was built by Robert Curthose in 1080, -and is a very perfect example of a rectangular Norman keep, with a -curious oratory within the fore-building and a great number of mural -passages and chambers, so that in many respects it has the appearance -of being half a century later than its recorded date. It is also well -preserved, saving some injudicious alterations made many years since, -and it is accessible to every visitor, being in the hands of the local -antiquarian society, and under the safe and skilful protection of the -historian of the Roman wall. - -Bamburgh is probably the oldest, and in all respects the noblest and -most historical of the Northumbrian fortresses. It was founded by the -flame-bearing Ida in the sixth century, when it was enclosed by a -hedge and afterwards by a wall, but most of its circuit was already -fortified by a natural cliff of great height. The castle occupies the -whole of this elevated platform of basalt, one side of which is upon -the sea beach. The wall is built along the edge of the precipice, -and rising above all is a magnificent square Norman keep of rather -late date, somewhat altered indeed within and still inhabited, but -retaining most of its original features, and altogether presenting a -very grand appearance. Bamburgh, like Alnwick, has come under the wand -of the enchanter, and any reference to it would indeed be incomplete -which took no notice of the following passage drawn from the _Saturday -Review_:—“At Bamburgh, above all, we feel that we are pilgrims come to -do our service at one of the great cradles of our national life. It is -the one spot in northern England around which the same interest gathers -which belongs to the landing-places of Hengest, of Ælle, and of Cerdic, -in the southern lands. It is to the Angle what these spots are to the -Jute and the Saxon. The beginnings of the Anglian kingdoms are less -rich in romantic and personal lore than are those of their Jutish and -Saxon neighbours. Unless we chose to accept the tale about Octa and -Ebussa, we have no record of the actual leaders of the first Teutonic -settlements in the Anglian parts of Britain. The earliest kingdoms seem -not to have been founded by new comers from beyond the sea, but to have -been formed by the fusing together of smaller independent settlements. -Yet around Bamburgh and its founder, Ida, all Northumbrian history -gathers. Though its keep is more than five hundred years later than -Ida’s time,—though it is only here and there that we see fragments of -masonry which we even guess may be older than the keep,—it is still a -perfectly allowable figure when the poet of northern Britain speaks -of Bamburgh as ‘King Ida’s fortress.’ The founder of the Northumbrian -kingdom, the first who bore the kingly name in Bamburgh, the warrior -whom the trembling Briton spoke of as the ‘flame-bearer,’ appears, in -the one slight authentic notice of him, not as the leader of a new -colony from the older England, but rather as the man who gathered -together a number of scattered independent settlements into a nation -and a kingdom. The chronicler records of him that in 547 ‘he took -to the kingdom’; but nothing is said of his coming, like Hengest or -Cerdic, from beyond sea. And all the other accounts fall in with the -same notion. Henry of Huntingdon, though he has no story to tell, no -ballad to translate, was doubtless following some old tradition when -he described the Anglian chiefs, after a series of victories over the -Welsh, joining together to set a king over them. And all agree in -speaking of Bamburgh, called, so the story ran, from the Queen Bebbe, -as a special work of Ida. Whatever may be the origin of the name, it -suggests the kindred name of the East Frankish Babenberg, which has -been cut short into Bamberg by the same process which has cut short -Bebbanburh into Bamburgh. Yet Bamburgh was a fortress by nature, even -before Ida had fenced it in, first with a hedge and then with a wall. -Here we see the succession of the early stages of fortification, -the palisade first and then the earthen wall, the _vallum_, not the -_murus_, of the Roman art of defence. But, whether hedge or wall, the -site of Bamburgh was already a castle before it had been fenced in by -the simplest forms of art. That mass of isolated basaltic rock frowning -over the sea on one side, over the land on the other, was indeed a -spot marked out by nature for dominion. Here was the dwelling-place -of successive Bernician kings, ealdormen, and earls; here they took -shelter as in an impregnable refuge from the inroads of Scot and -Dane. Here the elder Waltheof shut himself up in terror, while his -valiant son Uhtred sent forth and rescued the newly-founded church -and city of Durham from the invader. Here Gospatric the Earl held his -head-quarters, while he and Malcolm of Scotland were ravaging each -other’s lands in turn. In earlier days a banished Northumbrian king, -flying from his own people to seek shelter with the Picts, defended -himself for a while at Bamburgh, and gave the native chronicler of -Northumberland an opportunity of giving us our earliest picture of the -spot. Baeda, without mentioning the name, had spoken of Bamburgh as -a royal city, and it is not only as a fortress, but as a city, that -Bamburgh appears in the Northumbrian chronicler. He speaks of ‘Bebba -civitas’ as ‘Urbs munitissima non admodum magna.’ It did not take in -more than the space of two or three fields; still it was a city, though -a city approached by lofty steps, and with a single entrance hollowed -in the rock. Its highest point was crowned, not as yet by the keep of -the Norman, but by a church, which, according to the standard of the -eighth century, was a goodly one. This church contained a precious -chest, which sheltered a yet more precious relic, the wonder-working -right hand of the martyred King Oswald. We read, too, how the city, -perched on its ocean rock, was yet, unlike the inland hill of the elder -Salisbury, well furnished with water, clear to the eye and sweet to -the taste. We see, then, what the royal city of the Bernician realm -really was. It simply took in the present circuit of the castle. The -present village, with its stately church, is, even in its origin, of -later date. But by the time that we reach the event in the history of -Bamburgh which is told us in the most striking detail, the keep had -already arisen; the English city had become the Norman castle. In the -days of Rufus, when the fierce Robert of Mowbray had risen a second -time in rebellion, the keep of Bamburgh, safe on its rock and guarded -by surrounding waves and marshes, was deemed beyond the power even -of the Red King to subdue by force of arms. The building of another -fortress to hold it in check, the ἐπιτειχισμὁς, as a Greek would have -called it, which bore the mocking name of _Malvoisin_, was all that -could be done while the rebel earl kept himself within the impregnable -walls. It was only when he risked himself without those walls, when he -was led up to them as a captive, with his eyes to be seared out if his -valiant wife refused to surrender, that Bamburgh came into the royal -hands.” - -At Mitford is a very peculiar Norman keep still held by the descendants -of its early lords. Bothal, the Ogle Castle, may be old, but its -present remains are scarcely so, and this is also the case with -Morpeth, a castle of the De Maulays. - -Of Berwick Castle the remains are inconsiderable and are encroached -upon by the railway station, but the adjacent town has a bank and ditch -and a low tower or two or bastion, of its ancient defences, and within -these is a citadel of the age of Vauban. Higher up and on the opposite -or English bank of the Tweed is the grand episcopal castle of Norham, -the special care of the bishops of Durham. Its rectangular keep is of -unusual size, and though entirely Norman, of two periods. Parts of its -containing wall are also original, as is the gatehouse, and about it -are various earthworks, remains apparently of some of the sieges which -it has undergone, and beyond these are the lines of a large Roman camp. - -Norham, attributed to Bishop Flambard in 1121, was surrendered to -Henry II. by Bishop Puisèt in 1174, and was entrusted to William de -Neville in 1177. Beneath the walls and within the adjacent parish -church Edward entertained and decided upon the claims to the Scottish -throne. Among the more considerable of Northumbrian castles were Ford, -Chillingham, Wark, and the Umfraville castle of Harbottle. There should -also be mentioned as occurring in border story, Aydon, Bavington, -Belsay, Bellister, Birtley, Blenkinsop, Bywell tower, Burraden tower, -Capheaton, Carlington, Chipchase, Cornhill, Cockle Park tower, -Coupland, Dale, Duddon tower, Edlingham, Errington, Elsdon, Etal, -Eskott, Farne, Fenwick tower, Horton, Houghton, Heaton, Hirst, Hemmell, -Kyloe, Langley, Littleharle and Lilburn towers, Lemington, Newton -tower, Ogle, Pontland, Simonsburn, Spylaw, Swinbourne, Shortflatt -tower, Tarot, Tynemouth, Thirlwall, Wallington, Widdrington, Witton, -Williesmotewick, and a few more peels and castellets and early moats, -showing where strong houses formerly stood. The fact was, that for many -centuries no owner of land near the Scottish border could live without -some kind of defence, and a careful survey, while it might fail to -discover traces of some of the above, would probably establish those of -many as yet unrecorded. - -It appears, then, that in the four northern counties there are at least -103 strong places, of which ten boast rectangular Norman, and one or -perhaps two, shell, keeps, while of ninety-one little is known. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AND WALES AT THE LATTER PART OF - THE TWELFTH CENTURY (_concluded_). - - -There remain to be enumerated the castles west of the Severn and the -Dee up to the Dyke of Offa. To this tract must be added on the one -hand the half of Shropshire, which was on the English side of the -Severn; on the other, one or two valleys like those of the upper -Severn and the Wye, penetrating into the heart of Wales; and to the -north and south a tract of seaboard, reaching in the one case to the -Conwy, and in the other to Pembroke and including Aberystwith. Of this -border-land, divided between the northern, middle, and western Marches, -the first was given in charge by the Conqueror to Hugh Earl of Chester; -the second to Roger Earl of Shrewsbury, Arundel, and Montgomery; -and opposite to the last, most of which was as yet unconquered, was -placed William FitzOsbern, Earl of Hereford. In the north and middle -Marches the opposing parts of Wales were mountainous and strong, -exceedingly dangerous to invade, and of little value to a conqueror; -but in the south the country was far more open and more fertile, far -less dangerous to the invader, and offering far greater attraction to -the cupidity of the settler. The general policy was to penetrate the -country by the open valleys and the seaboard, and at certain frequent -points to erect castles strong enough to resist a sudden attack, and -occasionally capacious enough to contain men and stores sufficient -to reinforce troops in the field, or to receive and rally them when -worsted. - -The three principal fortresses which, placed upon English territory, -formed in a military point of view the base for operations in Wales, -were Chester on the Dee, Shrewsbury upon the Severn, and Gloucester at -the mouth of the same river, the last being under the Mercian kings a -place of great strength and importance. Chester and Gloucester were of -Roman, Shrewsbury of British origin. In advance of Chester, and beyond -the estuary of the Dee, were the castles of Hawarden, Ewloe, Halkin, -Flint, Diserth, Rhuddlan, and Diganwy, extending upon or at no great -distance from the sea coast as far as the Conwy river. More inland and -south of these are Caergwrle, Mold, Ruthyn, Denbigh, and Basingwerk, -the last nearly upon Watt’s Dyke. Hope Castle is mentioned, but is -probably the same with Caergwrle, and Overton, which, though on the -Cheshire side of the Dee, was held by the Princes of Powis. It seems to -have been founded by William Peverel, and was by him defended against -Stephen in 1138. Most of these castles are mere ruins; of others the -extant buildings are Edwardian additions. Hawarden, however, has a -tolerably perfect circular keep, with a small mural oratory, and an -exceedingly complex but later arrangement for defending the approach. - -Considerably south of these castles, where the Dee has ceased to be -the dividing stream of England and Wales, is the hill castle of Dinas -Brân, an early and strong place, by whom built is uncertain, but which -was held for long periods by the Welsh Princes. Again, south, upon the -Ceiriog river, and a few yards east of Offa’s Dyke, is Chirk Castle, -inhabited and much altered, but of early date. - -The western side of Shropshire and the adjacent part of Montgomery -formed nearly the whole of the Middle March. Earl Roger, its custos -under the Conqueror with powers which William only delegated from -absolute necessity, and which it took his successors centuries to -resume, was the only Norman lord who gave name to a county in the -conquered land. Under him and his lieutenants, Roger Corbet and Roger -Mortimer, the March was feued out to a number of knights and lesser -barons, all of whom built castles, and thus defended the common -territory, while protecting their own private estates. The task of -construction probably was not so onerous as at first sight might -appear. Shropshire and Herefordshire, and especially their most exposed -parts, were already studded over thickly with strong places constructed -after their own fashion by the Mercian invaders and settlers, and of -these it is evident that the new lords availed themselves until they -were able to make additions to them in masonry. - -Of Shrewsbury Castle, the citadel of the Middle March, and the “caput” -of Earl Roger’s earldom, enough remains to show that, though small in -area, it was a place of excessive strength. The mound upon which the -Earl placed his keep in 1080 still rises to a great height direct from -the river, and of the works to make room for which 51 English burgages -were swept away there still remain parts of the wall, a gatehouse, and -the foundations of a later hall. In the Hundred roll, in the reign of -Edward I., occurs the following very curious entry:—“Quod unus magnus -turris ligneus qui edificatur in castro Salop corruit in terram tempore -domini Uriani de St. Petro tum vicecomitis et meremium ejusdem turris -tempore suo et temporibus aliorum vicecomitum preterea existencium -ita consummatur et destruitur quod nichil de illo remansit in magnum -dampnum domini Regis et deteracionem ejusdem castri.” Was this a wooden -keep upon the mound? “Quoddam Barbican” is also mentioned, and we are -told the “dampnum mote” amounted to 60 marcs, which damage the jurors -do not attribute altogether to the Abbot’s Mill, for thirty years -earlier the mote of the castle was injured. This can scarcely mean the -ditch, for which “fossa” is the word used. It is evidently the mound. -The castle formed part of the town wall, and occupied an angle of its -area. Both castle and town were included within the foldings of the -deep and broad Severn, and indeed often needed its protection. - -In advance of Shrewsbury and placed along the most exposed border of -the county, and sometimes a little beyond it, were seventeen castles, -all strong and of early foundation, though not all of equal importance. -Of these, to the south, the principal were Cleobury, Ludlow, Richard’s -Castle, Wigmore, Knighton, and Knucklas or Heyhope, some within and -others a little to the outside of the dyke. To the west were Clun, -Bishop’s Castle, Montgomery, Cause, Abberbury, and Knockyn, and to the -north Oswestry, Whittington, Ellesmere, and Whitchurch. - -Of these castles Ludlow stood next to Shrewsbury in importance, and -was fully its equal in strength, and far its superior in dimensions -and architectural display. It was, indeed, a superb Norman castle, the -work of Roger de Lacy, in the reign of Rufus, and before it Stephen was -foiled and very nearly captured in 1139. The rectangular keep, some of -the mural towers, and most of the lower part of the containing wall are -original. The curious circular chapel, though Norman, is rather later, -and the magnificent hall, kitchen, and lodgings are later still. The -castle is built on the eastern bank of the Lug, which here flows down -a deep rocky ravine; the town also was strongly walled. Cleobury, to -the east of Ludlow, attributed to Roger de Mortimer in 1074, is more -probably the work of a later lord in the reign of Stephen. It was taken -by Henry II. in 1155. Wigmore, of which the castelry is mentioned in -“Domesday,” the chief seat of the great border family of Mortimer, is -actually in Herefordshire, but belongs to the Shropshire fortresses. It -occupies a rocky ridge, defended by a natural ravine and steep slopes. -The small mound that bore its keep remains, and below is a Norman -tower, and more or less of ancient masonry. The outworks seem to have -been strong. Richard’s Castle, the Auretone of “Domesday,” founded -by Richard Fitz Scrob in the reign of the Confessor, though also in -Hereford, lies between Wigmore and Ludlow, and was closely associated -with Shropshire. It retains its ancient mound near the church, and a -part of its shell keep, and is still defended by a very formidable -ditch. There is, however, no masonry of the age of the Confessor, -nor is it probable that the keep was constructed before the reign of -Stephen, if so early. Wigmore and Richard’s Castle were the advanced -posts of Ludlow. Cleobury Mortimer was held by Ralph Mortimer at the -Survey, and probably came to him from the forfeiture of Earl Roger de -Britolio. Knighton and Knucklas are on the right bank of the Teme, -just outside the Shropshire border. Their exposed position made them -very important posts. In 1180 Randulf Puher, Sheriff of Herefordshire, -accounted for the expenses of works at the castles of Knighton and -Camerino, and a little later, while employed in building a border -castle, he was slain by the Welsh. Of Knighton only the mound remains. -The masonry, now removed, has been attributed to one of the Lords of -Clun. Of Knucklas or Cnoclâs Castle there are scarcely any vestiges. -It was probably built by Roger Mortimer soon after the Conquest, -its mound, known as Castle Hill, being of course older. Clun Castle -is three miles within the dyke, but the intervening country is very -rugged, and exceedingly favourable to the operations of undisciplined -troops such as the Welsh. Clun was held under Earl Roger by Picot de -Say, and became afterwards the castle of Alan the son of Flaald, and -the cradle of the House of Stewart. There remains a rough but grand -square keep, a mound, strong circumscribing earthworks, and beyond -the church an advanced bank and ditch of formidable dimensions. It is -evident that those who laid out these earthworks were well aware of the -peril of the position. Bishop’s Castle or Lydbury is well within the -frontier. It was the residence of the bishops of Hereford from 1085 -to 1154, and was taken by storm in 1235. By their possession of this -castle the bishops became Lords Marchers. Montgomery was the centre and -one of the most exposed castles of the frontier. It occupied the summit -of a steep rock, and was almost impregnable. It has, however, been -taken, destroyed, and re-built at least twice, so that little, if any, -of its masonry is of the time of Earl Roger. It stands just within the -dyke. - -North of Montgomery, and protected by the well-known Long Mountain, is -Cause Castle or Alreton, the earliest seat of the Corbets, who named -it from the Pays de Caux, whence they came. It was built towards the -close of the reign of the Conqueror, and is remarkable for its massive -keep and capacious well, and for the rare example of the substitution -of a Norman for a native name. North of Cause is Abberbury, the seat -of the Fitz Warines before they held Whittington. It was held under -Cause. Knockin Castle, the head of the Barony of Strange, was probably -built by Guido le Strange in the reign of Henry II. Far more exposed, -and having the mountainous ground of Denbigh in its front, is Oswestry, -supposed by Mr. Eyton to be the Castel Luare (L’Ouvre) of “Domesday,” -the work of Rainald de Ballieul, and long celebrated as a seat of the -Earls of Arundel. It is now reduced to a mound and the foundations -of a keep. The outworks have been levelled and built over by the -encroaching town, and the ditches filled up. The town walls are also -removed. Very near to Oswestry is Whittington, founded as a Norman -work by William Peverel in 1138, but better known from its later lords -the Fitz Warines. This is the castle that defied the Welsh in 1223, -and the strength of which lay not only in its shell keep, towers, and -gatehouse, parts of all which remain, but in a curious arrangement -of outworks in earth, with several broad and deep ditches connected -with a morass, the limits of which may still be traced. The original -mound, scarped and enclosed like Bungay in a revetment wall by the -Norman engineer, is a good example of the manner in which those early -fortifications were adapted to the masonry of later times. Ellesmere -is a Peveril castle, but was held by the Welsh Princes as late as -the reign of Henry III. Whitchurch was founded probably by William -de Warren, whose wife was stepdaughter to the Conqueror. It was the -Weston of “Domesday,” and by a singular inversion became widely known -afterwards as Blackmere. These complete the outer line of defence of -the Middle March. - -Connected with these were a large number of other castles, mostly, -though not always, held by men of lesser rank and power. Wem, now -entirely destroyed, was founded by William Pantulf, holding under Earl -Roger. Middle Castle was held of the Fitz Alans by the Lords Strange, -as was Ruyton. At High Ercal is a moated mound, but whether masonry was -ever added to it is doubtful. Srawrthin or Sharwardine had a castle, -probably before 1165. There seem also to have been castles at Charlton, -Howgate, Braincroft, Corshall, Shipton, Ryton, and Le Botwood. -Pulverbach was the castle of Robert Venator in the eleventh century. -Tonge was Earl Roger’s private demesne, but the castle achieved its -fame under the Pembrugge family. Church Stretton or Brockhurst Castle -was held direct by the Crown, but was demolished at an early period. -At Broymeron, near Tugford, there seems to have been a castle. Corfham -was held by Fitz Ponce, the ancestor of the Cliffords. Wattlesborough, -an early Corbet castle, still preserves a small but tolerably perfect -rectangular keep. Stone has some traces of a castle, and at Hopton is -a square keep of Decorated date, on a slightly raised knoll, with some -extensive and marshy outworks. Besides these may be mentioned Castle -Holgate, thought by Mr. Eyton to be one of the four earliest castles -built under Earl Roger, the others being Shrewsbury, Montgomery, and -Oswestry, all in some shape of earlier date than the great Survey. -Holgate was built by Helgot de Stanton, and used by Henry II. in 1109. -Bryn Castle was an early seat of the Gerards; Bromfield and Cainham -are destroyed; of Shiffnall little is known; Stottesden was granted in -1159 by Henry II. to Godfrey de Gamaches or Gamage; Stokesay is said -originally to have been built by Picot le Say; Tirley, near Market -Drayton, was the work of Roger de Corcelle, but taken by Ralph le -Botiler of Wem, who left it unfinished in 1281. The Fitz Alans seem to -have had a castle at Wroxeter, the Lords Strange at Cheswardine, and -at Morton Soret, now Corbet, the Sorets built a castle. West of Ludlow -was a castle at Stapleton-en-le-Harness, built probably by the lords of -Richard’s Castle. Kinnerley Castle, taken by Llewelyn in 1223, has long -since disappeared. Alveton was held by Theobald de Verdon in 1389. - -Robert de Belesme, the son of Roger and the third Earl of Shrewsbury, -built two castles which played a part in the struggles of the time, -and are mentioned by historians. One, Carregchova, was in advance of -the frontier, and in Montgomery. It is said to have been built about -1101-2 in great haste. In 1160 it was held and garrisoned by Henry II. -It has long been utterly destroyed. The other, Bruges or Bridgenorth -Castle, was upon the Severn below and inland of Shrewsbury. Earl Roger -had built a castle not far off upon the ancient earthworks of Quatford, -opposite to Oldbury, one of the burhs thrown up by Queen Æthelflæda. -This castle, of which there remain a mound and a deep well, Earl Robert -removed in 1102 to the top of a steep rocky platform above the Severn. -It was strong and spacious, and had the church of St. Mary Magdalen for -its chapel, and within its area accommodation for some thousands of -men. Of all this there remains now little save a fragment of the keep -and parts of the containing wall. It was besieged by Henry II. in 1155, -and was surrendered for political rather than for military reasons. - -In advance of the borders of Shropshire are two or three castles of -doubtful origin, and which were frequently held by the Welsh. Such -were Powis or Pool Castle, attributed to Bleddyn ap Cynfin about 1109; -Mathraval, on the Vyrnwy, the residence of the Welsh Princes, but -fortified by Robert de Vipont. This was one of the few local castles -that resisted the Welsh outbreak of 1212, soon after which it was -destroyed. Dolforwin is a small hill-castle on the left bank of the -Upper Severn, much resembling Dinas Brân, and far to the west. Deep -in the defiles upon the western flank of Cader Idris is the castle of -Bere, the remains of which fell into the friendly hands of the late -Mr. Wynn of Peniarth, who has shown that the building was of the Early -English period of architecture, and unusually ornate in its details. -How an early castle came to be placed so far from the border, and in -a position by no means abounding in the means of subsistence, is a -mystery. - -The plain of the Upper Severn, open and fertile, outside the Shropshire -border, was contested from a very remote period between the Mercians -and the Welsh, and was at times completely and permanently occupied -by the former. The Mercian fortresses of this very perilous district -were moated mounds similar to those thrown up in England in the -ninth and tenth centuries. Of these there are very many along the -course of the river or in its tributary valleys, of which the chief -are Keri, Hên-domen near Montgomery, Nantcribba a fortified natural -knoll, Guilsfield, a burh at Chirbury thrown up by Æthelflæda and -now removed, Welsh Pool designated in 1299 as Mota de Pola, a mound -on the Luggy, Winsbury, Dudston, Brynderwen, several mounds about -Llanidloes and Moat-lane, Tafolwern, a fine mound upon the junction of -two streams with the Afon Lwymyn, and whence some of the charters of -the Welsh Princes are dated, and a remarkable mound at Talybont near -Towyn, whence Llewelyn dated a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, -and which was visited by Edward I. Very few of these “Mottes” were -surmounted by works in masonry, and the accompanying extract from the -Close Roll shows that even as late as the reign of Henry III. timber -was the recognised material for their defences:— - -“Rex etc dilecto et fideli suo Godescallo de Maghelins salutem. -Recipimus tibi quod ex parte nostra firmiter precipias omnibus illis -qui motas habent in valle de Muntgumery quod sine dilatione motas suas -bonis bretaschiis firmari faciant ad securitatem et defensionem suam et -parcium illarum. Teste Rege apud Weston xxx die maii, 9 H iii, 1225.” -(Close Roll.) The Brut y Tysogion says that the castles of Llandwnyl, -Trevuverw, and Cynfig were begun in 1092 to be built stronger than -before; for before that time castles were of wood, and before long the -Frenchmen had built their castles over the whole country. Although -it is evident that the moated mound was an English and not a Welsh -fortification, yet many of these mounds are found in situations where -no English household could have lived, and others, like Tafolwern and -Talybont, are known to have been Welsh residences, so that it would -seem that the Welsh, finding this form of fortification both simple -and strong, easily thrown up, and when burned easy to repair, had -recourse to it in imitation of their foes. Almost all the castles in -Shropshire on the border were held of Earl Roger, or some Lord Marcher -by the tenure of castle guard, and many of the lesser castles had -lands attached to them held by the same honourable service. The usual -condition was attendance upon the lord in time of war, armed, for a -period of forty days, or an engagement to defend and sometimes to -repair a particular part of the lord’s castle. Lord Coke indeed speaks -of tenure by castle guard as always attached to some specific part of -a castle. The manor of Hodnet was held by the service of seneschal, -and in war by attendance in the outer bailey of Shrewsbury Castle. The -inquest on William de Bollers in 1299 shows that he held a tenement -in Mariton by the tenure of providing one soldier in war time at the -Mote of Poole with a bow and arrow and a bolt for a night and a day. -Mr. Eyton takes the Mote of Pool to be Powis Castle, but may it not -more probably be the mote which is seen, or was recently to be seen, -near the Welshpool railway station? In an old map in 1610 this mound -is lettered, “Domine Castell,” and a mill near it the Domen (Tomen, -Tumulus, Tump) Mill. - -The Southern, commonly called the Western March, from its extension -in that direction, included the counties of Radnor, Hereford, and -Monmouth, the eastern part of Brecknock, much of Caermarthen and -Cardigan, Pembroke and the whole of Glamorgan; that is to say, the -country from the Teme to the Bristol Channel, and the whole seaboard -of South Wales from Chepstow to Aberystwith, all which territory was -thickly set with castles, the footprints of the Norman, and before him -to some extent of the Englishman. - -Included in South Wales, but in a military point of view more -connected with Shropshire and the Middle March, was the county of -Radnor. This was a mountainous tract, very Welsh, and but a small -strip of which was on the English side of the dyke, but the imminence -of the danger seems to have led to great encroachments upon the Welsh -territory, and to the establishment of a considerable number of castles -along the lines specially exposed to attack. - -Knighton, the chief castle of Radnor, and Knucklas, both upon the Teme -and bordering Shropshire, have been mentioned. South of Knighton was -Norton, and again south Old Radnor, Cruker or Pen-y-Craig destroyed by -Rhys ap Griffith in the reign of King John, and New Radnor, of which -there remains a large mound with concentric entrenchments, and parts of -the walls of the town are still to be seen. The castle is said to have -been founded by Harold in 1064. Pains Castle or Llanbedr, in Elvet, -near the southern border of the county, was so called from Pagan or -Payne de Cadurces, Cahors, or Chaworth, Lord of Kidwelly, who built -it about 1130, possibly to secure his passage into Caermarthenshire. -A few fragments of masonry still remain. Pains Castle was taken by -Rhys in 1196, and subsequently besieged by Gwenwynwyn, Prince of -Powis, in 1198. Near to Pains Castle, on the left bank of the Wye, -was Boughrood Castle, said to have been held by Eineon Clydd in 1140. -Fragments of its masonry long remained visible. The passage of the Wye -is commanded in this district by the strong castle of Builth. Just -outside the county and higher up the river, which here divides Radnor -from Brecknock, was Aberedw Castle, built by Ralph de Baskerville, one -of the Norman invaders, but speedily taken and held by the Welsh. Still -higher up is Rhyader-Gwy, founded it is said by Prince Rhys in the -twelfth century, but better known as a castle of the Mortimers. It was -taken by assault by the Welsh in the reign of Henry III. The outline of -the works may still be traced. Nearer the centre of the county, upon -the Ython and the Aran, were other castles. Moelynaidd and Castell -Colwyn or Mauds Castle, fortified by the Earl of Chester in 1143, were -on the former river, and near them was Cefn-Lys or Castell-glyn-Ython, -a rather celebrated Norman castle, but often taken by the Welsh. It was -held latterly by the Mortimers, and rebuilt by them in 1142. Dwybod -Timpath or Tilloedd, also on the Ython, was a place of great strength -of which many fragments of masonry remain. The name has been said to be -a corruption of Talbot. This castle was levelled by Llewellyn in 1260. -Cwm Aron, on the Aron river, was an early Norman castle, destroyed by -the Welsh and restored by Hugh Earl of Chester in 1143. This also came -to the Mortimers. There are considerable remains of the earthworks. -Near to Presteign were Warden and Stapleton Castles, the latter built -by Chandos the founder of Goldcliff Priory. There was also a castle at -Clyro, and one upon the Lug at Castell Haled or Vallet; and at Clâs Cwm -on the Arrow is some masonry said to represent Brynllys Castle. - -The remaining parts of South and West Wales containing much open and -tolerably fertile land, and having a long and exposed frontier towards -the purely Welsh districts of Brecknock, Caermarthen and Cardigan, -were the scene of perpetual inbreaks from the Welsh, and required more -than usual strength in the defences. The castle of Gloucester, already -mentioned, was the base of all extended operations in South Wales. Here -the kings of England often held their court, and here their troops were -mustered. Brichtric had a castle at Gloucester, but his mound has long -been removed, and with it all traces of the Norman building. - -Next to Gloucester in strength and importance and far more exposed -came Hereford, strongly posted on the Wye, and surrounded by a very -fertile territory. Unlike most other cities Hereford is of purely -English foundation, though by whom founded is not precisely clear. It -was fortified by Harold, and probably received the Norman additions -to its castle from Osborne soon after the Conquest. The castle was -attacked by Edric the Wild in 1067. Part of the defences of the city -remain, and of those of the castle an immense bank and deep wet ditch, -now in part being filled up, and formerly communicating with the river -Wye. The keep stood upon a large mound now levelled. Herefordshire -contained many castles, mostly, however, intended for the protection -of private estates, and placed accordingly. Goderich on the Wye is one -of the chief. It is large, well built, protected by the river, and has -a small but early rectangular keep. It was long held by the Talbots. -Ewias Harold and Kilpeck commanded from either side the valley of -Irchenfield. Both were strong and had shell keeps built upon mounds of -large size. Of Kilpeck parts of the wall remain, and a small Norman -church. In 1134 Hugh, son of William Norman, gave to Gloucester Abbey -the church of St. David at Kilpeck and the chapel of St. Mary in the -castle. Ewias was a stronger place, but nearly all the masonry is now -gone. The Harold from whom it derives its distinctive name was an -English proprietor before the Conquest. Of the lesser castles were -Croft, for centuries the seat of a still extant family of that name; -Lingen, an early castle built by Turstine de Wigmore; Lyonshall, an -early D’Evereux castle; Kingston, of which no trace remains; Almley, -reduced to its original mound; Kingsland, reputed a Saxon seat; -Weobley, a De Lacy castle in the reign of Stephen; Castle Frome, also -built by the Lacys, and now a mound only. Asperton, a Grandison castle -built on the edge of the Roman way, is now destroyed, as are Ellington -and Mortimer’s Castle at Much Marcle. Of Huntingdon, on the Radnor -border, a De Braose castle, the mound remains, as of Eardisley, called -in “Domesday” a “domus defensabilis.” Cubbington was a castle of the De -la Fields, and Bredwardine of a family of that name who gave place to -the Baskervilles. Whitney Castle stood on the Wye, as a little higher -up did Clifford, of which the masonry was the work of Ralph de Todeni -and his successor Fitz Pons, ancestor of the great house of Clifford, -who hence derived their name. The Castelry of Clifford was held at -“Domesday” by Roger de Lacy. Wilton Castle on the Wye, the seat of a -well-known barony, was built by Longchamp in the reign of Henry I., -and of that age were Pembridge and probably Tretire, a Fitz Warine -castle now destroyed. Besides these there are others of which less -is known; Longtown or Ewias Lacy, built in part of Roman material; -Snodhill, probably Norman; Twyford, and Urishay in Peterchurch, a De -la Hay work; Eccleswall and Castle Comfort reduced to their mounds; -the bank and ditches of the latter seen on a hill-side half a mile -from Leominster, are the reputed remains of the palace of Werewald, -King of Mercia, late in the seventh century. Mention is also made of -Mouse Castle, near Hay; Dorston, a Soler’s castle; Cusop, a mere tower; -Bransil, on the Worcestershire border, now a ruin; Kinnersley; Eaton -Tregoz, a Baskerville seat in 1251; Moccas, of which the moat remains; -and Penyard, probably Norman. It is to be remembered that most of the -castles in masonry in Hereford and Radnor were built upon earthworks of -far earlier date. - -Brecknock, though a wild and mountainous and therefore strongly Welsh -county, is penetrated both by the Usk and in some measure by the -Wye, of which Bernard Newmarch and his invading followers well knew -how to take advantage. The castles on the Wye being common to Radnor -and Brecknock, have duly been enumerated. The strongest of them all, -Builth, which played an important part in the local wars, was held by -the Barons de Braose, the successors of Newmarch. Of masonry there -remains but little, but the mound and annexed ditches and platforms -are of a very formidable character, and justify the reputation of the -fortress for strength. - -Builth was placed near the junction of the Yrfon with the Wye, and thus -commanded the entrance of an important pass leading into Caermarthen. -It was, however, by the Usk that Bernard Newmarch marched in 1096 -against Bleddyn ap Maenarch, and it was at Brecknock, not far from -the Roman Bannium, that he established the strong and spacious castle -of which the earlier mound and much of the masonry can still be seen. -The possession of Brecknock, Builth, and Abergavenny castles secured -the district, which Newmarch parcelled out among about fifteen of his -chief followers, some of whom built castles which they continued to -hold under his son-in-law, Milo Earl of Hereford, and their successors -the Barons de Braose and Cantelupe. Next above Abergavenny was -Crickhowell, of which the mound, ditches, and a tower remain. This -was the castle of the Turbervilles. Near it is Tretower, an early and -very curious structure, where a rectangular keep has been gutted and -an early English round tower erected in its centre. Tretower stands in -the marshes of the Rhiangol, higher up which stream is Dinas, a hill -castle now in ruins, in form much resembling Morlais in Glamorgan, and -commanding the pass from Abergavenny to Talgarth and the Wye. Higher up -the Wye, upon a pass by which the road cuts off an inaccessible bend of -the river, was Blaenllyfni, a large and strong castle usually held by -the chief lord himself. Near it towards Brecknock was Pencelli Castle. -At Devynock was the tower of Rhyd-yr-Briew, and some miles above -Brecknock, near the head of the Usk, a tower at Trecastle, of which the -mound remains, was placed at the summit of the regular road between -Brecknock and Caermarthen. On the Honddu above Brecknock was Castell -Madoc, probably a Welsh fortress, and on the Llyfni between Brecknock -and Hereford the Peel of Talgarth and the very remarkable cylindrical -tower of Bronllys. The remains of the castle of Hay stand upon the Wye -at the north-eastern angle of the county. It was built by Sir Philip -Walwyn, destroyed by Henry III. in 1231, and probably rebuilt soon -afterwards. A part of it is still standing. The town was walled and had -three gates. - -Besides these were Scethrog, the tower of Sir Miles Pichard; Burghill, -built by Sir Humphrey of that name; Langoed and some others, fortified -houses rather than castles, and of which in most cases nothing remains -but the moated mounds, only a few of which have been occupied by the -Normans. - -Monmouthshire, though exposed to occasional inbreaks, was, in the -eleventh century, and especially after Harold’s Welsh war of 1063, -as completely a part of England as Hereford or the contiguous parts -of Gloucester. Its western border was the Rhymny, but by much its -more important part lay between two very deep and rapid rivers, the -Wye and the Usk, and upon each were posted formidable castles; those -of Monmouth and Chepstow upon the one river, and those of Newport, -Usk, and Abergavenny upon the other. Chepstow is placed upon a cliff -on the western or right bank of the river, evidently, like Newport, -intended as a “tête du pont” to cover the passage of troops, the river -not being there fordable. As the name imports, the settlement is of -English origin, though its Domesday designation, Estrighoil, corrupted -into Striguil, is Welsh. The castle is divided from the town by a -deep ravine, and is altogether outside the wall, which was unusual. -The keep, of Norman masonry, may be the work of William Fitz Osborne, -Earl of Hereford, or at latest of Roger de Britolio, his son and -successor. As early as in the reign of Henry I., Chepstow had come into -the possession of the De Clares of the Strongbow line, often called -Earls of Striguil. Its possession enabled the Mareschals, successors -to the De Clares, to hold their earldom against Henry III. Monmouth -Castle occupied the top of a promontory of rock between the Wye and the -Monnow, and was long held by a line of border barons to whom it gave a -name. - -Upon the Usk, the old castle of Newport has long been replaced by a -later structure, but parts of Usk Castle, some miles higher up, are -old, and Abergavenny, which descended from De Braose through Cantelupe -and Hastings to the Nevilles, is still held by the chief of that -family, though little remains of it save the original mound. It was -at Abergavenny Castle that William de Braose slaughtered, in 1175, a -number of unarmed Welshmen, in revenge for the murder of his uncle, -Henry of Hereford. Caerleon, between Newport and Usk, though founded by -a Norman upon an earlier English site connected with very celebrated -Roman remains, was the heritage of a Welsh family, and continued long -in their occupation. Between the Usk and the Wye the ground, in itself -strong, was strongly occupied. - -Upon the Monnow were placed Scenfrith and Grosmont, which with -Whitecastle formed the famous trilateral, so important in the war -between Henry III. and the Earl of Pembroke. The keep of Scenfrith is a -round tower of early date placed within a right-lined enclosure. Though -small, it was very strong, and its remains are tolerably perfect. -Grosmont, also of early date, is somewhat larger, and its remains are -also considerable. White Castle is an enormous shell of lofty walls and -mural towers placed within a most formidable ditch, beyond which are -very extensive outworks both of masonry and earth. It stands very high, -commands a most extensive view, and its defences are wholly artificial. -All these three castles are reported to have been originally Welsh -seats; but their earthworks have an English aspect. They were obviously -intended for the general defence of the country, and, as usual, were -always in the hands of the great Lords or of the Crown; there were -besides several smaller castles or fortified houses, the centre of -private estates. Of these were the castles bordering the chase of -Wentwood: Dinham, long since a ruin; Penhow, the cradle of the House -of Seymour; Pencoed, which still retains some early masonry; Llanvair, -built by the Pain or Pagan family; and Castroggy, where is seen a part -of the hall and some other masonry. Upon the Ebbw, west of Newport, -stood the small castles of Greenfield and Rogeston, and at Castleton -is a mound, said at one time to have been accompanied by masonry. On -the hill above Ruperra is a very large and very perfect moated mound, -but without any trace or tradition of masonry. Llangibby is an old -Monmouthshire castle. - -The occupation by the Normans of the valleys of the Wye and the Usk -no doubt served to protect the exposed flank of Monmouthshire, but -beyond the Rhymny in Glamorgan this protection ceased, and the hill -territory of Glamorgan contained a native population ever ready to -assist their countrymen, who frequently invaded that Lordship from the -north-west. The Norman settlers all dwelt in the strip of open and -more fertile land from six to twelve miles in breadth that intervened, -like the Concan of Western India, between the mountains and the -sea, where the remains of their castles are placed so near together -as to raise a question as to whence the inhabitants derived their -means of subsistence. The chief castle of the Lordship was that of -Cardiff on the Taff; but the lord also held castles at Dinas Powis, -Llantrissant, Kenfig, and by an early acquisition, at Neath, all which -may be presumed to have been intended for the general protection. -Cardiff, upon the “via maritima” of the Romans, is a very remarkable -fortification. It is rectangular, protected on three sides by a very -high bank and ditch, and on the fourth, towards the river, by a very -strong wall. In one corner at the river end is a large moated mound -still bearing the Norman keep, and which stood upon the line of a -second wall now destroyed, by which that end of the area was cut off -and protected from the rest. The analogy of this work with those of -Tamworth, Wareham, and Wallingford, and in some degree with Leicester, -is remarkable. It also has some points of resemblance to Hereford. -Dinas Powis is a small oblong enclosure of the type of Dinas Brân and -Dolforwin, probably of Norman date. It occupies the top of a rock in -the gorge of a deep valley, and must have been strong against any mere -assault. Llantrissant Castle was of rather larger dimensions. It stood, -and indeed a fragment of it still stands, in a notch in the hill high -above the plain and many miles from the sea. Kenfig, which stood upon -a brook near the sea coast, has been completely swallowed up by blown -sand, “consumptum per sabulonem,” and only a fragment is now visible. -Neath, the most exposed castle in the whole county, was founded by De -Granville, said to be the brother of Robert Fitz Hamon. Save those of -the Lord the only castle in the Lordship held by a public functionary -was that of the Bishop at Llandaff, which seems to have been always -a place of strength, though the gatehouse and enclosing wall still -remaining are probably as late as the reign of Henry III. or Edward I. - -Proceeding westward, the nearest castles to Cardiff were Sully and -Barry, held by families from whom the manors derived their names, as -did Bonvileston or Tre-Simon and its castle from Sir Simon de Bonville. -Penmark was the seat of the Umfravilles; Fonmon, with its rectangular -keep, of the St. Johns; Wrinston, of the De Reignys and Raleighs; -Wenvoe, of Le Fleming; and St. Fagan’s, of the Le Sore family. Of -Peterston and St. George’s there remain fragments of masonry. East -Orchard, the seat of the Berkerolles family, and Beaupré, of the -Bassets, probably were originally castles; but the one shows the ruins -of a fortified house, the other of a manor-house of the sixteenth -and seventeenth centuries. Part of Castleton Castle is old; of Liege -Castle there remains a light earthwork only. Llandough was built by -the Welsh family, and Llanquian, a round tower, by the De Wintons. -Llanblethian Castle was the seat of the St. Quintins, Talavan of the -Siwards: at Penlline is a part of a rectangular keep with herring-bone -masonry, built by the Norrises. Cowbridge town was an appanage of the -chief Lord, and was walled and strongly fortified. St. Donat’s, in its -present form, is very late, and it is doubtful whether the Haweys, the -early lords, had a castle in this county. Part of Dunraven is old. It -was built by the Butlers, who held it under Ogmore. Ogmore, the chief -seat in this lordship of the De Londres, lords of Kidwelly, has a -square keep. It stands on the river whence it is named. Near it are the -remains of a small castle of the Cantelupes, known as Cantelupe’s-ton -or Cantleston. At Bridgend is a late Norman gateway, the entrance to -a small walled enclosure, also probably Norman. It bears the name of -Newcastle. Near it is Coyty, a famous Welsh seat, but built or rebuilt -by the Turbervilles. The buildings are considerable and tolerably -perfect. The adjacent priory of Ewenny was fortified. The Welsh Barons -of Avan had a castle upon the Avon river at Aberavan. - -The Lordship of Cilvae extends from near the Neath to the Tawe, -upon which is posted the castle of Abertawe or Swansea, a structure -remarkable for its open parapet with a rampart wall above the arches, -the work of Bishop Gower. Swansea was the “caput” of Gower under -the Earls of Warwick and the De Braoses, and subsidiary to it were -the castles of Oystermouth, still standing, and Lwchwr on the Burry -river, called the keys of Gower. Lwchwr is now but a small square -tower standing upon a small mound connected with a large Roman camp. -Within the peninsula are Penrice, an early castle of that family with -a good round keep, and in the same parish, and near the church, a -moated mound; Oxwich, a late building of the Mansels, a good example -of the transition from the castle to the fortified house; Pennard, a -quadrangular castle of the Edwardian type; Weobley and Llanrhidian. -At Scurlage and Llandewi were castles, and at Llandimor. Mr. Freeman -has remarked that twelve of the sixteen churches of Gower have towers -evidently built for defence. The exterior doors, where they occur, -are usually insertions. The low country beyond the Burry is protected -by Kidwelly, a tolerably perfect early castle built by the De Londres -family, and inherited from them by the Chaworths. It stands upon the -Gwendreath, and to its north is the strong castle of Carreg-Cennen. -But the real defence of Caermarthen is the river Towy, strengthened by -the four castles on its banks, Llanstephan, Caermarthen, Dynevor, and -Drysllwyn, to which may be added Laugharne, upon an adjacent inlet of -the sea, and the tower at Llangattock, which commanded the end of the -pass from Brecknock. Near to Llandeilo was Llanymdhyfri, which in 1113 -belonged to Richard de Pons. Most of these castles seem to have been -established by the De Clares of the Strongbow line, but strong as they -were, and usually well defended, they had to bear the brunt of the -border war, and were often taken and retaken by and from the Welsh, who -at times permanently occupied them. - -This was much or even more the case with the castles of Cardigan, -which, though usually small, and with two or three exceptions not -individually of great importance, were very numerous, and collectively -served sufficiently well for the ordinary defence of the territory. -They were almost all founded by the De Clares and their followers early -in the twelfth century. At the head of them and exceptionally strong -stood Aberystwith near the north of the county, upon the shore of -Cardigan Bay, and partly covered by the junction of the Ystwith with -the Rheidol. Its position on the sea and in the rear of the strongest -parts of South Wales made it particularly obnoxious to the Welsh; it -was exposed to the full fury of the attacks from both North and South -Wales, and strong as it was both by art and nature, was often taken and -retaken, destroyed and rebuilt. Between it and the extreme limit of the -county, the Dyfy, were the lesser castles of Geneur-glyn and Glan-Dyfi, -and near it was Stradpythyll Castle, built by Ralph, steward to Earl -Gilbert. It was besieged in 1122. Cardigan is traversed obliquely by -the Teivi, and near the head of that stream was the great castle of -Ystrad-Meyric founded by Gilbert de Clare, of which the ruins remain. -Tregaron was lower down, as were a number of other strong places, -such as Llanllwyni, Llanfihangel, Llandissul, Llangollen, of which it -is difficult to say whether they were castles of the de Clare period -or earlier residences. Blaen-porth-gwythian Castle was built by Earl -Gilbert before 1112. At Newcastle was a strong castle also on the -Teivi, and nearer to the mouth of the river, on the Cardigan bank, the -castle of the town of Cardigan. Besides these there occur in local -histories the names of Castell-Gwynionydd or Coedvon near Llampeter; -Castell Abereinon; Humphrey’s Castle in Llandissil; Blaen Porth near -Cardigan; Iscoed, where the mound seems to have had a keep in masonry; -Llanven; Llampeter, where the mound remains but the masonry has been -removed; Dinerth, the mound of which is called Danish, but where Roger -de Clare founded a castle in 1135; Castel Rhos in Llanyrysted, built in -1158; Caerwedro, taken by the Welsh in 1135; and Llanyondri. - -Pembroke, far less exposed than Cardigan to the common enemy, is -divided by the Haven of Milford, owing to which the southern part of -the county, partially peopled by a colony of Flemings, was completely -sheltered from the Welsh incursions, and became in fact a purely -English territory. It was protected but also dominated by the grand -castle of Pembroke, founded by Arnulph de Montgomery, the first Norman -invader, but better known as the seat of Strongbow and the Mareschals, -who thence took the title of their earldom. Pembroke Castle, though a -ruin, retains much of its ancient magnificence. The hall, gatehouse, -curtain wall, and mural towers still remain, and the grand round keep -continues to give mass and character to the whole group. The town also -was strongly walled, the castle forming part of the circuit. At the -other end of the root of the peninsula, on the sea, was the Castle of -Tenby, also attached to the earldom, strong in its position, and also, -as its remains show, well fortified. The town of Tenby was walled, and -still retains a portion of the wall and one of its gates. Near Tenby -was Manorbeer, an early castle, though in its present form probably -of the date of Henry III. There is no keep, and the hall is vaulted. -The gatehouse remains. The ruins show it to have been strong. It is -celebrated as the birthplace of Giraldus Cambrensis or de Barri. -Carew Castle no doubt represents an early fortress, and hence sprung, -as is supposed, the families of Fitz-Gerald and Windsor, and most -certainly that of Carew. Lamphey was a castle of the Bishops of St. -David’s and has an arcaded parapet, a poor imitation of that of Bishop -Gower at Swansea; and Castle Martin was the residence of the Barons -Martin. At Nangle was a fortified house of the Sherbornes, and it is -very probable that Stackpole Court was preceded by an early castle -built by the founder of the family of that name. North of the Haven, -that great fiord which gives its distinctive feature to the name of -Haverford, is the strong rectangular keep of Haverford-West, the -present state of which reflects utter discredit on the county. It was -the work probably of Gilbert de Clare early in the twelfth century, -and around it, scattered over the whole face of the county, are an -unusually great number of small castles and strong houses, built and -inhabited by the Norman knights who followed Arnulph and Strongbow, -and whose descendants continued to hold them by military service under -the succeeding earls. Such was Upton, the castle of the Malefaunts, of -which remain the chapel and the gatehouse; Dale, placed on the root of -the peninsula of St. Ann’s Head, belonged to the De Vales; Narberth -was founded by the Perrotts; Lawhaden was the chief seat of the Bishop -of St. David’s and the “caput” of the Episcopal Barony (of it there -remain a fine gateway and some other buildings); Wiston, the castle of -Sir Philip Gwys, and afterwards of the Wogans, is mentioned as taken -by the Welsh in 1146; Picton is thought to have been founded in the -reign of Rufus. Besides these are Wallwyn’s Castle, of which only the -mound remains; Castle Byth; Little Newcastle; Castell Hendre or Henry’s -Moat; Roche Castle, a square keep perched upon a rugged rock, and -built by Adam de Rupe, founder of the De la Roche family; Cilgerran, on -the Teivi, a very considerable castle, of which much remains: it was -held by the chief lords; Nevern, the chief castle of the old barony -of Cemaes, afterwards replaced by Newport, of which the remains are -considerable. Mention is also made of Benton Castle; of Castle Coning, -near St. Dogmell’s; Castleton, built by the family of Castle; and Punch -or Poyntz Castle, a grange of the bishops of St. David’s, where there -is a large moated mound. Probably there are many other castellets -and fortified houses in the northern and more exposed half of -Pembrokeshire, the sites of which are confounded with the earlier Raths -and circular earthworks of a period preceding the Norman Conquest. The -term Rath, and the pattern of the fortification also, are probably -imported from Ireland, where a circular bank and ditch surrounded the -dwelling-place of almost every landed proprietor, differing from that -in use in England and Normandy by the absence of the mound. The Irish -enclosure was little if at all raised above the exterior ground, and -therefore, though perhaps more convenient, certainly less strong than -the moated mound. Of these Raths there are several in Pembrokeshire. -Here also is another rather peculiar feature. Many of the church -towers, as in Gower, are evidently constructed for defence, intended no -doubt as a ready refuge against a sudden and temporary incursion of the -Welsh, or a descent upon the coast by the Scandinavian pirates. Such a -post, like the Irish round towers, could be held safely for a few hours -until the alarm brought relief. - -The castles of the Welsh border have not been critically examined, -and it is, therefore, difficult to give a list of them that shall at -all approach accuracy; it may, however, be stated roughly that there -were in Wales at the close of the reign of Henry II. 251 castles and -castellets, of which 21 had rectangular keeps, and 20 shell keeps. Of -castles of which little is accurately known, or which do not admit of -classification, there were about 220. - -According to the preceding enumeration, there were at the close of the -reign of Henry II. in England and upon the Marches of Wales about 657 -castles, of which 55 had rectangular and 96 shell keeps, while of 506 -little is known, or else they do not come under one or the other of the -regular Norman types. Considering the difficulties which stand in the -way of accuracy in obtaining these figures, the above total does not -differ very widely from Moore, the only authority on the subject, who -gives a list of about 568 of the earlier castles, including therein -those of the reign of Henry III. and the three Edwards. - - • • • • • - -With the reign of Henry II. may be said to close the principal -castle-building period of English history. Cœur de Lion was scarcely -an English sovereign. He designed, it is said, and certainly built, -the great fortress of Château Gaillard upon the Seine; but he built -no castle in England, nor does any castle of consequence appear to -have been founded in his reign. John, his successor, was always moving -from one castle to another, exercising in a very unpopular degree -the royal prerogative of purveyance. He introduced the Writ known as -“Commissimus,” by which castellans were appointed to the royal castles, -and he showed his distrust even of his supporters, by continually -transferring these officers from one castle to another, lest they -should establish any local interest. The siege of Rochester Castle was -the great military engineering operation of the reign, in which the -outer wall was undermined near one angle, and the gallery carried on -beneath the keep, which stood but a few feet within the enclosure. The -result was to bring down the wall and the lower part of one angle of -the keep, and the place and extent of the mischief may still be traced, -owing to the angle having been rebuilt with very indifferent masonry. -Almost the last event of his reign was the siege of Dover by Louis of -France, who set up a “malvoisin” to overtop the walls, but failed to -take the place, though before it for four months. John died at Newark, -which, if not the finest castle of the Midlands, contains certainly the -grandest Norman gatehouse in England. From his accession in May, 1199, -to his death in June, 1207, John dated public instruments from 131 -castles in different parts of England, and must have visited a great -many more. - -Henry III. found his realm over-built with castles, and amongst the -vigorous exertions by which William Marshall and Hubert de Burgh -restored the royal authority should specially be recorded the sieges -of Biham and Bedford castles, two very strong places. The Close Rolls -show the extent of the preparations for these sieges. The sheriffs of -the whole Midland and westward to the Forest of Dean are directed to -provide and forward materials and munitions of war. Carpenters, smiths, -quarrymen to dress stone bullets, miners and engineers, are placed -under requisition, and from all sides are ordered timber, stone, lead, -cord, cable, chain, iron bars, balistæ, catapults, mangonels, crossbows -of wood and horn, targets, quarrels, arrows, slings, hides to cover -the malvoisins, and mining tools. Both castles were stiffly defended, -and both were taken. Of Biham no trace remains; of Bedford a fragment -of wall and a mound, reduced almost to a mole-hill, still shows that -Henry’s work was not done negligently. Towards the end of the reign -occurred a still more famous siege, that of Kenilworth. Here, as on -the former occasion, Henry commanded in person, and the celebrated -“Ban of Kenilworth” shows how complete was his victory. Henry also -conducted a campaign in South Wales in which the castles of Monmouth, -Usk, Chepstow, Caerleon, and Cardiff played important parts—castles -calculated to prove a sharp thorn in the side of an English prince, and -to render a uniform and just government impracticable. Henry is not -certainly known as the founder of any important English castle, but he -added to and restored very many. Skenfrith near Monmouth dates from a -little before his time; but Grosmont and White Castle, the two other -members of the great border trilateral, may be of that reign. Henry, no -doubt, was a great builder, and very princely in his operations; but -his works as regards castles were chiefly shown in building, repairing, -and adorning the walls and windows of the royal lodgings, halls, and -chapels in the royal castles, works which were in all cases carried on -outside the keep, within the middle or outer wards, and which in most -cases have long since been swept away. Henry found his castles built to -his hands, and had no opportunity of introducing any specific style or -type of military work. White Castle is a mere pen or enclosure, with -high walls and mural towers, though its earthworks, probably of earlier -date, are on a great scale. - -Castles of the type known as Edwardian or concentric, though taking -their name from Edward I., were, as a chronological fact, introduced in -the reign of his father, and Caerphilly, one of the earliest, probably -the very earliest, of the concentric type, and curiously enough one of -the most complete, was constructed by the Lord of Glamorgan in the very -last year of Henry’s reign. Caerphilly is second only to Windsor in -extent, and second to no mediæval fortress whatever in the skill with -which it is laid out, and the natural features of the ground turned to -advantage. It was executed, and probably planned, with great rapidity. -Its cost must have been enormous, and must have taxed to the utmost -the resources of even so wealthy a noble as the Earl of Gloucester and -Hertford. - -The type thus introduced was adopted by Edward I., and is exemplified -in the castles of Harlech and Beaumaris. Conway and Caernarvon, -though superior in magnificence to these and less symmetrical, are -chiefly remarkable because they form a part of the defences of the -towns attached to them, the whole being of one date and parts of one -plan. The reign of Edward much diminished the value of English castles. -Even the fortresses erected by him in North Wales, when their end was -attained and the province reduced to subjection, ceased to be of value -and gradually fell into decay, and in England when once his rule was -established and his power realised, the lords even of the strongest -castles did not venture to garrison them against him. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - THE RECTANGULAR KEEP OF A NORMAN CASTLE. - - -In a preceding chapter an attempt was made to describe the appearance -and to give an outline of the history of those earthworks in England -and Normandy upon which the Norman and Anglo-Norman barons founded -their chief strongholds, and which, therefore, are connected with the -military architecture of either country. It is now proposed to describe -the buildings themselves, whether placed within the ancient earthworks -or altogether of original foundation, which constituted the fortresses -of England in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, through the periods -known in ecclesiastical architecture as the Norman and Transition, and -which, in military architecture, include the Norman form of castle. -What is known as the Norman style of architecture prevailed in England -from the Conquest to the close of the reign of Stephen,—that is, from -1066 to 1154; but this latter is necessarily an arbitrary date, since -it was by degrees only that one style of architecture passed into -another, and the Norman features, though found in all buildings, and -especially in castles, down to the end of the reign of Henry II., or -1189, became more and more mixed up with those of the succeeding style. - -The castles of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, whether in Normandy -or in England, were of two distinct types,—those with the rectangular -and those with the shell keep. The former type was almost always -employed when the site selected was a new one, the latter where the -site was old, and where there existed a “motte” or mound. There -are exceptions to this; that is to say, the rectangular keep is -occasionally found on an old site, but the shell keep is never found on -a new one. The distinction was mainly due to the fact that the massive -heavy tower could only be safely founded upon solid ground, whereas -the lighter and more widely-distributed weight of the shell keep was -better suited to that which was artificial. The shell keep was the most -numerous of the two; but the tower type, being of a more solid and more -durable character, has lasted longest, and is at this time so much -the most common that it has been designated by writers of authority -as the type, instead of as but one of the two types of a Norman keep. -The rectangular and the shell keep never occur in the same castle; -and, as a rule, where there is a mound there is no rectangular keep. -The only known exceptions to this rule are at Christchurch, Guildford, -Clun, Saffron Walden, Mileham, Bungay, and Bramber. At Christchurch -and Mileham the mound is low, and the keep walls seem to be carried -through it to the solid ground. At Guildford, as at Clun, where the -mound is large, the keep is built on its slope, so that the lower end -and one-third of the contiguous sides are seen to rest on the solid -ground, and thus effectually counteract the tendency of the upper part -to slide down. Walden has not been carefully examined, nor is it known -whether the foundations at Bungay are carried down to the solid earth. -At Bramber there is an oblong natural hill, surrounded by a very deep -ditch, in part artificial, while at one end of the hill is a square -keep, and near the other a small mound. At Llwchwr, in South Wales, a -small square tower stands upon a low and small mound, mixed up with the -bank of a Roman camp. The tower, indeed, is not actually Norman, though -no doubt early, and it most probably descends to the natural ground. -The large rectangular tower at Oxford is not the keep, but a mural -tower, though of unusual bulk. The keep there was a shell, and crowned -the mound. At Kenilworth there seems to have been a small mound, which -has been included within the keep, the walls of which rest upon the -natural rock. The mound in this way fills up the basement of the keep, -the ground-floor of which is thus raised 12 feet to 15 feet above the -exterior level, as in the shell keep of Berkeley and in some degree at -Pontefract. - -The rectangular keep is, of all military structures, the simplest -in form, the grandest in outline and dimensions, the sternest in -passive strength, the most durable in design and workmanship, and -in most cases by some years the earliest in date. Of the five great -fortresses which covered the road from Dover to London, Dover itself, -Canterbury, Rochester, and London have square keeps; the fifth, -Tonbridge, having an earlier mound, has a shell keep. Farnham and -Berkhampstead, Windsor, Wallingford, and Oxford,—fortresses guarding -London from the west,—having mounds, have not square keeps. Hedingham -and Colchester to the east, having square keeps, are without the mound, -though Hedingham, like Corfe and Bramber, stands on a natural hill. -Northwards, Warwick and Kenilworth confirm the rule, one having had a -mound and no square keep; the other a square keep which has absorbed -the mound, if mound there was. At Belvoir, the mound, a natural hill, -is capped by a shell, as were the artificial mounds of Bedford, -Cambridge, Clare, Eye, and Ongar, while rectangular keeps are, or were, -found at Chepstow, Ludlow, Bristol and Wattlesborough, Lancaster and -Newcastle, and on the moundless sites of Bamburgh, Carlisle, Corfe, -Norham, Norwich, Nottingham, Porchester, Scarborough, Knaresborough, -Helmsley, and Richmond, and in the less distinguished lordships, some -of Norman foundation, of Appleby, Brough, Brougham, Bowes, Castle -Rising, Clitheroe, Castleton, Goderich, and Prudhoe. Where there is -a rectangular keep it rises high over every part of the fortress, -and gives, as at Bamburgh, unity and grandeur to the architectural -composition. It is usually, as at Rochester, Dover, Richmond, and -Scarborough, placed upon the highest ground within the enclosure, and -very rarely indeed in or near the centre, although, as in London, -it may have been rendered central by the removal of its original -_enceinte_ and the substitution of new and extended lines. At Malling, -perhaps the earliest in England of these keeps, and at Helmsley, -probably the latest,—for that of Knaresborough, though square, is of -Decorated date,—the keep stands on one side of, and forms a part of -the _enceinte_. At Bamburgh, Bramber, Canterbury, Carlisle, Clitheroe, -and Rochester, the keep stands clear of, but very near to, the outer -wall, of which, at Porchester, it forms one angle. At Kenilworth and -Bridgenorth the keep forms an angle of the inner wall; at Norham one -face ranges with the outer and one with the inner wall; and at Ludlow -the keep is placed on the inner wall, close to the main gateway. At -Ogmore it occupies an angle, having one face on the outer and one on -the cross or inner wall. Dover stands detached in the middle of what -appears to be its original enclosure, and so, probably, did Hedingham -and Castle Rising. At Mitford, near Morpeth, is a singular example of -a rectangular keep, of which three angles are right-angled, and the -fourth face is broken into two planes meeting at a low salient. It is -probably late in the period. - -These keeps vary in dimensions from 25 feet to 80 feet and even 100 -feet in the side, and they are usually from one and a half to two -diameters in height to the base of the parapet. Many, perhaps most, -have been raised a stage, as Porchester, Bridgenorth, Richmond, Brough, -Brougham, Kenilworth, and Norham. In most of these cases the addition -was made within the Norman period, and possibly contemporaneous with -the substitution of a covering of lead for one of shingles or stone -tiles. - -Usually the flat exterior faces are relieved by broad pilaster strips -of slight projection from 5 feet to 10 feet wide, by 6 inches in depth, -one at the end of and flanking each face, and in the larger keeps one, -or even two, between them. The flanking pilasters are commonly placed -so as to cover the angle, the two meeting; sometimes, however, they -do not quite meet, and the solid angle is replaced by a hollow nook, -occasionally, in late keeps, as at Castle Rising and Scarborough, -occupied by a bold bead or engaged shaft. In all but the very small -keeps these flanking pilasters are continued 8 feet to 10 feet clear -above the parapet as the outer faces of square turrets, now usually -ruined. At Hedingham one, partly perfect, remains. Those on the White -Tower and at Rochester are in part original, and certainly represent, -very closely, original structures. At Bowes there seems to have been -but one turret, covering the stairhead. The intermediate pilasters -usually stop either just below the base of the parapet or below an -upper window. At Dover they are carried into the parapet and support -slight internal recesses there, but this is very rare. The pilasters -usually are divided by strings into stages, marking the levels of the -different floors, and all rise from a common plinth, sometimes slight, -but sometimes, as at Malling, Kenilworth, Guildford, Scarborough, -and Norham, where one side rises from lower ground, the plinth is on -that side 8 feet to 10 feet high, and has at Kenilworth and Norham a -very bold base. The set-off and string-course are sometimes carried -along both wall and pilasters. At Colchester and at the White Tower a -projecting half-round forms the apse of the chapel, and the pilasters -appear upon it; at Rochester a rounded corner is solid, save at one -story, but this is probably due to a reconstruction. The pilasters -are one of the most marked features of the Norman style, and their -presence at once distinguishes a keep of that period from the fine -fourteenth-century towers, as Borthwick and Lochleven, found in -Scotland, as well as from towers of Early English date, where the -pilasters are bolder and narrower, and often, as at Exeter Castle, -chamfered at the angles. - -The keep wall is from 7 feet to 14 feet thick, and at the base of the -foundation sometimes 20 feet. That of Colchester is reputed to be 30 -feet. That of the Tower of London is said to have taken six weeks to -pierce, with all modern tools and appliances. The lower 14 feet of the -keep of Newcastle is thought to be solid. The wall usually diminishes -in thickness as it rises, sometimes by external sets-off of 6 inches, -more commonly by an internal step of 1 foot at each floor level. -Occasionally the exterior face slopes inward or batters, but this is -unusual. The summit at the level of the allure or battlement walk is -seldom less than 6 feet, and often 7 feet or 8 feet thick. Within, the -larger keeps are divided by a cross wall, usually ascending to the -summit, and pierced in each floor. Sometimes this wall is confined -to the basement and first floor. Kenilworth, a large keep, had no -cross wall; Norwich and Canterbury had two, and some have chambers -walled off at the ends by secondary cross walls, as Castle Rising, -Wolvesey, Colchester, and the White Tower. At Bowes two walls divided -the basement into three chambers. Usually these dividing-walls were -pierced by doorways, but the openings in the main floor were larger. -At Scarborough was, and at Hedingham still is, a single large arch; at -Rochester and at Middleham are several arches. At Porchester are only -small doorways. Where there is no cross wall its place was, no doubt, -supplied by posts of timber. The smaller keeps have a basement and a -first floor; the larger, a second and third floor,—the latter being -often an early addition. - -The basement chamber is almost always at the exterior ground level, -and never much below it; it is commonly from 12 feet to 15 feet high, -aired, rather than lighted, by one or more narrow loops in each -face, splayed and stepped up to within: Richmond has not even these. -The basement was evidently always a storeroom. Now and then, as at -Scarborough, but not often, its walls contain chambers; more commonly -they are solid. In small keeps, as Ludlow and Carlisle, the first was -the main floor, or room of state; in the larger, as Rochester, it -seems to have been a barrack. The apertures were rather larger than -those below, but not much. In the walls were commonly chambers. In -the large keeps the main floor, usually the second, was from 25 feet -to 30 feet high, generally with windows 2 feet or so broad, and often -coupled under a single arch outside. Inside, the recess was splayed, -and sometimes descended to the floor level, while in the jambs were -door-openings into mural chambers. Some of these castle halls must -have been noble rooms. Where there was a cross wall, as at Rochester, -Norham, and Middleham, there were two rooms; at Kenilworth the large -open space was probably subdivided by a brattice. Usually, in the -larger castles, the wall of the main floor is pierced, high up, by -a sort of triforium gallery, into which the outer windows open, and -which opens into the chamber by lofty and larger arches of 3 feet to 4 -feet opening. Possibly these galleries and their windows were intended -to give another line of defence; but they must have destroyed the -privacy of the hall and made it very cold. Above the main floor was -an upper floor, probably occupied as private rooms, bratticed off by -partitions of wood. Where this floor was not a part of the original -building, to gain it seems to have been one object of the addition. It -was placed immediately below the roof. The original roof seems to have -been inclined at a moderate pitch, such as was necessary to carry off -the water from a covering of shingles. The gables did not rise above -the parapet, so that there was thus a great loss of space. In the -smaller keeps the roof was a simple ridge with lateral gutters; where -there was a cross wall the roof was double, with a central as well as -lateral gutters. That this was the usual arrangement is clear from the -old weather mouldings, which remain in the end walls wherever these -have been raised. The original roof having its ridge rather below the -parapet, had its side gutters in deep hollows. Of course, no military -engine could have been placed on such a roof. Where the walls have -been raised the roof has been replaced by a floor, and an upper story -introduced with either a flat, or nearly flat, and leaded roof. These -additions are almost always late Norman; but at Brougham they are -Decorated. At Ludlow, where there was a central ridge with two lateral -gutters, the interior has been re-arranged, and a flat roof laid at the -ridge level of the old one, gaining a floor without raising the walls. -The gables never seem, as in the Scottish towers, to have risen above -the parapet. Probably one reason why the Norman roofs were lifted and -flattened was to allow of military engines being placed upon them, and -the use of lead must have come in rather suddenly just before the close -of the Norman period. - -The floors of these keeps are almost always of timber; thick rough -planks, resting upon stout balks 12 inches or 14 inches square, placed -about 2 feet or 3 feet apart, and resting either on a ledge or in -regular joist-holes. Such floors exposed the keep to be burned, and -once well on fire it would certainly burn till it was gutted. The -basement is now and then vaulted, but the vaulting is very rarely -original, and when it is so the keep is late. The vaulting at the Tower -and at Dover is modern brickwork; the Ludlow vault seems Early English; -that at the lower part of Carlisle, that of Porchester, Brougham, -Bowes, and Richmond, Decorated; the vaulting at Middleham, Newcastle, -and Mitford may be original. The vaulting at Norham, a late keep, may -be original, but was more probably inserted at an early period by -Bishop Puisèt. That of Bamburgh is an insertion. The basement of Bowes -was vaulted, but what remains of one rib is either Decorated or later. -In a few examples where guns have been mounted on a Norman keep, a -brick vault has been sprung over the upper chamber, and the roof filled -up and paved. At Dover, Carlisle, and Newcastle, where this has been -done, the upper openings of the hall are closed, and the interior of -the fabric utterly disfigured. There is certainly no original vaulting -of a great chamber higher than the basement. - -In most keeps there is a well-stair in one angle, which commences -at the ground-level, supplies every floor, and terminates on the -roof under the turret-head, but has no communication below with the -exterior. This was so originally at the White Tower. There are also -other staircases at other levels, beginning on the first, or even -the second, floor, and not always reaching the roof. As a rule, one -stair, descending to the storeroom, seems to have been enough; but -it was thought an advantage to have two or three ascending from the -hall or upper floor to the ramparts, for readiness during a siege. At -Canterbury there are also two well-staircases in the side walls; and -there is one in London. These well-staircases are from 8 feet to 12 -feet in diameter, and lighted with loops. Usually they communicate -with each floor through a sort of lobby. The stairs are always of -stone. As the steps at each angle do not suit the same level of the -mural gallery, these latter are coaxed and accommodated, usually very -clumsily. Now and then the arrangement is different, the stair stops at -the first floor, and is continued at the opposite diagonal. Sometimes, -as at Carlisle, Ludlow, and Bamburgh, where the outer door is at the -ground-level, the staircase commences in the side of the doorway, and -ascends straight in the wall, and, on reaching the next angle proceeds -as a well-stair. This is so at Chepstow, where the upper ascent is -probably an addition. At Carlisle and Ludlow the staircase stops at the -first floor, and is continued at another angle. At Brough, where the -outer door is on the first floor, a narrow straight stair rises in the -wall to the second. At Prudhoe, it is continued round two sides, and -at Richmond. The direction of the staircases may be always detected by -the position of the exterior loops, and the general rule seems to be to -limit the approach to the stores and main floor, and from the latter -to give a free access to the ramparts. The curves and angles in those -narrow staircases facilitated the defence of them. - -The immense thickness of the walls is usually taken advantage of for -the formation of mural chambers. These are rectangular, and sometimes -placed in an angle, and =∟=-shaped. They are vaulted, usually in a -plain barrel, or equally plain groining, lighted by external loops, and -now and then, though very rarely, have, as at Bowes, a fireplace. In -breadth they vary from 4 feet to 6 feet, and they are of all lengths. -Usually they are more abundant and larger, in the main and upper -floors. They were intended for sleeping-rooms, garderobes, oratories, -and well-chambers. At Guildford is a very remarkable oratory, at -the first-floor level, =∟=-shaped, with a mural arcade. At Brougham -the oratory is on the upper floor. At Rochester and Dover the upper -gallery does not run all round; and in the latter ends in a prison -cell. Some keeps, even with thick walls, contain but few chambers. The -two remaining sides of Norham, a late keep, have none, or, at most, -one. Dover, also late, is honeycombed with chambers at every level, -and even the cross-wall above is threaded by a gallery, a singular -example. Newcastle, built in 1080, has very many chambers. Where -there are garderobes they have stone seats, and the vent is usually a -vertical shaft in the wall, though sometimes there is a shoot upon the -exterior surface of it, or, though more rarely, it is corbelled out. -At Kenilworth, a fine but late keep, one angle contained a well-stair, -and the three others chambers. They are turrets from the ground, and in -size larger than usual. They are floored with timber. One angle turret -seems to have been wholly occupied by garderobes, and the lower part, -at present filled with light soil, was evidently a large cesspool. -At Corfe a very large garderobe tower,—perhaps a Norman addition,—is -appended to one side of the keep. - -Most keeps, even early ones, contain fireplaces. One has been -discovered in the Tower, long supposed to be without them. At Dover -they are in the cross-wall; at Rochester, where they are very handsome, -in the sides. Usually the funnel ascends in the wall; at Rochester and -Colchester it forks, and the two flues open a little way up on the -face of the wall, concealed in the hollow angle of a pilaster. It is -not easy to tell whether a flue is original when the fittings of the -fireplace have been inserted; thus, in the Tower closets, where the -fireplaces are Tudor, there are no marks in the wall as though it had -been cut into to construct a flue, so these may represent original -fireplaces, though this is not probable. No doubt open hearths were -much used, and fireplaces of iron with flues of wood and plaster, which -would leave no trace when removed. The fireplaces in the mural chambers -at Dover seem all to be of Tudor date. No fireplace has been discovered -in Richmond keep; there is an original one in a mural chamber at Bowes. - -These keeps, built mainly for security, have but few external openings, -and those rarely of any size. Sometimes the narrowest part of the loop -is in the centre of the wall, with a splay each way, having the section -of an hour-glass. This is seen at Kenilworth and Porchester, late -keeps. The arrangement seems a bad one, much aiding the entrance of an -arrow. The larger windows, sometimes of 3 ft. or 4 ft. opening, were -closed with shutters. - -A well was an important accessory to a Norman keep. In Dover there are -two—one being in the forebuilding. Sometimes, as at Bamburgh and Castle -Rising, its mouth is at the ground level. More frequently its pipe is -contained within the wall, and opens into a special well-chamber, as -at Dover, Newcastle, and Kenilworth. At Carlisle it is in the wall, -and was reached by an internal lateral opening, now converted into an -external one. At Rochester it is in the cross-wall; the pipe there -ascends to the summit, and has an opening at each floor, and there are -traces of some such arrangement at Canterbury. At Porchester the well -occupies one angle of the wall, and opens on each floor. At Colchester -the well, long closed, has been discovered. It is in the basement, -near the entrance. At Hedingham there is known to be a well, but its -place is lost. At Bamburgh, one of the most remarkable wells in the -country, carried down 145 ft. in whin rock, was only discovered in the -last century. At Richmond a hollow octagonal pier, carrying the vault, -has been built exactly over the well, which is reached through it. At -Arques, in Normandy, where the well is near one angle, a pipe has been -built over it, raising the mouth to the first floor. At Bowes, Brough, -Brougham, Guildford, Castleton, and Corfe, no well has been discovered, -and it is only very recently that one has been laid open in the White -Tower, in London. - -Great pains were usually taken to cover the entrances of these keeps -by a forebuilding, the details of which have been but little studied. -Upon one side of the keep, but a part of its structure, was placed a -smaller tower, also rectangular, of the length—that is, covering one -side—and about one third of the breadth, of the keep, and two thirds -of its height. At one end, at the ground level, commenced a straight -staircase which rose to near the other end when it stopped at a landing -which was the vestibule of the actual entrance to the keep. Above the -lowest part of the staircase was a low tower and a strong doorway. -Halfway up the staircase was often a second doorway, and sometimes, -as at Dover, a second tower. Over the landing at the stair-head was -a larger and taller tower, also with a strong doorway. Outside -this doorway the staircase was often broken by a drawbridge, as at -Rochester. The staircase was not always covered over, but was protected -by an exterior parapet of some height, as at Berkeley, where the shell -keep has a forebuilding, a very unusual example. The battlements of the -lower or entrance tower were reached by a little door in the adjacent -angle of the keep high up. This is seen at Rochester, and at Middleham -and Brougham, where the tower itself is removed. In the keep-wall by -the side of the staircase was often a recess for the guard, as at -Middleham. The bridge-pit had an exterior parapet concealing those who -used the bridge. At Castle Rising where the middle gate is perfect, its -battlements are reached by a small door from the keep. - -The vestibule at the stair-head was usually a good-sized chamber, often -vaulted. In it was the main doorway of the keep, of not less than 6 -feet opening, with flanking shafts and moulded architrave. At Castle -Rising this ante-chamber is arcaded, and very handsome; at Rochester -it is plain, or nearly so. At Dover it contains a guard-chamber, at -Newcastle and at Middleham a chapel. The basement below the vestibule -was usually a prison, and had a small door into the corresponding -basement of the keep. At Rochester are two floors below the vestibule -and two above it. The forebuilding is perfect only at Castle Rising, -Norwich, Dover, and Newcastle; there are large remains of it at -Rochester, Porchester, and Middleham, and some at Hedingham, Corfe, -and Kenilworth. At Scarborough, Brougham, Bramber, Canterbury, and -Helmsley there are traces only. At Dover there are vaults below the -staircase and lower tower, above which is a vestibule and a chapel, -and in the first or upper floor a second chapel. Sometimes there is -a way from the foot of the staircase of the forebuilding into the -basement of the keep, but probably this is not original. It is seen at -Dover, Newcastle, and Castle Rising. The White Tower has been so pulled -about that it is difficult to say how it was originally entered. The -forebuilding is essentially a Norman appendage, and, with the exception -of Berkeley, and, perhaps, Chilham and Orford, confined to keeps of -the rectangular pattern. It has been supposed to mark a late keep, but -there is a forebuilding at Arques usually regarded as a very early one. - -In the smaller keeps, and some few of the larger ones, there is no -forebuilding, and the entrance is by a plain arch, as at Clitheroe, -Goderich, Bowes, Guildford, and Malling. This entrance was on the -first floor. In the latter case it is, indeed, in the basement, -but nevertheless 10 feet above the ground level. The approach in -these cases seems to have been by an external staircase of timber. -At Chepstow, Carlisle, Bamburgh, and Ludlow, the entrance was by a -single doorway at the ground level. In almost all the larger keeps it -has been found convenient—probably when they ceased to be used solely -as military buildings—to have a large direct entrance at the ground -level. Such have been made at London, Rochester, Norham, Kenilworth, -Porchester, Guildford, Clitheroe, Hedingham, Colchester, Goderich, -Canterbury, Brough, and Malling, and probably Chepstow. Some of these -are evidently insertions, taking the place of a loop; others seem to -have been original doors opening from the basement of the keep into -that of the forebuilding, made external on its destruction, as at Corfe -and, perhaps, Kenilworth. At Richmond the removal of the forebuilding -has laid open a large Norman arch in the basement which opened into -it. Besides these main doors, Ludlow has two doors opening from the -keep upon the ramparts of the curtain; and at Rochester is a small -door whence probably a plank drawbridge, six feet or eight feet long, -dropped upon the adjacent curtain. There is something like this at -Helmsley, and in the Norman keep of Adare, in Ireland. - -Most keeps contain an oratory; some a regular chapel. Dover is peculiar -in having two, both in the forebuilding, in its lower tower. Newcastle -has one in its forebuilding, under the staircase and upper tower. -Middleham has the remains of a very handsome one at the head of the -outer staircase. At Rochester the chapel seems to have been in the -forebuilding, high up, beneath the kitchen. At Castle Rising it is on -the first floor of the keep, at one end of one of the large rooms. At -Guildford and Brougham it was in the wall. The finest and earliest -castle-chapel in England is that in the White Tower. It is large, has a -nave, aisles, and semi-circular apse, all vaulted. This chapel occupies -two stories, and below it are two floors of vaulted crypts, intended -for prisons. The chapel at Colchester, though smaller and ruder, -resembles in position that in the White Tower. - -Of the three drawings here given, the first gives the plan of the White -Tower, London, at the second or chapel floor. The three well staircases -are there seen, and the outer and cross walls. Here also is shown, in -the south wall, the small mural staircase which ends at this level, and -affords the only communication with the main floor of the chapel. - -[Illustration] - -The next drawing shows a plan of the third or uppermost floor, at the -level of the clerestory of the chapel. Here the outer wall is shown -perforated all round by a mural gallery, which communicates with the -three well staircases and with the chapel. - -Finally follows a vertical section of the whole keep from east to west, -in which is shown the chapel with its clerestory above and its two -tiers of crypts below. These drawings, which more especially belong -to the detailed description of the Tower of London which follows in -its place, are here inserted as illustrating what is written of Norman -rectangular keeps in general. - -[Illustration] - -The kitchen, though a necessary appendage to a keep, is not often to -be discovered. Probably the cooking was of a simple character, mostly -carried on before an open fire, or by boiling, or broiling over a -brazier. There is a kitchen in the forebuilding at Rochester, high up; -and one at the first-floor level in a mural chamber, at Castle Rising -and at Norwich. The kitchen when it was in a distinct chamber was at -the level of the hall, or even above it. - -The defences of the outer doorway in a Norman keep were usually one or -two stout doors of oak, strengthened with iron, and held close by one -or two bars, also of oak, which ran back into deep holes in the wall -about four inches square. The herse or portcullis, though used in other -parts of castles, was rare in the keep. It is a very old method of -defence, formed of stone in the Great Pyramid, and the groove for which -remains in the city gate of Pompeii. When employed, as in the keeps of -Scarborough, Hedingham, and Rochester, it was a single grate, probably -of oak spiked and plated with iron, and it was worked from a mural -chamber over the archway. Sometimes, from the narrow dimensions of the -groove, the grate seems to have been wholly of iron. It was worked by -chains or cords wrapped round a cylinder or windlass, such as is still -in use in the main gate-house of the Tower. Norman keeps very seldom -retain their original parapets or turrets. The parapet was about two -feet thick and five feet high. It was either plain or had broad merlons -and narrow embrasures. Usually it was a mere continuation of the wall, -without corbels or any contrivance to widen the rampart walls, which -were of sufficient thickness for the walk. At Rochester, holes are seen -at the base of the parapet for beams to carry a _brétasche_ or external -gallery, but these probably are not original. The angle turrets are -usually mere places of arms, the rampart walks passing through them. -Sometimes they have an upper floor reached by a stone stair or a -movable ladder. - -Much has been said of Norman dungeons, oubliettes, and subterranean -vaults, damp and wretched, appliances of Norman tyranny. So far as -these keeps are concerned in the matter, they never contain underground -chambers of any kind. The basement floor is usually at the ground -level, or at most two feet or three feet below it. Where the keep -is built on rising ground it may happen that a chamber, the door of -which is at the ground level, may have one wall half buried beneath -the soil, but there is nothing beyond this. Prisoners of the common -sort were not shut up in the keep, space there was too valuable. The -basement could scarce have been used as a prison where it contained -the castle well, and the mural chambers usually are barred inside. The -rooms under the vestibule, and some of the lower vaults at Dover, and -the crypts of the Tower of London, and at Colchester, probably were -used as prisons. In the upper gallery at Dover there is a very evident -prison. At Carlisle, where the basement has recently been used as a -prison, it probably was not one originally. Large as some of the keeps -were, they were not calculated to be held against a long siege or a -blockade, and all the spare room would then be needed for provisions -and stores. The earlier keeps are very plain. The Tower has not even -a moulding save in the chapel, and an exterior blocking over its main -tier of windows. No doubt it has been much mutilated, but, had the -ornaments been cut off, the courses of freestone that carried them -would still be distinguishable from the ordinary rubble masonry. Some -of the later keeps exhibit rather rich details, though usually marked -by much simplicity, about the doors, windows, and fireplaces. Such is -the case at Rochester, Hedingham, Dover and Newcastle, and specially -at Castle Rising, one of the most highly ornamented of keeps. Bamburgh -has a fine doorway early in the twelfth century; Ludlow and Guildford -some arcades; Porchester some good windows. The exterior of Norwich is, -or rather was, rudely panelled in tiers of arches. Goderich, otherwise -very plain, has an exterior string of hatched or chevron work. In these -keeps the arches are usually full-centred, but sometimes segmental, and -where flat there is commonly above the lintel a relieving arch with -a recessed tympanum, as at Chepstow. At Malling, though there are no -mouldings, the first-floor window on one side is the centre of five -deep plain full-centred niches in the exterior face, which cannot have -been meant for use, and in another face, also outside, are five other -niches, all unpierced. Occasionally false arches are turned in the -walls, as though a door had been closed up, or the possibility of a new -opening provided for. Such are seen at Dover, Norwich, and Guildford. -They are thought, but scarcely on good grounds, to be intended to -invite an attack where the wall is specially thick. - -One or two keeps have buttresses of bold projection, greatly in -contrast to the usual flat pilaster. This is so at Colchester and at -Arques, where the exterior stair passes through one of them. At Arques -also these buttresses are turned to account in the upper story, arches -being thrown across from buttress to buttress, upon which are built -chambers, and on one face a chapel, through the floor of which missiles -could be dropped upon the assailants below. Arques, unfortunately, is -built of chalk and flint with little or no original ashlar, and it is, -in consequence, difficult to decide between what is original and what -has been added. - -Norman keeps differ in workmanship as in material. The White Tower, -built in great haste, is of rubble, rudely coursed, with very open -joints; but the plinth, quoins, and pilasters seem to have been of -Kentish rag, dressed as ashlar, and also open jointed. Malling is an -excellent example of very early Norman rubble, with open joints, and -this may also be said of a part of the adjacent abbey church, and -perhaps of the tower of the parish church. Guildford contains a good -deal of herring-bone work; Chepstow and Penllyne a little. Colchester -is partly built of old Roman materials, chiefly brick, and contains -some herring-bone work. In the chalk districts flint was largely used, -as at Bramber, Dover, Hastings, Canterbury, Thurnham, Berkhamsted, -Bungay, and Walden. In the south, or near the sea, the ashlar is often -in small blocks from Caen. Corfe is of excellent local ashlar, as is -most of Kenilworth. Porchester is of chalk and flint rubble, faced -with ashlar outside and partially inside. Hedingham is all ashlar, -and altogether the finest keep in England. Bowes is a fine example of -ashlar, in a local stone. Whatever Norman masonry may be in church -towers, in keeps it is always sound, though often rough, and is very -durable. Now and then chain courses of timber are inserted in the heart -of the walls, to hold the work together till the mortar shall have set, -and it has happened that the wall has been breached and the exposed -timbers have been found to have rotted away, leaving cavities, as at -Rochester, concerning the use of which much nonsense has been written. - -In considering the limited and very inconvenient accommodation afforded -by a Norman keep, it should be remembered that it was not meant for -a residence, save during an actual siege, and that at such times it -often only received the baron’s armed tenants, and not his mercenaries. -Indeed, the builders of some of these keeps seem to have mistrusted -their own troops as much as they feared those of the enemy. The -staircases and galleries are often contrived quite as much to check -free communication between the several parts of the building as between -its inside and its outside. Further, the excessive jealousy in guarding -the entrance, the multiplied doors, the steep and winding staircases, -the sharp turns in the passages, although they helped to keep out an -enemy, or, if he got in, placed him at a disadvantage, also rendered -impracticable the rapid re-entry of the garrison, so that if the court -or outer ward were taken by assault, the defenders had scant time -to retire into the keep, which was thus liable to a _coup de main_. -Otherwise, with a sufficient and faithful garrison, and ample provision -and military stores, a Norman rectangular keep was almost impregnable, -so great was its passive strength. Its windows were too small or too -high for their shutters to be reached by fire-balls, and its walls -were too thick to be breached or mined, if properly defended from the -summit. This, indeed, was the true method of defence. An ordinary loop -in a thick wall, however widely splayed, admitted of but little scope -for an archer, or space to draw his bow. The lower loops were entirely -for air, not for defence. Higher up, with larger windows, a bow could -be used with advantage, but there were no flanking defences, for the -angles had no considerable projection, and the shoulders, or lateral -faces of the pilasters, were not pierced. With military engines for -throwing heavy stones and masses of rock from the roof much might -have been effected, but in the early keeps this was not contemplated, -and probably not to any great extent in the later ones. An arrow shot -from a battlement 50 feet or 70 feet high would lose some of its force -in the descent. Of the siege of Rochester certain particulars are on -record, and the account of the operations of the besiegers is confirmed -by the evidence afforded by the existing keep. Rochester keep stands -but 10 feet or 12 feet from the south-east angle of the outer wall, the -angle of the keep corresponding with that of the wall. The angle of -the wall and part of the adjacent curtain have evidently been removed -and rebuilt, with the capping tower, in a later style. Opposite and -behind this newer work, the lower part of the angle of the keep has -also, at some remote time, fallen away, and with it a few yards of the -adjacent sides. These parts have been rebuilt in a rude and slovenly -manner, and the junction of the old and new work is very evident. This -keep was built about 1130, and besieged by King John for three months -in 1215. Military engines produced little effect upon it, but a mine -was opened which, says Wendover, first brought down the walls and -then a part of the tower. This is what we now see. The keep seems to -have been repaired in haste at once, the outer wall probably not till -1225, when Henry III. spent considerable sums upon the castle, and the -capping-tower of the curtain is of that date. The attack by sap was -the only one to be employed against a rectangular keep, and was rarely -practicable. Where, as was often the case, the keep stood upon a rock, -the running a mine below it would produce no effect. Where this was not -the case, the foundations of the wall were so broad and so solidified -as to stand even when much of the soil beneath them was removed. At -the White Tower, for example, when it was found convenient to bring a -railway from the river quay into the base of the keep for the shipment -of stores, about 20 feet of solid masonry had to be cut through, and -much earth removed, and this, with every aid, was found to be a very -tedious and expensive operation. The defence of such a keep was its -passive strength alone. The loops were nothing in its defence; the roof -being on a slope and of shingle would support no military engine and -no great store of stones or heavy missiles. The narrow doorway did not -allow of a sally in force, and when seriously attacked the garrison had -no resource but to trust to the thickness of their walls, their ample -supply of water, their magazines of provisions, and thus patiently to -await relief. - -Such are the details of the rectangular Norman keeps, of which we have -in England about fifty extant or well-recorded examples, dating from -the year 1078, when the White Tower was begun, to about the year 1180, -to which may be attributed the keep of Helmsley. - - LIST (APPROXIMATIVE) OF RECTANGULAR KEEPS IN ENGLAND. - - _Cheshire._—Chester. - _Cornwall._—Carnbrè (?). - _Cumberland._—Carlisle. - _Derbyshire._—Castleton. - _Devon._—Okehampton (?). - _Dorset._—Corfe, Sherborne. - _Durham._—Norham. - _Essex._—Colchester, Hedingham, Walden. - _Gloucestershire._—Bristol (destroyed). - _Hants._—Christchurch, Porchester, Wolvesey. - _Hereford._—Goderich. - _Kent._—Canterbury, Dover, Malling, Rochester, Thurnham. - _Lancashire._—Clitheroe, Lancaster. - _Middlesex._—The Tower. - _Monmouth._—Chepstow. - _Norfolk._—Bungay, Castle Rising, Mileham, Norwich. - _Northumberland._—Bamburgh, Mitford, Newcastle, Prudhoe. - _Nottingham._—Nottingham (destroyed). - _Salop._—Bridgnorth, Clun, Ludlow, Wattlesborough. - _Somerset._—Taunton. - _Surrey._—Guildford. - _Sussex._—Bramber. - _Wales._—Ogmore, Penllyne. - _Warwickshire._—Kenilworth. - _Westmoreland._—Appleby, Brough, Brougham. - _Yorkshire._—Bowes, Helmsley, Middleham, Normanby (?), Richmond, - Scarborough. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - OF THE SHELL KEEP. - - -While of the rectangular keep there remain many, and some very perfect, -examples both in England and Normandy, the SHELL KEEP, though once the -most common of the two, has rarely been preserved, and is seldom, if -ever, found in a perfect or unaltered condition. There is a difference -of opinion as to the date of the introduction of these keeps, whether a -little before or a little after the other type. The shell keep, being -invariably connected with early earthworks, might be supposed to be -the older form; and Arundel, the only castle mentioned in Domesday -as existing in the time of the Confessor, has a shell keep; but a -tolerably close examination has failed to discover, either at Arundel -or elsewhere in England or in Normandy, any masonry of very early -character, probably none that can safely be attributed to the eleventh -century. The fact seems to be that the early timber structures, which -are known to have been erected originally on the moated mounds, were -found to be very defensible, and so were retained by the Norman lords -until they were able to replace the timber by masonry. The rectangular -keeps were either on new sites, or on sites not defended by very strong -earthworks, so that their construction, from the first, was in masonry, -and thus it came to pass that the shells of masonry, though always -connected with the older sites, were of later date than the solid -towers. Even at Durham, a castle recorded to have been built by the -Conqueror, and of which the keep must always have been on the present -mound, though the chapel and connected buildings may be his work, the -shell keep contains no Norman masonry; and if, as is to be supposed, -there was once a Norman shell, it was probably the work of one of the -Conqueror’s sons, or even of Henry II. - -A shell keep is always placed upon a mound, either natural or -artificial. Of those on natural hills, the most considerable are -Belvoir, Durham, and Lewes, but the masonry of the two former is not -original, though built upon the old lines. Dunster, the Tor of the -early Lords Mohun, has been examined, and the only trace of its keep -is a fragment of a drain. Montacute, where the hill is wholly natural, -has also been cleared of masonry. But by far the larger number of these -mounds are either wholly artificial, or of a mixed character. - -In plan and dimensions these keeps are roughly governed by the figure -of the mound on which they stand. Most are polygons of ten or twelve -sides, not always equal. Some are circular, others polygonal outside -and circular within. Others are slightly oval, others more complex in -plan. York, for example, approaches to a quatrefoil, 64 feet by 45 -feet, and this seems to have been the plan of the long-since destroyed -keep of Warwick. Their diameter is rarely less than 30 feet, and seldom -exceeds 100 feet. - -The wall was usually 8 feet to 10 feet thick, and, as a security -against settlement, was generally placed 2 feet to 3 feet within the -edge of the mound. Sometimes, as at Lincoln and Tickhill, the walls -were strengthened by flat Norman pilasters, but more commonly they -were of plain rubble with plinths and angle quoins of ashlar. Cardiff, -though without a plinth, has angle quoins, and probably dates from -early in the twelfth century. The walls of these keeps were 20 feet to -25 feet high to the rampart walk, which was reached by open interior -staircases either of wood or stone. Traces of the latter were visible -a few years ago at Cardiff. Such a shell is well suited to be placed -upon made ground, which would not have supported a solid mass. At -Cardiff, where a heavy tower was long afterwards added, it slipped and -fell. The interior of the larger keeps was an open court, around which -were placed the buildings—sometimes mere sheds—against the ring wall. -Where the keep was large and the castle important, these buildings were -permanent, though even in the greater keeps, such as York, timber was -largely used. Windsor, before the alterations, contained an open court, -as still does the keep of Ledes Castle, which is peculiar in standing -upon a small island, completely occupied by it. The present round tower -at Windsor, though modern, is built upon the lines of the Edwardian -tower, which again was built upon those of a late Norman keep, the -foundations of which were laid open by Wyattville, and found to rest -upon an artificial mound. Durham keep is said to have been originally -open, but to have been closed to accommodate the bishops, who were -forced, by the disturbed state of the country, to reside within it. The -keep at York, known as Clifford’s tower, is rather Early English than -Norman, and probably succeeded a timber structure. It much resembles -some of the French keeps built by Philip Augustus. It has a well in -the court, turnpike stairs to the ramparts, and a chapel over the -entrance, much altered in the Decorated period, and which, as is not -uncommon, serves as a portcullis chamber. At Hawarden, a small and -close, but very curious keep, the oratory is over the entrance. - -Tamworth, rather an Early English than a Norman structure, was long -the actual residence of a considerable family. It is still inhabited, -and contains some crowded and curious buildings, an open court, and -a well. Connected with the keep is an earlier curtain-wall with some -herring-bone work. The approach to the keep lies along the rampart of -this wall. The actual entrance is a small, plain, pointed doorway. At -Lincoln the keep is a mere Norman shell. It is nearly circular, and -has two original doorways, one (the larger) opening from the castle -area, the other opening upon the outer ditch. The mound stands upon -the _enceinte_ line of the place, and at the points at which the two -curtains abut upon the keep are two mural chambers, which appear to -have been garderobes. At Clare the shell was a polygon of fourteen -faces, and at each angle was a buttress, triangular in plan, and of -three stages, dying into the wall. The shell was 52 feet internal -diameter, and the walls 6 feet thick and 25 feet high, with four tiers -of putlog holes. The foundations of this keep are of the unusual depth -of 6 feet. There is said to have been an underground chamber, which may -be doubted. The material is flint rubble, with ashlar buttresses and -dressings, but the actual masonry, though, no doubt, generally on the -old lines, does not look later than Edward III., if so old. The mound -is 53 feet high, and on the _enceinte_, and traversed by the curtain. -The base is about 870 feet in girth, of which about 600 feet are -outside, and 270 feet within the area. - -At Alnwick the whole inner ward is a shell keep built upon a natural -knoll. The main buildings, being the lord’s lodgings, are built -against and form part of the wall, and the centre is an open court. -The gatehouse is Norman, and part of the foundations of the wall, but -most of the superstructure has been rebuilt twice over, though upon the -old lines. There is a well in the wall, probably original, but encased -in late Norman masonry. Alnwick being a sort of Castle Dangerous, and -always open to sudden attack, the lord habitually lived within the -keep, which was far more commodious than usual. Tickhill keep was a -decagon, of which the foundations remain, to the top of the plinth, -with the base of a flat pilaster capping each angle. The entrance was -by a small door, just within which was the well. The mound stands -on the _enceinte_, and the curtain runs up it on each side. About a -quarter of the girth is within the castle area, and the rest outside. -Part of Pickering keep is standing; it is late and polygonal. Here the -mound is central, and stands on the line of a curtain which divides -the area into two parts. At Ewyas-Harold, Builth, and Berkhampstead -are traces of the foundations of the keep. At Kilpeck part of the wall -is standing, and the well was within it, and is probably older than -the masonry. Farnham keep is part of an inhabited dwelling, and has -not been examined. At Oswestry is a fragment of the masonry, and at -Whittington are traces showing that the mound was revetted, and also, -in Decorated times, strengthened by four or five large mural drum -towers. - -The foundations of Tonbridge keep show it to have been a slightly -oval polygon, 86 feet by 76 feet, with fifteen external pilasters at -the angles, and walls 11 feet 6 inches thick. This is attributed to -Bishop Odo, but the noble gatehouse and walls below are later. The -mound covers an acre, and is on the _enceinte_. Arundel has a good -plain Norman doorway from the castle court, and an entrance by a -gallery in the curtain from the gatehouse. Here is a chapel on the -first floor, at the junction of the curtain with the keep, and near it -is the well-chamber. The well is outside, and probably older than the -keep wall. In the wall is a turnpike stair leading to the ramparts, -and near its foot a small subterranean chamber, but both are later -than the keep, and insertions. At Oxford the mound contains a crypt, -an addition; but here, as at Wallingford, Hinckley, Leicester and -Caerleon, the walls are gone, as at Bedford, so celebrated for its -siege by Henry III. The mound at Quatford, having been the seat of Earl -Roger, was, of course, fortified, though whether by masonry is unknown. -There is, however, a deep well, which must have been within the keep. A -tunnel and later flight of steps have been cut, and descend through the -skirts of the hill from the outer ward. This passage strikes the shaft -a few feet above the water level. - -Berkeley, on many accounts one of the most interesting castles in -England, has a very curious shell keep, built round a mound, which thus -fills up the lower stage. The wall, the lower part of which is thus a -revetment, is strengthened by three half-round mural towers, one of -which contains the well, and above it the chapel. This keep is also -remarkable for the forebuilding covering its entrance, which contains -a tower over the lower or outer gate, at the foot of the staircase. -This castle is known to have been built soon after the accession of -Henry II., and, though Norman, is, of course, late in the style; -Orford and Chilham, Norman keeps of a peculiar character, also have -forebuildings. The keep at Pontefract is very peculiar. The castle -covers the table-top of an oval knoll, natural, with precipitous sides -of rock. At one end, on the edge of the cliff, is placed the mound, now -encased partially in masonry. The masonry begins at the foot of the -cliff, as a sort of half-round tower, or rather a cluster of roundlets, -built as a retaining-wall. Above, the circle of masonry is completed, -includes the mound, and forms the shell keep. The base is honeycombed -with passages and chambers, cut in the rock, and partly lined with -masonry. In its present condition this keep exhibits masonry of both -Decorated and Perpendicular date, but its substance, as also some of -its adjacent masonry, is evidently late Norman. - -Restormel is rather a round castle than a shell keep, and more Early -English than Norman. On the whole, however, it may be classed with -the shells. It occupies a natural knoll, and its ring-wall crests the -steep slope; against it are the buildings, and within is an open court. -Launceston, also, though Early English, belongs to the shell type. It -has a central round tower, and a concentric wall much lower, a sort -of _chemise_, the space between the two having been covered in with a -flat roof. Possibly Montacute, built by the same lord, may have been -after the same pattern; but of Montacute even the ruins have long since -perished. - -The approach to these keeps seems, in its simplest form, to have been -by a wooden bridge over the ditch on the side within the castle, -and thence by steps up the mound, as at Lincoln, where, however, -they are modern, and the ditch is partially filled up. At Tickhill, -and at Hawarden, there is a flight of steps just within, and built -against the curtain. At Cardiff recent excavations have disclosed the -piles of a timber bridge, which crossed the ditch, and may be older -than the remains of the Norman keep. Cardiff, however, thanks to the -same excavations, affords an excellent example of the more elaborate -approach to a Norman shell keep. Here a thick curtain-wall traversed -the court of the castle, and crossing the ditch of the mound was -continued up its slope; just within the curtain was a drawbridge across -the ditch, beyond which a direct flight of steps led up to the keep. -Here, as at Wallingford, the well was on the slope of the mound, just -within its ditch. Usually the actual entrance to the keep was by a mere -door in the wall, as at Arundel, Lincoln, Tickhill, and Tamworth. At -York is a regular gate-house, a part of the shell, which was reached by -a very steep bridge, crossing a very formidable wet ditch. - -It has been mentioned that these shell keeps, and the mounds on which -they stand, are usually upon, and form a part of the _enceinte_ or line -of the outer defence of the castle, though isolated from it by their -proper ditch, of which the main ditch of the place is commonly a part. -This is well shown in the old plans of York Castle, and may be actually -seen at Arundel, and many other works both large and small, and in -other mounted mounds, such as Hên-Domen, near Montgomery, and Brinklow, -which have never been defended by masonry. It was, of course, necessary -to carry the palisade, and afterwards, if constructed, the curtain, -across the ditch and up the slope of the mound to the wall of the keep, -and even where the mound was central, as at Pickering and Cardiff, it -was upon the division line of the two wards, and, therefore, on the -line of a curtain. At Berkhampstead the keep seems to have been, not -upon, but outside the line of defence, and to have formed a sort of -spurwork connected with the main curtain by a single but very thick -wall. Arundel, Durham, Lincoln, Tamworth, Tickhill, Tonbridge, Windsor, -and Wallingford, are, or were, good examples of shell keeps on the line -of the _enceinte_ wall. - -Besides any other approaches, it is evident that the curtain was always -made use of as one way to the keep, and at Arundel and Tamworth is -still so used, the parapet in front and rear protecting the rampart -walk. As, however, it was a fundamental rule in Norman castles that -the keep, the final retreat, however many its approaches, should have -as few entrances as possible, the curtain usually stopped at the top -level of the mound, and was continued only as a parapet, so that those -who came along the wall had, on reaching the keep, to pass along its -outside a greater or less distance before they reached the doorway. -This is well seen at Tamworth. At Arundel the wall is raised to the -full height of the keep, as at Lincoln, but this is not usual. At -Hawarden the curtain is continued 10 feet or 12 feet high, and so abuts -upon the keep, but the rampart walk does not communicate with it. - -The position of the well in these keeps has already been noticed. At -York and Tickhill it is within the area. That at Arundel is in a tower -outside the wall, but a part of it. That at Berkeley is also in a -tower, a part of the wall. Those of Alnwick and Kilpeck are in the wall -itself; those of Cardiff and Wallingford at the foot of the mound, just -within the ditch. - -It is much to be regretted that so few of these shell keeps remain, -even in ruin, and very few, indeed, in a state at all approaching -to their original condition, for, as the representatives of a very -early form of fortification, and as the chief seats of very ancient -estates, and of original English families, they possess a very peculiar -interest. Nor are they, when of large size, at all wanting in a noble -effect. It is true that upon level ground, as that occupied by the -Tower of London, or upon such a ridge as Corfe, or such an elevated -platform as Hedingham, the rectangular keep produces a very fine -effect, but there are positions in which this is fully equalled by the -keeps of the other type. At Durham, where the central tower of the -cathedral is equal in grandeur and simplicity to a rectangular keep, -it is eclipsed by the adjacent castle. The keep of Belvoir, which, -though rebuilt and weak in its details, retains its original outline, -would be ill exchanged for the towers even of Norham or Lancaster, and -no other structure could be substituted to advantage for the keep of -Windsor, crowning and completing its “tiara of proud towers.” Massive -as is the rectangular keep, simple, uncompromising, and warlike its -features, still, even when seen to its greatest advantage, as on the -promontory of Dover or the bold impregnable rock of Bamburgh, it must -be confessed to be inferior in grandeur and in completeness of outline -to the stern round tower of other days, identified as it is with the -early residences of the adventurous Northmen who laid the foundations -of the English people. - - LIST (APPROXIMATIVE) OF SHELL KEEPS, PAST OR PRESENT. - - _Bedfordshire._—Bedford, Clophill, Ridgemount (?), Toddington. - _Berks._—Reading (?), Wallingford, Windsor, Yieldon (?). - _Buckinghamshire._—Buckingham. - _Cambridgeshire._—Burwell (?), Cambridge, Ely. - _Cheshire._—Dunham-Massey, Kinderton (?), Malpas (?), Mold (?). - _Cornwall._—Launceston, Restormel, Trematon, Truro (?). - _Derbyshire._—Sheffield (?). - _Devon._—Barnstaple, Barnton, Plympton, Tiverton (?), Totnes. - _Dorset._—Dorchester (?), Shaftesbury (?), Wareham. - _Durham._—Durham, Elswick (?), Throston, (?), Tunstal (?), The Yoden - (?). - _Essex._—Bures (?), Ongar, Plessy. - _Gloucestershire._—Berkeley, Gloucester (?). - _Hampshire._—Basing (?), Carisbrooke, Southampton, Winchester. - _Herefordshire._—Erdesley, Ewyas Harold, Hereford, Kilpeck, Richard’s - Castle, Weobley, Wigmore. - _Hertfordshire._—Ansty (?), Berkhampstead, Hertford, Stansted Mount - Fitchet, Stortford. - _Huntingdonshire._—Huntingdon. - _Kent._—Haydon Mount (?), Kenardington (?), Ledes, Newington (?), - Tunbridge, Tong (?). - _Lancashire._—Gleaston (?), Halton, Penwortham, Robin Hood’s Butt (?). - _Lincolnshire._—Bourne, Lincoln, Stamford. - _Monmouth._—Abergavenny, Caerleon, Crickhowell. - _Northamptonshire._—Fotheringay, Lilbourne (?), Rockingham. - _Northumberland._—Alnwick. - _Oxfordshire._—Oxford. - _Rutland._—Belvoir. - _Salop._—Oswestry, Pulverbatch (?), Quatford, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch, - Whittington. - _Somerset_.—Castle Carey, Dunster, Montacute, Stoke Courcy. - _Staffordshire._—Chartley, Stafford (?), Tutbury. - _Suffolk._—Clare, Eye, Haughley, Thetford. - _Sussex._—Arundel, Chichester (?), Knapp, Lewes. - _Warwick._—Beldesert, Tamworth, Warwick. - _Wiltshire._—Castle Combe, The Devizes, Marlborough, Old Sarum. - _Worcestershire._—Worcester. - _Yorkshire._—Aughton (?), Pickering, Pontefract, Sandal, Skipsea, - Tadcaster, Tickhill, York. - _North Wales._—Hawarden. - _South Wales._—Brecknock, Builth, Cardiff, Coyty. - -Thus, of 119 presumed sites of shell keeps, there are set down 31 the -evidence for which is imperfect, and 88 for the existence of which -there is good evidence, and of these about 40 actually remain in a more -or less perfect, or rather, imperfect, condition. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - CASTLES OF THE EARLY ENGLISH PERIOD. - - -The transition from the Norman to the Early English style, which in -ecclesiastical architecture constitutes a period of great interest, -is by no means, at least in England, so strongly marked in buildings -of the military type. The rectangular and circular or polygonal -keeps, with their Norman features, retained their hold upon English -castle-builders through the reigns of Stephen and that of Henry II., -1135-1189, or for a century and a quarter from the Conquest, or even -later. At Dover, the dog-tooth ornament and a bead moulding, combined -with very decidedly Norman features, mark the Transition period, as -do the ornamental details of the rectangular keep of Helmsley, and -the particulars of the shell-keeps of Tamworth and York. The later -keeps are known by the increased depth of the pilasters, which become -buttresses, as at Dover and Clun, and in the twelfth-century keep of -Chambois (Orne); sometimes by their improved and fine-jointed ashlar, -as at Hedingham; by a more frequent use of the stone of the district -instead of that brought from Caen; by the presence of ribs upon the -groins of the hip-vaulting of the galleries and mural chambers; by -the use of nook-shafts at the exterior angles, as at Scarborough and -Castle-Rising; and by the greater tendency to ornament about the rib -bosses, door cases, window recesses, and fireplaces; and by the more or -less Early English character of such ornamentation. The portcullis is -perhaps less rare in the later keeps. There was, however, little change -in the internal arrangement so long as the Norman outline was retained, -and but little tendency, so far as the keep was concerned, towards -flanking defences. Passive strength is still relied upon. - -Little is known of the _castra adulterina_, of which so many score -were constructed during the reign of Stephen, and destroyed by his -successor. They could scarcely be of the solidity of the Norman -keeps, else their demolition would have been a more difficult task. -They were probably either of timber, or mere walled enclosures of no -great strength. Few, if any of them, represented the chief seats of -large estates, and being built for the most part on new sites, the -earthworks were inconsiderable, and where the works above ground were -destroyed there was little left to show where was their site. Among -the latest rectangular keeps should be mentioned the tower at Penhow, -Monmouthshire, the cradle of the house of Seymour; and that of Fonmon, -in Glamorgan, still inhabited. They are small, without pilasters, and -with scarcely any Norman features, and belong to the Early English -period, as, judging from its foundation laid open and from some -fragments dug up several years ago, did the castle of Sully, near -Cardiff, and probably that of Dunraven, in the same county, the remains -of which are built into a later house. - -By degrees, as the Norman towers and shell-keeps fell out of fashion, -they were succeeded by towers of a cylindrical form, known as Donjons -or Juliets, and this change corresponds to the middle period of the -Early English style in ecclesiastical architecture. Scientifically, -in a military point of view, this was scarcely an advance, for the -defenders of an isolated round tower could not concentrate their fire, -and could only protect the foot of the wall by exposing themselves at -its summit. On the other hand, with equal material, the round tower -was stronger, and more difficult to breach or to bring down by a -mine. Also, it admitted of being vaulted in every story, and was thus -more solid and less exposed than the rectangular keep to being set on -fire, either from within or by balls projected upon its conical roof. -Usually, however, in England, only the basement was vaulted, as at -Brunless. At Pembroke, the great round tower is vaulted at its summit, -as are some of the cylindrical towers in the _enceinte_; but it is -possible that these elevated vaults may be additions. At Coningsborough -the basement alone is vaulted, and the vault is entered by a ladder -from an aperture in the centre of the dome, under which is the well; -the basement, as in Norman and Early English towers generally, being -used as a store-chamber, and seldom, if ever, as a prison. In fact, -in a single tower, whether rectangular or cylindrical, intended by -its passive strength to defy attacks and to wear out the patience of -a blockading force, an ample store of provisions was of the first -consequence, and to their storage all the spare space was necessarily -devoted. In those days, when the keep was the citadel, and not -unfrequently used as such, prisoners were not kept within its walls. -Dungeons there were none, save in a very few exceptional cases, and the -basement or ground-floor was invariably occupied as a magazine. - -These donjons were usually entered at the first-floor level, either -by an exterior stone stair or by one of timber; or sometimes, as at -Pembroke, by a drawbridge, which dropped upon a detached pier, whence -an inclined plane or a flight of steps descended to the ground level. -In their elevated entrance, and in some other respects, these donjons -recall the isolated towers erected during the decline of the Roman -Empire, of which a good example, but square, remains at Autun. There -are only two instances in England of the application of a fore-building -to cover the entrance of these towers, but these—Chilham near -Canterbury, and Orford in Suffolk—are late Norman, not Early English. -Dolbadarn, in North Wales, a rather later tower, but cylindrical, has -an exterior stair of stone, which, however, may be an addition. - -There were commonly three floors. The basement was for stores. The -central floor contained the principal apartment, usually with a -fireplace, and sometimes with mural chambers, one of which is almost -always a garderobe. The flues of the fireplaces and the shafts of -the garderobes are often vertical, and contained within the wall. -The upper floor was either for the soldiery or for a bedroom for the -lord. The walls are ordinarily 10 feet to 12 feet thick, and there is -often a well stair—as at Skenfrith, in Monmouthshire—from the first -floor, leading to the upper chamber and the battlements. In some of -the ruder towers—as in that by the church of Aghadoe, near Killarney, -the ascent from the first floor is by the narrow steps projecting from -the interior face of the wall into the chamber. In the larger towers, -as at Coucy, there is often a small chamber in the wall, over the main -entrance, for the working of a portcullis. Now and then the staircase -begins at the ground-level, ends at the first floor, and begins again -at the opposite side, as in the rectangular keeps. Thus no one could -leave his post on the battlements without the knowledge of the captain, -who lived in the main chamber. - -Where the cylindrical tower formed the donjon or keep, it was commonly -placed within the area, as at Brunless and Skenfrith. At Coningsborough -it stands upon the outer wall; at Pembroke on the wall of the inner -ward; but in neither case is there any communication between the -tower and the rampart of the wall. At Coucy the tower stands on an -inner wall, but is girt about with a low concentric wall covering the -foundations. At Launceston the annular space thus created between the -tower and the girdling wall was roofed over, and there is something -similar round the tower of Penrice in Gower. At Tretower a round tower -has been built within an older rectangular keep, and the space between -roofed over. In these cases the outer wall was about half the height of -the tower. At Lillebonne and Coucy the tower has its proper ditch. - -Coningsborough on the Don is the most complete English example of -the Early English or Transition Norman cylindrical keep. Pembroke, -though rather later, and of far inferior workmanship, is also, in its -proportions and dimensions, a very fine building. Launceston, Tretower, -Penrice, Skenfrith, Brunless, and Dolbadarn, are good examples, as -are the Danes’ tower at Waterford, and the small and rude, but very -curious, tower at Aghadoe. At Nenagh also is a very fine tower, -apparently of the Early English type. The round keep of Barnard Castle, -though of nearly similar pattern, is of later date. At Whitchurch, near -Cardiff, are, or recently were, the foundations of a detached round -tower of considerable diameter, the base mouldings of which showed it -to be of Early English date. At Caldecot, a fine old Bohun castle, -admirably described by Mr. Octavius Morgan, is a round tower, probably -Early English, having a ditch of its own. This tower crowns a small -and evidently artificial mound. It is now a mural tower upon the line -of the outer wall, but it seems to have been cased, and the core is -probably, or possibly, the keep of an earlier castle. - -Those English towers, though curious, are far inferior to those of the -same period remaining in France, whether keeps, such as Étampes, 1160, -the plan of which is a quatrefoil; or Roche-Guyon, where one-half of -the cylinder is absorbed in a triangular spur; or mural towers, as the -King’s Tower at Rouen, that at Carcassonne, and a specially fine one, -lately restored, at Pierrefonds. The keep at Nuremberg is also a good -example. The tower of the Louvre has long been destroyed, but its base -was recently laid open, and found to contain two shafts—those of a well -and a sewer. - -Probably the round towers, or keeps, are the oldest examples of the -form, but very soon afterwards they came into use in England and France -as mural towers, flanking and strengthening the _enceinte_ wall. They -were especially used to cap an angle or to flank a gateway. There is -an example of a round tower capping an angle, of this date, in the -Tower of London, known as Bell Tower. Marten’s Tower at Chepstow is a -good example of a mural tower of the Early English period, having a -fine oratory attached. Its interior is a complete cylinder, but the -exterior, or gorge wall, seen within the court, is flat. At Rochester, -the angle of the ward next the keep has a circular tower, or rather a -buttress tower, as it is not higher than the curtain. In such positions -their passive strength was a great advantage. - -In the latter part of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth -centuries, much was done to introduce domestic comfort into castles. -Fireplaces, which in the Norman keeps were but recesses in the wall, -often with a mere lateral orifice for a smoke-vent, as at Colchester -and Rochester, are now adorned with hoods, often of stone, sometimes of -wood and plaster, and the flues are capacious and calculated to carry -off the smoke. The stone hoods are usually of excellent masonry, and, -even when plain, of much elegance of design, resting upon brackets, and -these on clustered columns flanking the hearth. The vent or flue is -often capped by a chimney-shaft and smoke lanthorn, such as may be seen -at Grosmont and St. Briavels castles, or in the remains of the priory -at Abingdon. Where the hood was of wood or plaster, with a shaft of the -same, or where there was an opening or louvre in the roof, all traces -are, of course, gone, and thus is explained the absence of fireplaces -in rooms evidently intended for ladies and persons of rank. - -In the Norman keeps boarded floors were a necessity, and very -ill-jointed and cold they no doubt were, but with the vault the floors -were composed of beaten lime and sand. Garderobes continued to be -frequent, both in mural chambers and on the battlements, and the shafts -were usually vertical, and descended within the wall, having an outlet -at the foot of it. The hall chapel, and other buildings, placed usually -in the inner ward, were more ornate than in the Norman period. - -In addition to the flanking defence afforded by towers upon the line -of the _enceinte_ wall, there was in general use a contrivance called -a “Brétasche.” This was a gallery of timber running round the walls -outside the battlements, and at their level, supported by struts -resting upon corbels, and covered in with a sloping roof. Sometimes, -in large towers, there were two tiers of these galleries, the upper -projecting beyond the lower, and thus affording a very formidable -defence. As these galleries concealed the top of the wall, this part -was often left in a rude state, and now that the _brétasche_ is gone, -such towers, as at Caerphilly, have a very unfinished appearance. The -_brétasche_ was only put up when a siege was expected, and examples of -it are very rare indeed, although it is evident in numerous instances -that it was formerly in use. There remains a fragment of the actual -_brétasche_ over the Soissons gate of Coucy; and at Ledes, over the -outer gate, is the place of its main beam. The tower of the Palazzo -Vecchio at Florence shows by its lines of corbels that it was intended -to carry a _brétasche_, and a door is seen, as at Norham, in the wall, -which could only have opened upon a timber gallery. Château-Gaillard, -the work of Richard I., has what is not unlike a _brétasche_, executed -in stone. - -The best example in England of the kind of tower which succeeded to -the rectangular and shell keep of the Norman period is the keep of -Coningsborough, which, though containing certain Norman ornaments and -details, belongs to the Transition period. It stands on the summit of -a natural hill, and forms a part of an earlier _enceinte_ wall, which -has been clumsily broken to admit it. The tower, about 70 feet high, -is cylindrical, about 50 feet diameter at the base, and 40 feet at the -summit, but the cylinder is supported exteriorly by six buttresses of -great breadth and bold projection. There is a basement domed over with -a central hole above the well. The only entrance is in the first floor, -about 12 feet from the ground. The upper floors and the roof were of -timber. The staircases are in the wall, winding with it. There are two -garderobes, two fireplaces, no portcullis, and in the upper part of one -of the buttresses is an oratory. The roof was a cone, but sprang from -a ring wall, about 3 feet within the battlement wall and the rampart -walk. By this means the tower could be defended without a _brétasche_, -which would not have been the case had the roof rested on the outer -wall. A similar arrangement may be seen at Marten’s Tower at Chepstow, -and at Pembroke. - -It is not, however, in England that the best examples of these Early -English or Transition keeps are to be found. In rectangular and shell -keeps England has some fine remains, but in France Philip Augustus -carried the new style of building much further, and even now there -remain keep towers of that time which have defied time and the madness -of the Revolution, and still remain tolerably perfect. The greatest -triumph of the period, in this case early in the thirteenth century, -is the tower of Coucy, probably the finest military tower in Europe. -It is the keep of a castle which is itself the citadel of a town, also -strongly fortified. This wonderful work, a cylinder of fine masonry -about 98 feet in diameter, and rising clear and unbroken to 180 feet, -was the work of Engerrand III., Sieur de Coucy, and the most powerful -Baron of his age. The walls are of great thickness, and the basement -and upper floors, three in number, were vaulted, each in twelve deep -and pointed cells. A fosse, paved and walled, 20 feet broad and 12 feet -deep, the counterscarp of which is raised as the wall of a _chemise_, -surrounds the base, and protects it from the operations of the miner. A -drawbridge, crossing this fosse, leads to the first floor of the tower -by its only entrance, which is protected by a portcullis, an interior -_meurtrière_, and a stout door. From the entrance passage a staircase -ascends in the wall, at first direct, and afterwards as a turnpike, -and supplies each floor, reaching finally the ramparts. The basement -was the store, and above are state and other chambers. The well, of -large size, is in the basement, and each floor has its fireplace and -garderobe. The roof was conical, and rested upon an internal wall, -outside of which was the rampart walk, protected by an unusually lofty -parapet, surmounted by a heavy bold coping, and pierced by twenty-four -doorways, intended to open into the timber _brétasche_, while between -the doorways are twenty-four loops, intended to be used when the -_brétasche_ was not fixed. A curious evidence remains of the manner -in which this tower was scaffolded. A double row of putlog holes are -seen to wind round the tower spirally, in two parallel lines, showing -that as the wall rose it was surrounded by a sloping roadway of timber, -of which the main beams were thrust into the wall, and supported by -struts, the lower ends of which rested upon blocks in the lower holes. -A similar arrangement may be seen in the north-west tower of Harlech -Castle, commencing at the top of the curtain-wall. So strong was -Coucy keep that when, at the command of Mazarin, powder was exploded -in its basement-chamber, and the vaultings throughout, thus lifted, -fell, the cylinder, though cracked, was not thrown down. This noble -example of a thirteenth-century tower has been successfully repaired by -Viollet-le-Duc, who closed the fissure, and made the tower apparently -as sound as ever. The vaulting, however, is gone. - -Nor does Coucy, though the chief of the towers of the thirteenth -century, stand alone in its magnificence. Issoudun, known as La -Blanche Tour, is remarkable for the position of its entrance-door, -and for its well-stair contained in the projecting spur; Tournebut, -Cosson, Verneuil, Chinon, Villeneuve-le-Roi, Semur, Alluye, -Bourbon-l’Archambault, and Châteaudun, are a few only of the round -towers or donjons scattered over France, and dating from the latter -half of the twelfth and from the thirteenth century. - -There is a peculiarity in these French towers unknown in England. -Where, as at Château-Gaillard, they are exposed on one side to be -battered, they are constructed with a projection forming a right-angled -salient from the cylinder, which thus becomes keel or boat-shaped in -plain. This spur has a fine effect, and being usually solid, adds much -to the strength of the tower. This projection, of which Roche-Guyon is -a fine example, and which ascends the whole height of the tower, is -very different from the spur-buttress, by which a round tower rises -from a square base. This is especially common in Wales, and may be seen -producing a good effect both at Chepstow and Goderich. - -Of cylindrical keeps, either of early English or late Norman date, in -England, may be mentioned Brunless, near Brecon; probably Caldecot, -Monmouthshire; Coningsborough, described above; Dolbadarn, in North -Wales; Launceston; Pembroke; Penrice, Glamorganshire; Skenfrith, -Monmouthshire; and Tretower, county Brecon. The round tower at Barnard -Castle, a very fine one, already mentioned, is later. - -The reign of Henry III., 1216-1272, was long, and that prince was a -munificent patron of art, and especially of architecture; nevertheless, -and notwithstanding the internal dissensions of the period, the -reign produced (excepting perhaps in South Wales) but few original -castles, and those not remarkable for grandeur. The cause of this was -that the country was already rather over-furnished with castles, so -active had the Norman lords been during a century and a-half, and the -positions of the existing castles being well chosen, and their keeps -of a substantial character, it was found better to add to them, when -space was needed, rather than construct new ones in new positions. -The itinerary of John shows that almost all the great castles of -the country were even then built, and the use to which they were so -frequently put may well have made the successors of that sovereign -anxious rather to destroy than to build. Thus Bedford, a very early -and very strong castle, was held by Fulke de Bréauté against the king -in person, and was only taken by assault after a vigorous siege of -two months, after which it was not only dismantled, but destroyed, -its ditches filled up, and the materials of its walls and towers used -for other constructions. Sometimes, however, where it was desirable, -as in London or at Porchester, or Winchester, or Richmond, to retain -the existing castle, either _enceinte_ walls or more extended outworks -were added, affording more accommodation for troops or for live stock -for the garrison. Palisades gave place to walls, and mural towers and -gatehouses, of large size and great strength, were added. Sometimes, as -at the Tower of London, an outer ward, encircling the older building, -was added; in other cases, as at Corfe, Chepstow, and Barnard Castle, -the new ward was applied on one side, or at one end. In these augmented -castles the keep was still treated as an interior citadel, a last -resource or refuge, and was protected by one or two lines of wall, with -mural towers, usually round or half round, and by gatehouses, composed -of two round towers with the entrance between them, the new area within -being proportioned to the importance of the place. - -These composite structures are the earliest to which the term -concentric is properly applicable. Where the keep is central, and the -_enceinte_ double, as at the Tower and Dover, the result is a very -perfect example of the concentric type of castle, though of course -the parts are of different dates. Of Kenilworth, and probably of -Bridgnorth, the original arrangement was concentric, although the -central part is a ward or walled enclosure, not a single isolated -keep tower, which in these is worked into the line of the inner ward -wall. As the outline of most castles was materially affected by the -disposition of the ground, it is obvious that no classification as -regards chronology can be based altogether upon the ground plan. At -Alnwick, for example, the outline of which is probably Norman, and to -some extent governed by the ground, the keep stands between two wards, -and is the connecting part between them, and so at Chepstow and at -Pickering; while at Richmond, also Norman, the arrangement is wholly -different, as it is at Porchester, where Roman walls have been turned -to account. - -South Wales contains some castles which appear to have been altogether -built, though possibly on old sites, in the reign of Henry III., as -Cilgerran, Manorbeer, Grosmont, and Whitecastle. These, especially -Whitecastle, are mere enclosures of irregular plan, within a strong -curtain wall, supported by mural towers almost always round, and -entered between two such towers as a gatehouse. The domestic buildings -or lodgings, as the hall, sleeping-rooms, kitchen, offices, and -stables, which in a regular English castle were of masonry, in these -Border structures, such as Whitchurch, were partly of timber, with flat -or moderately-sloping roofs, built against the walls of the area. - -In the royal castles, and others the “capita” of estates and seats of -the greater barons, great attention was paid to domestic comfort and -splendour. The records of the reign contain many sheriffs’ accounts -for additions or repairs for domestic buildings within the castles, -for painting the walls in fresco, or filling the windows with stained -glass, all showing a vast growth in taste and luxury. More attention, -indeed, was paid to these matters than to the military defences, for -the pure castles in time of peace were allowed to fall into disrepair, -and scarcely any garrisons were kept up within them. When a rebellion -broke out, and the castles of a district were threatened, the patent -and close rolls are filled with orders to the sheriffs, constables, -and castellans, to supply timber, nails, lead, cordage, barrels of -arrow-heads and cross-bow bolts, calthrops, bow-staves, and now and -then military engines, which were collected from all quarters. All, -however, was done hastily, and any masonry work erected under such -circumstances is generally found to be of inferior quality, and in -marked contrast to the masonry of churches and ecclesiastical buildings -of the same period. - -In the reign of Henry also began to be constructed fortified -dwelling-houses, embattled and usually moated, but not regular castles. -The invasion of the prerogative, under Stephen, led to its enforcement -with strictness in the subsequent reigns, but as there were few -new castles, it was chiefly in favour of fortified houses that the -_licentia kernellare_ was applied for and granted. The earliest extant -licence of this character dates from this reign, and about a score -altogether appear to have been issued by Henry. Of these, six only were -applied for by considerable barons, and in only two cases for castles -of consequence, namely, Dudley and Belvoir. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - OF THE EDWARDIAN OR CONCENTRIC CASTLES. - - -Every castle, if more than a solitary tower or peel, and having more -than a single line of defence, has more or less of a concentric -character, but in most, even of the largest of the earlier castles, the -secondary defences were of small extent and confined to works for the -protection of the entrance, as at Richmond and Coningsborough, and such -cannot, with any propriety, be called in a general sense concentric. -At Richmond, for example, the original castle was an enclosure within -a fortified wall of which the keep formed a part, a small barbican -covering the entrance, and so of the purely Norman part of Corfe, of -Coningsborough, of Brough, of Bridgnorth, and probably of the original -Tower of London. None of these were originally concentric, nor can the -term be correctly applied to the original castles of the early part of -the reign of Henry III., nor even to some of those built by his son. -White Castle, Grosmount, Cilgerran, and even Caernarvon and Conway, -are mere enclosures, strengthened and fortified by mural towers and -gatehouses upon a single line of wall. Salisbury was concentric by -necessity, the earthworks leaving the builders no choice in the matter. -The concentric arrangement has been supposed to have been introduced -by Prince Edward from Syria. That so able a soldier, and so shrewd an -observer, added to his knowledge of the military art by what he saw in -Palestine is probable enough, but the system of defence for which his -reign became celebrated was in truth introduced into England before the -death of Henry and before Edward returned from the East. Caerphilly, -one of the most complete examples of the concentric lines of defence, -was constructed just before Henry’s death, and was the work, not of the -sovereign but of a subject. Nevertheless, so great was Edward’s fame, -that the system which, though he did not invent, he adopted, has been -designated by his name, and the term Edwardian has been applied to that -style of fortress, that took the place both of the round tower and of -the walled enclosure, and carried forward the art of fortification -from the Early English to the Decorated period of English architecture. - -Edward’s policy, on his return from the East, and accession to the -throne, led him not to build, but to pull down castles. In the fourth -year of his reign it was enacted: “It is to be enquired of castelles, -and also of other buyldings girt with dytches, that the walls, tymber, -stone, lead, and other manner of coverynges are worth, and how they may -be solde, after the very value of the same walles and buyldinges. And -how moche the buyldinges without the dych may be sold for, and what -they may be worth, with the gardens, custylages, dove house, and all -other issues of the court by the yere.” Probably this mainly related -to such unlicensed castles as had escaped the hands of Henry, as none -of the older or more important structures were then pulled down. Many -of these, indeed, had recently been augmented and embellished, and -where it suited his convenience, Edward followed in the same track, -strengthening and repairing decayed walls and towers, and adapting -them to the changed circumstances of the time. Thus, at Porchester, he -rebuilt the inner ward, and much enlarged the contained buildings. The -additions to Middleham, an outer ward and gatehouse, are of his reign, -and the vast outworks beyond the lake at Kenilworth, and the effect of -these and similar alterations was to convert the original castles into -those of the concentric type. - -But it was in North Wales that circumstances called forth Edward’s -talent as a military engineer. In that country the strong places were -hill camps, unfitted for modern warfare, and out of the line of his -operations. He found there neither English mounds nor Norman keeps, and -his works are not only on a grand scale, but they are original. To him -are entirely due the castles of Conway and Caernarvon, Beaumaris and -Harlech. Possibly Bere Castle and Dolbadarn Tower were strengthened -by him, but they rather resemble the early works of his father. In -Scotland Edward’s works have been mostly destroyed, but his hand may be -recognised at Linlithgow, possibly in the castle at Edinburgh, and in -the old fortifications of Berwick. - -The first characteristic of a concentric castle is the arrangement of -its lines of defence, one within the other, two or even three deep, -with towers at the angles and along the walls, so planned that no part -is left entirely to its own defences. A wall cannot be advantageously -defended unless so arranged that the exterior base of one part can be -seen and commanded from the summit of another. A Norman keep or an -Early English round tower could only be defended by the projection -of missiles from the battlements, exposing those who discharged -almost as much as those who received them. The employment of mural -towers not only added to the passive strength of the wall whence -they projected, but when placed within a bowshot distance enabled -the defenders, themselves protected, to enfilade the intermediate -curtain. By this means the curtain wall, that part of the work least -able to withstand the strokes of the ram, became that in defence of -which most projectiles could be brought to bear, whilst the towers, -which from their distance apart were but imperfectly flanked, were -from their form and solidity in little danger of being breached. By -this means also material was economised. The walls were less thick, -and the defence generally was carried on with more skill and less -dependence upon passive strength. In this indeed there was nothing -new, but not the less the principle was ignored in the construction -both of keep-towers and their successors, the round towers, donjons, -or juliets. But in the concentric system a good deal more than this -was effected. The parts of the lines of defence were so arranged that -the garrison could sally from one part, and so harass the attack upon -another. Moreover each part, tower or gatehouse, and sometimes each -stage of a building, was so contrived that it could be held separately -for a short time. Also, from the concentric arrangement of the lines, -a breach of the outer wall did not involve the loss of the place. The -second ward, as at Beaumaris, Harlech, Caerphilly, or the Tower, was -so narrow that in the event of its being entered from a breach, the -assailants were exposed to an attack on either flank, in such a manner -that their greater number could not be brought to bear, nor was there -room to work a catapult or set up a malvoisin. In these castles, the -keep, the main feature in a Norman or an Early English fortress, was -dispensed with; it was developed, to speak anatomically, into an open -court, strengthened at its sides and angles by gatehouses and mural -towers, and having the hall and domestic apartments ranged against the -wall along one or two sides. Around this inner ward was disposed a -second ward, of narrow breadth, and broken up by cross walls. Sometimes -around this second ward was disposed a third or outer ward, usually -of large area, so as to accommodate the greater part of the garrison, -the horses, and the neighbouring peasants with their cattle. In many -castles this outer ward contained a ditch, or even a large sheet of -water, as at Ledes, Caerphilly, and Kenilworth, formed by damming back -a local streamlet. In such cases the defence of the dam became a matter -of prime consequence, and was specially provided for by stout walls -along its length, and towers or gatehouses at either end. In these -castles every part is intended for everyday use. No part is set apart -only to be inhabited during a siege. The hall, chapel, and kitchen were -habitually used, and constructed on a fitting scale. - -As Caerphilly is both the earliest and the most complete example in -Britain of a concentric castle, it will be convenient briefly to -point out its principal features. The position was selected to close -a pass by which the Welsh were wont to issue from the hill country of -Glamorgan into Monmouthshire, the way by the sea coast being barred by -Cardiff and the castles of the vale. The spot selected lay between the -Taff and the Rhymny, upon a gravel bank rising in a low marshy bottom, -having mountainous, or at least very high ground to its north, south, -and west. The central part of the bank was occupied by a rectangular -enclosure, 70 yards by 53 yards, having at each angle a lofty drum -tower, and in the centre of each end a broad and lofty gatehouse. On -one side of this inner ward was the hall, 72 feet long by 33 feet -wide, placed between the chapel and the private apartments, while -the gatehouses also contained apartments second only to the hall in -magnitude. This inner ward stood within a second and rather larger -area, also rectangular, and 106 yards by 90 yards. This middle ward was -provided with smaller gatehouses connected with those within, and was -contained within a revetment and parapetted wall which descended 20 -feet all round into water. Four parapetted bastions, corresponding to -the interior towers, capped the four angles, and the side next the hall -contained the kitchen and offices, and a water-gate opening from the -hall by a broad passage with space for the stowage of boats. - -The water by which these two wards were encompassed was on one side -a deep and broad lake covering about 16 acres, and on the other -side a smaller sheet of water of about 3½ acres. These two waters -were connected by cross cuts at each end, traversed, opposite the -gatehouses, by drawbridges. One of these dropped upon a _tête du pont_, -a sort of hornwork or ravelin of earth, about an acre and a-half -in area, and enclosed within a revetment wall duly parapetted, and -probably with a stout palisade on the raised ground within. A branch -from the lake encircled this work, and a second drawbridge connected -it with the ground outside. At the opposite end of the castle another -bridge dropped from the middle ward upon the outer ward, a very -remarkable work. This was a raised platform nearly 330 yards long by -from 14 yards to 36 yards in depth, covering the whole front of the -castle, including the two sheets of water. The platform was divided -near its centre by a lofty wall embattled on each face, and having a -ditch along one of them. On this wall was a strong gatehouse having -below a portcullised doorway, with a drawbridge connecting the two -parts of the platform, and above, a smaller doorway, also protected by -a bridge and portcullis, and guarding the way to the battlements of the -outer wall. At one end of the platform was a postern connected with the -stables, and at the other a cluster of towers on the outer bank of the -lake, containing another postern. In the centre was the great exterior -gatehouse, from the gateway of which a bridge dropped upon an enormous -pier standing in the middle of the outer ditch, from the exterior -face of which a second bridge dropped upon the village street. On the -platform was a large corn-mill, and connected with it the dam and -sluice by which the waters of the lake were retained and regulated, and -which was very strongly fortified. Thus there were two great gates and -two posterns at points of the castle distinct from each other, whence -large bodies of cavalry could issue, so that the camp of a besieging -force could be attacked from four directions, and, in case of failure, -the castle could be reached by four entrances, besides two water-gates. -In addition to these strategical arrangements, each tower and gatehouse -had a portcullised entrance on the ground floor, and in the upper -stories the lateral doorways opening on the battlements of the curtains -were protected in a similar manner. - -In a military point of view, Caerphilly is a work of consummate skill. -Unfortunately for its historic fame, the settlement of Wales followed -so closely upon its erection that it never attained to any great -importance. - -Harlech is a concentric castle, probably designed by the architect of -Caerphilly. Here also is an inner rectangular ward, with drum towers at -the angles and the hall, and other buildings on two sides. This stands -within an outer ward, also rectangular, with parapetted walls and -bastions. The inner ward has a large single gatehouse, connected with -a second and smaller one in the outer ward, from which a drawbridge -spanned a deep and broad ditch quarried in the rock. Harlech stands -well, and occupies a bold headland of rock which formerly rose out of -the sea, from which it is now separated by a broad tract of low land. -Its great peculiarity is a covered staircase cut in the rock, defended -seaward by a looped parapet, and closed above and below by small -gatehouses. This was the water-gate of the fortress, and opened upon a -small quay now occupied by the railway. - -Beaumaris, another of Edward’s castles, deserves special attention -from the fact that it stands upon open ground, and its plan is -therefore unaffected by any peculiarities of level. It is composed -of two wards; the inner rectangular, 58 yards by 66 yards, with high -curtain walls, drum towers at the four angles, a gatehouse in the -centre of each end and half-round towers in the centre of each side, -of which one is the chapel. The apartments were in the gatehouses, and -the hall was on the first floor, above the portal. The curtains are -remarkable. They are 16 feet thick, but are pierced longitudinally -below the ground level by a series of sewers, and above by a mural -gallery, the rampart walk being above all. The outer ward is an -irregular octagon, the opposite sides being equal. It is strengthened -by twelve drum towers. The space between the two walls, forming the -ward, is narrow—from 40 to 50 feet broad. At one end is a gatehouse, -protected by a double traverse raking the passage, and at the other is -a postern, part of a gatehouse, either unfinished or pulled down. From -one end towards the sea shore projects a wall 5 yards broad and about -33 yards long, containing a passage looped each way and traversed by a -gateway. This is a spurwork, and was connected with the quay, and ended -in a round tower. There was but one ditch, which girdled the whole, and -was fed from the adjacent sea. It is now filled up. - -The additions to the Tower of London, by which its Norman keep and -Early English inner ward were converted into a regular concentric -castle, are skilfully managed. Here the second ward, as usual, is very -narrow, and a broad and deep ditch girdles the whole. One limb of -the ditch is, however, represented by the Thames, but between it and -the outer wall is a strip of land serving as a quay for the landing -of stores, of which the rear is strongly fortified. At each end was -a sluice for regulating the water of the ditch, and in the centre a -grand and strongly fortified water-tower, with a portcullised canal -from the river, known as Traitors’ Gate. The annexed plan of the Tower -represents very fairly a composite but concentric castle. - -When the size of the fortress did not require more than one ward, as -at Pennard in Gower, or where the ground was unsuitable, as at Conway -and Chepstow, the concentric arrangement was laid aside. At Chepstow -the Norman keep stands upon a steep ridge of rock, occupying its whole -breadth. The additions, therefore, were necessarily at each end, so -that the whole castle, constructed at various times, is an oblong, -composed of five wards opening one from the other, with the keep in the -centre. Its plan is, as it were, a slice cut right across a concentric -castle. - -In an Edwardian castle the principal feature was the hall, spacious, -well lighted, usually with a handsome fireplace and an open timber -roof. At Beaumaris it occupies the first floor of a gatehouse; at -Ludlow, Durham, Pembroke, and Conway it is built against the curtain. -The domestic apartments opened from the dais end of the hall. The -accounts of Henry III. often record works in the halls of castles. -28 Henry III. a great louvre was ordered for the hall at Woodstock, -and a new hall 60 feet by 40 feet at Ludgershall, with offices and two -kitchens for the king and his household at one end of it. At Chepstow -Henry ordered a hall and kitchen to be constructed of timber. - -[Illustration] - -The kitchen was a very important part of an Edwardian castle. The -Norman cookery was probably very simple, and few of their keeps have -any discoverable kitchen. The later kitchen was often a great feature -in the castle. At Caerphilly, as at Cockermouth, it occupies a large -tower. At Ludlow it stood out alone in the court-yard. At Kenilworth -its remains are considerable. The oven was often of large size. That at -Morlais was 12 feet diameter. - -The chapel is also an essential part of an Edwardian castle. Many -of the Norman keeps contain mural oratories. In Newcastle, Dover, -and Middleham there were regular chapels within the forebuilding. At -Guildford the oratory is an =∟=-shaped mural cell. At Caerphilly the -chapel opened from the lower end of the hall. At Kenilworth foundations -of a large chapel, of Decorated date, have been laid open in the outer -ward. At Goderich the chapel is connected with the gatehouse, and at -Prudhoe. At Beaumaris, Kidwelly, and Oxwich it occupied a mural tower. -At Chepstow the chapel was on a large scale, and in the outer ward. -There is also, in Martens tower, a charming Early English oratory. In -royal castles, in the reign of Henry III., the chapel often appears in -the accounts. In one castle Henry orders a chapel to be constructed 25 -feet long, and the head of the oriel was to be in the king’s chamber. -At Kennington Castle, the chapel was to be wainscotted and provided -with a staircase of plaster 30 feet long and 12 feet wide. Its upper -part communicated with the queen’s private chapel, and the household -sat below. At Winchester the chapel opened into the queen’s chamber, -and at Woodstock was a passage between the two, so that the queen could -go and return dryshod. Twelve mats for the worshippers were ordered in -St. Thomas’ Chapel in Winchester Castle. Many of the larger castles -contained regularly endowed chapels, sometimes, as at Windsor, even -collegiate. Pontefract and Hastings were so provided. This was also the -practice in Scotland. Dalkeith Castle had a chapel endowed in 1377, -and to Lord Moray’s chapel, in Bucharm Castle, were attached certain -tithes early in the thirteenth century. At Dunster and elsewhere was a -provision that the officiating monks, who came from an adjacent priory, -should during a siege perform their services at home. - -An Edwardian gatehouse is a very imposing structure. It was usually -rectangular in plan, always flanked in front by two drum towers, and -sometimes in the rear by two others containing well-staircases. In -its centre was the portal arch opening into a long straight passage -traversing the building. Three loops in each flanking tower commanded -the bridge of approach, raked the lateral curtain, and covered a point -immediately outside the gate. Above the portal was usually a small -window, and above that, at the summit, a machicolation set out on -corbels, or in its place a sort of bridge, thrown across from tower to -tower a couple of feet in advance of the wall, so that a chase or slot -was left, down which stones or even beams could be let fall upon those -who might be assailing the gate below. Such an arrangement is seen at -Neath, Leybourne, and Pembroke, and is not uncommon. Over the town -gate at Coucy and at the barbican gate at Ledes the projection was of -timber, and part of it remains. - -The portal arch, wide enough to admit a wain, or three men-at-arms -abreast, was usually of the form known as “drop.” Within, the first -defence was a herse or portcullis, and behind it a door of two leaves, -opening inwards, and, when closed, held by one or two stout bars of -oak, which could be pushed back into cavities in the wall. Behind the -door the vaulting was often replaced by a flat roof of timber, through -which worked a second portcullis, and then came two lateral doorways -opening into porters’ lodges, usually connected with a small prison. -At St. Briavels the lodge doors are portcullised. At the end of the -boarded space the vault recommenced, and there was a second pair of -doors and a second portcullis. These two were intended against assaults -from within, each gatehouse being constructed for an independent -defence. - -Usually, in addition to these gates and doors, the vault was pierced -with from one to five square or round holes, about a foot across, -called “meurtrières.” These might serve to hold posts to check the -entrance of a body of men, or for thrusting pikes down upon them. They -have also been supposed to be intended to allow water to be poured -down, supposing the passage filled with bushes set on fire, though it -is difficult to see how any quantity of water could be obtained, any -more than melted lead or pitch, which are spoken of. The first floor of -the larger gatehouses contained a handsome chamber with lateral doors -leading to the ramparts of the curtain, and sometimes, as at Caerphilly -and the Tower, to an oratory. The portcullises were worked through the -floor, and their tackle must have given an air of warlike reality to -the room, like the guns in a state-cabin at sea. At Caerphilly and -Chepstow the passage to the curtains is protected by a portcullis and a -drawbridge, of which the pit is a deep hollow in the wall. - -The walls of these Edwardian castles varied from 25 to 40 feet in -height and were from 6 to 8 feet thick, or even more, to allow of mural -galleries, as at Chepstow, Caerphilly, and Beaumaris. Upon their top -was a path called the “allure,” or rampart walk, protected in front -by an embattled parapet, and in the rear by lower and lighter walls. -Frequently there was a loop in each merlon, and each embrasure was -fitted with a hanging shutter, both of which are seen at Chepstow. -Where the curtain crosses a ward or projects as a spur, as at -Caerphilly and Beaumaris, it was embattled on both faces. The ramparts -were usually reached from the adjacent mural towers, but sometimes, -as at Warwick, by an open staircase of stone. Occasionally, where a -wall is too slight to allow of a rampart wall, it was, in time of war, -provided with a platform of wood, like a builder’s scaffold. This seems -to have been the case with the city wall of York where it bounds the -cathedral garden. - -Mural towers vary much in form and size, but are more usually round, -or half-round, or half-round with prolonged sides, than square. Now -and then they are polygonal, as at Stokesay, Warwick, Cardiff, and the -Bishop’s Gatehouse at Llandaff. Stokesay is of the thirteenth century, -but usually these towers are later. Mural towers have seldom much -internal projection. In Roman works they are usually solid, but in -later castles they are sometimes open in the rear or gorge to prevent -their being held when taken by the assailants. The towers of Cologne -and Avignon are so open, and at the Tower the Byward and Traitors’ Gate -towers are closed only with a wooden brattice. The annexed drawing -shows the back view of Traitors’ Gate, with the large arch over the -water and the timber-work above it. - -Where there was an outer ward and a second wall, this was considerably -lower than the inner wall, and commanded from it; and the mural towers -often became mere bastions, not rising above the curtains. The second -ward, besides being too narrow to allow of troops being massed or -machines posted for the attack on the inner wall, was traversed by -cross walls with gates, so as to isolate any body of assailants who had -breached the outer wall. Such cross walls may be seen at Caerphilly and -at the Tower. - -The barbican was sometimes a mere walled space attached in front of -the gateway, as at Carlisle, Alnwick, Richmond, or the Bars at York. -Sometimes it was a _tête du pont_, detached from the main work, and -posted at the end of the bridge, upon the counterscarp of the ditch, -as at Hawarden, Ledes, and Goderich. At Scarborough it is placed at -the outer end of the long raised causeway, which, again, is broken by -two drawbridges falling from a low central tower. At Helmsley, as at -Caerphilly, the barbican partakes of the character of a horn-work. The -Tower barbican, called the Spurgate, is a regular low gatehouse, with -flanking drum towers or bastions covering the head of the bridge, and -itself protected by a loop from the main ditch. At Bridgenorth the -barbican contained a kitchen, ordered to be repaired, 17 Hen. III. At -Canterbury the barbican, _temp._ Ed. II., was used as a prison. - -[Illustration] - -Spelman defines a barbican or “ante-murale” as “munimen a fronte castri -aliter ante murale dictum; etiam foramen in urbium castrorumque mœniis -ad trajicienda missilia.” - -A palisaded embrasure in front of the barbican was known as the -“barriers.” They are well represented at the Tower by the stockade -covering the entrance. - -The drawbridge was an important feature in the defence of a castle. -In its most simple form it was a platform of timber turning upon two -gudgeons or trunnions at the inner end; when up, it concealed the -portal, and when down, dropped upon a pier in the ditch or upon the -counterscarp. Its span varied from 8 to 12 feet. The contrivances for -working it were various. Sometimes chains attached to its outer end -passed through holes above the portal, and were worked within by hand -or by a counterpoise. Occasionally there was a frame above the bridge, -also on trunnions. In the larger castles the arrangements were very -elaborate. Sometimes the bridge was the only connexion between the -gateway and the opposite pier; at others the parapets or face walls -rested on a fixed arch, and the bridge dropped between them. A fine -example of this kind of bridge is seen at the Constable’s Gate, Dover -Castle. At Goderich the details are tolerably perfect. The ditch was -crossed by a stone bridge, apparently of two arches, but only the outer -one is permanent. The roadway of the inner one was a drawbridge. At -Caerphilly, in the ditch in front of the main gate, is a large stone -pier from which a bridge fell each way. Probably it carried a tower of -timber. In Henry III.’s accounts is mention of a _brétasche_ on the -bridge of the great tower at Winchester, and of another, covered with -lead, upon the new bridge. - -The portcullis, the “altera securitas” of the badge of the House of -Somerset, always present in the castles of Henry and Edward, was an -important part of the defence. It was a strong grating, in the smaller -gateways of iron, in the larger of oak, strengthened and shod with -iron spikes, and suspended in grooves by two cords or chains, which -passed over two sheaves, or sometimes through a single central block, -and either were attached to counterpoises or worked, as at the Tower -and York gates, by a winch. The grooves are generally half-round, -with slightly prolonged sides, 4 to 6 inches broad by from 4 to 7 -inches deep. Above, in the vault, is a chase through which the grate -is worked. Sometimes the portcullis chamber is a small cell in the -wall, as at Rochester keep and Coucy, but in large gateways where -there are two or three grates, they are worked in the chamber above. -At Linlithgow and Thornton Abbey, where the grate is single, it is -carried up within the wall and worked in the second story. Sometimes -the grate had no lateral grooves, and must have either hung loose or -been steadied by its spikes resting on the ground below. This is seen -at St. Briavels and at the upper gate of Chepstow, though never with an -outer portcullis. Sometimes grooves are cut for a spare grate, but do -not appear to have been armed. - -Nothing is more remarkable than the provisions for cleanliness in -military buildings. At Ludlow, Langley, and Caerphilly Castles are -large mural towers appropriated to garderobes. At Goderich they occupy -a broad buttress. At Beaumaris the sewers are of very large size, and -run within the main curtain like galleries. Such sewers are often -supposed to be secret passages, though the garderobes above, and the -character of the outlets below, should correct this notion. At Coyty -the filth was collected in an enormous vaulted chamber. The ramparts of -the curtains are also usually provided with garderobes. - -Subterranean chambers were not more frequent in England in the -thirteenth and fourteenth than in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, -and if we have nothing like the magnificent tiers of vaulting in the -tower of Coucy, neither have we anything like the wretched cells and -oubliettes found in German castles, and of which those of Baden-Baden -are examples. The basement chambers of mural towers are, indeed, often -below the level of the court-yard, but they are above that of the ditch -outside. At Castel Coch, near Cardiff, is about the worst dungeon in -Britain, but even this is not underground. - -The posterns in these castles are often very elaborate. There is a very -fine one at Windsor, opening in the castle ditch, and intended for -the passage of cavalry. This is probably of the age of Henry III. At -Caerphilly are two with regular gatehouses and drawbridges. Sometimes -the postern is a small door with a grate. That at Goderich was worked -in the floor above, so that it required two men in two several places -to open or close the postern. At Caerphilly are two water-posterns; one -out of which a boat could be lowered into the lake, the other at the -water-level, as at Ledes and Tonbridge. Harlech water-gate has been -mentioned. - -The castles both of Henry and Edward combine the palace with the -fortress, but the domestic are always subordinate to the military -arrangements. Whether absolutely original, as Caerphilly or Beaumaris, -or completions of older works, as Corfe, Dover, and the Tower, they -usually present a grand appearance, and the masonry is generally -excellent. - -Very many of our principal towns were walled in during the reigns of -Henry and Edward; some—as York, Leicester, Colchester, and Chester—took -advantage of the Roman wall. Northampton was walled before 1278. At -Winchester the wall was founded upon an early earth-bank. The only -licences granted for town walls appear to have been to the men of -Harwich and Ipswich, 26 Ed. III.; the Mayor and prud-hommes (probi -homines) of Coventry, 37 and 38 Ed. III.; of Salisbury, 46 Ed. III.; -and of Winchelsea, 3 Hy.; the defences of Hereford, a very exposed -place, seem to have been formed of briars and thorns, placed upon very -formidable banks of earth. It sometimes happened that the gatehouses -were of masonry, while the rest of the defences were banks of earth -stockaded. - -The fourteenth century was prolific in castles, chiefly of the smaller -class, upon the Scottish border and in Scotland. In England Dacre, -Dunstanborough, and Spofforth were built early in that century; the -Palace Castle of St. David’s was built in 1342, Caesar’s Tower at -Warwick about 1360, and Guy’s Tower in 1394, two magnificent works. -Gradually, however, pure castles fell into disuse, and such structures -as Bolton and Wressill and Sheriff-Hutton took their place, affecting -generally the form of a square court, round which the buildings were -ranged, and which was entered by a regular gatehouse. In these, -however, the castellate character was employed more from custom than -from necessity, and the external windows are large, and the walls of -very moderate thickness. Many of the royal castles were left to decay, -and others were employed as prisons and handed over to the counties. A -short Act of the 13 R. II. orders “that the King’s castles and gaols -should be joined to the bodies of the counties, and, where severed, -should be reunited.” - -Castle-building was from a very early time considered as a royal -prerogative, though in the reigns immediately succeeding the Conquest, -it was so great an object to hold the country, that the claim seems -to have been allowed to slumber. The wholesale destruction of the -adulterine or unlicensed castles which followed upon the death of -Stephen showed the revival of the prerogative, and, in the reign of -Henry III., a regular form of licence, “licentia crenellare,” had to be -granted before a house could lawfully be fortified. The earliest known -of these licences was granted by Henry III. to the Bishop of Winchester -in 1257-8, to enable him to fortify the Isle of Portland. Henry granted -20 of these licences; Edward I., 44; Edward II., 60; Edward III., 181; -Richard II., 60; Henry IV., 8; Henry V., 1; Henry VI., 5; and Edward -IV., 3. A very complete list of these licences, prepared by Sir J. -Duffus Hardy, has been printed by Mr. Parker. Of the 382 given by him, -only four relate to castles of importance; Belvoir, Bungay, Dudley, -and Whitchurch, all of which had been fortified before legal memory. -Most of the others relate to manor-houses, some to bishops’ palaces -and cathedral closes, some to monasteries, some to houses in cities, -and some to castles probably then first built, or perhaps rebuilt on -a larger scale. Such were Apley, Aldworth, Amberley, Bodiam, Bolton, -Bothal, Cowling, Dunstanborough, Ford, Harewood, Naworth, Penrith, Rose -Castle, Stokesay, Shirburne, Tanfield, Tongue, and Wardour, most of -which are still standing, and two or three inhabited. - -The following, from the Patent Roll, 15 Hen. VI., 1437, is a part of -the licence granted to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and his Duchess, -who proposed to build a strong house upon the hill now occupied by -the Royal Observatory at Greenwich: “Muris petra et calce includere -et firmare, et muros illos kernellare, batellare, et turrellare, ac -quandam turrim infra parcum prædictum similiter petra et calce de novo -construere, edificare, ac tam turrim illam sic de novo constructam et -edificatam quam dictum manerium sive mansionem ut præmittitur inclusum, -firmatum, kernellatum, imbattellatum, et turrellatum, tenere possint -sibi et hæredibus suis prædictis in perpetuum.” - -Innis (“Sketches,” 444) gives a corresponding licence from the Earl of -Ross, in 1406, for the building of Kilravock. - -“Johne of Yle, Erle of Ross ande Lord of the Ilis, to all ande sundry -to quhais knawlage thir our present letteris sall come, greeting. Witte -us to have gevyn ande grantit, and be thir present letteris gevis -ande grantis, our full power ande licence till our luffid cosing, man -ande tennand, Huchone de Roos, Baron of Kylravok, to fund, big, ande -upmak a toure of fens, with barmkin and bataling, upon quhat place -of strynth him best likes, within the barony of Kilrawok, without -any contradictioun or demaund, questioun, or any obiection to put in -contrar of him or his ayris, be us or our ayris, for the said toure -ande barmkyn making, with the bataling, now or in tyme to cum. In -witnes hereof, ye haf gert our sele to ther letteris be affixt at -Inuernys, the achtend day of Februar, the yer of Godd a thousand four -hundreth sixte yer.” - -Mr. Innis points out that one of James’s first acts on returning from -his English captivity was to order the owners of all castles and -manor-places to make them habitable and to live in them; and he adds -that it is remarkable “How many Scotch castles date from the half -century following the above enactment, and all of one design—a stern, -square keep, rudely kernellated, and surmounted with a cap-house, -partially surrounded by a barbican or barmkin, affording protection -to the inhabitants and their cattle from the hurried inroads of -rough-handed neighbours.” - - - - - MEDIÆVAL MILITARY ARCHITECTURE. - - DESCRIPTIONS. - - “...Time - Has mouldered into beauty many a tower, - Which, when it frowned with all its battlements, - Was only terrible.” ... —MASON. - - - - - ALNWICK CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND. - - -The castle of Alnwick stands upon a moderate eminence on the south bank -of, and about 150 yards distant from, the river Alne, which was thus -its immediate defence against the Scot. It is about five miles from, -and about 200 feet above, the sea-level. Towards the east and south -the castle is cut off from the town of Alnwick by a deep combe, once -the bed of the Bow Burn. This has been trimmed and scarped by art, and -its upper part towards the town has been almost obliterated by modern -upfilling. - -To the west is a nearly level platform in front of the castle, and -separated from it by a ditch wholly artificial, and in part filled up -and covered by the stables. This ditch was formerly produced along the -south front, and communicated with the Bow Burn ravine. A modern bank -of earth conceals the town from the castle on this, the south-western -quarter. - -The walls of Alnwick town were embattled, and probably built, under a -licence to Henry Percy, in 1434, when he constructed the Bond Gate, -now standing. It is uncertain whether the town wall was independent of -the castle, as at Chepstow, or abutted against its outer wall, as at -Carlisle. The main entrance to the castle and its principal postern -were both outside the town. The former was approached from it by a town -gate, the position of which is remembered, and its name preserved, in -the way called “Narrow Gate.” The castle postern opens towards the -river. The Lion gateway in the south wall, leading to the town and the -railway station, is altogether a modern structure, but may represent a -by-gate communicating with the town. - -In plan the castle is irregular and many-sided; the west and south -sides terminate, the one in the Abbot’s Tower, and the other in the -Eastern or Ravine Tower, and are 125 yards and 213 yards long; and the -side towards the river, and contained between these two towers, is 226 -yards. The area within the walls is nearly 3 acres; that included by -the ditch is near 7 acres. - -There is no single keep-tower. The keep is in plan an irregular -polygon, set round with clustered towers, and containing a central -court. This is placed nearly in the middle of the general inclosure, -with which it was connected at three points: one, on the south, by a -bold and lofty gallery which has replaced an original curtain, and -projects 35 yards from the keep to a gatehouse which divides the -eastern and western wards, and is known as the Middle Gate. The other -connexions on the north side were two curtain walls, of which one -reached from the keep 33 yards to the Falconer’s Tower, now rebuilt and -shifted, and had upon it the Armourer’s Tower, now destroyed; and the -other was a curtain, now removed, which extended 20 yards from the keep -to the Postern Tower. - -By these arrangements the area was subdivided into an outer or western, -an inner or eastern ward, and a central open keep. There remained, -however, on the north front a three-sided space, bounded by the keep -and the two curtains, and flanked by the Falconer’s and Postern towers. -This space, open towards the river, is at present protected on that -side by a low retaining terrace-wall and bastions of very modern -date. A survey of 1567 shows this side open, and no doubt it was so -originally; the river, its steep bank, the keep, the flanking towers -and curtains, and no doubt palisade, being regarded as a sufficient -defence. This disposition is, however, singular and very curious, and -looks as though the engineer wished to attract the enemy to this the -strongest and most completely flanked part, by a show of weakness by -the absence of an outer _enceinte_. Economy of construction could not -have been the motive, for the cross curtains, in length, would go some -way towards completing the broken _enceinte_. - -It would seem, from existing fragments and traces of foundations, that -the lines of the present _enceinte_ and keep are those of the old -Norman fortress. The outline is governed very much by the disposition -of the ground, and the shell keep was the approved Norman way of -occupying such a knoll, whether natural, as at Durham, or artificial, -as at Windsor, or, as here, probably a very slight addition to a -natural knoll. A distinct ditch, now filled up, encircled the keep and -protected it from its containing wards. Towards the river this ditch -seems to have worked out into a steep scarp. - -The keep is at this time an open court surrounded by towers. To the -south-east, the gatehouse, about 40 feet deep and 20 feet wide, has -grand external and internal round-headed Norman arches of 9 feet 2 -inches span, the vault between being segmental and crossed by plain -chamfered ribs. The exterior arch has a double band of bold chevron -mouldings within a circle of double-hatched work. The inner arch has a -single chevron band, and above it a band of which the voussoirs have -alternate patterns of sunk nail-heads and the heraldic “lozengy.” -This is the work of Eustace de Vesci, who died 1157, and may be dated -1150, though possibly a part of his “munitissimum castellum,” which, -according to Mr. Tate, was existing in 1135. This Norman gateway is -imbedded within a complete gatehouse by Henry de Percy in 1530, of -which the main features are two lofty towers, which as half octagons -flank the entrance from the eastern ward. Original shields of arms, -in the Northumbrian fashion, are carved below the parapets; and -upon the merlons, which are looped, are some original figures, as at -Bothal and Chepstow. The archway is portcullised. The parapets are not -machicolated. The vaulting of the interior of these towers is very -good, and they contain in the basement the original dungeons, which are -described as vaults 10 feet square, aired by loops, while below these -are oubliettes, 8 feet by 9 feet, and reached only by trap-doors in the -floor above. Over the gateway is the private dining-room. The plan of -encrusting an original Norman gateway with later work is very common; -the gatehouses at York afford excellent examples of it. - -Entering the court, the open part of which is about 24 yards across, -on the right, in the wall, is the very curious well. Within a pointed -panel are three deep recesses, also pointed, of which the centre -contains the mouth of the well, the shaft of which descends in the -thickness of the wall. A wooden axle crosses above it, and is fitted in -the lateral niches with two wheels, set round with pegs, for winding up -the water-buckets by hand. Above, within the panel, in a small niche is -a figure of St. James blessing the source. This curious and probably -singular well was the work of the first Henry de Percy, in 1312-15; -but the figure of the saint is thought to be an insertion of the last -century. There is a similar arrangement over the great gate of Goderich -Castle for working the portcullis. - -Beyond the well is the rear wall of the Great Hall, built by the same -Percy, refitted by the first duke, and rebuilt in 1863. The vaults -below with their segmental ribbing are original, as is part of the rear -and north wall and of the bow, whence the cross curtain ran to the -Postern Tower. This is still the state dining-room, 60 feet by 24 feet, -and the vaults fulfil their original destination as cellars. At this -point is placed a modern cloister supporting a corridor, by which a -bye-access is given to the suite of state-rooms. The original entrance -to the hall was by six open steps from the court. - -Next beyond the hall, pointing to the north-east, is a tower, once the -kitchen and scullery, but rebuilt for the second time in 1856, and now -the drawing-room, 45 feet by 22 feet. Beyond this, along the north-east -front, are the saloon, 42 feet by 22 feet, and an ante-room, 22 feet -by 22 feet, built in 1750-86, but newly fitted up. Next to these, -and forming the north-west angle of the keep, is Prudhoe Tower, the -principal tower in the fortress, upon which the flag is hoisted. This -contains the library, 55 feet by 24 feet, and presents two grand bays -to the east and west, with a deep re-entering angle between them. This -also is modern. - -Next, on the west front, follows the chapel, built in 1856, a -rectangular tower of bold projection, one principal floor, and a -high-pitched roof. The two angles are cut off, so as to form a -polygonal apse. This conventional east end points, however, south-west. - -Then, facing to the south-west, follow two half-round towers, rebuilt -1750-86, containing state bedrooms, and connected by a short curtain, -within which is a dressing-room. Finally, between these and the -gatehouse, completing the circuit of the keep, and projecting due -south, is the gallery, having on the first floor a breadth of one line -of five rooms and a corridor, and below, the middle gateway. The rooms -are the private apartments of the duke and duchess, and a passage -communicating with the kitchens. The gateway, which has a portcullis, -is of the date of 1309-15, and built into the south curtain, from the -outside of which it projects as a mural tower. The gallery replaced -a curtain about 1760, and was rebuilt 1856. The battlements of the -gatehouse were probably added about 1407-55. - -The entrance to the state apartments is in the central court, beneath -the arched vestibule, at the north-west corner. From this a grand -flight of steps ascends to an interior vestibule, and thence by a -second flight to the guard chamber, which opens into the state-rooms. -These are all on the first floor, the basement being occupied by -servants’ rooms. - -Although the greater part of the keep has been rebuilt in the last and -the present century, it still is composed of the seven towers of the -early Percies, shown in the plan of 1567, and much, especially of the -basement, is old; and what is new is arranged with a close general -regard to the older, and, indeed, in many parts, Norman plan. The -exterior ditch of the keep is partly filled up, and the drawbridge of -the inner gate has been removed. A portcullis remains. - -Of the general and exterior _enceinte_, the most complete and striking -portion is the western gateway, a very fine and unaltered example of -a gate and barbican of the Edwardian period, 1312-15, in its simplest -form. The barbican, about 55 feet long by 32 feet wide, is entered by a -large round-headed arch, between a pair of square flanking buttresses, -corbelled out above into two turrets, also square. Over the entrance -in a sunk panel is a large Percy lion, with their motto, “Espérance.” -The arch leads into a passage, 55 feet long by 10 feet wide, for the -first 20 feet vaulted, but afterwards open to the sky. This lies -between very lofty side walls, embattled each way. On the left, a -small side-door led to the counterscarp of the ditch; also on the left -another door opens into a mural stair ascending to the battlements. In -front is the portal of the gatehouse. This barbican crossed the ditch -now filled up. Besides an outer drawbridge, over a loop of the main -ditch, it had an inner bridge between its lateral walls, dropping from -the gatehouse. This is mentioned in the survey of 1538, and was removed -in 1567. The parapets are without machicolations, and the embrasures -have no mouldings. The merlons are not looped, and the figures placed -upon them date only from 1750-86. Probably in advance of the ditch of -this barbican was a barrier or palisade of timber, and the level space -in front, commanded by the walls of both town and castle, is what was -usually employed for jousting matches or military duels. The adjacent -river was a sufficient security against surprise. - -The gatehouse, of which the barbican is the covering, is a rectangle -40 feet deep by 45 feet broad, of slight internal and bold external -projection, and presenting to the field two half octagonal towers. -The passage is vaulted and has the usual defences of a portcullis and -gates. The portals are round-headed. There are lateral lodges, entered -one from the passage and one from the court. - -Entering the court, the curtain on the left, of considerable height, -has Norman foundations, 1150, and an Edwardian superstructure, 1350. -Outside, a string-course marks the base of the parapet, and the -embrasures have a decorated moulding carried all round. The wall -extends to the Abbot’s Tower, but upon it is a small rectangular mural -tower, called the Avener’s Tower, 1309-15. The Abbot’s Tower, of the -same date, caps the north-west angle. It is rectangular and of three -stages, the lowest being vaulted and ribbed with segmental arches, as -in the Constable’s Tower, and below the Great Hall. The third stage -rises clear of the wall, and is reached by a well-stair, which occupies -the north-east angle. - -From this a short curtain of mixed date, 1150 and 1350, with a low -salient, extends to the Falconer’s Tower, also rectangular, rebuilt, -though not exactly on the old site, in 1856, and from which a modern -curtain wall runs up to the Prudhoe Tower of the keep. Upon this wall -stood the Armourer’s Tower, also rectangular, destroyed in 1856, -to improve the view from the library. The removal of this and the -Falconer’s Tower are said to have been the only subtractions made from -the original military works of the castle. - -Returning to the west gate, the curtain on its right extends past the -west Garret Tower to the Clock Tower, all rebuilt 1750-86. The latter -is circular, with a flat gorge and keel-shaped salient, and caps the -south-west angle. Outside the last-named curtain, and reached through -it by a gateway, are the stable courts, riding-school, and guest-hall, -135 feet by 35 feet, by 25 feet to the spring of the open timber roof, -a very noble structure. These buildings are of modern date, 1856. - -From the Clock Tower the south curtain supports on its outside the -estate offices. Part of this curtain is 1750-86, part 1309-15. This -latter part includes the Auditor’s Tower, 1770, of which the square -rear projects into the court and the half-round front outside. Beyond -this is a bit of Norman curtain, 1150, against which on the outside -is built the modern kitchen, and above which a modern corridor -communicates between the duke’s room and the record-room in the -Auditor’s Tower. The treatment of this part of the structure by Mr. -Salvin deserves especial notice from the happy combination of the -features of the Edwardian age with the appliances of the present day. -The kitchen, with much to remind the visitor of Durham and Avignon, -is as a whole superior to either, and is besides a model of culinary -arrangement. These offices, originally within the keep at the east end -of the hall, were placed here by the first duke, but were recast and -rebuilt by Duke Algernon. - -Formerly there stood in the west ward the exchequer and the stables. -The exchequer was a large rectangular building, applied to the north -limb of the west gatehouse, and, like it, embattled. The two ranges of -stabling stood a little within and parallel to the curtains next the -Clock Tower. These buildings, shown in the survey of 1650, were removed -probably about 1755. - -Traversing the middle gate, in front is the eastern or inner ward, and -on the left the inner or gatehouse of the keep. On the right, outside -the curtain, is the steward’s room, and beyond it the Warder’s Tower, -mentioned in 1567, but altogether remodelled and rebuilt in 1860 upon -a work of 1770. It now contains the Lion gateway, leading to the -gardens. Below the gatehouse is an ale-cellar, and above one side of -it, attached to the offices, the confectionary. - -Beyond, the line of the curtain is irregular. About the salient it is -Norman, 1150, and a very good example of the rough walling of the age. -Upon it is the East Garret, 1309-15, and it ends in the Ravine Tower, -the most eastern work of the castle, and capping an acute angle of -the _enceinte_. This is a good-sized round tower, with a well-stair -at its junction with the curtain. It has been much repaired since its -foundation in 1309-15. It is defended by the ravine, whence it derives -its name. - -From hence the curtain trends to the north-west, being in great part -Norman, but repaired at what is called the “Bloody Gap.” Beyond this -is a garret bartizan, called Hotspur’s Chair. It was the gorge of a -half-round tower, now removed, but shown in the plan of 1650. Beyond -this the curtain is again mixed Norman and Decorated of 1312-15, to -the Constable’s Tower. This is a strong half-round tower, capping a -flattish salient to the north-east; it has an exterior entrance by -stairs to each of its three floors. From this a short curtain, 1150, -leads to the Postern Tower, 1312-15, rectangular, pierced below by -the vaulted and portcullised passage of the postern, and vaulted also -on the first floor. This tower is a fine example of a Northumbrian -military building of the Decorated period. The arches are round-headed -or segmental, and it has in its rear wall a remarkable two-light window -with a transom, and in the head a foliated circle. There is also a very -perfect garderobe with external shoot. From this tower a curtain, now -removed, ran upwards to the bow of the hall tower of the keep, and thus -completed the defences of this ward. The original postern passage is -filled up, or nearly so, with earth, but by the side of the tower a way -leads to a terrace walk between the keep and the river, and extending -to Falconer’s Tower. - -The eastern ward contained the castle chapel and the conduit, supplied -with water by lead pipes from an exterior spring called Howling Well. -The chapel, a considerable building, stood detached near the Bloody -Gap, and was removed in 1755. The ecclesiastical establishment seems -to have been on a respectable scale, and included a chantry for the -performance of the obits of the family. In this quarter also stood the -brew, bake, and slaughter-houses for the use of the garrison. - -Alnwick Castle is probably the finest extant example of a Norman castle -of this type, having an open keep and a complete _enceinte_; for -although most of the present buildings are either of the fourteenth -or the nineteenth century, the plan is certainly Norman, and certain -detached portions of the construction. It seems also that the keep was -never a mere shell, like Cardiff or Arundel, but was always set about -with towers and provided with a handsome gatehouse. A notable feature -is the use of the round-headed and the segmental arch in the Decorated -period. This is not uncommon in the North of England. The very free use -of stone warriors upon the parapets, carried to an absurd extent in -the repairs of the last century, is also remarkable. They are seen at -Bothal, and in Edwardian works both at Caernarvon and Chepstow, but by -no means so freely distributed as here. They were obviously intended -for ornament only, but, of all figures, that of the eagle at Caernarvon -is the only one at all appropriate. No archer would or could have -stood on the crest of the parapet. Most of the later figures were very -properly removed by Mr. Salvin. - -There is found upon the battlements of both walls and towers, in -various parts of the castle, a convenient arrangement for hanging a -movable wooden shutter in the embrasures, so as to defend the warders -from a Scottish shaft, and from the scarcely less keen edge of the -bleak winds of the Border. The shutter was suspended horizontally, like -a port-lid, but from trunnions, of which one rested in a round hole in -one merlon, and the other in a similar hole terminating in a groove -in the other, so that the shutter hung freely, and could be lifted in -and out if necessary. The arrangement is precisely that applied to the -roller of a round towel. Traces of this arrangement remain in various -parts of the castle. A perfect example is seen on the barbican. It may -also be seen on the east wall of Goderich, at Chepstow, and elsewhere. - -The officers forming the staff of this castle as a civil residence, in -1567, were the constable or governor; the porter of the outer gate; the -greive, or executive officer or bailiff; the receiver or auditor; the -feodary, who looked up the services and tenures; the steward, learned -in the law, who administered justice; the clerk of the courts, who -engrossed the rolls and kept the records; and the foreign or outer -bailiff, who collected the castle-guard and cornage money, and summoned -the tenants and suitors. The whole of the annual payment to these -officers was £58. 18s. - -Looking to the character of the country, so charged with traces of -early military earthworks, and to the strong and well-defined natural -position of Alnwick, it seems probable that it was occupied as a camp -by some of the tribes who, from a very remote period, made this Border -their battlefield, and whose defences are still visible in eleven -distinct earthworks within a very short distance of the town. If so, -they would necessarily have placed their defences to the north and -east upon the lines of the present castle. The interior eminence would -certainly have been their citadel, and the trench, completing their -security, would most conveniently have been carried along the general -direction of the western front, so as to connect the head of the Bow -Burn with the Alne, and thus complete the seclusion of the peninsula. -Such a site, so defended, was not uncommonly adopted or constructed by -the Northmen and Saxons when they became settled, and they would have -placed the timber and palisaded mansion of their thane upon the central -entrenched knoll. - -Probably the Norman Gilbert Tison, of cloudy memory, who is the reputed -pioneer of the Conquest in these wild regions, found and contented -himself with some early kind of timber fortress, for the earliest -traces of masonry that remain _in situ_ or have been extracted from -the walls, though Norman, are of late character, and attributable to -Eustace Fitzjohn, who married Beatrix, daughter and heir of Ivo de -Vesci, who is thought to have married Tison’s daughter. Eustace, called -De Vesci, flourished under Henry I. and Stephen, and died in 1157. He -was a likely man to have constructed a great castle, being a baron -of considerable power, sheriff of Northumberland, and founder of the -abbeys of Alnwick and, in Yorkshire, of Malton. Also he must have felt -the want of a strong place, for in his days, in 1135, Alnwick Castle -was taken by David I., of Scotland, in the interest of the Empress Maud. - -Eustace no doubt built in the first half of the twelfth century a -polygonal clustered keep upon the knoll, gave it the gateway we still -see, and placed his residence within. Traces of his walls are said by -Mr. Tate to have been discovered when the last rebuilding was being -executed. No doubt also he cleared out the moat round the keep. To -him also must be attributed the general wall of the _enceinte_, and -possibly the ditch outside it; and this would have been strengthened -by mural towers, many of which must have stood where their successors -are now placed. De Vesci’s work is indicated by the stones being mostly -square blocks of moderate size, laid in courses, but in beds more or -less wavy, as though the mason used neither line nor level. The joints -are open. Beyond question De Vesci constructed a castle in keeping with -his wealth, and worthy of the chief baron of the Border. - -In July, 1174, William the Lion, on his way back from an invasion of -Cumberland, found himself, to his surprise, before Alnwick. William, -son of Eustace de Vesci, attacked him. He was unhorsed, captured, and -sent into England, and beyond sea, to prison. Eustace, son of William, -succeeded in 1190, and was visited by King John, 12th February, 1201, -and 24th April, 1209, when the king received at the castle the homage -of Alexander, king of Scotland. Four years later, May 14th, John -ordered Philip de Ulecote to demolish the castle of Alnwick—a mandate -which could scarcely have been obeyed, seeing the king himself was -there 28th January, 1213, and 11th January, 1216, no doubt unwelcome -visits, for Eustace was a Magna Charta baron. He met his death from an -arrow before Barnard Castle in the last year of King John. Henry III. -visited Alnwick 23rd September, 1256, and Edward I. was the guest of -John de Vesci there 30th April and 1st May, and 16th and 17th August, -1291, and 16th August and 13th and 18th December, 1292; and again 22nd, -23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, and 27th September, 1296; and 26th and 29th -June, 1298. - -The Barons de Vesci became extinct in 1297, by the death of William, -seventh Baron, when the castle and barony were acquired, it is said, to -the fraudulent exclusion of the natural son, by Antony Bec, the warlike -Bishop of Durham, by whom, in 1309, 3 Edward II., they were sold to -Henry de Percy, the representative of a warlike family, whose advent -forms an important era in the history of the Border. Percy, as the -leader of the Northern barons, made Alnwick his residence, and although -in possession only for five years, seems to have rebuilt much of the -fabric, the rest being completed by his son of the same name. - -The Percy Castle, laid out nearly upon the Norman lines, presented very -nearly the appearance of the present structure. The authorship of the -Edwardian part of the inner gatehouse is established by the escutcheon -of Clifford on its walls, the second Henry de Percy having married a -lady of that house. To the first half of this fourteenth century may -be attributed, as has already been pointed out in detail, nearly all -the leading features of the castle, as it stood at the incoming of the -first Duke of the present family. The Percies, though they maintained -the reputation of Alnwick as the great Border fortress during nearly -four centuries, do not appear to have materially altered the fabric of -the two earliest lords. They received here Edward II. in 1311 and 1322, -and Edward III. in 1335; but the later earls were much at Petworth and -in Yorkshire; and upon the death of the eighth earl, in 1537, and the -attainder of his brother, the family ceased to reside at Alnwick, and -the castle was neglected. The Percy line ended in Elizabeth, daughter -of Jocelyn, the eleventh earl, who, 30th May, 1682, married Charles, -Duke of Somerset. Of their children, two had issue, Algernon and -Catherine, who married Sir Wm. Wyndham, and eventually conveyed to that -family the Percy estates at Petworth, Egremont, and Leconfield. - -Algernon Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and by creation Earl of -Northumberland, left one child, Elizabeth Seymour, who inherited -Alnwick, and married Sir Hugh Smithson, created Duke of Northumberland, -and ancestor of the present family. - -A survey of Alnwick in 1567 shows the decay then to have been very -considerable, and as the Seymour lords preferred their paternal -residence, Alnwick became almost a ruin. From this it was redeemed by -the first duke, who, under the advice of Adam, restored, and in part -rebuilt, the keep; and although he fitted up the interior with plaster -and frippery, made the exterior sound and good, and, on the whole, in -keeping with the character of the place, and with what remained of the -ancient buildings. - -Matters so remained until the accession of Duke Algernon, better known -as Lord Prudhoe, a naval officer and a good man of business, who had -travelled much and possessed a cultivated taste, and was of a truly -noble and magnificent disposition. While foremost in works of public -usefulness connected with his estates, county, and profession, and -careful to drain his lands, rebuild the cottages of his labourers, -restore the local churches, and provide lifeboats for his dangerous -coast, he, under the sound advice of Mr. Salvin, almost rebuilt -the castle, preserving with scrupulous care all that admitted of -preservation, and adapting his new work to the period of the first and -second Percy, the founders of the later castle. Having thus restored -the great fortress of the Border with strict regard to the rules of -military architecture, he proceeded, under the advice of Canina, to -fit up the interior in the style of an Italian palace. The contrast -afforded is certainly extreme, and the attempt on so costly a scale was -hardy; but the adaptation of the fittings to the irregular plan of the -rooms is so well conceived, the materials employed are so rich, and the -execution of the details is so skilful, that it is difficult to regard -even so great an incongruity as other than a distinguished success. - -Much attention has of late years been paid, and by very competent -persons, to the history of this castle. Grose gives some particulars, -now very valuable; but this and the castles of Warkworth and Prudhoe -have been illustrated by the late Mr. Hartshorne, and are treated -of also by him with great success in the Northumberland volume of -the Archæological Institute. More recently, Mr. Tate has handled the -subject of Alnwick Castle with both skill and accuracy in his admirable -history of the barony of Alnwick. And finally, in the “Life of William -Rufus,” Mr. Freeman has touched lightly but very effectively upon the -connexion of Alnwick and its lords with Northumbrian history. In the -above sketch free use has, to some extent, been made of the above -materials; but the object of the writer has been to treat solely of the -fabric of the castle, and that from a military point of view. - - - REFERENCES. - - 1. Donjon. - 2. Inner Ward. - 3. Outer Ward. - 4. Terrace. - 5. Stable Courts. - 6. Kitchen. - 7. Estate Offices. - 8. Ravine. - 9. Ditch. - 10. Tower. - 11. Inner Gate. - 12. Middle Gate. - 13. Barbican. - 14. Hall. - 15. Withdrawing-room. - 16. Music-room. - 17. Ante-room. - 18. Library. Prudhoe Tower. - 19. Chapel. - 20. State Bedroom. - 21. Entrance. - 22. Spur Gallery. - 23. West Garret. - 24. Abbot’s Tower. - 25. Falconer’s Tower. - 26. Postern Tower. - 27. Constable’s Tower. - 28. Ravine Tower. - 29. Hotspur’s Chair. - 30. East Garret. - 31. Warder’s Tower. - 32. Auditor’s Tower. - 33. Clock Tower. - 34. Avener’s Tower. - 35. Garden. - -[Illustration: PLAN OF ALNWICK CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND.] - - - - - THE CASTLE OF ARQUES, NEAR DIEPPE. - - -Arques is one of the earliest examples of a Norman castle, for which -reason, though not an English fortress, it has been thought convenient -to include an account of it in these pages. This grand castle crowns -and occupies the head of a steep and bold cape or promontory, in this -case a spur from the great chalk table-land of the “Pays de Caux.” -On the west it is flanked by a short but deep combe or dry valley, -and on the east by the deeper and far wider valley of the Bethune and -Varenne—streams derived from different sources, but which here meander -across a broad and level bottom, above half a mile wide, until, a -little below the castle, uniting, they receive the tributary Aulne, -and, thus combined, under the name of “la Rivière d’Arques,” fall into -the sea at the port of Dieppe. - -The castle thus stands above the left bank of the principal valley. -It is about 4 miles from Dieppe; and immediately below, and to its -north-east, is the village whence it takes its name, remarkable for a -church of unusual size, and a most elegant example of the style of the -latter part of the sixteenth century. Beyond, upon the right bank, are -the remains of the ancient Forest of Arques, a part of the spacious -domain of the ancient lords of the fee, and upon the skirts of which, -within shot of the castle, was fought, in 1589, a very celebrated -battle. - -The castle in its present form is composed of a rectangular keep, -standing in the south-west corner of an inner ward, in plan something -less than a half-circle, having its chord to the west, and contained -within an _enceinte_ wall, strengthened by towers and buttresses along -its sides and at its southern end, and capping its angles. - -Applied to the north end of this is an outer ward, of later date, -four-sided, and having drum towers at its four angles. - -The main entrance, approached by a steep and winding road from the -town, is in the north end, or at the point of the cape, between the -two towers. Entering, is a second gatehouse, opening from the outer -into the inner ward, also between two towers. A third gatehouse, at -the other end of the fortress, leads direct from the exterior into the -south end of the inner ward, and thus opens a communication with the -root of the cape. There is also a lateral postern with vaulted passages -in the west wall of the outer ward. - -Outside the wall, encircling it closely, is the ditch, the most -striking feature in the whole fortress. This is in general plan not -unlike the long section of a pear, the northern end being the smaller, -and the western side flattened so as to be nearly straight. The -counterscarp of this ditch includes an area of about 5 acres. The ditch -itself, measured from the level of the foot of the wall crowning its -scarp, is about 60 feet deep, with slopes of 1 foot horizontal to 2 -feet vertical, and about 70 feet broad. It is only just not too steep -to be covered with short turf. The crest of the counterscarp is a ridge -about 6 feet broad, and about 20 feet below the level of the foot of -the wall. From it descends another slope, equally steep, but much -deeper; on the west side descending about 150 feet to the bottom of the -valley, and on the east to a rather less depth, as here this “glacis” -is succeeded by a sort of broad terrace of pasture land, which falls -gently towards the river, the level of which may be 250 feet below the -platform of the castle. In many respects these defences resemble those -of Bramber, in Sussex. - -At the north-west end the ditch is traversed by a very modern causeway -of earth, which supersedes the earlier drawbridge. At the south end, -where the ground is highest and the ditch about 50 feet deep and -80 feet broad, there remain two engaged piers upon the scarp and -counterscarp, and between them two detached piers, of which the outer -has fallen against the inner. All are rectangular; and the inner of the -detached two is considerably the larger, and probably carried a tower -for the protection and working of a double drawbridge. These piers are -of flint rubble, cased with ashlar, of which a small part only remains. - -At the outer end is the earthwork of a _tête du pont_, or ravelin, of -triangular plan, the passage from which was a little to the east side -of the apex. This work was evidently constructed when artillery was in -use, and is attributed to Henry IV., during the campaign of 1589. It no -doubt represents an earlier barbican, also of earth and timber. There -are no traces of masonry beyond the bridge. This work opens upon the -ridge of the promontory, which widens and rises somewhat higher to the -south. The ground is scarred with banks and ditches, the remains of -fieldworks of various dates, both of attack and defence. - -The design of this castle ditch is peculiar. The more obvious plan -would have been to place the walls upon the edge of the hill, and scarp -its sides down to the valley with such steepness as suited the ground. -Instead of this, the upper 40 feet of the hill, being chalk rock, was -scarped vertically, and then faced or revetted by a wall, upon which -was placed the _enceinte_ wall of the inner ward. At the foot of the -revetment was then excavated the ditch just described, the material -being thrown outwards so as to form an artificial scarp, which thus -became a sort of advanced banquette or earthwork beyond the ditch, -representing the crest of the glacis, and capable of being held by a -line of soldiers, but which, when taken, was too exposed and too narrow -to allow of its being held, or of cover being constructed upon it. This -banquette was at a rather lower level than the foot of the opposite -wall. - -Such an arrangement is found in other castles in Normandy, and notably, -as pointed out by M. Deville, at Molineaux, De Longueville, Bec de -Montagne, and in the later work of Château-Gaillard, where, however, it -is less marked. - -The keep is rectangular, about 80 feet north and south by 70 feet -east and west, and at present about 60 feet high. It stands in the -south-west corner of the inner ward, close to the _enceinte_ wall, of -which its south-west angle forms a part. Its walls at the ground level -are about 13 feet thick. It presents three buttresses on the north -face and two on the south—the third being a sort of cap thickening and -enveloping the south-east angle. These are of the unusual breadth and -projection of 9 feet, and they rise to the present, which cannot be -above 10 feet below the original summit. At the north-east angle the -adjacent buttresses are set square, leaving the angle free. The south -face is plain, or nearly so, excepting the cap at its south-east angle, -which extends southwards, and is connected with the adjacent _enceinte_ -wall. The west face is plain, outside of which was the entrance. - -This is composed of a flight of steps, beginning upon the north face, -passing by a doorway through its most westerly buttress, and which -then, turning, is continued along the west face, until at its south -end it lands in the usual square appendage or forebuilding common in -these keeps. This staircase was guarded by an exterior wall, and had -gateways at its foot and its summit. It was covered over, as appears -from marks upon the wall; and above it was no doubt the usual platform -for defence. In the basement of the forebuilding, which forms also part -of the _enceinte_ wall, was a vaulted chamber opening into the basement -of the keep, as at Rochester, either a store or a prison. The landing -story was barrel-vaulted, having at one end a loop towards the field, -and at the other a door in the wall of the keep. - -Entering this door, the staircase is continued southward in the wall -of the keep, up a roughly-vaulted, round-headed, mural gallery, until -at the angle it reaches the level of the first floor. The gallery now -turns the angle, and is continued on the level half-way along the south -wall, when it is stopped abruptly. A door on the right leads upon the -_enceinte_ rampart, and one on the left probably led into the keep. - -The interior of the keep is composed of a basement and an upper or, -perhaps, two floors, divided by a north and south wall into two -chambers on a floor. This division-wall is said to be original, and -ought to be so in a keep of this size, but it looks of the sixteenth -century, and may represent an older one. The west basement is much -choked up with rubbish. The east chamber is tolerably clear, and shows -an exterior aperture in its east wall, near the south end, which -communicates with the adjacent south gateway. This may be original, -but it is now a mere hole. In the north wall is a short mural gallery, -entering a well-stair in the north-east angle, which ascends to the -first floor and chapel only. The lower stage was not vaulted. The -first floor has four windows on the north side, two in each room, and -one on the east side. The second floor had also similar windows on -its north, and a vaulted chamber on its east side; no doubt a chapel. -This chapel is formed by throwing a vault from buttress to buttress -for its floor, and at a higher level for its roof, and above this were -the leads. There are traces of similar chambers on the north front. -The upper story has been vaulted in six bays, three on each side, duly -groined and ribbed, as is shown by the springers. The material and the -workmanship, no less than the section of the ribs, show this to be a -late addition, probably of the sixteenth century. - -[Illustration: PLAN OF THE CASTLE OF ARQUES, NORMANDY.] - -The supposed two upper floors were very possibly intended for one floor -of state, with two tiers of windows and a chapel above. The chapel -seems to have had a barrel round-headed vault, probably groined. The -accounts show this eastern side to have been the royal chamber in the -fourteenth century. The fireplaces seem to be confined to the upper -floors. As now seen, they are of the date of the vaulting. - -In the south-west angle of the keep, very near the wall, is the well, -of which the pipe was continued at least to the first floor, as in the -additions at Richmond. It is about 6 feet diameter, lined with ashlar, -and in 1768 was choked up at 254 feet deep, or about the level of the -river; a depth now reduced to 30 or 40 feet. - -Outside, between the buttresses, are traces of walls, as though the -spaces between them had been turned to account below as well as above; -but these walls are thin, and do not seem original. - -M. Deville cites the public records for the existence in 1318 of four -turrets on the keep, roofed with lead. - -M. Le Duc, in his Dictionary, Art. “Donjon,” gives a great variety of -very curious detail connected with this keep, detail unknown to M. -Deville, and for which there should be some authority other than the -traces actually existing, which are very unsatisfactory. - -The keep is built of large chalk flints grouted copiously in mortar, -and cased outside with ashlar, now mostly stripped off and removed. -Within, the flints are occasionally laid herring-bone fashion. The -ashlar was a calcareous tufa, known in the country, and formed by the -trickling of calcareous springs over moss and similar vegetation. -It was much used in the earlier French castles. The later ashlar of -the vaulting ribs and inserted door-cases seems to be a fine hard -limestone, approaching Caen stone in appearance, and perhaps actually -that material. Where the ashlar is wanting, the putlog holes are seen, -placed with exceeding regularity. The joints of the original ashlar are -large, those of the later fine. The new and old ashlar can readily be -distinguished; but one flint wall is very much like another. - -The inner ward, in length about 160 yards, and in its greatest breadth -about 70 yards, is a natural chalk platform, revetted all round by -a wall about 8 feet thick, which on the east side is reduced to a -parapet, but on the west rises about 20 feet higher, probably its -original height. In 1708 this court contained the apartments of the -governor and the staff of the garrison, a well, and a chapel. These -were probably of the sixteenth century or later, and have now entirely -disappeared. - -The _enceinte_ wall, which girdles this inner ward, deserves attention, -as most of it is of early date. Setting aside the four northern -towers with their curtains, which are of later date, we have about 380 -yards of curtain broken by five mural towers and three rectangular -buttresses. Nearly the whole of the wall is faced with flint, with -three bands of ashlar. Much of the flint is laid in herring-bone -fashion, the repairs, where of brick, being of much later date. The -ashlar bands are of tufa. Of the towers two, half round, are on the -east front. Of these one, though probably original, has been cased with -brick. The other has had an ashlar base, and the upper part, of flint, -shows herring-bone work. Each is about 15 feet diameter, with walls 5 -feet thick. - -Between these towers are three rectangular buttresses; two of 15 feet -breadth and 12 feet projection, and one about 7 feet square. The two -former contain no herring-bone work, and are probably early additions, -perhaps by Henry I.; the latter is original. - -On the west face are now no towers, but in 1708 there were two, half -round, and of small size, traces of which remain. They were, no doubt, -original. - -The remaining three towers capped the three salient angles of the south -end, the central containing the gateway, and the others flanking it. -All are one quarter engaged. - -The flanking towers are alike, about 22 feet diameter and 55 feet high -from the exterior base, with walls 7 feet thick. The bases are either -solid or pierced by steps leading down to the galleries. There is a -regular basement story, and above it a floor on the level of the inner -ward. They are not vaulted and show no exterior herring-bone work, -though one has a little inside. A modern summer-house has been built -upon that to the south-east. - -The central or gate-tower is 24 feet diameter. It is pierced at the -level of the scarp by a portal which opens upon the drawbridge, the -piers of which have been described; and there is a stage above this. - -The portal ascends towards the keep; its details are much broken down, -and little can be made of them. - -Of the _enceinte_ of the inner ward there remains to be noted the -_northern gatehouse_. This, the original and, probably, the only -entrance to the Norman fortress, though much ruined, does not appear to -have been materially altered. It consists in a rectangular building, -40 feet deep by 20 feet broad, set in the centre of the curtain, with -which its outer face is nearly flush. It is crossed by an outer, -middle, and inner wall, each pierced by an arch of 12 feet opening, -through which lies the passage. There remain the rectangular grooves -of a portcullis, and a few years ago there was evidence of a second, -and in the wall is herring-bone work. The arches are plain, without -moulding or chamfer. The inner one is round-headed, and springs from a -flat abacus, chamfered below. The joints of the ashlar work are about -1 inch wide. The curtains on either side of this gateway, though much -repaired, seem to be original, and there are traces of the old round -gate-towers. The pit of the drawbridge remains in front of the gate, -upon the original line of fosse. - -The outer ward no doubt occupies the site of an earlier outwork. -It is built against the narrow and north end of the inner ward, is -four-sided, about 250 feet north and south, by a mean of 110 feet east -and west. Its west side is straight, being the continued line of that -face of the old fortress. The east face has a slight re-entering angle, -caused apparently by the shape of the ground. At the two southern -angles are two large drum towers, which connect the old and newer work, -and probably replace two smaller and older towers. These stand in -the line of the old ditch, and flank the Norman gateway. That to the -south-west, rather the larger of the two, and slightly oval in plan, -has a mean diameter of 60 feet; it is of two stages. Both are vaulted, -or rather domed. That to the south-east, of 50 feet diameter, is nearly -circular, but has a remarkable spur or keel-shaped projection towards -the field. It is of three stages, the two lower being domed. These -towers are in fact casemates, having embrasures for small culverins -towards the field. Each has a well-stair in its southern side, and is -entered from the gorge. - -The two other towers cap the northern angles of the ward, and flank the -main gateway. They are of irregular form, semicircular to the field and -angular within. In diameter they are about 40 feet, and about the same -height. They are of two stages, which have been domed. The walls of -these four towers are from 14 feet to 16 feet thick. They are of flint -faced with brick. - -Between the gate-tower is the gateway, composed of a larger and smaller -portal, the latter very narrow. The present work is modern, but no -doubt in this double entry represents the earlier openings. The ditch, -two detached piers standing in it, and with these any traces of the -drawbridge, are concealed by the modern causeway. - -In the west curtain, near the south-west tower, a flight of steps -beneath hanging arches of brick descends from the ward level in the -direction of the foot of the wall. This is much encumbered with ruin, -but seems to have been a postern, opening upon the ditch. - -All the works of this outer ward are of flint, rubble-faced with brick, -which material forms the lines of the embrasures. The quoins are -sometimes of ashlar, as are the extensive string-courses and bands, and -the dressings of the openings. Traces of herring-bone work in its west -curtain, outside, will be accounted for afterwards. - -As the original castle was confined to the inner ward, its ditch -everywhere encircled it. When the outer ward was added, the intercepted -portion of the ditch was partially filled up, but the new work was -included in a new ditch, which was an accurate prolongation of the old -one, of equal depth and breadth, and continued in the same direction. -Accurate observation will, however, detect two slight shoulders in the -counterscarp, showing where began the curve of the old ditch. - -Very remarkable in this castle are the subterranean galleries, driven -in the chalk rock beneath the lines of the original wall, and behind -the scarp of the ditch. These are now in part blocked up, but there -still remain two or three hundred yards of them of which the direction -is known. They are entered by a passage in the inner ward, in its -north-west quarter, and by a descent of fifty-four steps near the keep, -and possibly from other points now lost. The galleries are about 7 feet -high and 6 feet wide, rudely cut, and somewhat singularly laid out. -They lie within, without, and beneath the wall, and give off frequent -spurs or short passages intended to occupy any space in which a mine -was likely to be opened. At this time they have been broken into at -three or four points in the scarp of the ditch, about half-way down. -They were intended as a system of permanent counter mines to meet any -attempt at mining on the part of the besiegers. In one place a large -central pier is surrounded by a gallery, whence the branches go off,—an -arrangement intended probably to check the progress of those who might -break in. So far as is known, these galleries, of which a survey was -made in 1708, are confined to the southern half, or four-fifths of the -old castle. There are none under the outer ward. - -Outside, and to the north-east of the outer gate, are some semicircular -platforms, which seem to have played a part in the defence of the -castle; but whether before or after the use of artillery is uncertain. - -The Bel.—A curtain wall, which originally was about 5 feet thick, -and from 15 feet to 20 feet high, commences abruptly upon the crest -of the counterscarp in two places; one on the east opposite to the -mural tower, which marks about the centre of that front of the castle, -and thence descends towards the river; and the other north, close -outside of the drawbridge of the main entrance. This latter wall is -continued down the hill, and makes a bold sweep towards the town, and, -finally reaching the river bank, joins the river wall. The enclosure -thus formed contains about twice the area included by the ditch of -the castle, and has long been known as Le Bel or La Baile, a form -evidently of the Norman-Latin _Ballium_, called by us the “Bailey.” -This enclosure is traversed by the road from Dieppe to Martigny, -which passes through the two gates bearing those names. A third, or -water-gate to the east, opened upon the river. Upon the north front -appear to have been two small half-round mural towers, of which one -remains. The river has somewhat encroached upon the lower part of the -Bel, and has undermined part of the wall. - -The Dieppe gate, which is also that from the town of Arques, was in -1433 called “La Première Port du Bel de Château d’Arques,” and, as -such, was the subject of a tenure by castle guard, the tenant being -bound to defend it for forty days in time of war. From this gate the -approach ascends to the castle, having the curtain-wall as a protection -on its right. Where this wall approaches the castle, at either end, it -is covered by a broad ditch, continued down the slope. - -A flint wall may be of any age, but the remains of the gates, which a -few years ago showed round-headed arches, prove this inclosure to be -of early date, probably one of the earliest additions to the castle, -and made by Henry I. No doubt, before the construction of the outer -ward, the wall of the Bel was produced so as to unite with those of the -castle. M. Deville has discovered a part of this wall worked into the -great curtain of the outer ward, which lies in its line, and may still -be seen. - -Looking to the history of this castle, and to the evidence afforded -by its remains, it seems probable that the keep is the oldest part -of the masonry, and the work of the Conqueror’s uncle, Guillaume -d’Arques, between the years 1039-1043, and it is supposed to be one -of the earliest, if not the earliest, of the rectangular Norman keeps -known. The chronicle of Normandy, cited by M. Deville, says of William, -“Si fist faire une tour moult forte, audessus du chastel d’Arques”; -as though there had been an earlier castle, which the aspect of the -earthworks renders highly probable. - -To the Conqueror or his immediate successor must be attributed the -_enceinte_ of the inner ward and the formation of the galleries. The -ditch may be much older than the western masonry. The inner ward no -doubt formed part of the original plan, and it is only the occasional -appearance of round turrets upon the wall that leads to the opinion -that any time intervened between the actual construction of the keep -and of its surroundings. - -The southern entrance, with its gate and two flanking towers, and one -or two of the other mural towers or buttresses, seem to be additions, -but of the Norman period, probably the work of the Conqueror’s son, -King Henry I., who, about 1123, seems also to have enclosed the Bel. -Robert de Thorigny—called also “Du Mont,” from his abbacy of Mont St. -Michael—a Norman chronicler of the twelfth century, says that King -Henry I. “fortified admirably the castle of Arques with walls and a -tower.” This has been held to show that the whole structure was the -work of Henry, who reigned from 1105 to 1135, and the extreme boldness -of the buttresses and superincumbent constructions of the keep no doubt -favour this view; but, as M. Deville remarks in the same passage, -similar reference is made to Gisors, Falaise, and other castles, known -to be of earlier date. - -M. Deville is disposed to attribute the southern gate to Charles V., -as he finds a record of 1367, charging cost of transport of 6 “nances” -of stone, each of 16 to 18 “tonneaux,” from the river to the castle, -for the masonry of the new bridge and the new gate of the castle. This -material was taken by the king’s direction from the dismantled “manoir” -of Veules or Weulles, at St. Valery-en-Caux. The accounts of 1378-80 -mention the tower on the bridge behind the keep, its drawbridge, axles, -ties, “vergues” or levers 18 feet long, and its beams of 9 feet. This -was probably the southern drawbridge and gate, including the opening -of the communication between this and the basement of the keep. -These works are attributed to Charles V. about 1378-80. He probably -only pierced the existing central tower, not otherwise altering or -rebuilding it. - -The next considerable work was the outer ward, which may be attributed -to the fifteenth century, subsequently to the general use of brick and -the introduction of siege artillery. It is singular that no record of -this very considerable work should be preserved, for it included not -only the outer ward, a castle in itself, with its enormous towers and -massive curtains, but the extension of the very formidable ditch, the -repair of the older walls and towers, and finally the fitting up and -vaulting of the keep. All this is supposed to have been the work of -Francis I., and it is said that the date of 1553 was inscribed upon -some of the additions to the keep. - -Henry IV., during his occupation of the castle in 1589, may have -constructed quarters in the inner ward and repaired what was amiss in -the old building; but more probably his traces are to be found in the -field works which crown the adjacent hills, and along the high ground -towards Dieppe. - -It has been thought that the ditch of the castle is a remain of an -older fortification, such a work as the early Northmen or still earlier -Celts might have constructed. No doubt this was usually the case with -the sites of the great Norman castles, both in Normandy and in England, -and the position of Arques is a tempting one. There is, however, no -positive evidence of an earlier encampment. - -It will be observed that the keep is so placed as to command both the -inner ward and the most exposed side of the castle,—that along the -level ridge of the promontory. It was perfectly capable of holding -out when all else was taken, and finally, if threatened with fire or -starvation, its garrison had a possible escape by the galleries. - -This castle is the triumph of Norman skill. Often attacked, it was -never taken by storm. Without being a royal residence it was visited -in peace or in war by our Norman kings, from the Conqueror to John, -and by most of the kings of France, from Henry I. to Henry IV.; and, -after a lapse of 800 years, its oldest parts are still those best worth -attention, and are at least as well preserved as the additions of far -later date. - - - - - ARUNDEL CASTLE, SUSSEX. - - -Arundel, in its position, magnitude, and history, is one of the -foremost of the mediæval military structures of England. English -in its origin, Norman by adoption, it is not only among the rare -castles recorded in Domesday, but is the only one therein specifically -mentioned as in existence before the coming in of Duke William. It was -held by Alfred and by Harold, and was granted with its surrounding -and dependent lordships by William to the head of the great house -of Montgomery as an acknowledgment of kinship, and a fitting reward -for his distinguished services at Hastings. Three members and two -generations of that family held the castle for about thirty-two -years. They were followed by Henry I. and his Queen, who held it -for half a century, and it has since descended in succession by the -lines of D’Albini, Fitz-Alan, and Howard, through seven centuries of -inheritance, to its present lord. Though less extensive in area, it is -equal to Windsor in antiquity and position, and resembles it closely -in type, having an upper and lower ward, and a lofty mound partially -interposed between the two, girdled by a deep fosse and crowned by a -circular keep. Within its precinct is the Chapel of St. George, and far -beyond the walls, but in one direction only, extends its broad demesne. -Just beyond the wall of the Norman castle, but probably within the -earlier English outwork, stands the fine parish church, a Fitz-Alan -gift, and attached to its east end is the chapel of the college founded -by Richard, Earl of Arundel, in 1386, and now, by a grant or purchase -in the reign of Edward VI., vested in the descendants of its founder, -and the private property of the lord of the castle. The buildings of -the college are mostly removed, and the chapel contains many tombs of -great magnificence and considerable historic interest, beneath which -rest the remains of many members of the great house of Fitz-Alan, who -loved full well and gave full largely to that church to which their -Howard descendant has shown himself a not less liberal benefactor. - -The Arun, a principal river of the south, has its sources in Surrey. -It traverses the whole breadth, here about twenty miles, of the -county of Sussex, and in its passage to the sea cleaves the southern -ridge of the chalk by a very striking ravine or dell, which, with -the river, gives name to the castle and the town, as well as to the -Rape of Arundel, within which they stand. The castle is placed upon -a bold bluff of chalk, which rises on the right or western bank of -the river, here flowing in easy curves across a broad tract of low -and level land, which intervenes between the downs and the sea, from -which the castle is distant about four miles. Upon and at the foot of -the slope has sprung up the town, which for centuries paid allegiance -to the castle and received from it protection and support. Six miles -westward of the Arun is Bognor, rich in Roman remains, and as far -to the east is the mouth of the Adur, where Shoreham contests with -Portsmouth the representation of the ancient Portus Adurni. A few miles -north of the castle, Staneway marks the line of the old Roman road -between Chichester and London. Various villages, the names of which -show their English origin, are thickly posted along the lower course -of the Arun; but the name of the river may be British, as are no doubt -the hill camps here and there scattered over the downs. The Rape is -supposed to be a Jutish division. It includes five Hundreds, and was -formerly nearly all forest. The courts were held beneath an oak-tree at -Madehurst. - -The bluff occupied by the castle is the end of a ridge of high ground, -which is specially steep towards the east and south, and ascends to -still higher land towards the north and west. In this direction lies -the park, which covers about 1,100 acres, and includes, between two -ridges of the chalk, a deep valley, in the lower part of which, just -below the castle, is the lake called Swanbourne, the pool from a very -remote period for the use of the mill. - -The history of Arundel has been written by Dallaway in his Western -Sussex, and by Tierney in a specific work. Whatever may be the value -of either production for the history and descent of the lordship, -neither gives a full plan of the earthworks of the castle, nor enters -at all scientifically into its details from either the military or -architectural point of view. Unfortunately, the proximity of the -castle to Brighton and some lesser watering-places has caused the -exclusion of visitors, save under restrictions so very narrow that it -is impracticable to examine the works at all in detail. It appears -from Tierney’s history that the castle is protected towards the north -or open country by a double line of defence, composed of a bank and -ditch, of which the outer includes the present as well as the older -park, and is, in places, at least two miles from the castle. The inner -line is of much smaller extent, but the two seem intended to protect -the town and the port, as well as the site of the castle, and to be -rather lines of defence than the remains of a camp, whether British -or English. Within both of these, and probably of later date, are the -earthworks upon a part of which the Norman castle was founded. These -resemble the works common to England with Normandy, and may probably be -attributed to the Northern invaders in the eighth or ninth centuries. -The high ground is occupied by an oblong inclosure, of which more or -less of the original earthbank remains, and outside of which to the -south and east was the natural steep, and to the west a natural hollow, -deepened and extended round the north front by art. The inclosure is -in length 317 yards, and in breadth 83 yards, and includes about 5½ -acres. Near the centre of the western side, and forming a part of the -_enceinte_, is a large circular mound, almost wholly artificial, having -its proper ditch, which on the outer face is also the ditch of the -general _enceinte_. The mound is about 90 feet diameter at its table -summit, and about 230 feet at its base. As the ground rises towards the -north, the height is on that side about 50 feet, and on the opposite -side about 70 feet from the bottom of the ditch. The Windsor mound is -about the same height, but rather larger, being 125 feet across, at its -summit. By its projection this work materially narrows the main area, -and with the addition of a short cross-ditch, bank, and wall, now gone, -divided it into an upper or northern and lower or southern ward, in the -latter of which are the domestic buildings. These two wards were the -parts of the earlier fortification taken possession of by the builder -of the Norman castle, but there is also an inclosure opposite to the -mound, and outside the ditch, which runs up to a narrow end towards the -north-west. Whether this was fortified with masonry is uncertain, but -it certainly was a part of the earlier fortress, and shows its extent -and importance. The ditches everywhere being in the chalk, and at a -high level, were no doubt always dry. Earl Roger, probably, found along -the crest of these earthbanks the same sort of defences that he left -behind him, on similar banks and mounds, at his paternal castle in -Normandy; but whether these were of timber or of masonry is uncertain. -They might very well have been of either. It is, however, certain that -the earl, or his immediate successors, inclosed the main area within a -curtain of masonry, which ran up the mound and placed half of it, as -at Lincoln and Tonbridge, outside the inclosure. Upon this curtain, a -little south of the mound, was placed the gatehouse, and along it at -various points were mural towers, probably square, of which one, on the -curtain north of the mound, and known as Bevis Tower, still remains, -though more or less altered. The domestic buildings were then, as now, -along the sides of the lower ward, and upon the mound was placed a -shell keep. - -As the public are only permitted to inspect the lower part of the -gatehouse, the adjacent curtain, and the interior of the keep, it is -impossible to form a correct opinion as to the extent of the original -earthworks, or as to the age of the general curtain, or the basement -of the domestic buildings, parts of which are said to be of Norman -date. That the earthworks were extensive, and in part remain, may be -seen from the summit of the keep, and from the upper gate of the park. -Dallaway gives a large, but not quite correct, plan of the keep and -its mound, the gatehouse and Bevis Tower, and the lower ward; but his -plan does not include the higher ward nor the earthworks, nor is it -accompanied by any sections. Dallaway and Tierney were not strong in -architectural details. - -The _Gatehouse_ stands on the line of the curtain, projecting inwards -from it, and upon the southern edge or counterscarp of the ditch of -the mound. It opens into the lower ward. It is of the early Norman -type, resembling that at Tickhill. It is a square of 32 feet, having in -the outer and inner faces a large round-headed doorway, quite plain, -without even a chamfer, and with a plain sloped abacus. The chamber -is, of course, square, and but little broader than the doorways. That -towards the ward seems to have been closed by a pair of doors only. -The other or outer doorway has a broad portcullis groove, which may or -may not be original; more probably not. The covering—the floor of the -upper room—was no doubt of timber, and flat. The present vaulting is -an insertion. There was always an upper floor, but this has been much -altered, chiefly in the Decorated period. The old loops, now blocked, -may be traced. Some of the inserted windows are very late. In the south -part of the inner doorway was a door opening into a mural stair leading -to the upper floor and to the rampart-walk of the curtain, which seems -to have been continued through the gatehouse, over the outer portal. -The present staircase is exterior, and modern. This is the whole of the -original gatehouse, which, with the adjacent and very thick curtain, is -probably the work of Earl Roger. - -The gatehouse has been extended outwardly in the Decorated period. -There is appended to it a crooked passage about 10 feet broad -and 40 feet long, between thick lateral walls. In its sides are -shoulder-headed doorways, which led into lodges and cells, and on the -south side is a well-staircase, ascending to the roof. The passage -is covered by a very flat-pointed vault. It ends in an outer doorway -having a drop arch, and opening between a pair of flanking towers, 20 -feet square, rising out of the ditch. These have sub-basement chambers -in the ditch, basements at the ground level, and two upper floors. In -the doorway is a very broad portcullis groove for a timber frame, and -in front was a drawbridge, now replaced by an arch of masonry. This -addition to the Norman gatehouse, making with it a very long covered -entrance-passage, is attributed to Earl Richard Fitz-Alan, on his -return from the wars of Edward I. In very modern times the floor of -the passage has been lowered about 3 feet, and the walls underpinned -by a plinth. The doors which are not in use have been left unaltered, -and show the original level of the sill. Probably the approach to this -entrance lay through an outer gate to the north-west, at the upper -part of the town, and across the large outwork, now a garden and a -carpenter’s yard. - -The _Keep_ is a rounded shell of masonry, about 67 feet by 59 feet -in the internal cross diameter, and with walls, 8 feet to 10 feet -thick, and 20 feet high to the rampart-walk. It is built of rubble -masonry, the material chiefly Sussex stone and chalk, but faced outside -with small ashlar blocks of Caen stone, close jointed, and with flat -pilasters which die into the wall below the base of the parapet. The -entrance was by a rather large full-centred doorway to the south-east, -probably reached, as at Tickhill and Lincoln, by a flight of steps -up the mound, with a timber bridge at their base, as at York. This -doorway is not shown to visitors, but Tierney’s drawing represents it -as having a bold chevron moulding alternating with rolls or rounds, -common to the head and the jambs, and unbroken by imposts. Within, it -opened into a recess, also full centred, and having its angle replaced -by a bold roll. This, as at Lincoln, was the original entrance, and -it seems, though walled up, not to have been otherwise altered. Near -this doorway a well-stair has been formed in the wall, ascending from -the ground to the ramparts. It is evidently a Decorated insertion, of -the same date with a steep flight of steps and a vaulted subterraneous -chamber near the centre of the area, probably a cellar belonging to -the lodgings which, as at Windsor, were at one time built against the -wall all round, leaving a small open court, as at Tamworth and Ledes, -in the centre. That there were here such lodgings is evident from the -roof corbels in the wall, and that they, as at York, had an upper -floor, is shown by a late fireplace, which marks the upper level, and -the back of which is formed of tiles set on edge. The parapet was -about 8 feet high, and crenellated, and in each merlon was a loop, set -in an arched recess. In one merlon is a small full-centred recess, -evidently a garderobe. The present parapet seems a Decorated addition. -The keep stands, as does the mound, on the line of the main curtain, -which crosses the ditch from the gatehouse, and ascends the mound, -and has a similar continuation northwards. Where the south curtain -abuts upon the keep, there stands a broad irregular tower, of about 20 -feet in projection by 50 feet in breadth. This contains the well and -its chamber, the entrance from the curtain rampart, and an oratory. -The entrance is by a vaulted passage, with a portcullis groove at the -ground level of the keep. The curtain has a parapet on either face, -forming a covered way, and is commanded by a sort of balcony connected -with the keep. The well is of unusually large diameter, but not in -use. The chamber was at the surface level of the keep, into which it -opened by a full-centred doorway. There was also an upper chamber, -now ruined. This position of the well, on the outside of the keep, is -found elsewhere. At Wallingford it is on the slope, and at Cardiff -nearly at the foot of it. The oratory, or chapel of St. Martin, is a -small chamber of irregular plan at the first-floor level, and is placed -over the entrance passage. It has a large east window, altered at two -periods, and two smaller lateral windows, all now closed up. The roof -was of timber, and is gone. This oratory had a special endowment, -afterwards shifted and expanded in favour of the large chapel in the -lower ward. The details of this appendage show that, as at York and -Cardiff, it was an addition to the original shell, the ashlar face of -which is seen within one of the lower chambers. At Cardiff the added -tower was Perpendicular; at York, where it included a small chapel, -Early English. Here the addition seems Early Decorated. The chapel is -probably the St. Martin’s mentioned in Domesday, and in the Patent -Rolls of 1275, and was, of course, dismantled when the endowment -was shifted in 1375. The keep is mentioned at different periods as -Beaumont, Hautmont, and Grosmont, all names preserving its chief -characteristic. - -As the English “Aula” was probably on this mound, while the ashlar -exterior of its present wall is unquestionably later than the Conquest, -it has been supposed that the heart of the wall is original, and that -it was cased by the Norman architect. Of such casing there is, however, -no appearance. The entrance from the curtain seems to have been cut -through the wall, which has been thought there to show traces of early -masonry. The wall, however, appears all of one date, and that probably -late Norman, as is usual with shell keeps. - -_Bevis Tower_ stands upon the curtain and projects from its outer -face only. It stands on the north counterscarp of the ditch of the -mound, about 42 yards from the keep. It is square, and said to be, -in substance, of the age of the gatehouse, but it is not allowed to -be seen close. It is called a barbican, but its position scarcely -justifies its having been so intended. It looks more like an ordinary -mural tower. There is no communication from the keep with the curtain -on this side. North of this tower the earthworks of the upper ward -seem tolerably perfect, but a request to be allowed to visit them was -evidently regarded as a sort of treason. - -Besides the well attached to the keep was a second, now covered up, -in the middle of the lower ward. The habitable part of the castle is -mostly or entirely Howard work. Edward, the ninth duke, was a great -builder. He rebuilt Worksop, which was burned soon afterwards, in 1761, -and he founded Norfolk House in St. James’s Square. What he did here -does not appear. The present domestic buildings which line the lower -ward to the east, south, and west sides are, in substance, the work -of Duke Charles towards the close of the last century, or 1791-1806, -and have since been added to. They are what might be expected from the -period, and better than the rather earlier work at Alnwick, lately -removed. It is said that in the cellars, and built into the outer -walls, are parts of the earlier structure, some of Norman date. The -hall stood on the east curtain. It had a good Early English door, -destroyed in the present century. The hall itself was ruined during the -siege of 1643. The present grand entrance to the ward, to the south of -the original one, is entirely modern, as are the approach to it and -the outer gateway. So also is the Chapel of St. George, which stands -along the west wall. The chapel which preceded it, and was taken down -in 1796, was 40 feet long by 22 feet broad, and was endowed by Richard, -Earl of Arundel, in 1375, with spoils derived from Crecy. The domestic -buildings are said to have been augmented at the same time by wealth -from the same source. The ecclesiastical endowment, shifted from the -oratory of St. Martin to the Chapel of St. George in 1375, was, after -about a century, again shifted to the Fitz-Alan Collegiate Church, -without the walls. - -Arundel is a castle where, if anywhere, traces of English masonry -earlier than the Norman Conquest might be expected to be preserved, -and no doubt it is just possible that such may be found about the -foundations of the Norman walls. What is mainly remarkable about it is -the resemblance to Windsor in its general plan; the oblong inclosure -encroached upon from one side by the mound and its ditch, so as to -divide it into two wards, in one of which are domestic buildings. The -older part of the gatehouse, and parts of the curtain near it, may be -regarded as Early Norman, the work probably of Earl Roger. The keep -seems later, though also Norman. The additions to the gatehouse, the -well-tower, and the oratory are probably Decorated. What is wanted is -a correct ground-plan, which should include the outworks and the more -distant earthworks. The older walls should be critically examined, and -especially the basement of the domestic buildings. - - - HISTORY. - -The Manor of Arundel, with others in this immediate neighbourhood, was -given by Alfred, by will (885), to his brother’s son. It was held by -Harold, and afterwards by William, who about or before 1070 granted to -Roger de Montgomery the castle and honour of Arundel, with 84½ knights’ -fees. Roger, who was of kin to the Conqueror, and commanded the Norman -centre at Hastings, became Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury, and held the -Castle about twenty-three years, till his death. Domesday describes the -Castle of Harundel as having, in the time of King Edward, paid annually -for the mill, 40s.; for three “convivia,” or entertainments, 20s.; and -“pro uno pasticio,” or pasty, 20s. There was also the church of St. -Nicholas, or the parish church, and St. Martin’s, probably the chapel -of the castle. There was also another mill which paid ten bushels of -corn. The burgh, port, and shipping paid £12 or more. - -It is curious that Arundel, Chichester, Shrewsbury, and the Norman -Manor whence Roger derived his territorial designation, each possessed -a mound. On William’s death in 1088, Earl Roger gave his support to -Robert Curthose, whom he invited to land at Arundel. The Prince’s -sluggishness alienated his English followers, and the Earl tendered his -aid to Rufus. At Earl Roger’s death, in 1094, he bequeathed his Sussex -earldom, called also “of Chichester,” to his younger son Hugh, the -Hugh Goch of the Welsh, who held both Arundel and Shrewsbury, stood in -opposition to William Rufus, and was slain while repelling pirates from -the north Welsh coast in 1098. His successor in the English earldom was -his eldest brother, who already held the family lordships in Normandy. -This was Robert, Earl of Belesme in la Perche, who received at Arundel -William Rufus on his arrival from Normandy in 1097. - -Earl Robert, the wicked son of a wicked mother, was a bold soldier, -and an able, though a very cruel man. He built with great rapidity the -strong castle of Brugge or Bridgenorth, and that of Montgomery, called -by the Welsh Tre-faldwin, from Baldwin, its early seneschal. His career -in England was violent and short. Bridgenorth was besieged and taken by -Henry I., who brought the wooden turret known as a malvoisin to bear -upon its walls. The Earl went into exile in 1102, and died in 1118. - -King Henry held Arundel till his death, when it passed in settlement to -his widow, Adeliza, daughter of Godfrey of Louvaine, Duke of Brabant. -The Queen Dowager married William d’Albini, a Norfolk noble, known -to chroniclers as “William with the strong hand,” the royal dapifer. -They received the Empress Maud at Arundel on her landing in 1139, with -her brother, the Earl of Gloucester, and in consequence had to stand -an attack from Stephen, to whom, it is said, Adeliza pleaded with -success the duties of hospitality, and Maud was allowed to retire to -Bristol. D’Albini, however, was, on the whole, a supporter of Stephen, -though with great judgment. He advised the accord between Stephen and -Henry in 1153, and signed the compact as “Earl of Chichester.” Henry, -on his accession, acknowledged the service by a grant of the earldom -of Arundel in fee with the third penny of the county of Sussex. Earl -William died in 1176. By Adeliza, who died in 1151, he left a son, -also William, the first of four generations of D’Albinis, and of five -persons who held the earldom of Arundel, or, as they called it, of -Sussex. They were buried at Wymondham, their own foundation. Earl Hugh, -the eighth from the Conquest, died childless in 1243. Isabel, his -sister, carried on the succession, and married John Fitz-Alan, whose -son, on his uncle’s death, succeeded. - -This John, head of the great house of Fitz-Alan, Lords of Clun and -Oswaldestre, became the ninth earl, and died 1240. He was the first of -fourteen earls of the name who held the castle for twelve generations. -Of these, the elder line died out in the person of Thomas, fifteenth -earl, who died childless in 1415; but the succession was continued by -his cousin, Henry Fitz-Alan Lord Maltravers, who died 1580, leaving an -heiress, Mary, who married Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The later -Fitz-Alans lived much at Arundel, with which place they became closely -identified. - -Duchess Mary died 1557, and her husband in 1572. Their son, Philip, -became twenty-second earl, since when there have been in all ten -generations of Howards who have held the title of Arundel, the -present Duke of Norfolk being the thirty-fifth Norman earl, and the -thirty-second by descent from Queen Adeliza and William d’Albini. - -The castle of Arundel has not played any very important part in English -history. Its most famous event is the siege of 1643, when it was -besieged by Sir William Waller, who first attacked and took the town, -then defended by walls, and finally battered the castle from the tower -of the church, where he posted his guns. The siege lasted from the -20th December, 1643, to the 6th of January following, when the place -surrendered, and with it the celebrated Chillingworth, who died shortly -after. The domestic buildings were then ruined, and seem so to have -remained until the last century. - -The town was walled round by Richard Fitz-Alan, who had a licence for -that work in 1295. There were two gates, one below and on the river, -the other called St. Mary’s, at the top of the town. The town wall -seems to have abutted upon the castle, which thus formed a part of its -defence. - -The present duke has built just outside the castle, and not far from -the parish church, a large church dedicated to San Filippo Neri, a very -noble structure, and fitted up with great simplicity and excellent -taste. Unfortunately, it is so placed as to detract materially from -the general aspect of the castle from the plain below. Placed a little -lower down, it would have left the castle as the predominant figure, -permitted the fine old parish church to hold its due place, and have -supported and elevated, instead of somewhat oppressing, the whole -group. - - - - - THE CASTLE OF BARNARD CASTLE. - - -Barnard, or Bernard’s, Castle, so called from its founder, Bernard de -Baliol, stands in a commanding position on the left bank of the Tees, -here the boundary between Durham and Yorkshire. It is a large castle, -and was long a very important one, both from its position on the -frontier of the bishopric, and from the power of the great barons who -built and maintained it. - -The castle crowns the summit of a steep and in part precipitous -shelf of rock, which rises about 100 feet above the river, and has a -projecting shoulder, by means of which the north-western quarter of the -fortress is protected naturally by a cliff. The remainder of the area -was covered by a deep and broad artificial ditch, now mostly filled up, -which intervened between the east and north sides of the castle and -the contiguous town, to which it gave name, and the people of which, -in the times when the castle was maintained, looked to its lords for -protection. The north front of both town and castle received a further -defence from the Percy beck, a stream which flows into the Tees about -450 yards higher up. - -The area of the castle, within the walls, is rather above 8 acres. In -plan it is oblong, having four unequal sides, averaging about 293 yards -north and south by 133 yards east and west. The east or town side, the -longest, is slightly convex, and measures 336 yards; the west, or that -upon the river, 245 yards; the north end, 160 yards; and the south -end, 110 yards. The Tees Bridge springs from the rocky bank, below the -centre of the western front, and was commanded from the battlements. - -The area is divided into four wards, of which the “outer” covers -rather more than its southern half, and the “town ward” about the -eastern half of the remainder. The other, or north-western quarter, is -again subdivided pretty equally into a “middle” ward, and a northern -or “inner” ward. The whole area and the several wards are protected, -where necessary, by walls and ditches. The curtain along the cliff -seems to have been a mere parapet, save where, as in the inner ward, it -supported interior buildings. The walls generally vary up to 30 feet -in height, and from 4 feet to 5 feet in thickness. The outer ditch -of the place, also the town ditch, commenced in a deep ravine close -north of the keep, and was carried along the north front, skirting -what are called “the Flats”; thence along the east front, between the -wall and the town, and thence round the south end, and so beneath a -part of the west front, until it is lost in the steep ground near the -bridge, having been altogether nearly 700 yards in length. From this -ditch branched a second, which traversed the place east and west, from -the town ditch to the river bank, and which, placed to the south of a -cross-wall, was the defence of the three northern wards from the outer -ward. - -Another ditch, commencing in the ravine below the keep, runs north and -south, and joined the preceding ditch, and thus protected the inner and -middle wards from the town ward. Finally, from this branched another -and still shorter ditch, which ran east and west into the river bank, -and formed the defence of the inner from the middle ward; so that each -curtain had its separate ditch. All the ditches are shown in Grose’s -plan, but the town ditch, though to be traced, has been filled up -and built upon. The deepest and broadest of the whole, and it is a -formidable excavation, is that proper to the inner ward, something of -the elevation of which is due to the heaping up of the contents of the -ditch. These ditches seem all to have been dry. They are traversed -at their ends by the curtains, and in three places, where the north -curtain closes the end of the inner-ward ditch, and where the other -end ran out upon the river slope, and where the east curtain closes -the great cross ditch, are arched openings in the curtain at the level -of the bottom of the ditch. Grose also shows a fourth arch in the wall -of the middle ward. These were either drains or posterns. They are so -nearly buried that only the tops of some of them are seen. Grose calls -them doors, and they may be so. They seem original. - -The _enceinte_ of the outer ward seems to have been a mere buttressed -and embattled wall, of no very great strength. This ward could only -have been held by a very strong garrison. It was probably designed, -like the Scottish barmkin, to afford a refuge for the townfolk and -their cattle, supposing the town to be taken by an enemy. In the event -of a serious siege it would probably have been abandoned. Leland speaks -of a fair chapel and two chantries in the first area, with monuments -said to be of the Baliols. They were probably in this ward. There was -a gate from the town in the east front, opposite the market-place, -probably at the present entrance, and an inner gate, at the north-west -corner, of which some traces remain, and which led into the middle -ward. The drawbridge of this gate is replaced by a causeway of earth, -closing the end of the ditch. The slight defence of this outer ward is -consistent with the stanzas in the old ballad of the “Rising of the -North”:— - - “That Baron to his castle fled, - To Barnard Castle then fled hee. - The uttermost walles were eathe to win, - The Earles have won them presentlie. - The uttermost walles were lime and bricke; - But thoughe they wan them soon anone, - The innermost walles they could not win, - For they were cut in rocke of stone.” - -The baron was Sir George Bowes, who held the castle for eleven days -against the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland in 1569, and then, -according to some accounts, capitulated on fair terms. Probably Percy -beck was then so named. - -The town ward, occupying the north-east quarter of the area, much less -extensive than the outer ward, was more strongly fortified. Upon its -east curtain are the remains of a rectangular building, projecting -inwards from the wall, and known as Brackenbury’s Tower. There was -also a square tower at the north-east angle. On the north front is a -half-round tower, projecting from the wall, and serving to flank a -large round-headed doorway, evidently a main entrance from the north, -independent of the town. The arch of this portal is composed of three -rings of voussoirs, each chamfered, of excellent ashlar, but without -ornament. The jambs are also chamfered. They have a plain impost also -chamfered, but with a sort of bead-moulding underneath. There is no -portcullis. This seems to have been the middle or inner doorway of a -regular rectangular gatehouse, the lines of the side walls of which are -indicated by toothings on each side of the door. There are remains of -similar lateral walls within. With the gatehouse, the drawbridge is, of -course, gone, and the ditch has been filled up. - -[Illustration: BARNARD CASTLE.] - -West of this Norman gate, and standing on the counterscarp of the ditch -of the inner ward, opposite to the keep, a shoulder in the curtain is -occupied by a small rectangular tower, in substance Norman, whence the -curtain, of great height and strength, closing the north end of the -ditch, runs up to the keep. In its base, in the bottom of the ditch, -is seen the upper part of one of the round-headed openings already -noticed. This is of 4 feet span, and more like a postern than a drain. - -The area of this town ward is occupied as a kitchen-garden, and part -of it is locked up, and entry refused. The curtains seem substantially -Norman. Grose shows the remains of a drawbridge between this and the -middle ward, and no doubt there must have been some such communication. - -The middle ward seems to have contained stables and offices, now -destroyed. Its communication with the outer and town wards has been -mentioned. It had also a drawbridge, superseded by an earthen causeway, -at its north-west corner, leading into the inner ward. It is difficult -to say whether the ditch was here run out upon the face of the cliff, -and has since been filled up, for a cottage has been built on the slope -outside, and effectually conceals the point for examination. Grose, -however, indicates a doorway in the ditch here, as at the other end, -and in the cross-wall dividing this from the town ward. - -The inner ward is the most perfect and really curious part of the -castle. It is in level about 30 feet above the rest, commands the whole -area, and predominates grandly over the Tees. It contains the keep, -northern tower, the domestic buildings between them, the curtains -and buttresses, and the remains of the gatehouse. The keep caps the -north-east angle, and is half within and half without the curtain. It -is a very grand piece of masonry, built of blocks of coarse red grit -of moderate size, square and coursed, with rather open joints. It is -circular, about 40 feet diameter, and about 50 feet high to the base -of the parapet, now gone. It rises from the rock. Its base for about -6 feet batters slightly, but above that it is cylindrical. It is -absolutely without ornament, and there is not even the usual cordon to -mark the top of the base. The loops are of unusual length, and slightly -dovetailed at the lower end; never cruciform. The original openings -are mostly square-headed, and without mouldings or labels. One large -window, high up, towards the north, is round-headed, and probably -original. Towards the town ward is a five-light late Tudor window, an -insertion. Probably the parapet rested on bold corbels, but, if so, -they are gone. There are no strut-holes nor indications of a bretasche. -Though circular above and towards the field, the southern or interior -face is capped by a bold spur, a pyramid cut diagonally, with the apex -dying into the round wall about four-fifths of the way up. This spur -contains a mural chamber. It is much shattered. - -[Illustration: THE KEEP, BARNARD CASTLE.] - -The keep is cylindrical within, and has a basement and three upper -floors. All its original openings seem to have been either flat or -round-headed. There is no original pointed arch; that over the main -door is clearly an insertion. The basement is on the ground level, -about 20 feet diameter, and the walls about 10 feet thick, and it is -covered in with a flattish dome of inferior rubble, but probably -original. On the south side are traces of a fireplace, of which the -vertical tunnel remains in the wall. The entrance-door is on the -west side, and so also is the main door. It is much broken, and -has at present a late flat-pointed arch, but it seems to have been -round-headed. It opened not, as now, from the court, but from the -passage-room leading to the postern. In the outer wall, a couple of -yards to the right of the door, is a recess like a sepulchre in the -keep wall, and in it is laid a stone coffin, probably found in the -outer ward. The recess may have been a seat; it can scarcely have -been a tomb. The entrance-door has no portcullis. In its left jamb a -flat-topped mural passage, 3 feet wide, leads into a garderobe which -projects outwards between the keep and the curtain, and has a short -exterior loop. The shaft of a garderobe in the floor above so drops -that it is evident that here, as at Corfe, there was a wooden partition -within it. - -Entering the keep, on the right a door leads up half a dozen steps into -the north side of what is called the guard-chamber, a barrel-vaulted -room, 14 feet east and west, by 7 feet, with a loop to the south. This -looks very much like an oratory, though it is a passage-room. It is -contained partly within the spur buttress, and is evidently the cause -of that appendage. From near the west end of the chamber, a second door -leads by a mural stair, 3 feet broad, to the first floor, a circular -chamber, 21 feet diameter, with walls about 8 feet 6 inches thick. This -stair opens by a narrow, round-headed door in the jamb of a doorway, -also round-headed, which seems to have led from this floor into the -“great chamber,” the withdrawing-room of the hall. In the opposite door -jamb, a similar door leads by a mural passage to a garderobe above that -already mentioned. - -The first floor was evidently the state-room. It has traces of a -fireplace to the south side, but the hood is gone, and opposite to -it is a round-headed window of 4 feet opening, looking up the Tees. -Another window, probably of the same pattern, looked towards the tower -ward. This has been altered to suit a Tudor five-light flat-topped -window. This seems to have been called “My Lady’s Chamber.” - -In the left-hand jamb of the north window, now much broken, another -narrow door opens on a mural stair, 2 feet 6 inches broad, which, -following the curve of the wall, and lighted by small loops, led up to -the battlements, opening, on the way, upon the second floor, of which -the floor and roof, both of timber, are now gone. This floor also had -a fireplace, and a sort of magnified loop, which did duty as a door, -and opened upon the battlements of the hall, and led also to a third -garderobe, corbelled out above the other two. This has an open vent, -while the shaft of the other two descends within the wall to a sewer, -the arched mouth of which is just visible at the foot of the wall, -outside. - -There seems also to have been a square-headed opening in the stair, to -give a way to the top of the ward-curtain, of which the allure was 2 -feet 6 inches wide, having a parapet of 3 feet, and a rerewall of 2 -feet. As the parapet of the keep is gone, the stair terminates abruptly -at the level of the rampart wall, where the wall is 7 feet 6 inches -thick; and thence is a good view of the castle and town, and of one of -the most lovely reaches of the Tees. In 1592 this keep was roofed with -lead. The roof was probably always flat. - -Mortham Tower capped the north-west angle of the ward, rising from the -rock high above the river. It is a mere fragment. It seems to have been -of irregular plan, built to fit on to the hollow bend of an existing -wall. When it was built, it was thought prudent to strengthen the wall -by stout exterior buttresses. The original wall is Norman. The first -built part of the tower seems to have been Early English, and its -completion Decorated. - -The space between Mortham Tower and the keep was occupied by the -hall and withdrawing-rooms, the latter being next the keep. The hall -was on the first floor, as shown by its two windows in the curtain. -These are of two lights, with a transom and trefoiled heads, and an -oval quatrefoil in the head. They are placed in recesses with plain -segmental arches, and side seats of stone. They are of the best -Decorated period, and evidently insertions into an older wall, which -has also been strengthened with Decorated buttresses. - -Between the hall and the keep were, on the ground-floor, passages -leading on the left to what was probably a cellar below the hall, and -on the right into the keep, while at its end is a small square-headed -postern in the curtain, still in use. Above this passage was the -withdrawing-room, placed between the hall and the state floor of the -keep; and the window of this room, in the curtain, is the well-known -bay which displays in its soffit the “bristly boar” of Richard III. The -window is projected over the postern, upon bold corbels and is mainly -of good Perpendicular date, but the superstructure has been altered -and debased by some very poor Tudor work, similar to the window in the -keep, and possibly due to Sir George Bowes. This was called “The Great -Chamber” in 1592. - -Its gatehouse occupied the south-west angle of this ward, and was -built on the edge of the cliff. The remains of it are very scanty. The -curtain between it and Mortham Tower seems to have been a mere parapet, -cresting the cliff. - -The curved curtain connecting the gatehouse with the keep, and covering -the two landward faces of the ward, is tolerably perfect. It is -strengthened by an exterior buttress and a small tower. This latter, -which is placed near the angle of the curtain, towards the keep, -contains a basement and upper chamber, both vaulted, though of the -latter, which was at the rampart level, only some fragments remain. -This tower is rectangular, but the angles are chamfered off. It has no -internal projection, and outside, against each of its three faces, is -applied a Decorated buttress of 2 feet 6 inches breadth, by 3 feet 6 -inches projection at the base. Each is of three stages, and dies into -the wall near its summit. Between this tower and the keep is a large -buttress, apparently hollow, possibly for the pipe of a garderobe. This -also is a Decorated addition. Near it the curtain has a flat Norman -pilaster strip, but of three stages. It is 4 feet broad, and diminishes -from 18 inches to 6 inches projection. It also dies into the wall near -the top. - -It is not unlikely, from the aspect of the inner ward, that this was -a fortress of the tenth century, composed of a cliff on two sides, a -ditch on the other two, and a centre more or less nearly circular, and -artificially scarped; in fact, a motte, upon which stood the original -stronghold. The outer ditches may be of the same date, but from their -figure and plan they are more likely to have been a later, probably a -Norman, addition. Their contents are thrown inward so as to form a ramp -behind the wall. - -It is evident that the whole area of the castle, as it now stands, was -inclosed by the Normans, and the walls throughout and nearly all the -towers are latish in that style. Here and there, spread over the whole -_enceinte_, are remains of Norman work. The pilaster strips on the -inner curtain, the arches in the several ditches, the square tower and -gate on the north curtain, Brackenbury’s Tower, and much of the wall -towards the town are original. In the inner ward the base of Mortham -Tower, and the half-round mural tower near the north gate, are probably -Early English. The keep, the fragments of the hall, the south-east -tower of the inner ward, and most of the remains of other buildings are -evidently Decorated. The original walls were mostly of sound rubble, -with ashlar dressings. In the Decorated work ashlar was more freely -used. - -The castle must have undergone almost a rebuilding in the Decorated -period. The Norman architect evidently treated the whole inner ward -as a shell keep. His successors added part of Mortham Tower, and the -Decorated artist, more ambitious, raised the round tower as a keep, -added—probably rebuilding—the hall, and completed Mortham Tower, and -strengthened or restored the curtain in various places. - -Here, as was much the practice in the North, the round-headed arch -and the flat lintel were largely employed in the Decorated period. -The general style of the work is much to be admired. Strong, sound, -massive, very plain, of excellent execution, it is in admirable taste, -and in good keeping with a military structure. The keep, though not -one of the largest, is one of the finest round towers in England. Its -proportions are good, its materials of proper size and rich colour, and -its very plainness is indicative of strength. - -There is but little Perpendicular work; probably it was of a lighter -character, and has fallen and been removed. - -Whatever may be regarded as the value of the material evidence of -its earthworks, the notion of Bernard Castle occupying the site of -an earlier stronghold is unsupported by records. The present town is -thought to have risen on the fall of Marwood, a place the very site of -which is now forgotten; neither is it a parish, being included in the -vast parish of Gainford, the church of which is eight miles distant. -From Domesday no aid is to be derived, seeing that this valuable record -does not include Durham, nor is there any mention of either Marwood -or Gainford, still less of the castle, in Hugh Pudsey’s Domesday of -Durham, the Boldon Book, compiled in 1133, for this is confined to the -bishopric, within which the Baliol fee was not at that time included. - -Guy de Baliol received from William Rufus the Barony of Bywell, in -Northumberland, and either from that king, or his father, the lordship -of Gainford, of which he gave the church to St. Mary’s, at York. - -Bernard, his son and successor, was a distinguished adherent of -Stephen, but lived into the reign of Henry II., and was one of those -who broke up the siege of Alnwick, by the Scots, in 1174, before which -time he probably built Barnard Castle. He also seems to have built the -church, or rather chapel, of Barnard Castle town, and gave it also -to St. Mary’s. He was succeeded by another Bernard, father of Hugh, -father of John de Baliol, founder of Baliol College, Oxford, and of St. -John’s Hospital, in Barnard Castle town, and regent of Scotland. He was -born in the castle. He married Devorgoil, a co-heir of Alan, Lord of -Galloway, from whom their son, another John, inherited the deadly claim -to the throne of Scotland, which he made good, after a fashion, in -1292. He lost his English estates, and died at Château-Gaillard in 1314. - -Edward, his son, became king of Scotland, 1332, but was expelled in -1341, and died childless in 1363. - -On the attainder of John de Baliol, Bishop Bek claimed Barnard Castle, -probably unjustly, as belonging to the See. As early as 1301 he had -seized upon it, and he held it for some time, and to his tenure are -attributed the keep and other additions in the style prevailing at -the period. Edward I., however, granted it to Guy Beauchamp, Earl of -Warwick, who cared little for episcopal claims, which took the form of -protests from several successive bishops. - -The castle remained in the Earls of Warwick, Beauchamps and Nevilles, -for five descents, and here Thomas Beauchamp founded an Augustin -Priory about 1381. How it came to be held for a time by the Earls of -Westmoreland of the other line of the Nevilles does not appear. It -finally, however, vested in Richard Duke of Gloucester, who repaired -it, and left his cognisance upon it, as has been stated. On his -death it remained in the Crown until it was sold, and after various -vicissitudes became the property of the ancestor of the Duke of -Cleveland. It was dismantled in 1630, when the spoil of the great hall -was carried to Raby. - -The bridge across the Tees is a fine one, of two lofty pointed arches, -said to have been rebuilt in the last century. The arches are moulded -in three sets-off, and beneath, each arch is supported by five bold -ribs. If modern, the old type is well followed. - -In the adjacent church there are some old parts. There is a good ornate -south door with flanking columns and capitals, round-headed, with a -chevron moulding on the arch. The opening is wider than usual. The -style is late Norman. The base of the tower is set round with several -short Early English buttresses. About 12 feet west of the tower, in -the churchyard, are laid several large blue gravestones of a quality -not now used. They seem to have carried brasses, are much worn, and -have evidently been removed from the interior of this church or the -castle chapel. Under one, on which remains a merchant’s mark, is buried -Sir John Hullock, a Baron of the Exchequer, who died July 31st, 1829, -and his wife, who died November 18th, 1852. - - - - - BEAUMARIS CASTLE, IN ANGLESEY. - - -Beaumaris Castle is built upon a marshy flat, close to the sea-shore, -and but little above the level of the sea, from which its ditch was -supplied. It is an example of a purely concentric fortress, in which -the engineer was left free to design his works without being governed, -as in most other cases, by the irregularities of the ground. - -[Illustration: - - _Ground Plan._ - _Beaumaris Castle._] - -Its inner ward is a quadrangle about 50 yards square, contained within -four curtain-walls about 16 feet thick and 40 to 50 feet high. At the -angles are four drum-towers, three-quarters engaged, of the height -of the curtains. On the east and west sides are intermediate towers, -half-round, with prolonged sides, of which that to the east, as at -Kidwelly, contains the chapel. In the centre of the north and south -sides are the gatehouses, of large size and something higher than the -other towers. In each a quadrangular part projects into the court, -capped at the two angles by round turrets containing staircases. -Outside, half-round towers with prolonged sides flank the entrance. The -ground-plan here given shows the general arrangement. - -[Illustration: - - _C. A. Buckler._ - - _Entrance to Beaumaris Castle._] - -[Illustration: BEAUMARIS CASTLE: ANGLESEY:] - -The great hall, 70 feet by 23 feet 6 inches, occupies most of the first -floor of the northern gatehouse, and is lighted from the court by -five windows, of two lights each, with a transom, as at Stokesley and -Ludlow, contemporary halls. The fireplace was on the opposite side. The -roof was of timber, but with one stone rib, as at Charing. The southern -gatehouse probably also contained a large chamber, now destroyed. The -state-rooms and lodgings were in the gatehouses. The portals were of -unusual length, and each was guarded by three grates. - -The curtains are pierced lengthways by long mural passages, -communicating with the tower chambers and the staircases, of which -there are many. The rampart walk is of unusual breadth. Under a part -of the wall, south of the chapel, the lowest mural gallery is a large -sewer. - -The chapel, on the first floor, though not much above the ground level, -is a beautiful little chamber, entered at its west end from the court -by a flight of steps and a short passage traversing the mural gallery. -On each side is a vestry. The actual entrance to the chapel is by a -double door, trefoiled. The chapel is composed of two bays with a -polygonal apse. The whole is groined, and the walls are panelled in two -stages all round. There are five lancet loops opening upon the face of -the tower, and two windows opening into the chapel, from the vestries. -The chapel stands on a crypt, also vaulted. - -Outside the south gatehouse a sort of barbican, a hollow square of -masonry, has been erected, having an entrance on its west side. It is -an addition intended to prevent the portal being raked or carried with -a rush. - -The ward above described stands detached within the outer ward. This is -in figure eight-sided, symmetrical, or nearly so. At its four principal -angles, opposite the angles of the inner ward, are four drum-towers, -three-quarters engaged. From these towers the walls slope outwards, so -as to form salient angles, of which there are thus four, one opposite -to the centre of each face of the inner ward, and thus space is given -for the gatehouses, the chapel, and its opposite tower. Each salient is -capped by a drum-tower, and on each of the sides forming the salient -is a smaller tower. There are altogether twelve towers, three of the -spaces and one angle being otherwise occupied. These outer towers and -curtains are much lower and slighter than those of the inner ward. - -There are two gates. The north gate seems never to have been completed, -but its remains are very peculiar. There is a main portal in the -curtain, and on each side of it a small portal or postern. Outside are -four bold but narrow buttresses, one on each side of the main gate, -and one outside each of the side gates. The western buttress is of -bolder projection than the rest, and is evidently intended to cover -and conceal a sally from the quarter whence the Welsh were most likely -to approach. Each buttress is looped, the two inner ones so as to -command the main from the side entrances. The southern entrance is also -peculiar, and has a gatehouse and outwork of its own. The gatehouse, -shown in the drawing here given, has two towers on quadrangular bases, -corbelled out so as to rise to drum summits, producing a fine effect. -This outer gate opens upon the sea-shore. Behind, or to its west, was -the walled tower. Towards the east it was protected by a spur-work; a -long curtain wall, running on from the exterior wall of the castle to -the sea-shore, of great thickness, and pierced by a long gallery below, -and having above a rampart walk, parapeted on each face. The passage -is looped each way and strengthened by a half-round tower on its west -face. It seems to have ended in a round tower, now removed. The object -of this work was to cover the landing of supplies from the sea, and -to prevent an enemy from the east side from creeping round by the -sea-shore and so surprising either the castle or the town. The spur has -been pierced by a modern archway. - -The birdseye view given shows the castle from its south-eastern angle. -The root of the spur-work is shown, the outside of the chapel tower -with its lancet windows, and the windows of the great hall. There was -but one ditch, which embraced the whole structure, and is now filled up. - -Beaumaris was probably commenced about 1295, twelve years after the -execution of Prince David, and later than Conway, Caernarvon, and -Harlech. On the subjugation of Wales it ceased to be of importance, and -even in the reign of Edward II. it was out of repair. - - - - - BEDFORD CASTLE. - - -On the left bank of the Ouse, about 50 yards from the stream, within, -but upon the eastern edge of, the town, is to be found all that remains -of the once-celebrated and very strong castle of Bedford. These -remains, though scanty and confined, or nearly so, to earthworks, are -very marked and of a durable character, and, although the fame of the -castle rests upon its adventures as a Norman fortress, there is reason -to suppose that it had an earlier history, and that most of its present -relics belong to that earlier and Saxon period. - -The principal work is a motte or mound of earth, wholly artificial, -placed upon the gravelly plain across which the Ouse winds its way -down the broad band of the middle oolite. This mound is circular, now -about 15 feet high and 150 feet in diameter at its summit, which is -perfectly level, and has for above half a century been employed as -a bowling-green. The slopes are uniform and moderately steep, and -planted with trees and shrubs. On the north side, or that farthest from -the river, an excavation has been made for an ice-house; but this is -of modern date, and does not appear to have laid open any traces of -masonry below the surface of the ground. - -Towards the river, and westwards towards the town bridge about a -furlong above the castle, the ground is perfectly flat, and under -cultivation as a garden; but, on the north and north-east it is rather -higher, and here are traces of a ditch at the foot of, and concentric -with, the mound, and no doubt a part of its defence upon this its -weaker side. - -The only masonry that can possibly be old is a small rectangular -mass on the south side of the mound, and which now carries a modern -summer-house. The ragstone of the country, of which this fragment is -comprised, weathers so rapidly that it is difficult to form an opinion -upon its age; but, though possibly old, it may be of recent date. - -Looking to the position of the mound as regards the river, and to the -low and flat character of the ground about it, it is evident that the -great strength of the place must have been derived from the Ouse, here -deep and broad, and from banks of earth and ditches filled from and -communicating with the river. The entire absence of masonry and the -disappearance of all but a trace of the surrounding banks and ditches, -commemorated in the Chronicles as once so high and deep, are fully -accounted for by the circumstances recorded of the famous siege by -Henry III. - -Bedicanford, or Bedford, was well known to the Saxons, and a town -probably of Saxon origin. Here, just outside the town, was buried in -796 the Saxon Offa, king of Mercia, in a chapel long since swept away -by the flood waters of the Ouse. Early in the tenth century the town -was attacked by a party of Danish settlers from the five burghs, who -were beaten off by the townspeople, and shortly afterwards Edward the -elder repaired the place, and erected what some call the suburb of -Mikesgate, and some a strong place, on the southern side of the river, -possibly a cover for the “ford,” which contributed towards the name -of the town. Bedford was, without doubt, an important town under the -Saxons, and, as at Tamworth, Leicester, Wareham, and Wallingford, had a -citadel at one angle of the enclosure, upon the river. - -The Barony, also called the Honour, of Bedford, was conferred by -William Rufus upon Payn, second son, but eventual heir of Hugh -Beauchamp, a companion of the Conqueror, and possibly allied to the -greater family of that name, who afterwards held the earldom of -Warwick. Hugh was the recipient of many manors in Buckingham, and about -twenty in Bedfordshire. Payn is the reputed builder of the Norman -castle, described as of great strength, with ditches and ramparts of -earth, and which descended to his son Simon, steward to King Stephen. -The family, however, afterwards took part against the king, who seems -to have attempted to settle the fief upon the daughter of the eldest -brother, married to Hugh, surnamed “Pauper,” brother to the Earl of -Leicester. Milo de Beauchamp held the castle against King Stephen in -1137. The siege lasted five weeks, and was pressed with great energy. -It was finally taken by starvation. The author of the “Gesta Stephani” -describes the castle as having strong earthworks, “editissimo aggere -vallatum.” - -Simon de Beauchamp held the castle through the reigns of Henry II. and -Richard I., until his death, about the 8th of John. It appears from the -red book of the Exchequer that he held 36 and 5-10ths knight fees of -the old feoffment, and 8 fees of the new, all in the barony of Bedford. -In his time the castle seems to have been held against Henry II. since -in the second year of that king, 1155-6, those burgesses of Bedford who -were in the castle against the king were fined twenty marks, of which -sum they rendered account in 1157-8. In 1190 Simon fined £100 for the -governorship of the castle. - -William, son and successor of Simon, is described as lord of the strong -castle of Bedford, the “caput” of the Honour. He took part with the -rebel barons towards the close of John’s reign, and in 1215 admitted -their forces into his castle. In consequence it was attacked by the -well-known Falk de Breauté, and, not being relieved, was surrendered -in November, after a seven days’ siege. John was himself present at -Bedford thrice in that year, in all for eight days. He granted the -confiscated Honour to Falk. - -Falk strengthened and held the castle into the reign of Henry III., and -thence ravaged the country below the Chilterns. At first a supporter -of the young king, he afterwards resisted his authority, and, at the -instance of his oppressed neighbours, Henry de Braibroc was sent to -Dunstable in 8th Henry III., 1224, to try their complaints, when thirty -verdicts were found against the baron, and fines imposed of £100 under -each of them. In revenge, Falk kidnapped the judge and lodged him a -prisoner in Bedford Castle, treating him with much indignity. His -wife complained to the Parliament then at Northampton, and the king -ordered him to give up the judge, but in vain. Henry was probably -glad of the opportunity of crushing a very turbulent subject, and -appears to have lost no time in punishing the affront. In June, 1224, -commenced a series of orders, issued by the king himself, and which -show the greatness of his preparations for a siege, and the vigour -with which he pushed them forward. On the 22nd of June, Henry was at -Bedford in person, and there remained during the siege until the 19th -of August, nearly two months. The preparations were both extensive and -minute, and the mandates, always described as pressing, were issued -to a vast number of sheriffs and other persons as far south and west -as Corfe Castle and St. Briavels. They require men, money, arrears of -scutage, cord, cable, iron, steel, hides, leather for slings, twine -for strings, mangonels, petraries, balistæ, quarrells, stone shot, -quarrymen, masons, miners, carpenters, saddlers, wagons for conveying -the royal pavilions, and almonds, spice, and ginger for the royal -still-room. All the smiths in Northampton who can forge quarrell bolts, -or feather them when forged, are to work day and night until 4,000 are -ready and despatched. Large quantities of wine from the royal stores in -London, at Northampton, and elsewhere, are to be forwarded with speed -to Bedford. Knights performing castle guard at Lancaster are ordered -up: greyhounds are sent for for sport. The sheriff of Bedfordshire is -to supply quarrymen and masons with their levers, hammers, mauls, and -wedges, and everything necessary for the preparation of stone shot for -the mangonels and petraries. Miners come from St. Briavels, in the -Forest of Dean. Windsor supplies its master-carpenter and his mates. -Cambridge sends cord and cable. Charcoal comes with the iron and steel -from Gloucester, and the adjacent abbey of Newenham spares a large -quantity of raw stone to be converted into shot. - -The details of the material supplied are recorded in the close rolls of -the period. The particulars of the siege itself have been preserved by -the neighbouring monks of Dunstable, from whose town, and probably from -whose monastery, the judge had been taken, and whose fellow-townsmen -played an important part in the siege. The king brought with him the -Archbishop of Canterbury and divers bishops and abbots, by whose -interest was granted to him two men from every hyde of their church -lands to work the siege engines; an aid of “carucage” or a mark from -each caruca or plough land of demesne, and 2s. from each held in -tenancy, gifts which were guarded against being drawn into a precedent -by special charter from the king. - -Falk left his brother to abide the attack, and sought aid on the lands -of the Earl of Chester, Ranulph Blundeville. The earl, however, was -with the king, together with Peter de Rupibus, bishop of Winchester, -William de Cantelupe, Brian de l’Isle, and Peter de Maulay. All were -suspected of disaffection, and in consequence the earl and the bishop -left the camp, although the earl was afterwards brought by the Bishop -of Chester to his duty. Falk remained at Northampton until he fled to -Wales. - -The siege operations included on the east front a petrary and two -mangonels, which daily battered the opposite tower; on the west front, -two mangonels bore upon the old tower; on the north and south fronts -were two mangonels, one on each, and each breached its opposing wall. -The operations of these seven pieces of ordnance were materially aided -by two large wooden turrets, tall enough to command the whole castle, -and supported by other smaller turrets, all charged with archers and -crossbow-men. There was also the timber covered-way, known as a cat, -by the aid of which miners were able to undermine the wall, while the -bowmen cleared the battlements above. These works were thickly covered -with hides, rendering them proof against fire; and the slingers, of -whom there were many, probably kept up a general and incessant shower -of pebbles upon all who dared to show themselves on the ramparts. - -The works were stormed by four vigorous assaults. First the barbican -was taken, with a loss of four or five of the assailants. Then entrance -was effected into the outer ward. This was the work of the men of -Dunstable, and was attended with severe loss. In this ward were stored -most of the munitions of the place,—arms, horses and harness, cattle, -bacon and live hogs. Much forage was here burned, with the houses and -sheds in the ward. - -The miners next underworked the wall next the old tower, which wall -fell. The resistance here appears to have been obstinate, many lives -were lost upon the breach, and ten of the most forward assailants were -taken and carried into the interior of the place. - -Finally, on the vigil of the Assumption, 14th August, about the hour -of vespers, the miners having undermined the foundations of the old -tower, fired the props. The walls split, the smoke rose, and, the place -being no longer tenable, the garrison hoisted the royal banner, and -surrendered, sending out De Braibroc with the wife of Falk, and the -other women. Next morning the king took possession. William de Breauté -and the garrison were put upon their trial, and he and about eighty -of his men were hanged out of hand. Three were allowed to join the -Templars in Palestine, and the castle chaplain was delivered over to -the archbishop as the spiritual power. It appears from the records that -the remainder of the garrison escaped with fines and confiscations. -The spoil was considerable, in treasure, provisions, and munitions of -war. Henry left for Kemeston (Kempston) on the 18th, but was again at -Bedford on the 19th, and at Dunstable on the 26th of August. Even when -flushed by success he seems not to have been severe upon those not -actually implicated. Alice, widow of the executed William de Breauté, -was allowed her dower-lands in Bedford and Cumberland. On the 19th and -on the 22nd, Margaret, wife of Falk, was allowed for her subsistence -the manors of Heyford and Sabridgeworth. Gilbert de Breauté also was -allowed a manor; and Falk, the author of all the mischief, had twenty -marks allowed for his personal expenses on his way to exile. - -Immediately upon the surrender, Henry broke up the siege establishment. -Nine hundred quarrels, the residue of the 4,000, were returned to -Northampton, and the sheriff of Beds is debited with the remaining -iron, charcoal, &c., collected for the siege operations. The mangonels -and heavy artillery were to be taken to pieces and returned to -Northampton Castle. Various payments were also made and rewards given, -chiefly out of the confiscated De Breauté lands. John de Standon, the -king’s miner from the Forest of Dean, had land granted him under St. -Briavels. - -The castle itself was far too strong and too dangerous to be spared, -and the orders for its destruction are very sweeping and specific. By -an order of the 20th of August, five days after the surrender, the -sheriff is ordered to level the banks, fill up the ditches, and make -plane the surface of the outer ward. He is to reduce the mote or mound, -and the walls of the inner ward by one-half their height, and to level -three-fourths of the old tower towards St. Paul’s, that is on the -north-west. The stones are to be divided between William de Beauchamp -for his proposed house, the church of St. Paul, Bedford, and the -priories of Caldwell and Newenham; but the last is to have the larger -share, because it supplied stones for shot for the siege. - -Five days later came out another order enforcing the former, and -directing Henry de Braibroc and William de Pateshull to see to its -prompt and accurate execution. It was also specified that William de -Beauchamp might, if he pleased, build a dwelling-house on the site, -and use the reduced wall of the inner ward, but he was not to raise -the mound or the wall above a certain height, or to embattle it. He -might only erect it. Braibroc is to see the stone from both walls and -mound distributed as directed. September 16th, the sheriffs of Herts, -Cambridge, and Hunts were ordered to send men to aid Braibroc and -Pateshull in the work of destruction, and they are to take tools with -them, and stay until the mound is lowered and the ditches filled up as -ordered. Beauchamp was further allowed half the timber from the barn -and the old tower. - -Thus passed away the strength and glory of the castle of Bedford, the -great fortress of the Ouse. Whether William de Beauchamp built upon its -site does not appear. He died 44 Hen. III., and within a very few years -his name was extinct and his barony divided. - -The castle, or its site, probably as the seat of a manor court, is -named from time to time in the _Inquisitiones post Mortem_. Thus, 5 -Ed. II., Roger L’Estrange, by Margaret his wife, was seized of “the -Castle” and the “site of the Castle” of Bedford; 1 Ed. III., John -de Mowbray was seized of the site of Bedford Castle and the fishery -of the Ouse; and 40 Ed. III., another John had suit of court in the -castle of Bedford; and 50 Ed. III., Elizabeth, wife of John Mowbray, -holds of the same castle. Also, 6 Rich. II., another John Mowbray is -seized of Bedford Castle and Bedford Barony; and, finally, 8 Hen. IV., -Thomas Mowbray, Earl Marshall, holds Bedford Castle in chief, by the -service of almoner to the king at his coronation; so that the tenures -and privileges attached to the castle remained in force long after the -fortress itself had been razed. In Leland’s time, the castle mill,—that -great evidence of feudal customs,—remained; and he also mentions the -“great round hill” as a burrow for foxes. There were not then any -buildings. - -It is evident from present appearance that the mandate of Henry III. -was strictly obeyed. No trace of a ditch is to be seen between the -mound and the river, and the mound itself is so much lower than is -usual with works of that diameter as to make it probable that at least -one half has been removed and employed in filling up the ditches. - -It is not easy to gather from the account of the siege a clear idea of -the disposition of the parts of the castle. There were two wards, and -the outer, judging from its contents, must have been of considerable -area. It probably included the inner ward and the mound, and abutted -upon the river. The barbican would scarcely be placed upon the river -or outside the town, and probably was to the north-west, or near the -church of St. Paul. - -The inner-ward wall probably surrounded the mound, on the outside of -its ditch, and was thus open to attack when the outer ward was taken. - -The old tower, last taken, and the fall of a part of which reduced the -garrison to surrender, was probably the donjon or shell crowning the -mound. This would be of Norman date, and therefore might well be called -the old tower, as distinguished from Falk’s additions, and the repairs -after the siege by Stephen. Thus, if the explanation be accepted, -Bedford Castle had a shell keep or donjon upon a mound, surrounded by a -ditch and wall, and this again by another wall, at a greater distance, -the principal storehouses and dwelling being, as was usual, in this -larger or outer ward. The History of Bedford Castle and of its siege -are the subject of an elaborate paper by the late Rev. C. H. Hartshorn, -privately printed in 1861. - - - - - BERKHAMPSTEAD CASTLE, HERTS. - - -The Castle of Berkhampstead stands in the parish of Berkhampstead St. -Peter, in the county of Hertford, and, geologically, upon the lower -chalk. Its position is in a chalky bottom, on the left bank of the -Bulborne rivulet. Between the stream and the castle the ground is -naturally low and marshy, but it is now traversed by the Grand Junction -Canal and the London and North-Western Railway, which, with the -water-course and the turnpike-road, separate the castle from the town. - -To the east and north-east of the castle the ground rises steeply -towards Whitehill and Berkhampstead Common. To the west and north-west -it rises more gradually towards Berkhampstead-place. Between the two, -towards the north, is a combe or nearly dry valley, occupied by the old -park, called the Berkhampstead estate, and in this valley stands the -castle, about 400 yards from its termination in the river. - -The constituent parts of the castle are a mound; an inner _enceinte_ -or ward; an inner ditch; a second _enceinte_; a second ditch; a third -_enceinte_, enveloping the northern half only; a ravelin upon the west -face; and a third or exterior ditch, also confined to the northern half -of the work. - -The mound is wholly artificial. It is conical, about 60 feet high -and 40 feet diameter at the top, having steep sides and a wet ditch -round three-fourths of its circumference. Its top was crowned with a -circular shell of wall, about 8 feet thick, of which the foundations -only remain. Up its southern side is a curtain-wall, much ruined, and -about 8 feet thick. This commences at the ground level at the top of -the mound, and runs into a fragment of the _enceinte_ wall of the inner -ward. It evidently connected this wall with the keep, and was probably, -as at Tamworth, parapeted on either face of its rampart walk. It was -not continued down the further side of the mound, which was not a part -of the _enceinte_, but a citadel placed outside it, and connected with -it only by a single wall. - -Probably the ditch of the mound was originally continued all round it, -and simply traversed by the wall. Much of the ditch between the mound -and the inner ward is filled up, probably very recently, as the process -is now in progress, the object being to connect the level sward of the -_enceinte_ with the mound for pleasure purposes. - -The inner ward is an oval space, about 500 feet north and south by 300 -feet east and west. It is encircled by a wall, about 7 feet thick, -and now about 20 feet high, and which may have been 4 feet to 5 feet -higher. Traces of the crenellations are visible. This wall is broken -down in parts, but nearly three-fourths of it remain. The northern, or -end opposite to the mound, is concave, the ditch of the mound having -been run into it. There is a fragment of a mural tower on the west -face, much mutilated and apparently rectangular. In the east face are -two openings, one of which may have been a postern. In the north-east -quarter a cross-wall seems to have belonged to a domestic building. -The gap for the main gateway is at the south end. There are no traces -of towers there, and there do not appear, judging from the wall, ever -to have been any. The interior _terre-plein_, or platform, is level, -no terrace against the wall, and no trace of a bank against which the -wall could have been built. Outside the wall is a space of about 5 feet -broad, beyond which the ground falls sharply towards the wet ditch. - -The inner ditch is carried quite round both mound and inner ward wall, -being in plan an unbroken oval. It is deep and everywhere wet, and -in parts it opens out into a pool. This is the case where it gave -off the ditch embracing the mound, now in part filled up, and in the -south-eastern quarter, where its overflow escapes into the river. - -Outside, and forming the counterscarp of this ditch, is the second or -middle _enceinte_. This is a steep and narrow bank, carrying a walk of -about 8 feet broad, having about an equal slope inwards towards the -inner ditch, and outwards towards the outer. For about its northern -two-thirds this bank is very uniform, but at the south-west quarter it -swells into a small mound or cavalier, about 22 feet in diameter at -top, and about 20 feet high, close to which the land has been cut away -to effect a modern entry. Opposite to this, on the south-east quarter, -is another rather larger mound, about 30 feet across and 25 feet high; -and at this point the bank makes a loop outwards, which somewhat -destroys the symmetry of its plan. These two mounds are evidently -intended to flank the extremities of the outer bank. - -[Illustration] - -This middle bank is perforated by a modern culvert at its southern -part, by which the waters of the inner ditch escape; and a few yards -east of this the bank is crossed by two parallel walls, 12 feet apart, -and which evidently belonged to the outside of the main entrance. - -The second or middle ditch, also deep and wet, envelopes the middle -bank very regularly. At present it is wanting on the south side, for a -short distance, having been filled up and converted into a road when -the railway was constructed. - -Outside this ditch is the third or outer _enceinte_, a steep bank, -which forms the counterscarp of the middle ditch, and envelopes -rather more than the northern half of the castle. It is about 10 feet -broad above, and is strengthened outside by eight bastions, also of -earth, placed at distances of from 60 feet to 150 feet, and each, -at top, about 30 feet broad by 40 feet projection, and rounded. The -five best marked of these, being steep and about 20 feet high, lie to -the north-west. A small streamlet coming in from the north then cuts -the line, and to the east of this, covering the north-east and east -faces, the bank is continued for about 580 feet, strengthened by three -bastions, which, however, are low, and have nothing of the sharpness -of the others. These latter three have scarcely any ditch, but the -other five have at their feet a ditch, which, even now, is boggy, and -no doubt was once a formidable defence. West of this outer bank, and -ranging with it so as to cover part of the west face of the castle, is -an earthwork of very doubtful character. Its lines are rectangular, -it has a ditch, and it much resembles the early ravelins which were -common in the fifteenth century, and not unknown in the fourteenth and -thirteenth. - -Connected with its ditch is a pond, which appears to have been a -mill-pond and fish-stew. No doubt all these extensive ditches were -turned to account, and fed the mill which is known to have been -attached to the castle. - -Berkhampstead is altogether a very striking and a very peculiar -fortification. The mound was no doubt an English burh, and, as was not -uncommon, had its own defences. The inner _enceinte_, though not, as is -usual, encircled by a bank, was encircled by a steep slope and ditch, -which, with a palisade, would have been a very sufficient defence. -These probably were the whole of the original works, and within them -may well have been held the famous Council of Berkhampstead in 697. -The two outer works seem to be later. The outer certainly, from its -bastions, must be later than the Conquest, and the middle bank is far -too slight in its construction and too sharply preserved to be of -remote antiquity. But it is remarkable that there is no trace of any -other than the inner _enceinte_ wall, and it is pretty evident that -there was never any other. The earthworks, except the mound, would not -have carried a wall, and had such been built it would have been liable -to be mined and overthrown with very little trouble. Evidently these -banks were crested with palisades, and probably careful cutting into -them would show traces of the stakes. - -Further, it is singular that, though there is a second and a third -line of defence, there is no middle or outer ward. These lines of -defence include ditches only, and not the space which, however narrow, -was always left between the walls of castles for the assembling their -defenders. Here the garrison of the two outer lines must have been -ranged in line close in rear of the stockade, with but room to pass -between it and the ditch in their rear. - -It should be mentioned that an earthwork, composed of bank and ditch, -and known locally as Grimsdyke, traverses the high road above the -town, and there are several barrows in the immediate neighbourhood. -The Berkhampstead earthworks are quite peculiar, but the neighbourhood -is rather rich in military earthworks of a circular character, among -which, to the south and west, may be mentioned Bushwood, Hawridge, -Cholesbury, and, at a greater distance, Kimble. - -The masonry that remains is all of chalk flint rubble, bathed in a -pure white mortar, and probably faced with coarse flints, picked, if -not squared. Here and there parts of the face remain. This work may be -Norman, or it may be later, though probably not much. The absence of -towers is remarkable. There is no ashlar at all. This, no doubt, was -removed when Berkhampstead Place was built, but there could not have -been very much of it. - -Berkhampstead was a seat of the Kings of Mercia, and the place of -meeting of a council of magnates summoned, in 697, by Wightred, king of -Kent; and, at the time of the Confessor, it belonged to Edmar, a thane -of Earl Harold. It was evidently a strong place, for when the Conqueror -gave it to his brother Robert, Earl of Mortaigne, amongst the vassals -there was a certain “Fossarius,” whose duty must have been to clean the -castle ditches. Robert is said to have fortified it with a double ditch -and rampart, and he held it at Domesday. Moreover, under the Conqueror, -it was expanded into a very extensive Honour, of which it was the -_caput_. The manor is named, but not the castle, in Domesday. - -The castle seems to have been held by King Stephen and by John, with -the earldom of Cornwall. It had suffered in Stephen’s wars, and John -gave it, 1206, to Geoffrey Fitzpiers, Earl of Essex, who rebuilt or -restored it, and may have erected the present walls. Prince Louis laid -siege to, and took it, in 1226. The attack was from the north side, and -the castle held out for a considerable time. - -Richard, Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans, brother to Henry -III., held it. He wrote to his brother from hence in 1261, and died -here in 1271-2, as did his wife Isabel Mareschal in 1239. His son -Edmund had the castle, town, and halimote. In 1299 the castle was -returned as yielding no rental; but the millpool and the castle ditches -let for the fishing at 20s. per annum. There was then a water-mill and -a park with deer. It was a part of the dower of Margaret of France, -the second wife of Edward I., who died 1317. Edward II. gave it, with -the earldom of Cornwall, to Gaveston; and to the Black Prince, as Duke -of Cornwall, came from his father the castle, manor, vill, park, and -honour of Berkhampstead, the lands of which extended into Herts, Bucks, -and Northamptonshire. It was put in order for the residence of John of -France, and the Black Prince was here not long before his death. It was -also used by the favourite of Richard II., Robert de Vere, Marquis of -Dublin, who had licence to inhabit it. Here, also, died Cicely Nevill, -the mother of Edward IV. - -Queen Elizabeth leased it to Sir Edward Carey, whose grandson employed -its material to build Berkhampstead Place, since which it has been -leased to various persons, and was finally sold to the Egertons, whose -descendant in the female line, Earl Brownlow, is the owner also of the -adjacent park of Ashridge. - - - - - BERKELEY CASTLE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. - - -The Severn, below Shrewsbury, which on the map seems to mark a natural -division between England and the southern part of the Principality of -Wales, neither is, nor ever has been, really the dividing line. It is -not, in those parts even, a county boundary, Gloucester, Worcester, and -Salop being astride upon the stream, with large portions of their area -upon its western bank. To go back to the sixth century, when the West -Saxons, starting from the coast of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, -pressed hard upon the Britons, many indications still show how firm was -the resistance, so long as the ground was favourable; but, when once -fairly driven over the crest of the Cotteswold, the Britons evidently -retired more rapidly across the open country, nor is it until the -commencement of the high ground is reached, that we find works which -abundantly show how fierce was the struggle, how close and persistent -the attack. The high ground which forms the western edge of the Marches -is studded thickly with camps, the position and figure of which show -them to be British, while the adjacent frontiers of Gloucester, -Hereford and Shropshire, are covered with moated mounds, placed both -within and without the Dyke of Offa, and which show both the extent -of the English conquests and the manner in which they were maintained -before and during the eighth and ninth centuries. - -The Normans trod very closely in the footsteps of the English, and -although their fortresses were of a stronger and more permanent -character, they occupy, for the most part, ancient sites. The three -counties, from the bordering Chepstow, the home of Strongbow, to -Clun, the cradle of the house of Stewart, were bristled thick with -fortresses; some, like Chepstow, Goderick, Kilpeck, Ewias, Hereford, -Ludlow, Wigmore, Richard’s Castle, Cleobury, Brampton, Bishop’s Castle, -and Clun, either places of great strength, or held by powerful barons; -others, as St. Briavels, Wilton, Penyard, Weobly, Croft, Clifford, -Whitney, Eardisley, Huntington, Lingen, Hopton, de Botwood, Stoke-Say, -or Wattlesborough, either fortified houses or castles of smaller area -and inferior strength. Upon the line of the Severn, in the rear of -all these, there were but eight of any importance, Bristol, Berkeley, -Gloucester, Hanley, Worcester, Hartlebury, Bridgenorth and Shrewsbury, -and of these Berkeley was in many respects the most remarkable, and has -endured the longest. - -[Illustration: BERKELEY CASTLE.] - -The other castles are either ruins or have altogether been swept -away. Of Bristol there remains only a portion of a crypt. Gloucester, -Hanley, and Worcester are gone. Of Bridgenorth a part of the keep is -all that is seen; and of Shrewsbury a fragment of a Norman gatehouse, -the much-altered walls of the hall, and, older than all, the mound that -gave character to the whole. Berkeley, on the other hand, has been -inhabited from its foundation to the present day. With one temporary -alienation to the Crown, it has always been in one family, and it is as -little altered as is consistent with modern usages and modes of life. - -The castle, church, and borough town of Berkeley, contained within the -hundred to which they give name, are placed upon the southern extremity -of a tract of ground which rises about 50 feet above the meadows to the -south and west, and the drainage whence is carried on by the channel of -the Little Avon, which falls into the Pill or Creek of Berkeley, and so -reaches the Severn, here expanding into an estuary, the southern shore -of which is about two miles distant from the castle. The castle stands -upon the southern extremity of the high ground. A few yards to its -north is the parish church with its detached tower, and again a little -to the north is the town, which has grown up under the protection of -its lordly neighbour. A deep and wholly artificial ditch intervenes -between the churchyard and the castle, crossing the high ground, and -cutting off and isolating the latter, of which it protects the northern -and western faces. These, to the south and east, are made secure by the -natural declivity, scarped and rendered steeper by art. The meadows out -of which the castle hill rises, being but little above the adjacent -Severn, were formerly an extensive and almost impassable morass, adding -much to the strength of the place. Under the skill and labour of -centuries, they have become grass-lands of great beauty and fertility, -and form a charming foreground to the castle. Beyond, are elms and -oaks often of great magnitude, disposed in frequent hedgerows, and in -the distance to the west are the Welsh mountains, and to the east the -nearer scarp of the Cotteswold, here and there covered with thriving -plantations. - -Town and castle stand geologically upon the Old Red Sandstone, which, a -very few yards to the east, is succeeded by the Ludlow rocks, which are -again covered up by the marls of the Lias and New Red, and towards the -Cotteswold by the Lower Oolite. - -Like Warwick, Windsor, Arundel, and some other ancient piles, noticed -by Shakespeare,— - - “There stands the castle by yon tufted trees,” - -between its town, and its park, now, indeed, disparked, but which -extended far and wide to the south-east, and is traversed by an -extended avenue. As was the case at Warwick, there is a deer-park -entirely detached from the castle. - -The main approach to the castle lies through the town, on leaving -which, a road, passing the church, leads up to the entrance, and -crosses the ditch by a permanent bridge, by which the draw-bridge -was superseded by Henry Lord Berkeley in 1587, and beyond and partly -standing in which is the _outer Gate-house_. This is a rectangular -building of no great merit, pierced by a portal having a low drop arch -on each face. The passage is plainly vaulted in calcareous tufa, and -in the crown of the vault are three square holes or _meurtrières_. -There is no upper story, nor, at present, are there any flanking towers -or curtain. There is a basement below the road-way level, entered -from the ditch, but, probably, at one time filled with earth. This -gate-house may be of Decorated date. It has no portcullis. From the -ditch, the side walls of the bridge look original, and may have been, -as at Goderich, the lateral walls between which was the pit of the -draw-bridge. - -Entering the outer gate, the visitor finds himself upon a triangular -platform, of which the outer gate-house is the apex, and the inner -gate-house and part of the keep the base; on the left a modern wall, -which replaces the curtain, crests the scarp of the ditch, and forms -the north side of the platform 66 yards long. On the right a low -parapet, 54 yards long, forms the south side, and caps a revetment wall -of about 10 feet in height, at the foot of which the ancient scarp -has been laid out in good taste in a terrace garden. This triangular -platform is scarcely an outer ward: it is rather a barbican covering -the main entrance and the keep. Its area is 7,750 square yards. There -is no trace of a second ditch in advance of this side of the keep and -the inner gate, but it is very probable that there was one, though, if -so, it must have been filled up when the courts were added to the keep, -as otherwise it would have completely occupied them. - -The keep covers about 35 yards, or above half of the base of the -barbican, and lies to the left or north of the gate-house. Part of it -has been removed and a large breach formed, showing that the interior -is full 22 feet above the ground level outside. The _inner Gate-house_ -is in the same position as at Alnwick. It is in truth not a regular -gate-house, and has no flanking towers or _machicoulis_, but the -entrance passage pierces a lofty pile of buildings which connect the -domestic apartments with the keep, and complete the circle of the main -court. The portal is about 11 feet broad and 30 feet deep, and its -roof is flat and of timber. It has two drop arches. On the right is a -lodge door, and the inner archway has a half round portcullis groove. -Above are two stories through which are doors, no doubt modern, into -the keep. Probably the Norman entrance was here, a mere opening in the -wall. Much of the structure seems Decorated with later alterations. -South of, and flanking the gate, between it and the south-east angle of -the place, is a small Tudor building. - -The gateway opens into the _Great Court_ of the castle, a roughly -rectangular space, having the circular keep encroaching considerably -upon its north-west angle, and the remainder of the space set round -with domestic buildings built against and completely concealing the -lofty curtain. - -This court, which is, in fact, the castle, measures outside upon its -south face 60 yards, and its east face 72 yards, these two being set -nearly at right angles. The north and west faces are about 60 yards -and 76 yards, but the north-west angle is occupied by the keep, which -covers about 40 yards of the north, and 42 yards of the west face, -forming a part of the _enceinte_. The buildings project about 30 feet, -so that the inner and open part of the court is much reduced in area. -The curtain, originally thick, has been strengthened outside, probably -in the Decorated period, by nearly thirty broad and thick and very -clumsy buttresses, some of which probably conceal the early Norman -pilaster, for most of the wall is certainly of that date. Some of these -buttresses are pierced by loops, showing an immense thickness of wall. - -On entering the court, on the left is the high plain wall of the keep, -with its forebuilding and exterior staircase ascending to the entrance. -On the right are domestic buildings, drawing-rooms, bed-rooms, &c., -extending to the south-east corner. The face wall, though much altered, -and pierced with Tudor windows, seems in substance Norman with large -Decorated alterations. The pointed Norman arches may be traced in the -wall. These buildings have a basement and two upper stories. It is -uncertain whether they stand upon a vault. - -The chapel occupies the south-east angle. The hall is next to it along -the east side, and the butteries, kitchen, and offices fill up the -north-east angle and the north side as far as the keep. In the south -wall, near the gate-house, but at the exterior ground level, is a small -pointed doorway, probably a postern, and connected with it a small -chamber, about 6 feet below the level of the court, of doubtful age, -but with an old doorway. It has a flat roof, and wooden floor of the -room above: being filled with the bins of a modern cellar, it cannot be -examined. - -The _Chapel_, dedicated to the Virgin, rests on the vault of the great -cellar, and measures 29 feet by 18 feet. It is entered by a modern door -in the north wall, west of which are traces of what seems to have been -the original entrance. It has a rather flat apsidal east end of three -faces; the vestry, a mural chamber, opening in that to the south-east. -The south side is the outer wall, 14 feet thick; it is pierced by a -mural passage, a sort of aisle, at the floor-level, which opens into -the chapel by four foliated arches, each corresponding to a window or -loop in the curtain. There is a small Decorated piscina. Against the -west wall is a sort of pew of two stages, the upper being an enclosed -gallery for the family, opening from the principal rooms. - -The roof is open, at a very low pitch, with timber ribs rising from -corbels. These, with cross ribs, divide the roof into large panels -of a very curious character. The walls of the chapel are Norman, but -the roof and fittings are mostly Decorated. Maurice, Lord Berkeley, -38 Edward III., obtained from Pope Urban II. a bull bestowing certain -spiritual privileges upon all who worshipped here or in the chapel in -the keep. - -The _Cellar_ below the chapel is part of the original castle. Its level -is a little below the floor of the hall. It is in plan an equilateral -triangle about 40 feet in the side. Its roof is vaulted and groined -in three hexagonal bays, springing from three shafts of late Norman -character. Nine triangular vaultings, abutting on the walls, complete -this very curious roof. Opening from this is another vault, also a -cellar, at a lower level by about 5 feet. It is much smaller, and has -a ribbed and vaulted roof. Unfortunately it is used as a cellar, and -obscured by modern fittings. It has a small Tudor window. - -From the chapel and drawing-room a broad wooden seventeenth century -staircase descends into the hall at its south or dais end, in which is -a large and handsome fireplace, probably of the same date. - -The _Hall_ is 32 feet broad by 61 feet long, and has an open pointed -roof. It is built at the ground level against the east curtain, which -is, or was, pierced by four windows, three in the hall and one within -the buttery screen. The latter is late Norman, with slender flanking -shafts. The other three are full centred, with a keel bead at the -angle, and an interior drip. They seem Decorated, and no doubt replace -Norman loops. In the west or court wall are four large and lofty -flat-topped and somewhat peculiar windows of two lights each, broken -into four by a heavy transom. The upper lights are trefoil, the lower -shoulder-headed. Between each pair, outside, is a triangular buttress. -The entrance from the court is in the west side, at the north end, -by a handsome and spacious porch, vaulted and groined. The exterior -doorway is an arch composed of four quite plain straight sides, parts -of an octagon, similar in outline to those above the Berkeley tombs -at Bristol, known locally as the Berkeley arch. This is repeated with -the addition of some ornament in the inner doorway, which opens into -a narrow strip of the hall cut off by the screen. On the left, in the -end wall of the hall, are three fine Berkeley arches opening into -the butteries, of which the central was formerly a door. Above this -passage, high up, is a small music gallery, probably of Tudor date, -or even later. The roof of the hall is poor, but said to be of the -fourteenth century. No doubt this represents the original Norman hall, -rebuilt, as regards the court wall, in the Decorated period. - -[Illustration: - -Wyman & Sons, Gᵗ. Queen Sᵗ. London. _Face p. 233, Vol. 1._ - -BERKELEY CASTLE—THE KEEP. - -_From the Hall._] - -In the hall are placed, not inappropriately, the earlier charters -of the family, protected with glass. Perhaps, however, looking at -their extreme value as connected with the castle, it would be safer -to restore them to the muniment room, and replace them for public -exhibition by photographs. - -To the north, beyond the lower end of the hall, are the butteries, -kitchen, and pantries, the latter against the curtain. The _Kitchen_ -is an irregular hexagon, averaging 13 feet 6 inches in the side. In -the three longer sides are recesses for a fireplace, and hoods over -cooking-places. The original doors were in the buttery on one side -and the scullery on the other, and there were two windows towards the -court. The roof is of open work, very plain, heavy and poor, and very -high up. It is said to have been brought from Wootton Manor House, and -placed here by Henry VII. The scullery, &c. occupy the north-east angle -of the court, and, like the adjacent chambers, is of irregular form, -governed by the general outline of the castle. The larders, dairy, &c. -are against the north curtain, and from the bakehouse a modern vaulted -passage leads to the ancient well, which is in the court. The oven is -in the north-west corner, and two bold drop-arched stone ribs traverse -the chamber, and stiffen its vaulted roof. All these rooms form the -ground floor, and carry an upper story. Their front towards the court -seems to have been modernised, but in substance they are Decorated, -with considerable remains of older Norman walling. - -The KEEP is the most interesting part of this very remarkable castle, -since it is a shell keep of a known date. It is nearly circular, about -50 yards diameter, and the containing curtain-wall is about 8 feet -thick, reducing its inner area to near 45 yards. The floor, of earth, -is about 22 feet higher than the exterior ground, and, the wall being -40 feet high inside, is about 62 feet outside, the lower 22 feet being -a revetment, and very thick. Upon its circuit are three half-round -projecting towers or bastion turrets, 20 feet in diameter, of the -height of the curtain, which seems to have been open at the rear, or -closed only with timber. One of these projects to the east, and is -abutted upon by the northern curtain of the castle court. In its base -is a well, under a barrel vault, and above, resting upon this, is the -oratory, dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The western or end wall of -the oratory, and the outer stair leading to it, are modern. - -The oratory is at present used as a muniment room. The ecclesiastical -features are much injured and obscured. The eastern end is a half -round, and there are remains of the flanking shafts of the Norman east -window, and a small piscina. It appears to have been vaulted. - -The second half-round tower is 64 feet from the former, and projects to -the south into the court, commanding the inner face of its entrance, -and the approach to the keep. In it, below the ground level, but not -much lower than the level of the court below, is a circular dungeon 25 -feet deep, into which Edward II. is said to have been finally thrust. - -The third tower is 50 feet from the second, and projects to the south. -Here also has recently been discovered a chamber somewhat similar to -the dungeon already mentioned, also not vaulted, and of very rough -masonry, as though a mere foundation intended to be filled up with -earth. These two last towers are blocked in by later masonry, the first -within, the latter both within and without, as it projects into the -buildings of the gateway. As this tower could never have been intended -to be thus concealed, it points to the conclusion that the keep was -built before the wall of the inner court. - -Besides these three half-round towers is a fourth, rectangular, and a -much larger work, to the north, forming a part of the exterior line of -defence. This is known as Thorpe’s Tower, and the family of that name -are said to have held their adjacent estate of Wanswell by the tenure -of its defence. This tower is 64 feet long by 17 feet deep. It forms a -part of the curtain, having a very slight interior projection. At each -end it expands into a square turret, that to the west 17 feet, that -to the east 20 feet. The western turret and the body of the tower are -thought to be solid, which is very improbable. They are not unlikely to -have been filled in with earth to increase their power of resistance -when the castle was battered from the churchyard. The eastern turret -contains a square well-staircase of fifty-four steps, which leads to -the battlements, and has a mural chamber on its way. The entrance -below to this staircase is by an original full-centred arch, partially -blocked up. This tower is somewhat higher than the curtain, with which -it does not communicate. It is said to have been originally higher by -a few feet more. Even at present it is the highest part of the castle, -and hence the family banner is displayed. Below and outside this tower, -to the north, are some modern offices. - -Between Thorpe Tower and the Well Tower is seen in the wall the outline -of a recess for a loop, and above it a segmental arch and Norman -moulding, now closed up. The whole south side of the keep area is -occupied by a block of building, about 80 feet long by from 20 feet -to 30 feet deep. No doubt part of this building may be original, but -by far the more prominent part is evidently modern, and sadly out of -place. It covers the rear of the two southern half-round towers, which -are thus not seen from within. - -The entrance to this keep is peculiar. Usually, as at Tamworth, -Lincoln, York, Cardiff, and Arundel, the entrance to a shell-keep was -at its ground-level, and that of a rectangular keep, as at Castle -Rising and Dover, at its first or second floor. Here, however, both -conditions may be said to be fulfilled, for although the entrance is -on the ground level as regards the interior of the keep, it is the -full height of a first floor above the ground outside, and this height -is gained by an exterior stair, guarded by a middle and lower gate, -and above the latter by a regular tower. This forebuilding is common -to rectangular keeps, but does not occur elsewhere in shell keeps. -Here the _Forebuilding_ is 72 feet in length, and is applied to the -south-east side of the keep, or that within the court. In breadth it -varies from 15 feet to 10 feet. Five steps ascend to its outer gate, a -large full-centred archway contained within a plain chamfered moulding. -As the doorway has been blocked and reduced in size by a perpendicular -work, its jambs are concealed or may have been removed. Within is a -vaulted passage, carried through the gate-tower, which is 15 feet -square, and has an upper story. From the doorway twenty-four steps -ascend to an open platform, having on the right a high and pierced -parapet, and on the left the wall of the keep. At the stair-head a -ledge on the right serves as a way to the upper floor over the gateway. -This is a small chamber lighted by two windows and a lancet loop. The -two larger windows and the door are of Tudor date, as may be the whole -room; but, if so, it is a rebuilding, for the original tower must -have been on the same pattern. In the room is an ancient bed and some -hangings of needlework or tapestry, very early, but scarce of the age -of Edward II., whose chamber this is reputed to have been. - -A little beyond the stair-head, against the walls, right and left, are -seen the rebates of the middle gate, and in front, in the wall of the -Oratory Tower, is the weather moulding of a roof. Hence it would seem -that the staircase, as at Castle Rising, was covered all the way up. - -The main entrance to the keep opens upon the platform at the -stair-head. It is a handsome, full-arched doorway with closed tympanum -and flat head. It was flanked by highly ornate shafts, of which -one remains. This portal opens into a vaulted passage through the -keep wall, and enters the keep under an original archway, segmented -with Norman mouldings. The jambs are worked in a very bold chevron -pattern. From the exterior platform a narrow stair is continued to -the battlements of the curtain over the bakehouse; but this may be -an addition, for usually every part of a Norman keep was complete in -itself, and had no direct communication with any other part of the -castle. There is another and parallel stair in the wall, but opening -outside and leading to the room above the bakehouse. This is not -original. - -The keep is constructed of exceedingly rude rubble masonry. Upon -two parts of its face are nine narrow and shallow pilaster strips: -three towards the barbican, and six between the inner gate and the -forebuilding. The keep wall has a rude plinth, with no set-off or -string. It is evident that this, as at York, and in other shell-keeps, -was lined by lodgings, having an upper floor, placed all round against -the wall with an open court in the centre. These were probably of -timber. In the part of the keep towards the barbican is a breach -about 40 feet broad down to the level of the inner floor. It is said -that this part of the wall was partially broken down during General -Massey’s attack, and was afterwards enlarged to its present condition, -as at Kenilworth, rather as a matter of favour, to render the castle -untenable without injuring it as a dwelling. Had the keep been blown -up as was usual by gunpowder, it would have presented a very different -aspect. - -If the masonry of Berkeley Castle were to be removed, as at Kilpeck or -Ewias Harold, its remains would show a mound of earth, and attached -to three sides of it a platform, the whole encircled with a ditch or -scarp. It would, in fact, be a moated mound with an appended platform, -of a character very common in England, in the Welsh Marches, and in -Normandy, and would resemble such works as Tamworth and Towcester, the -dates of which are given in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The inference -is, therefore, that Berkeley was the seat of an English lord, probably -from the ninth century. Had the fortress been an original Norman work, -it is scarcely probable that a shell would have been the form of keep -selected, or that, having been so selected, its lower 22 feet would -have been filled up with earth. Evidently the Norman builder, finding a -moated mound of no great height, but of considerable breadth, built his -shell round it, as at Pontefract, as a revetment wall, and upon this, -when clear of the top of the mound, raised his curtain. At a lower -level, along the scarp of the existing ditch, he, or his immediate -successor, constructed the walls, which, then as now, contain the whole -castle. - -All the main walls of the castle are either Norman, or rebuilt upon -Norman foundations, or very nearly so. Probably the keep was built -first and the court enclosed shortly afterwards. Much was done in the -Decorated period. The inner wall of the hall, at least, was rebuilt, -and it may have been enlarged. The porch was added, the chapel much -altered, and the domestic buildings possibly gutted and recast. Henry -VII., when in possession, seems to have made some inconsiderable -alterations, and others have been added since. - -Berkeley is a rare example of an estate which has descended in the male -line from the reign of Stephen, and in the female line from the Norman -Conquest. The first of the latter ancestry is entered as the Lord of -Berkeley in Domesday; the first of the former is also there entered, -though as proprietor of other estates. Few, if any, of our oldest -families can say with truth as much, but further than this the Berkeley -tenure has been “per Baroniam,” and from the Conquest they have been -barons of the realm, first by tenure, and when, in the reign of Henry -III., tenure fell into disuse, then by writ; but by one right or the -other they have ever sat in the great council of the nation. - -There is no reason to suppose that the Romans had any settlement at -Berkeley. Their camps and villas are frequent in the neighbourhood, -which was traversed by Roman roads, but of their presence in Berkeley -itself there is no other evidence than the fact that the two main -streets of the town cross in its centre at a right angle, in the Roman -manner. - -There is, however, evidence of a religious house at Berkeley in the -eighth century. Tilhere, Bishop of Worcester, in 778, seems to have -been previously Abbot of Beorclea, as was Etheldune, also his successor -at Worcester in 915. Tanner thinks the family at Berclea, mentioned in -the Acts of a synod at Cloveshoe in A.D. 824, may refer to a religious -house here. There was also a nunnery, for a charter by Adeliza, queen -of Henry I., gives to the church of Reading, Berkeley Hern, that is, -the church of Berkeley, with its appended prebends, and the prebends -“duarum monalium,” which seems to refer to a nunnery. Camden says the -nunnery was suppressed by Earl Godwin in the reign of the Confessor, -and preserves a scandalous tale thereupon, which derives some support -from a curious entry in Domesday, whence it appears that Gytha, the -wife of Godwin and mother of Harold, had Ullcestre, near Berkeley, from -her husband, he having bought it from Azor that she might live there -till she should live at Berkeley. “Nolebat enim de ipso manerio aliquid -comedere pro destructione abbatiæ.” - -In Domesday, Berkeley appears as a royal demesne and free borough, -which had been held by the Confessor, and belonged to William, but -was held of him by Roger, called thence of Berkeley. It was the head -of a soke or barony, for attached to it were “Berews,” or members, -in twenty-one adjacent parishes. The castle is not mentioned, but in -“Ness,” probably Sharpness, was a castellum, or castellet, claimed -by the same Roger. His holding in the Liber Niger is set down as 2½ -knights’ fees. He gave liberally to Stanley Priory, and died there -1096. William, his nephew, succeeded, and had a son Roger, father of -Roger, who all held Berkeley, and are designated by its name. This -latter Roger was a partisan of King Stephen, and was turned out of -Berkeley by Henry, who gave Berkeley to Robert, son of Hardinge, -Præpositus of Bristol, who died 1170, 16 Henry II., aged seventy-five, -leaving Maurice Fitzhardinge, his son. To stanch the feud between the -dispossessed and the new lord, Henry made up a double alliance: Helen, -daughter of Fitzhardinge, was married to a son of Roger de Berkeley, -and Alice, Roger’s daughter, to Maurice Fitzhardinge of Berkeley. -The result was that the old Berkeleys fell back upon their manor of -Cuberley, and finally died out, and the Fitzhardinges, with the estate, -bore the surname of Berkeley, and have so continued. At that time the -Manor or Lordship, sometimes called the Honour of Berkeley, included -above thirty parishes, and extended over most of the hundred. It was -rated at 160 hides, and paid a chief rent of £70. - -Henry, at the time of the gift, was only Duke of Normandy, and weak, -and Fitzhardinge was an important man; hence the duke treats as equal -with equal, and with the estate makes a promise to build him a castle -to his taste. “Et pepigi ei firmare ibi castellum secundum voluntatem -ipsius Roberti,” and, on the other hand, Robert promises to be Henry’s -liege. Henry visited Berkeley in 1155, when, no doubt, the present -castle was begun. Henry’s charter is in excellent preservation, and is -kept at Berkeley. - -Another charter by Henry, when king, also there preserved, confirms -to Robert Fitzhardinge, Berkelai-Herness Manor by the service of one -knight, or, if he prefer it, 100 shillings per annum. A third charter -is almost a copy of the second, but states the service at five knights, -and is silent as to the composition. There is also a charter printed -by Dugdale, by which Robert Fitzhardinge grants certain churches to -St. Augustine’s at Bristol. These are the earliest title-deeds of -the family. St. Augustine’s was founded by this Robert in 1142, and -consecrated in 1148. He died 1170. - -Maurice, son of Robert, is said to have dug the ditch between the -castle and the church. He probably deepened it. He also is reputed to -have built the castle exterior to King Henry’s keep, including the two -gatehouses. He died in 1189. - -Robert, his son, bore the name of Berkeley. He was in arms against -John, who held the castle from 1211 till his death in 1216. Lord Robert -died 1220. His brother, Lord Thomas, received Henry III. here in 1220. -He died 1243. Maurice, his son, here entertained Prince Edward in -1256. He added to the estates, and is said to have strengthened the -castle. Thomas, his son, sixth lord, was a great soldier, and served -at Bannockburn. He died 1321. Maurice, his son, took part against the -Despensers, and was imprisoned by the king till his death, in 1326. -Edward seized the castle, which was held by the Despensers. Lord -Thomas, his son and successor, received Edward II. here as a captive, -15th April, 1327, and here the king seems to have been murdered by -Maltravers and Gournay, 21st September, 1327. A payment was charged to -the Exchequer for prayers for his soul in the castle chapel. - -Lord Thomas held the castle from 1326 till his death in 1361. He fought -at Cressy and Poitiers, and probably made money in the wars, for he -is reputed to have made great alterations in the castle, and probably -the hall and the Decorated work generally is his doing. He is said to -have built Thorpe Tower. He may have raised it, but it is apparently -as old as the keep. The Berkeley arch, seen in great perfection in St. -Augustine’s Church, now Bristol Cathedral, and here introduced, as -was proper, in a plainer form, is attributed to Knowle, Abbot of St. -Augustine’s, from 1306 to 1332. The connexion of the Berkeleys with -the monks of St. Augustine’s was intimate, and the same architect was -likely enough to be employed by both. - -Another Thomas, grandson to the former, here received Richard II., in -1386-7. This is the Lord Berkeley mentioned in “Shakespeare’s Richard -II.,” when the castle is described as— - - “Mann’d with three hundred men, as I have heard, - And in it are the Lords of York, Berkeley, and Seymour.” - -Lord Thomas pronounced the deposition of Richard in Parliament in 1399. -John of Trevisa, whose translations from the Apocalypse are yet seen -on the ribs of the chapel roof at Berkeley, was vicar of this parish -during the life of this lord. Lord Thomas left a daughter only, married -to Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who strove hard, but in vain, -to oust the heir male, James de Berkeley. Lord Warwick appeared before -the castle in 1418 with an armed force, and his heirs preferred a suit -at law which lasted 150 years, varied with occasional combats, one of -which, known as the battle of Nibley Green, led to the settlement of -the dispute, Lord Lisle, the claimant, being slain in the field by -William Lord Berkeley. William, the next lord, was created Earl of -Nottingham by Richard III., and Marquis of Berkeley by Henry VII., in -return for which he alienated the estate from his brother and male heir -in favour of the latter king and his heirs male, nor did the Berkeleys -recover it until the death of Edward VI. and the failure of the royal -male line, when the castle was recovered by Henry, who resumed the -title of Berkeley, after an alienation of 61 years 4 months and 20 days. - -Henry VII. is said to have erected the kitchen, but probably he only -put a new roof upon it. - -During the Parliamentary struggle, the Lord of Berkeley seems to have -been a moderate Royalist, with strong friends among the Parliamentary -leaders. In 1642 it was surrendered to Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur -Forbes, for the Parliament, but was not pillaged, and even the arms -contained in it were not removed. Probably this moderation was abused, -for, 24th September, 1645, being held by Sir Charles Lucas, it was -stormed from the churchyard by Colonels Rainsborough and Morgan, and -free plunder allowed to the soldiery. Fortunately, at the moment of -victory, a pressing order came for the march of the troops to assist -Fairfax, on which the plunder was compounded for at 5s. a head. Such -goods as were taken away were inquired after and restored, and the -chief mischief seems to have been confined to the muniment room, where -the charters and title-deeds were torn and mutilated. In 1646 the -out-works were destroyed, and the arms, ammunition, and drawbridge -removed to Gloucester. Probably the great breach was then made by the -workmen employed upon the earthworks, which would account for the -careful manner in which the wall has been cut away. - -George, Lord Berkeley, was created in 1679, by Charles II., Viscount -Dursley and Earl of Berkeley, titles still extant. - - - - - BODIHAM CASTLE, SUSSEX. - - -About four miles below the ancient Priory of Robertsbridge, and -fourteen, by its own sinuous course, above its junction with the sea -below the old Cinque Port of Rye, the Rother, a considerable Sussex -river, receives from the north an important tributary known as the Kent -Ditch, and, time out of mind, the boundary of the two counties. The -waters meet obliquely, and between them intervenes a tongue or cape -of high land tapering and falling gradually towards the junction, and -occupied by the church, village, and castle of Bodiham. - -Who was Bodi, or Bode, whose home was here established, is unknown. He -was evidently a Saxon, and from the position of his estate, probably -an early one, giving name it may be to a tract won in arms from the -Britons. Ham is here a very common termination to the proper names of -places, varied with Hurst and Den and Ley, and other less frequent but -equally Saxon denominations. - -The church stands on the high ground, a little north of the centre of -the cape, the castle about 600 yards to the south of it, and about -half the distance from the Rother, at some thirty feet or so above its -level. The Rother, here and lower down, traverses broad patches of -lowland, now fertile meadow, but in former days evidently inaccessible -morass. The position, therefore, between the two streams with their -marshy banks was defended by nature towards the south and east, the -quarter from which, after the complete expulsion of the Britons and -during the early Saxon period, danger was mainly to be apprehended. - -The earlier lords, both Saxon and Norman, who gave name to, and derived -their names from, Bodiham, pitched their homestead on the north side of -the high ground, some way from the church, and upon the right bank of -the Kent Ditch, where the site is still indicated by some earthworks -and a moat. Nearer to, but south of the church, on the brow of the -hill, above the present castle, are the remains of another earthwork, -rectangular and oblong in form, the site probably either of an early -residence or a still earlier encampment. - -Below this brow, on the southern verge of and just within the slope, -it pleased a Lord of Bodiham, having become so by marriage with its -heiress, to establish a new residence. Sir Edward Dalingruge, a -successful soldier in the rough school of the Black Prince and his -captains, of whom his immediate chief, Sir William Knollys, was one of -the roughest, having held offices of trust under Richard II., decided -here to build a castle suitable to his rank, wealth, and military fame; -and having, in the 9th of Richard, 1385-6, obtained the royal licence, -he constructed at a vast cost, both in earthwork and masonry, the -castle here described. - -Bodiham is a building of very high interest. It is a complete and -typical castle of the end of the fourteenth century, laid out entirely -upon a new site, and constructed after one design, and at one period. -It but seldom happens that a great fortress is wholly original, of -one, and that a known, date, and so completely free from alterations -or additions. It has, moreover, fallen into good hands. Enough, and -not too much, has been done to arrest the effects of time and weather. -The repairs have been well executed, and in Wadhurst stone, the proper -material; and, though well watched, it is open to all who care to visit -it. - -In plan and details Bodiham belongs to the early Perpendicular style, -and occupies a mean position between Caerphilly, a work late in the -thirteenth century, and Wressil, only a few years later than Bodiham -in time, but much later in style and arrangements. Like these castles, -it has no keep, and its domestic buildings are constructed within and -against the walls of a court, but while Caerphilly, like Harlech and -Ledes, is concentric, and has a narrow outer ward, Bodiham and Wressil, -like Bolton, have but one ward, one line of defences, and are only -rectangular enclosures, with strong and lofty curtains, flanked by -still more lofty mural towers. Pennard in Gower, though of the reign of -Henry III. or his son, is, on a small scale, of the same general type -as Bodiham. - -Save the adjacent river and the marsh, the immediate site of Bodiham -possesses no natural advantages. A sort of platform was selected upon -the sloping ground, about 30 feet above the river’s level, and in it -was excavated a rectangular basin, 180 yards north and south, by 117 -yards east and west, and about 7 deep. To the east, the containing -bank was wholly artificial, formed of the excavated material, as was -also the case with the contiguous parts to the north and south. The -remaining part of the south bank was also slightly raised. - -On the west side, near the north end, a small natural combe descended -towards the excavation, of which, being wet, it was regarded as the -future feeder. A strong dam was thrown across the lower part of this -combe, between it and the excavation, of which it thus formed the bank. -No doubt the pool so penned in was intended as a store pond when the -moat was low. - -In the centre, or nearly so, of the excavation, was left a rectangular -island of rather above half an acre in area, raised artificially about -four feet, and to be occupied by the future castle, of which the ground -plan would thus be a plot of about 50 yards by 46 yards, surrounded by -a wet moat from 35 to 65 yards broad. At present a sluice is provided -for the occasional emptying of the moat, and probably something of -the sort was originally constructed, though it would, of course, be -concealed. The fact is, however, that a few vigorous workmen could -at any time have cut through the bank in a few hours, and thus have -deprived the castle of one of its defences. The mud, however, until -dry, would be even a better protector than the water. - -Bodiham Castle, then, is a rectangular enclosure 152 feet north and -south, by 138 feet east and west, contained within four curtain walls. -At each angle is a drum tower, 29 feet diameter, and of three quarters -projection, flanking the several faces. In the centre of the north face -is the great, and of the south face the lesser, gatehouse, and in the -centre of each of the other faces is a square tower. There are thus -eight mural towers, four cylindrical, and four rectangular, giving an -agreeable variety to the outline. Besides these there is a projection -from the east face of 8 feet, containing part of the chapel and the -sacristy. The walls and towers all rise direct from the water. The -curtain is 40 feet 6 inches high from the water to the crest of the -parapet, and the towers are one-third higher, or 54 feet. The outer -walls generally are 6 feet 6 inches thick, which is also the height of -the parapets. The stair turrets rise 14 feet higher than their towers, -and the chimneys about 9 feet. Both are octagonal, and are crested with -miniature battlements in the late Perpendicular manner. There is no -water gate or postern, such as those at Ledes and Caerphilly. - -The great gatehouse is a very imposing structure. It is in plan a T, -the horizontal limb forming the front of 30 feet breadth, and the -vertical limb extending backwards as far, and containing the entrance -passage. The front is composed of two towers, rectangular, but having -the angles largely recessed, so as to throw forward the central part of -each tower as a bold buttress, 15 feet broad by 6 feet deep. The whole -projects from the curtain about 15 feet, and between the towers, deeply -sunk, is the gateway. - -The gateway has a slightly four-centred arch, very plain, and set -in the usual square-headed shallow recess, intended apparently to -receive the platform of the bridge when lifted. There are traces of -the chain holes in the spandrels. The whole is placed in a deeper -and plain recess, terminating above in a four-centred arch, which -carries the parapet, and has behind it three machicolations which -protect the entrance. Over the door is the usual portcullis chamber -window, and right and left other windows, all small and lancet, -some trefoil-headed, and some plain. Two pairs of loops command the -approach, one pair has oylet holes at each end of the slit. The other -pair have holes, rather larger, at the lower end only. It is the style -of loop that marks the introduction of fire-arms. In the jambs of the -portal is a half-round portcullis groove, and a little within a pair of -folding doors. The entrance passage, 12 feet broad and 30 feet long, -is unusually lofty. It is divided by a cross arch into two chambers, -both vaulted. The first, 18 feet long, has on the right and left small -lancet doors, leading by a narrow vaulted and ribbed mural passage into -the lodges, 11 feet by 10 feet. On the left is a second door opening on -a circular well-stair, 8 feet diameter, and unusually steep, leading to -the upper chambers and roof, and terminating in a turret at the angle -of the gatehouse. The vaulting has fallen in, but it is clear that it -resembled that of the second chamber. Beneath the cross archway is a -second portcullis, and beyond it the second part of the passage. This -is 12 feet square, without lateral doorways, and vaulted. The vault is -of four cells, three ribs and two half or wall-ribs springing from each -corner corbel, and meeting in one central, four lateral, and four half -bosses, placed upon two cross or ridge ribs. They are pierced as in the -inner ward gate of the Tower of London, and possibly each contained -a flower. The openings are, of the central boss 6 inches, and of the -others, 4 inches diameter. These apertures can scarcely have been meant -for defence; they are too small, and do not command the four corners of -the passage. No doubt a long pike might be thrust down some of them, -but scarcely, to be of use, down the half holes next the walls. As to -pouring down melted lead, pitch, or oil, such articles were always too -expensive to form a part of the regular munitions against a siege, nor -is there here, nor in portcullis chambers generally, any furnace for -heating such materials in any quantity. - -The portal leading from this passage into the inner court has a second -pair of doors, and beyond them a second portcullis. This chamber is not -a part of the regular gatehouse. It forms a sort of porch projecting -from it into the court, and has no upper story. A well-stair on the -left opened from the court, and led up to the embattled platform which -rested on the vault. This subsidiary prolongation of the length and -defences of the entrance passage is believed to be peculiar to Bodiham. - -Over the outer part of the passage is the portcullis chamber. It has -at each end a low four-centred arch, which concealed the head of the -grate, when lifted, and above this, at each end, is the customary small -window. The lobby between the well-stair and this chamber is groined -and ribbed, and in the centre is a large boss carved in foliage. The -gatehouse lodges have a pit or sub-basement, perhaps a cellar, perhaps -merely a cavity to keep the floors dry. If cellars, they were entered -by traps in the floor above. There are also, above the basement, two -upper floors. - -The lesser gatehouse is placed opposite to the main gate, in the centre -of the southern face of the castle, and though equally lofty, is much -smaller. It is a plain tower 22 feet square, projecting 15 feet in -advance of the curtain, but with no internal projection. The outer gate -is in the centre of the tower, and had a portcullis, and behind it -were folding doors. The entrance passage is 11 feet square, vaulted as -the great gateway, but not so lofty. Right and left are loops raking -the curtain. A door in the west wall opens into the usual well-stair, -contained within the north-west angle. There is no lodge. The inner -portal was closed by doors only. It opened into a passage at the lower -end of the great hall. - -In front of, and outside this gatehouse, there project 9 feet into the -moat two walls about 3 feet thick. They seem to have contained between -them a bridge pit, over which a bridge dropped from the gateway, -upon a cross wall which remains. The pit is filled up. Opposite, -the counterscarp of the moat, 62 yards distant, is revetted, and -from it projects a half-hexagonal pier. How this intervening space -was traversed is not now seen. Scarcely by a boat, for the pier is -evidently intended to support a timber bridge, and a boat could not -conveniently be reached from it. Probably there was a footway upon -tressels or wooden piers. - -Thus much of the two gatehouses, the only towers which are -machicolated. Each leads into the court of the castle, an open space 86 -feet south and north, by 76 feet east and west; round which are placed, -against the curtains, the domestic buildings, 22 to 30 feet in depth, -some of one floor, some of two, but all of nearly equal height, and so -placed as to conceal the curtain and the lower parts of the towers from -the inner court. - -Right and left of the great gatehouse the buildings had a ground -and first floor. Those on the left, or to the east, were rather more -ornate, as being nearer to the state apartments. The north-east and -north-west towers communicated on each side with these rooms. They have -sub-basement pits, with loops, a ground and two upper floors. They -differ somewhat in details, but each has a well-stair in its gorge -wall, and mural closets and fireplaces at the several levels. The pits -are circular, the chambers above hexagonal. - -Along the west side are offices, and probably servants’ apartments, and -rooms for the garrison. In the centre a large and handsome doorway, -with a window on each side and traces of a porch, opens into a small -kitchen, a room 21 feet by 16 feet, having on each side a fireplace, -with a converging tunnel, and an arched head of 12 feet span and 2 feet -rise. There is no hood or projection. The roof was open, and at the -battlement level. A gallery seems to have run across above the door, -entered from the room to the south, and beneath it in the wall is also -a door. - -The enclosure next south seems to have been of two floors. The lower -room, 38 feet by 22 feet, was probably for stores or for the servants; -the upper was the lesser hall. The lower room had two windows to the -court and a small door, and perhaps between the windows a shallow -fireplace with a bold hood. Above was a noble room of the same size. -The lower room opened into the west tower. This, like the east tower, -is 25 feet broad, by 21 feet deep, and of 15 feet projection from the -curtain. The sub-basement here was evidently a cellar. It has three -loops a little above the water-level. A well-stair in the south-east -angle leads upwards from the ground-level. - -Along the south side were placed the great kitchen, buttery, and -great hall. The kitchen, 33 feet by 24 feet, occupies the south-west -angle, and communicates with the adjacent angle tower. It has two -large fireplaces, of 12 feet span, in the north and south walls. The -former has an oven in its west jamb, an afterthought, as it projects -into the adjacent room. The other had a large stone hood, of which one -springing stone remains, and is buttressed by a corbel, placed in the -hollow angle to receive its thrust, as at St. Briavels. The kitchen had -an open, lofty roof. Next is the buttery, of two floors, with traces -of a cellar below. It is 18 feet by 24 feet, and opened into the hall -by three equilaterally arched doorways side by side, each towards the -hall, having a deep hollow early Perpendicular moulding. These opened -into a passage under the music-gallery. - -The hall was about 50 feet long by 26 feet broad, with an open roof. -It had, at the dais end of the south wall, a window of two lights, -with a transom; the lower pair square-headed, the upper pair pointed. -The whole is in a recess, with a flat segmental arch. There are said -to have been two windows in the north wall, looking into the court, -and here probably was the fireplace, for fireplaces and not central -hearths seem to have been in fashion here. The hall door remains. It -is a handsome archway with a double ogee moulding. It opened below the -music-gallery, and at the other end of this passage was the entrance -to the lesser gatehouse, so that there was access from the court to -the gate, through a passage screened off from the occupied part of -the hall. Of course, the lesser gateway was used for foot-passengers -only. A passage somewhat similar crosses the lower end, not of the hall -itself, but of the vaults below the hall, at Kenilworth. - -The state apartments and chapel occupied the east side, and the former -seem mostly to have been of two floors. - -Behind the end of the hall was a large room, called the armoury, from -which opened the south-east tower. Here the sub-basement is hexagonal, -and was vaulted and groined. The vaulting has fallen away, but the -corbels remain, and the six gables and wall-ribs. Probably this was a -private store or cellar, for it has no fire or garderobe, and though -the vaulting was elegant, the chamber, being at or a trifle below the -water-level, must always have been damp. The upper floors were of -timber. - -Probably the term armoury is modern, and here were the -withdrawing-rooms, to which a passage led from the north end of the -dais, outside the hall. There remains a platform of masonry, which -seems to have been laid to carry such a passage. - -North of these rooms are traces of others, which communicated with -the east tower and chapel, and were probably private apartments, with -windows to the court. Under the whole was a range of cellars, below the -court level, but with doors and loops ascending to it. - -Next comes the chapel, 29 feet by 19 feet, having a large pointed -window of three lights at the east end. The floor, of timber, covered -a cellar, having a loop, rising to the court, and a door in the south -wall. The eastern end has a solid raised platform for the altar, and -near it a small north window. To the south is a small plain-pointed -piscina, and near it a lancet door, opening by steps into a vaulted -and groined mural chamber, 11 feet by 6 feet, intended as a sacristy, -having two lockers, and a small window to the moat. The chapel door -was in the south wall, leading from the lower private apartments. -Above the sacristy is a rather larger room, having a door from the -upper apartments, and a square-headed window, of two trefoiled lights, -looking into the chapel; evidently the lord’s private seat, whence, -unseen, he could be present at mass. There was no west door, or direct -entrance from the court. The chapel seems to have had an open timber -roof. - -The masonry throughout the castle is excellent ashlar, the material -a fine-grained, soft, but durable sandstone. There is but little -ornament. There were seven main well-staircases, each terminating in -an octagonal turret, serving as a head. The stairs did not ascend to -the top of the turret, which was domed over, and inaccessible. The -rooms are almost all furnished with fireplaces, and very many with -mural garderobes which seem to have been closed with curtains, or not -at all, since there are no marks of doors. Their shafts descend within -the walls, and discharge into the moat below the surface. The windows -generally are small, that of the chapel and of the hall are the only -ones even of tolerable size, towards the moat. - -The drum towers look older than their real date, their gorge-walls, -general proportions and arrangement, well-staircases, and lancet and -often trefoiled windows, savouring of the Edwardian period. Their -hexagonal interiors, however, and the bold and simple moulding that -crowns their parapets, belong to the Perpendicular style. The chimneys -throughout are octagonal, well-proportioned, but plain, save the -embattled moulding above. They may be later than the castle. - -The three armorial shields over the great gateway represent Bodiham -or Bodeham, Dalingruge, and Wardeux. The central, being that of the -founder, is placed angle-wise beneath his helmet and crest. There -were also three shields above the lesser gateway. One was, no doubt, -Dalingruge, as before, another was Knollys, out of compliment to that -commander. - -The battlements generally have a plain ∧ coping, with a beaded ridge -towards the field. The merlons are much broader than the embrasures, -but are not pierced. The coping is not repeated in the embrasures. -No well has been discovered, nor any lead piping, as at Ledes, where -the castle was supplied with pure water from a spring at some little -distance. On the whole, the castle, for its period, is unusually severe -in its arrangements, there being scarcely any traces of luxury. It was -a castle, not a manor house, nor palace. - -There remains to be described a very singular feature in this castle, -the approach to the great gateway. At present, a causeway of earth, -about 6 feet broad, springs from the north bank of the moat, and -proceeds direct, about 62 feet, towards the opposite gateway. It then -stops abruptly, and its head is revetted in masonry, which, however, -is modern. Opposite, 11 feet distant, the water flowing between, is -an octagon of 16 feet on each face, or 40 feet diameter, rising as an -island out of the moat, and revetted all round. There was evidently a -shifting bridge of some kind between this octagon and the causeway. -Whether this octagon carried any superstructure is uncertain, probably -it had only the parapet, of which traces remain. - -Crossing the octagon in the same straight line, there is reached a -second gap, of 6 feet, and beyond this is a rectangular island about 21 -feet north and south, by 20 feet broad, also revetted all round, and on -which revetment stood the walls of the barbican. This was, therefore, a -rectangular building, traversed by the entrance passage, and having a -doorway at either end, the outer guarded by a portcullis, and the inner -by doors. The passage was vaulted and apparently groined. It seems to -have been of one stage only, the platform resting on the vault and -battlements. In the north-west corner was a well-stair, opening from -the passage, and ascending to the roof. Grose’s drawing shows this as -though it was a side or foot entrance, which does not appear to have -been the case. The work is excellent ashlar, but only the west side -remains. - -The barbican is about 54 feet from the great gate, and at present is -connected with it by a causeway. As this causeway is here and there -seen to be revetted, it may be original, in which case it was possibly -broken at either end, and the connection carried on by bridges falling -from the barbican and from the great gate. This, however, is conjecture -only. - -Some doubt has arisen as to how the octagon was originally approached -from the main land. This doubt is caused by the presence of a demi-pier -of masonry projecting from the west bank a few yards from its north -end, and therefore opposite to the octagon. It is therefore supposed -that the causeway from the north bank is an addition, and that another -causeway, or some kind of communication, was laid from the west bank to -the octagon, a much greater distance, nearly thrice as far. No doubt a -similar half-pier on the south bank indicates a communication thence -with the lesser gateway, but here there seems no reason whatever for -the suggested lengthening and bend in the approach. On the whole, for -whatever purpose the western pier may have been intended, the evidence -is in favour of the approach having always been along the present line. -Neither the north nor the west bank is commanded seriously by higher -ground. That to the north rises, no doubt, but scarcely so as to give -any great advantage to archers posted to annoy those entering the -castle, and certainly no greater advantage than could be gained from -the rising ground to the west. Possibly the pier was intended for the -mooring and protection of the boats employed on that side of the moat. -A road, still traceable, led up to this demi-pier. - -This double outwork in the moat is peculiar, it is supposed, to -Bodiham. At Ledes, indeed, there are two barbicans, but they are not -exactly in the moat, but upon the bank, and are deeply intrenched, so -as to carry the water round them. At Caerphilly, there is a single -large isolated pier in the centre of the moat, now dry, which pier was -connected by drawbridges with the great gate and the counterscarp, and -may be likened to the octagon in the present instance. - - - - - BORTHWICK TOWER, IN MIDLOTHIAN. - - -Borthwick has been selected and is included in these examples as a -noble specimen of military architecture, and the finest extant specimen -of the Peel tower so celebrated upon the Scottish border; meaning by a -“Peel” a stronghold of which the tower is the only considerable work, -and which stands within a walled base-court or barmkin of moderate -area. Here, indeed, the dimensions of the tower are those of a Norman -keep, and the court, though small, is guarded by bastion towers of -large diameter, but still the tower is itself the fortress, and was -obviously the residence of the lord and his family, not only during a -siege, but at all times. Such fortresses as Lochleven and Urquhart on -Loch Ness, though far inferior to Borthwick in strength of masonry and -grandeur, are nevertheless castles, whereas Borthwick is a Peel. - -[Illustration: SECTION A B, LOOKING WESTWARD.] - -Though a ruin, and deserted probably for a couple of centuries, -Borthwick is still in tolerable order, having been preserved by the -unusual thickness of its walls and the excellence of their masonry, -and the fact that both its basement and uppermost story are vaulted, -and the upper vaults protected by stone roofing of a very substantial -character. The intermediate timber floors are all gone, and the vast -cavities are inhabited by a numerous colony of jackdaws, whose heaps of -guano might be removed with advantage. No care has been or is bestowed -upon the place, which until recently needed but little; now, however, -the rank vegetation on the roof is displacing the tile stones, and the -water penetrates the vaults. The grand fireplaces have fallen, and some -of the lesser ones are about to fall. At present a few score pounds -judiciously laid out would arrest the decay which, unchecked, will -certainly in a very few years bring down the upper vaults, and involve -the whole structure in irreparable ruin. - -[Illustration: - -FIRST FLOOR. - -BASEMENT. - -BORTHWICK TOWER.] - -The tower stands upon a tongue of rocky land, protected by deep, -rugged, and wooded ravines to the south, east, and north. Down two of -these flow the heads of the Middleton burn, and, below the castle, -unite, to fall into the Gore water, which, gathering its springs from -the adjacent Lammermuirs, flows, parallel to the railway, down a pretty -pastoral valley by Gore Bridge, to the South Esk. The tower, placed -over the juncture of the three streams, is a very marked object from -the railway, contesting the attention of travellers with Crichton -Castle, in an opposite direction, but in sight, for a few seconds, at -the same time. - -The platform, covered by the base-court, is an irregular figure, -governed by the ground, rounded to the east, and presenting right -angles to the north and south-west. Its dimensions are about 80 yards -east and west, by 35 yards north and south. There is a large drum-tower -at the south-west angle, and another, with a square rear, in the centre -of the south front, and there are traces as of a third capping the -south-east angle. These towers are 18 feet diameter, have a basement, -a first and second floor, and are about 23 feet high above the court, -and 35 feet to the field. In the west front, close to the angle-tower, -is a gateway; an opening in a very thick low curtain, round-headed, and -probably of the date of the tower. It had a drawbridge and portcullis, -and may have had a low upper story. Above the door, outside, is a flat -entablature, with mouldings in the Renaissance style, and the adjacent -bastion and curtain are pierced with long loops, placed horizontally, -evidently intended for musquetoons, and therefore insertions. They are -similar to those in the north-east bastion of Berwick town wall. The -southern bastion has the original vertical loops for bows and arrows. -The west is the weak side, for which nature has done nothing. The -curtain accordingly is on that side thickened to 12 feet or 15 feet, -and there may have been a ditch, now filled up. - -The court was divided by a cross wall, north and south, of no great -strength, and the tower stood in the western half, from six to eight -yards from the three outer walls. The northern curtain is an irregular -heap of ruins; upon it, opposite to the tower door, there seems to have -been a mass of masonry ascended probably by steps, and serving as an -abutment to the stone arch by which the main or first-floor entrance -was reached. - -The _Tower_ is rectangular, 74 feet north and south by 69 feet east and -west, and from 90 feet to 110 feet high, the latter height being to the -ridge of the gables. In the west front is a recess, also rectangular, -14 feet broad and 24 feet deep, so that the building in plan resembles -the Greek capital Π, and may conveniently be divided into a body and -wings. The recess is not quite in the centre, the north wing being -31 feet and the south 29 feet broad. Also, the latter is rather the -shorter, so that the north front measures 69 feet, and the south front -68 feet. The arrangement of the chambers is very simple, all being -rectangular and parallel to the sides, but the mode of reaching them -by staircases is very complex. The walls are of immense thickness, -the north or entrance side being 14 feet, and the other from 10 feet -to 11 feet. Those of the recess, being protected, are rather less, -and in parts only 6 feet. It is remarkable that these thicknesses are -continued with little or no reduction, to the top. The style is simple -and severe, and although the material is cut stone, of remarkably fine -workmanship both inside and outside the structure, there is scarcely -any ornamentation. Over the outer door, in a shallow ogee niche, is -a saint or bishop in low relief, and within is a handsome canopied -niche for a statue and a sort of seat of state or sedile for the lord. -The fireplaces also are good, and the two larger ones of magnificent -character and dimensions. These ornaments belong to the Decorated style -of architecture, and correspond with the known date of the building, -the first half of the fifteenth century. The walls rise from a plain -plinth, and are terminated by strong corbels, 2 feet apart, and about 2 -feet deep, between each of which was a “meurtrière,” and outside it a -low parapet, now removed. As usual with Scottish towers, at each angle -was a three-quarter low bartisan resting on the corbels, and probably -rising no higher than the parapet. Also, the three high-pitched roofs -of the body and wings rise above and within the walls, being set back -from 6 feet to 8 feet. The chimneys, where they remain, are tall and -handsome, and the three well-staircases opening on the roof were housed -in cylindrical turrets with conical roofs, of which one remains, -wanting only its finial. - -The basement is on the ground level, which is about 5 feet below the -exterior ward. Above it is a first floor, which in the body is occupied -by the great hall, above which is a second floor containing the chapel -and upper hall. Above this is a third floor. The divisions of the -wings are less lofty. The north contains six floors, the south five. -There are five well-staircases in different parts of the building. -Two ascend from the ground level to the first floor and there stop. -Two others commence at that floor and ascend to the roof, supplying -the intermediate floors, and another commences half-way up the height -of the hall, threads two walls as a gallery, and finally rises as a -well-stair to the roof. There was thus a ready access from the first -and upper floors to the battlements in case of danger. - -_Basement._—In the body are three chambers placed crossways, east and -west, side by side, all 23 feet long, the central 14 feet wide, the -others 15 feet. The vault springs 14 feet from the floor, and in each, -at the east end, is a large arched recess, high up, narrowing to a -loop. At the springing line of each vault is a row of strong corbels, -evidently to support a floor, a sort of windowless entresol. These -lower chambers communicate by doors, and in the south wall of the most -southern is a recess or cupboard. The outer doorway, 6 feet wide, at -the level of the ground outside, is in the north wall, and is closed -by a stout door, within which the passage descends eight steps. In -the same wall is a well-stair, which ascends from the basement to the -first floor, and there stops. In this, half-way up, is a door into -the entresol over the northern chamber, from which level the stair is -continued to the first floor. The entresols over the other two chambers -were reached by ladders. The whole range clearly was intended for -stores, in case of a siege. - -From the north and south chambers doors open into the basements of the -two wings, also vaulted. The north, the prison, is 18 feet by 12 feet, -with a high and narrow loop to the west. In its upper part is also a -small door, from the adjacent entresol, which may have opened upon a -similar floor above the prison, or may have been an opening to look -down into it. - -In the left wing is a vault 20 feet long by 12 feet 6 inches broad, and -only 8 feet high. This was reached from the adjacent chamber in the -body, and contained the well. From this chamber, opening in the south -wall, is a well-stair, which rises 10 feet to an entresol, and thence -proceeds to the first floor. This entresol, also vaulted, was 18 feet -by 12 feet. There is a fireplace and cupboard in the north wall, and in -the south a small loop, a mural garderobe, and the door of entrance. -From it a rise of 14 feet leads to the first floor, which is thus 24 -feet above the basement. - -The _first floor_ contains the great _hall_,—a noble chamber, 51 feet -by 24 feet, with walls from 12 feet to 14 feet thick. It is covered by -a pointed barrel vault, quite plain, but, with the walls, of excellent -ashlar. The height to the crown is about 30 feet. It occupies the -whole breadth of the building. In the north end is a mural chamber, -8 feet 6 inches by 7 feet 10 inches, which contains the head of the -well-stair from below. This has a door into the hall and another -into the entrance passage. This is the passage of the main entrance, -4 feet 7 inches broad, and 14 feet long, having a door at each end, -but no portcullis. It is the main entrance to the tower. Outside, it -seems to have been approached by a stone arch of about 8 feet span, of -which the springing-course is seen under the door-sill. In the vaulted -mural passage are the opposite doors, one mentioned already upon the -stair-head, the other leading to the kitchen, which occupies the north -wing. - -At the other extremity of this northern end of the hall a door opens -into a well-stair, 7 feet 10 inches in diameter, which here commences, -and supplies the upper floor and the roof. The east side of the hall is -pierced by two windows, square headed, in deep-splayed arched recesses -of 7 feet opening, and 22 feet apart. Besides these, towards the north -end is a small light, a mere loop, in a recess of 2 feet 7 inches -opening. - -The great feature of the hall, after its fine pointed vault, is a -grand fireplace, 9 feet broad and 3 feet deep, with a projecting hood -of stone, which dies into the wall about two-thirds of the way up, -and is supported by two double half-shafts, with bases and carved -caps and a flowered band above, all in the Decorated style. This -occupies the centre of the south end, and on each side of it, high up, -are recesses of 5 feet opening ending in loops of 1 foot. The hood -is broken down and the fireplace in decay, but its remains are very -striking. Along the west side of the hall are various openings. In the -centre is a window recess, 5 feet 10 inches broad and 9 feet deep, -from which a side opening leads into a vaulted serving-room, 5 feet by -11 feet, which again opens into the kitchen. In the south end of this -side a door opens into the withdrawing-room, and another door into -a well-stair, which here commences, and communicates with the upper -floors of the south wing, and the roof. Near the north end of this side -a low arch or buttery-hatch opened direct into the kitchen. Besides -these openings, there are two ornamental recesses. The one a niche in -the north wall for a statue, about 5 feet high, with a handsome groined -and floriated canopy and a base resting upon a half-shaft, probably for -a statue of the patron saint of the family. Also in the west wall, near -the fireplace, is a sort of sedile, 4 feet broad, with an ogee canopy, -containing on a shield the three cinquefoils, the Borthwick arms. The -walls of the hall seem to have been either painted or covered with -devices, one of which, “Ye Temple of Honour,” was recently to be seen. -Here and in the staircases are many masons’ marks. Two of the doors -have heads as of three sides of a hexagon, something like the Berkeley -arch. - -The _Kitchen_ occupied the first floor of the north wing. It is 16 feet -by 22 feet, and is spanned by a large flat arch, throwing the western -half into a stone hood, under which the principal culinary operations -were carried on. There are three recesses with loops in the north and -west sides, one of which is blocked by a later oven. There is also a -small fireplace. The entrances are from the main door of the hall and -from the serving-room, and between is the buttery-hatch. - -The _Withdrawing-room_ occupies the south wing, and is 19 feet by 14 -feet. It was entered from the hall and from the well-stair, and has -recesses and small windows towards the south and west, besides wall -cupboards. The south wall contains, in a vaulted chamber, the head -of the staircase from the well-room and its entresol; and in this -wall also is a mural chamber, 8 feet by 7 feet, with two doors, a -window, and, in its flat slab-covered roof, a shaft, probably for a -stove chimney. This is called Queen Mary’s room, and was probably her -bed-chamber when she visited Borthwick. This and the larger room are -plugged for panelling, and the contiguous doorways from the stairs and -the hall had a wooden porch shutting them off in the corner of the -room, so that there was a passage either from the Queen’s room or the -staircase into the hall without entering the withdrawing-room. - -Above the hall, a corresponding space, 51 feet by 24 feet, is divided -by a cross-wall into an upper hall and a chapel. The _upper hall_, 27 -feet by 24 feet, has a large fireplace, with a stone hood and flanking -shafts, and near it a window, both in the east wall. In the north -wall is a large recess and window and a door into the north-eastern -staircase. In the west wall is a window in a recess, and a door which -leads by a mural passage into the north wing, and into a garderobe in -the north wall. - -The _Chapel_, 24 feet by 21 feet, has a recess of 9 feet wide, in which -is the east window, a piscina, and an almbry. It had also two south -windows, and between them a small fireplace. In its west wall is the -entrance-door from the well-stair, and a door, 2 feet above the floor, -from the south wing, which probably opened into a raised seat for the -lord. Both chapel and upper hall had a flat timber roof, and were 14 -feet high. - -The room next above these, the third floor of the body, was of the -dimensions of the great hall. It had three windows to the east and one -to the north, south, and west. It was entered from the well-staircase -in the north-east corner, and that of the south wing, and it had a door -direct into the north wing. This room has a long, full-centred barrel -vault, which rises about 6 feet above the walls, and is, therefore, to -the crown, about 15 feet high. It is probable that this great chamber -was broken up by partitions, but it contains no fireplace. - -Corresponding to these floors in the body are, in the south wing, -five,—the first being the withdrawing-room already described, and -13 feet high. The second has two windows, a fireplace, and a mural -garderobe, and is about 11 feet high. The third, the same, and is 8 -feet high; the fourth has the same arrangements, and, in addition, a -door into the private seat of the chapel. It is 17 feet high. The fifth -floor has two windows only, and is about 15 feet high to the crown of -its vaulted roof. All the chambers in this wing are of the same size, -and one over another. - -The chambers in the north wing are over, and of the same size with, -the first floor or kitchen, the hood and chimney-shaft of which, built -against the west wall, passes up through each floor, tapering as it -rises. In this wing there are six floors, most having two windows and -some a fireplace. The second floor—that over the kitchen—is entered -from the eastern well-stair, whence, at 12 feet above the floor of the -hall, a mural passage threads the north wall and its window recess, and -leads into the chamber. Hence, ascending in the west wall of the hall -10 feet, it reaches the commencement of a well-stair, which leads to -the upper floors and the roof. The uppermost and sixth floor is in the -vault of the roof, and is lighted by orifices in its gables. - -Besides these chambers in the two wings there are small mural chambers -at two levels in the west wall, which are reached from the south stair, -and look into the recess on the west front of the tower. - -The battlements are still accessible by two staircases, and the three -roofs are seen to rise independently from the rampart-walk level. They -are high-pitched, and their vaults are covered with cut stone tiles, -fitted so as to form ridges and hollows, and so jointed as completely, -while perfect, to exclude the rain. This roofing has lasted well, and -even now only needs relaying and the replacing of a few broken stones. -The gables are of cut stone. The stair-heads are about 8 feet high, -circular, with conical roofs of ashlar. There seems to have been a low -parapet all round, set out upon corbels, and between each pair a square -machicolation. There is a clear walk all round, only broken by the -chimney-shafts. The parapet has been removed, probably to prevent the -tower being held as a military post. The east wall near the top is much -injured, it is said, by Cromwell’s shot, when he battered the castle -from this side, beyond the ravine. - -Borthwick Tower was built under a licence from James II. to Sir William -Borthwick of that ilk, dated the 2nd of June, 1430. - -Billing gives an excellent view of this tower from the south-west, and -a good drawing of the interior of the hall, showing the great fireplace -before its fall, and the lord’s seat. - - - HISTORY. - -The family of Borthwick, though for centuries the owners of this -estate, derive their name from a place on the shore of Borthwickwater, -in the shire of Selkirk, whence, at a remote period, they migrated to -the lands and castle of Catcune, holding it with Legertwood and Herriot -Muir, whence they again removed to Locherwart, to which they gave the -name of Borthwick, an inversion common in Ireland, but rare in England -and Scotland. Their predecessors at Locherwart were the Hays of Yester. - -The first of the name on record was, I., _Thomas_ de Borthwick, -_temp._ David II., and who held lands in Berwickshire. His son, II., -_Sir William_ Borthwick, of Catcune, was living 1378, and his son, -III., _Sir William_ Borthwick, in 1387-1401, and who was father of, -IV., _Sir William_, of Legertwood, who, in 1410, had a grant from -Robert Duke of Albany of the lands of Borthwick and Thoftcotys, in -Selkirk; V., another _William_, son of the last, was one of the -hostages sent to England for the ransom of James I. To him, as -Willelmus de Borthwic, miles, the king granted, 2nd June, 1430, a -letter of licence, “construendi castrum in illo loco qui vulgariter -dicitur le Mot de Lochorwort ... ac in eodem castro et fortalicio -Constabularium, Janitorem, custodesque necessarios et optimos pro sua -voluntate providendi, removendi, et omnia alia quæ ad securitatem et -fortificationem dicti castri necessaria fuerint faciendi.” - -Such a licence is rare in Scotland, where the nobles were very -independent of the Crown, and the country commonly so disturbed that -a castle was almost a necessary of life. To the castle so licensed to -be built was given the name of Borthwick. It is probable from the term -“Le Mot” that there was already a strong place there, for which indeed -the position was very suitable. This Sir William seems to have been -the first Lord Borthwick. His lineal male descendant, John, the eighth -lord, held out his castle for a time against Cromwell’s artillery. His -son, John, the ninth lord, died childless in 1681, and on his death the -castle passed to his sister’s son, Dundas of Harrington, from which -family, after two descents, the castle was purchased by Borthwick of -Croston, descended from a younger son of the first lord, and his male -descendant in the tenth generation claimed, in 1774, the barony, which, -however, was ultimately granted to a still nearer male heir. - -John, the fifth lord, was a strong partisan of Queen Mary. He it was -who ducked the apparitor in the burn, and made him eat his letter of -excommunication, steeped in wine. Mary fled to Borthwick Castle, about -three weeks after her marriage with Bothwell, 7th June, 1577, and, -being followed by the opposing lords, fled thence, on the 11th, to -Dunbar, disguised as a page. No doubt she slept in the chamber called -by her name. Bothwell, at that time, possessed the adjacent castle of -Crichton. - -The Borthwick arms carved in the hall of the castle are,—(A) three -cinquefoils (sable). - -The adjacent church was rebuilt, or nearly so, in excellent taste, in -1850. It has a western tower with a broach spire, a nave, chancel, and -round apse, and two transepts, of which that to the south is old, and -mainly in the Decorated style, though with some traces of Norman work. - -Dr. Robertson, the historian, was born in the manse, which, however, -has been rebuilt. - - - - - THE CASTLE OF BÔVES. - - -The Castle of Bôves is here introduced as a good example of a moated -mound on the other side of the Channel. The castle and village stand -upon the left bank of the valley of the Noye, in the old province of -Picardy, above and about a quarter of a mile distant from the stream. -The Noye rises near to Crêvecœur-le-Grand, beyond Bretuil, and flows -across a district of chalk. Both a little above and immediately -below Bôves, it inosculates with the Avre, which rises near to -Crêvecœur-le-Petit, and the combined stream, flowing past Longeau, -joins the Somme immediately above Amiens, which city is about five -miles distant from Bôves. Both the Noye and the Avre exhibit the -features which are still more strongly marked in the Somme. They flow -sluggishly across broad, flat tracts of peat and gravel, contained -within steep and high banks of chalk. The peat has been extensively -excavated for fuel, and the cavities are filled with dark peaty water. -The supply of coal by railway and canal seems somewhat to have checked -the demand upon these turbaries, and the uncut surfaces are highly -cultivated as nursery gardens, which appear in patches amidst the -pools, and are chiefly reached by boats. The poplar is the prevailing -tree of these damp, gloomy districts, and it there attains a very -considerable size. Below the peat, and at the base and up the sides of -the chalk hills, the rock is more or less thickly covered up with beds -of gravel and light loam, in which are found the flint implements which -have been the subject of so much speculation. - -The village of Bôves contains under 2,000 persons, whose chief -employment is bleaching in the open fields the cotton cloths -manufactured in the neighbourhood. The church, the only public -building, is a heavy Doric temple, of modern date. The village is built -at the foot of the chalk hill upon which stands the castle, and which -has been quarried for building purposes into a cliff of 50 feet to 80 -feet high. - -The castle, now a mere ruin of no great extent, is chiefly remarkable -for its earthworks. It stands upon a chalk ridge, perhaps 150 feet -above the valley, and has been isolated towards the south by a curved -ditch, about 50 feet deep by 60 feet or 70 feet broad, and about a -furlong in length. This ditch works out upon the face of the cliff -towards the village, and upon the natural slope in the opposite -direction. The ground without, or upon its counterscarp, has not been -disturbed. The contents have been thrown inward, and cause the scarp to -be crowned by an elevated bank. - -On the highest part of the ground, just within the ditch and near its -centre, is a mound or motte, with very steep sides, about 50 feet high, -and a circular flat top about 100 feet in diameter. This motte has a -basis of chalk rock, which has been scarped, and the material added -to the summit. The bank proceeds from the mound along the edge of the -ditch, and probably was connected with or covered the entrance into the -work upon the motte. To the east and north of the motte the ground is -tolerably level as far as the edge of the cliff, and of a deep hollow -way ascending from the village. This space is now partially occupied by -a public cemetery and some farm buildings. West of the motte is a sort -of lunated platform, beyond which the slope is again scarped by art. -Probably the principal buildings of the castle and its offices occupied -these platforms under the motte. - -The only masonry remaining stands upon the motte, and consists of -the ruins of a tower and a fragment of wall. The tower stands at the -junction of the scarped bank with the motte, upon the edge of the -ditch. Its remains are quadrangular, with thick walls, of which only -the north and south remain. It was of three floors, a basement vaulted -in round-headed barrel; a first floor, with timber ceiling; and a -second floor, higher, and evidently a room of state. In the basement -walls remain three rectangular loopholes, or small window-openings, -high up. The upper room may have been vaulted. Its walls show a -round-headed gable, but this may have belonged to a coved plaster -ceiling. Outside, against one wall, is a plain buttress, 3 feet by 3 -feet. The material is chalk rubble, without flints, and faced, within -and without, with chalk ashlar, the stones being coursed, and about 9 -inches long by 6 inches high, with rather open joints. This tower may -have contained a small portal. From it extends a fragment of curtain, -along the edge of the motte. This has one broken opening, perhaps a -window, with a round head. It is difficult to form an opinion upon the -age of this masonry. It is possibly late Norman. - -There are marks of the foundations of a shell of wall all round the -edge of the motte, and of a central rectangular court. At present the -summit is planted with trees, and the slopes covered with brushwood. - -Bôves underwent a siege from Philip Augustus of which an interesting -account was drawn up by Guillaume le Breton. The following is extracted -from it:— - -“The first barriers being won, the besiegers constructed with osiers, -hides and stout planks, a cat, under cover of which picked men filled -in the ditch. This done, the knights, under cover of their large -shields held against the wall, covered the miners, who, with bars and -picks, broke into the wall, propping it up with rough trunks of trees, -and then removing the masonry above the level of the foundations. When -enough was thus undermined, they set the props on fire and retired. -When the props were burnt the wall fell in the midst of a dense cloud -of dust and smoke. The besieged then gave way, a body of youth, -sheathed in armour, ascended amidst the dust and ruin, massacred some -and captured others, while the remainder, retreating, fled into the -keep, which, built upon a scarped rock and protected by a double wall, -offered a sure asylum. - -“Then a machine, contrived for various purposes, was brought to bear -upon the keep; sometimes as a mangonel, such as are used by the Turks, -it sent a shower of small stones into the air, sometimes a single stone -of vast weight was projected with a velocity exceeding that from a -sling. Fissures began to appear in the walls, shaken by the repeated -blows,” &c. - -The history of Bôves is probably that of Amiens. It is supposed to have -been thrown up in the ninth century, for defence against the aggressive -Northmen, and the character of the earthwork favours this view. Some of -the Sieurs de Coucy were lords also of Bôves; and Henry IV., whose wars -brought him to Amiens, is said to have occasionally visited Bôves with -Gabrielle d’Estrées. The lordship was, during that reign, the property -of Philippe de Mornay, son of that Du Plessis Mornay whose name is so -intimately associated with the career of Henry. The earthworks are seen -to great advantage from the Bôves Station of the Amiens Railway. - - - - - BOWES CASTLE, YORKSHIRE. - - -The stronghold known as Bowes Castle consists at this time of a single -rectangular tower, unconnected with any other buildings, and bearing -no trace whatever of ever having been so connected. This is very -remarkable, inasmuch as the tower is in every respect both of plan -and detail, a Norman keep, and Norman keeps usually, it may be said -invariably, are, as the name imports, connected with or surrounded by -other buildings, of which the tower is the strength or citadel. - -Brough, Brougham and Appleby, Carlisle and Newcastle, Helmsley, -Scarborough, and Richmond, all Norman rectangular keeps of the Northern -Counties, are parts only, though the chief part, each of its castle, -and it is only to fortresses so composed of parts that it is usual -to apply the name of castle, a single structure being usually termed -a tower or peel. Bowes, however, is always styled a castle in the -records, and it is, of course, possible that it may, in respect of -composition, have resembled other castles, and that the stronger and -better-built part of the work may have proved most durable. It is, -however, clear that no other work in masonry abutted upon, or, at -least, was bonded into this tower, nor is there any indication of -building or of foundations in the greensward, to which the tower on -two of its sides lies open. On another side the churchyard runs up -to within but a few feet of the tower, and on the remaining side the -cottages show nothing of either old walls, or of the material of which -such were likely to have been constructed. - -Bowes Keep, if then Keep it may be called, is a rectangular tower -rather above 82 feet east and west by 60 feet north and south. It does -not, however, stand with the main points of the compass, the actual -north being the north-west angle of the description. It is about 50 -feet high. Each angle is capped by a broad flat pilaster, 14 feet broad -and projecting a foot, and the angle of meeting of each pair is solid. -Midway, in the centre of each face, is also a pilaster 8 feet 10 inches -broad, and of the same projection with those flanking it. There is no -base or plinth or set-off, save where a plain string-course marks the -level of the upper floor, and is continued along the whole building, -walls and pilasters. The top of the wall is much broken down, no -battlement remaining. There do not appear to have been turrets at the -angles, save perhaps one at the south-east, containing the stair head. - -There is a basement, a main, and an upper floor. The basement, as -usual, is at the ground-level. Its walls are 11 feet to 12 feet -thick and solid, enclosing an area 36 feet by 58 feet. This again is -subdivided by two cross-walls, 4 feet 4 inches thick. One of these, -lying north and south, seems to have ascended through each floor, the -other at right angles to it was probably confined to the basement. -Both walls are broken away, only enough being left to show that such -there were. Of the three chambers thus formed, that occupying the west -end of the floor was 37 feet long by 16 feet broad (_a_). Of the two -others the southern was 37 feet 10 inches long by 17 feet broad (_c_), -and the northern the same length by 15 feet broad (_b_). - -[Illustration: BOWES CASTLE. - -FIRST OR MAIN FLOOR. - -GROUND PLAN.] - -The western chamber was certainly vaulted, the corbels whence sprung -the ribs or vaults remaining at the four angles. The other two chambers -were probably also vaulted, some trace of the angle corbels remaining. -A special rib seems to have shut off the south-east angle, probably to -give head-room for the staircase doorway. A doorway led from the south -to the western chamber, of which the south jamb remains. Probably these -chambers were vaulted in two bays, but of this no indication is left. -All are lighted by loops, each loop is about 2 inches broad, and 6 -feet above the ground, and is placed in a round-headed stepped recess, -splayed from an internal breadth of about 4 feet 6 inches. Of these -loops there are six. One in the north wall, opening from the north -chamber; three in the south wall, of which two open from the south -chamber, and the third from the west chamber, which has also two others -in the west wall. - -The south-east angle is occupied by a well-staircase 11 feet 8 inches -diameter, which rises to the roof, communicating by a short lobby with -each floor. The only access to the basement was by this staircase from -the first floor. - -The first or main floor was divided by the cross-wall into a larger -east (_e_) and a smaller west chamber (_d_), and a shelf or set-off -reduces some of the walls by a foot, and enlarges the inner area -accordingly. At this level also the walls contained several mural -chambers. The main, and indeed the only entrance to the tower was -on this floor in the east wall, about 10 feet from the ground. The -doorway, a plain rounded arch of 5 feet 4 inches opening (_f_), led -into a passage of 6 feet breadth, opening direct into the eastern -chamber. There was no portcullis, and the only defence was a stout -door, barred. In the south wall of the passage a small doorway led into -a chamber in the east wall, 6 feet wide by 14 feet long, and which has -a loop in its outer wall, and no doubt opened by a doorway, now broken -down, into the east chamber. On the north side of the doorway, but not -communicating with the passage, the north-east angle of the building is -occupied by a second mural chamber 14 feet long by 9 feet broad, also -vaulted (_g_). In the north wall of this chamber is a fire-place with -a concave back, and at the east end is a loop. It was entered from the -east chamber by a doorway, now broken down, in its south wall, and this -door led into a small lobby, cut off by a cross-wall from the chamber -with the fire-place. - -A third mural chamber is entered from the larger room by a small door -in the south wall. This opens into a passage 2 feet 6 inches broad, -and 33 feet long, lighted by a couple of loops in its south wall, and -terminating in a small chamber about 8 feet by 4 feet, which occupies -the south-west angle, and was lighted by a loop in the west wall. - -A fourth chamber was contained within the west wall. It was entered -by a doorway now broken down, opening into a passage 2 feet 8 inches -broad by 19 feet long, lighted by two loops in the outer wall, one -of which was in a garderobe, and in the broken wall is seen a shaft -descending from an upper garderobe, possibly in the second floor or on -the battlements. The mural chambers are all vaulted. At the south-east -angle a doorway and lobby lead into the winding staircase. This main -floor was lighted by three windows, one in the north and one in the -south wall of the larger apartment, and one in the west wall of the -smaller room. These windows are all alike. Their recesses are flat -sided and round headed, and are open to the floor-level. They are 8 -feet wide. Their framework or tracery is gone, so that it is impossible -to say precisely how they were closed in. Their flat sides give to -these three window recesses very much the appearance of doorways. This -floor was not vaulted, but ceiled with timber in the ordinary way. - -The upper or second floor is a mere ruin and inaccessible, only -fragments of its walls remaining. The least injured part is about the -head of the staircase at the south-east angle. Here the sides of the -doorway and one wall of the lobby remain. - -The material of the building is a rough strong sandstone, weathered -to a dark colour. The walls, inside and out, were faced with coarse -ashlar, well executed, and on three of the exterior sides remaining -unhurt. The west face has been stripped, no doubt for use for later -buildings. The interior also has been almost wholly stripped, just -enough remaining to show what has been. The basement is encumbered with -the fragments of the vaulting, so that the floor is nowhere to be seen. -There may therefore have been a well. The stairs have been designedly -broken away, so that the staircase remains an empty cylinder. The -entrance to it, at the base, is much broken. The three southern loops -are tolerably perfect; one quite so. - -On the first floor the larger or eastern chamber was probably the -Hall. The main entrance had no forebuilding or exterior covering, nor -is there any trace of a stone staircase or of a drawbridge. It seems -to have been reached by steps of wood. The chamber in the north-east -angle, containing a fireplace, full large for its size, may have been -the kitchen. This is the only fireplace now seen in the building, -though there may have been others in the cross-wall. The two chambers -about the south-west angle seem to have been garderobes, one opening -from each of the main rooms. The three windows are unusually large, and -being only 12 or 14 feet from the ground, must have much weakened the -strength of the place. No doubt the framing or tracery filling up the -apertures was heavy and strong, but still no tracery or mullion could -have resisted a heavy stone from a catapult, nor indeed could the shell -of wall containing the staircase. Probably the borderers, whose raids -the tower was intended to resist, had no military engines at their -command. - -As the roof is gone, with the walls that immediately supported it, it -is impossible to say whether it was flat or pitched at an angle. There -is seen, however, in the west wall, at its north end, a patch of ashlar -cut to a low slope, evidently that of a former roof, and there is a -like indication in what remains of the cross-wall, at its south end; -also about the same level is a square hole, which evidently carried the -water from the gutter on one side of the wall to that on the other. The -level of these indications of a low-pitched roof is about that of the -floor of the upper story, and many feet below even the present top of -the wall. It looks as though here, as at Richmond, Ludlow, Porchester, -Bridgenorth, Kenilworth, and in many other instances, the original -roof had been over the first story, and the second story had been an -afterthought, generally not more than a few years later. Possibly the -whole wall above the string-course is an addition, but if so it is a -very early one. - -Bowes tower may safely be pronounced to be very late Norman in style. -The cross-walls are certainly original, but the vaulting was probably -an addition, and, to judge from the skewbacks of two ribs in the south -wall, of the Decorated period. The basements of Norman keeps were very -rarely vaulted, and here, as at Brougham, Richmond, and Carlisle, the -vaulting looks later than the walls. - -The two open sides of the tower, the west and south, show that it was -guarded by a ditch at from 40 to 70 feet distance, and this may have -been continued all round. The tower stands a few yards south of the -highway which traverses this district from east to west, and represents -the Roman Way from Greta Bridge by Brough, Appleby, and Brougham, with -branches northwards to Alston and Carlisle. At Bowes, as at Brough and -Brougham, the road was strengthened by a camp, and Bowes tower stands -within the camp, near its western boundary, and to the south of its -central line. The ditches of the camp may be traced to the north and -west, and partly to the east, and its area is about 130 yards, by 140 -yards: to the south the ground falls sharply towards the deep bed of -the Greta, and is defended by terraces and scarps, in which, a little -west of the centre, is an opening probably for communication with the -river. The remains of a Roman bath have been laid open outside the -south-east angle, and a fragment of lead pipe, no doubt feeding it, -was dug up in the adjacent churchyard. To the west are the remains of -four small barrows in Roundhill Close, and the defence of the camp is -strengthened by two watercourses at a short distance on the east and -west fronts. Besides this camp there is one at Greta Bridge, 6 miles -to the east, and two others at 6 and 8 miles to the west, of which -one known as Raycross is regarded as a British camp, adopted by the -Romans. The cross, commemorated in the name, is said to have been set -up in 1067 to mark the boundary then agreed upon between England and -Scotland. The further camp is known as Maiden Castle. Bowes is held to -be the Roman Lavatræ. The position is well chosen, having considerable -local elevation. It is 928 feet above the sea, and commands extensive -views, especially to the south and east. - -As the history of North Yorkshire is as yet unwritten, but little is -known as to Bowes, save that both manor and castle were always held by -the Earls of Richmond. King John, that most restless of monarchs, was -at the castle on the 16th February, 7th of his reign, that is, in 1206, -when he thence, “apud Bouas,” addressed a mandate to the Foresters of -Nottingham, and again, according to Mr. Hunter’s itinerary, 16th June, -in the 14th year of his reign, 1212. “The Earls of Richmond,” says -Camden, “here levied a through toll, and set up a gallows.” Rymer also -gives a charter of Henry III. to Peter, Earl of Richmond, dated 25th -March, 1262, granting and confirming to him, with other lands, “Villas -de Richemund et Boghes, cum castris et wapentachiis, et omnibus aliis -pertinentiis suis;” and “Bowes castrum” was held of Peter of Savoy, -10 Edward I., and “Bowes Manerium” of John le Dreux the elder, Earl -of Richmond, 13 Edward I. 19 Edward I., William de Felton was put in -charge of Richmond and Bowes, &c., for the King. John le Dreux, Earl -of Richmond, had it 5 Edward III. 36 Edward III., Margaret de Dacre -died, seised of Bowes manor, as, 4 Henry VI., did Joan, widow of -John de Gray, Chevalier; and, 14 Henry VI., John Duke of Bedford. 22 -Henry VI., two parts of the manor or lordship of Bowes were held by -John Duke of Somerset. Its present owner is Mr. Pulleine of Clifton. -Mention is made of a Bowes in Northumberland in the reign of Edward -III. and of a tenement called Bowes in Boulne in Sussex, 4 Henry IV. -The castle was probably built late in the 12th century, and dismantled -by either Charles or the parliament in the 17th century. It is a very -good example of a late Norman keep. The mill, the almost invariable -appendage of an early castle, stood upon the river Greta. - - - - - THE CASTLE OF BRAMBER, SUSSEX. - - -Of the shires of England there is none more intensely English than -Sussex. Its name, the names of the most central of its two capital -towns, of its principal and secondary divisions, of its parishes, -and in a very remarkable degree of its inhabitants, are but little -changed from those they bore on the eve of the Conquest, and when -under the sway of Godwin and Harold. Even the not infrequent marks of -Norman occupation, in the form of parish churches, abbeys, and castles -of great strength and durability, were many of them grafted upon -foundations dating from the days of Alfred and Egbert. This is the -case with Selsey, the ecclesiastical parent of the see of Chichester, -with Bosham, Malling, Steyning, and other religious houses; and -Arundel, Bramber, Knapp, Hastings, and Lewes, all great castles in -their day, were the seats of English chiefs for centuries, before their -banks were crested with walls of masonry, or their mounds crowned with -keeps constructed after the Norman pattern. Pevensey, indeed, boasts a -still earlier origin. - -British remains in Sussex are but scanty. A few of the larger and more -elevated of the hill-camps, and those of irregular form, as Cissbury, -which includes 60 acres, are supposed to be the work of the Regni, the -earliest recorded inhabitants of the district. It is also difficult not -to see in the Arun, the Adur, and the Ouse, names corresponding to the -Aeron, the Dour, and the Usk or Esk, by which many streams in Celtic -countries are still designated. Glynde has been claimed as a Celtic -name, but it is very rare, especially in Sussex, to find the name of a -parish of other than Teutonic origin. - -Of the Roman period the traces are more numerous. The main road -intersecting the county from Chichester towards London is undoubtedly -of that date, and there seems to have been at least one other from -Chichester—the Roman Regnum—to Pevensey. There remain also several -rectangular camps, as Goushill, Hollingbury, Ditchling, Highdown, and -Brighthelmstone Down, evidently Roman. Chichester, though its Latin -name probably includes an earlier appellation, has the Roman cruciform -arrangement of its two main streets, though not the rectangular -outline. Anderida, Mutuantonis, and Mida, Roman towns of which the -site is disputed, seem to have been in Sussex; and at Bognor and other -places, pavements and foundations and inscribed stones, and other marks -of Roman habitation, have been discovered. Still the remains, whether -of British or Roman occupation, are but slight: all that speaks of -law, of order, of property, of the family tie, of the forefathers of -the people, of civil or religious polity, and of public worship—all of -this character which is ancestral, is English. This thorough uprooting -of the traces of earlier occupation is due, no doubt, to the position -of Sussex upon that part of the British coast most exposed to Saxon -and Danish invasion, and which bore the attacks of those formidable -invaders when at their earliest and fiercest. Sussex was late to come -under the humanising influences of Christianity, remaining Pagan till -the middle of the seventh century. The remarkable conservation, to our -days, of the names and divisions is probably due to the very peculiar -configuration of the district, and to the isolation produced by its -steep and lofty frontier ridges, and by the dense woodland which -covered, and to some extent does still cover, its central part. As the -position of the principal castles is determined by this configuration, -a few words concerning it will not be out of place. - -Sussex forms the western half of a chalk basin. The chalk rises in -a long, narrow, lofty, and very steep ridge, forming the northern, -eastern, and southern margins of the area, its height, reaching to -800 feet, being known as the Downs. The North Downs divide Sussex -from Surrey, the South Downs are the frontier towards the sea. This -latter ridge extends from near Chichester to Beachy Head, while the -North Downs extend to Folkestone and Dover. The deep wooded area thus -enclosed between them is the well-known weald of Sussex. The basin is -cut across obliquely by the sea, and the south-eastern frontier of the -county thus laid open for a length of about fifty miles. In former -days, however, the broad marshes of Pevensey, Winchelsea, and Romney -closed this opening with a barrier as effective as the downs themselves. - -Upon these downs, and especially upon the range to the seaward, the -early sea-kings seem to have pitched their resting-places. Here are -still found such hill-camps as Woolstonbury, Caburn, Rookshill, and -Cheukbury, circular in form, and therefore neither British nor Roman, -and besides these, several others, as Newhaven, Seaford, and Burling, -which are segments of circles, and, like Flamborough Head, enclose -headlands, and are attributed, with some probability, to the Danes. It -seems the general opinion that these circular or segmental earthworks -preceded the mounds and banks found in the interior of the country and -upon lower ground, the work of the same people after their settlement -and civilisation. - -Sussex is the only county the primary divisions of which bear the -names of rapes; of these it contains six: Hastings, Pevensey, Lewes, -Bramber, Arundel, and Chichester, subordinate to which are sixty-five -hundreds; each rape contains a portion of seaboard, a river, a haven, -and a fortress. The rivers are the Lavant, which nearly encircles the -city of Chichester, and falls into one head of the Bosham estuary, -the port of Chichester—the name is thought to be a corruption of the -Saxon _hlifian_, a rising, because the springs rise annually from deep -sources;—the Arun, which descends the dell bearing its name, cleaving -the chalk-range, and reaches the sea at Little Hampton; the Adur, the -river of Bramber, which, also by a pass in the chalk, reaches the sea -at Shoreham; the Ouse, the river of Lewes, which, through a narrow -gorge, now joins the sea at Newhaven, instead of, as formerly, flowing -out at Seaford. The Cuckmere is the river of Pevensey, but it leaves -that haven far to the east, and descends, also by a gap in the chalk, -to the sea, west of Beachy Head; and, finally, the Rother, the river of -the rape of Hastings, but the common boundary of Sussex and Kent, and -which falls into the sea at Rye. Pevensey Haven, though deprived of the -Cuckmere, is the receptacle for a number of lesser streams, by which -the upland waters formerly flooded that extensive level. - -The fortresses of the rapes are also six:—Chichester, probably of Roman -origin, long since destroyed; Arundel, Bramber, Lewes, and Hastings, -all of præ-Norman date; Pevensey, of Roman origin. Ella, who landed -A.D. 477, took possession of Chichester. All were the seats of English -lords, and all were accepted by the Normans as well-chosen positions, -and by them were occupied and strengthened. Knepp or Knapp Castle, -subordinate to Bramber, in the same rape, like it, is of English origin. - -Of the six castles, three, Arundel, Bramber, and Lewes, are posted at -the upper openings of narrow gaps in the chalk downs. Chichester is -placed to the east of and outside the chalk range. Pevensey stands -within the weald, among the low marshes by which that tract opens -upon the sea; and Hastings, also within the weald, stands upon the -sea-cliff, on the rocks and sands to which it has given geologically -its name. - -All the six, as well as Knapp, possessed, on a larger or smaller scale, -the conical mound so characteristic of English strongholds, and each, -after the Conquest, became the chief seat of a barony, and was held by -a powerful noble. Robert de Eu had Hastings; William de Warren, Lewes; -the Earl of Moreton, Pevensey; Chichester fell to Roger de Montgomery, -who there founded a castle upon the site of the earlier works, of which -part of the mound remains. The castle stood within the city enclosure, -in the north-east quarter. It became, with Arundel, the property of the -D’Albinis, and was destroyed by order of King John, after which the -third Earl of Arundel founded on its site the Grey Friars, of which -the house was probably built with the materials of the castle. It is -said that upon the mound stood a circular or polygonal keep, as at -Arundel, and that the traces of its foundations were long visible on -its summit. The mound has survived all its Norman additions, and is the -only relic of the ancient fortress that is extant. The city, within -which the castle stood, is also an early strong place. The cruciform -streets are, doubtless, Roman, as are the coins and inscribed stones -occasionally dug up; but the outline of the city is not rectangular, -and is enclosed within a bank and ditch of irregular outline, once -of formidable strength, and still in parts tolerably perfect. It is -not improbable that these earthworks are post-Roman, the work of the -Romanised Britons, and therefore earlier than the date of the castle -mounds. The later wall was built against the bank, which thus still, -where it remains, forms a broad ramp or terrace. - -Arundel Castle, next eastwards to Chichester, and its superior in -military importance, stands on the right bank of and high above the -Arun. The pass is of a more open character than those to the east of -it. This castle has already been described. - -Knepp Castle is in Shipley parish. It had a shell keep upon the mound, -of which traces remain, but which is said to have been destroyed as -early as 1216. - -Bramber, the castle next eastwards of Arundel, is held to be the -English “Brymmburgh,” a fortress upon a brim or brink. It was the head -of a barony, and the chief place of the rape to which it has given -name, and which includes forty-two parishes. The rape extends about -twenty-four miles from the Surrey border to the sea, with a width of -about eight miles. Narrow as it is, it contained till 1832 the four -Parliamentary boroughs of Shoreham, Bramber, Steyning, and Horsham, -returning eight members to Parliament, now reduced to three. The -castle stands on the west side of, and just above, the channel by which -the Adur reaches the sea at Shoreham. The pass thus commanded is four -miles long, and half a mile wide; the bottom flat and marshy, the sides -very steep and rising to 600 or 700 feet. New Shoreham, founded about -A.D. 1200, by the Norman lord of Bramber, stands upon the seashore; but -old Shoreham, the English port, is now half a mile inland, the deposits -from the river and the _débris_ of the chalk range having encroached -considerably upon the sea. Combe and St. Botolph’s, ancient parishes, -are placed within the pass, and higher up upon the same side is the -village of Bramber, standing upon slightly rising ground at the foot of -the western hills, and upon the edge of a broad tract of level land, -still wet, and formerly impracticable, across which the sluggish and -frequently flooded Adur takes a rather winding course. - -The castle is placed a little to the north-west of the village, and, -as was the English custom, close to the parish church. From thence a -raised causeway is carried across the valley, leading to the village of -Sele or Beeding, the Bedinges of Domesday, where was once a religious -house dependent upon the castle. The village, composed of one short -street, adjoins the causeway, and near it was discovered, in 1839, the -piling and piers in masonry of an ancient bridge by which the road was -carried across one of the bye-streams of the Adur. A charter of 1075 -refers to this bridge and to a chapel upon it, as “Stᵘˢ. Petrus de -veteri ponte.” The causeway, however, claims to be of higher antiquity, -and to have carried a Roman road across the marsh then probably flooded -by the sea. - -In the construction of the fortress, advantage was taken of a knoll of -the lower or grey chalk, roughly oval in figure, and about 120 feet -high above the river. This was levelled on the top and scarped round -the sides so as to form a more or less rounded area, 560 feet north -and south, by 280 feet east and west. The scarp descended above 180 -feet at an angle of 45 feet, or a slope of one to one, into a ditch -about 20 feet wide at the bottom, and the opposite side of which, -or counterscarp, rose about 40 feet at a similar angle, so that the -ditch at the counterscarp level was 100 feet broad, and the crest of -the scarp rose 30 feet to 40 feet above the ground opposite. A very -formidable defence. Towards the east, where the ground was low, the -counterscarp was not above 20 feet high, and to add to the depth of -the ditch, it was crested by a light bank, from which the ground -sloped towards the marsh. On the north and north-west, where the ditch -was at its deepest, and the ground was high, the slope outwards is -gentle, falling off for a furlong or so. To the west, where there is -a valley now occupied by the railway, the ground is low, and here the -outer side of the ditch, forming the crest of the counterscarp, is -a narrow ridge, as at Arques, succeeded by a very steep slope. Thus -those who approached the place on that side, after toiling up a steep -and dangerous ascent, would only find themselves on the outer edge of -a deep ditch, with a second still higher and steeper ascent beyond -it. Towards the south the ditch crosses instead of skirting the -hill, and is much less deep. Here was the entrance, and upon the small -tail of the knoll thus cut off is placed the parish church, standing, -therefore, just outside the ditch, and in its turn defended by the -slope of the hill, and by a hollow way which runs a few yards within -the edge of the marsh, the level of which is 8 feet or 10 feet below it. - -[Illustration: CROSS SECTION - -BRAMBER CASTLE. - -_Face p. 268, Vol. I._ ] - -Upon the table summit, 160 feet from its northern, and 40 feet from its -eastern, margin, was thrown up a conical mound, about 40 feet high, -and 70 feet diameter at its summit. It is wholly artificial, and the -material has evidently been scooped up from the surface of the area, -which has thus been rendered slightly hollow, the surface rising gently -towards the mound, and towards the outer margin of the area, that is, -the crest of the scarp. The mound does not appear to have had any ditch -proper to itself. It has been dug into and disfigured on its southern -side. Possibly there have been buildings there. On the north the -original and usual form is untouched. The slope is very steep. This was -the “burgh” or keep of the original fortress. - -What stood upon the burgh, or how the margin of the area was originally -defended, is of course a matter of conjecture; but considering the -wealth of timber in the district, it is probable that the defences -were all of that material, as well as the adjacent church, and thus -supposing, we may figure to ourselves the “aula” of Earl Guerd, who was -the lord of Bramber during the reign of the Confessor. The position -is a very strong one, and the view from it to the east and north-east -extensive. - -Bramber is one of the castles named in Domesday. It was then a part -of the lordship of Washington, and held by Wm. de Braose, the Norman -grantee. “Ipse Wills. [de Braiosa] tenet Wasingetune. Guerd comes -tenuit tempore Regis Edwardi. Tunc se defend. pro LIX. hid. Modo non -dat geldum. In una ex his hidis sedet Castellum Brembre.” - -William de Braose here mentioned probably was present at Hastings. -A charter cited by Dugdale, dated 1075-6, shows him to have been of -Braose, near Saumur, on the Loire. He had an immediate grant of nearly -the whole rape of Bramber, and he adopted the castle as his chief seat. - -Although local history is silent as to De Braose’s operations, much -may be extracted from the evidence of the existing ruins. Around the -edge of the table area he or his immediate successor built a wall of -_enceinte_. Where the ground was sound, this was founded upon the -edge of the slope, but where the chalk had given way, the foundations -were laid 3 feet or 4 feet lower down, so that the wall was built as -a revetment, and the ground within formed a ramp against it. Of this -wall of _enceinte_ some large portions remain, and its foundations may -be traced all round. It was 7 feet to 9 feet thick, from 10 feet to 18 -feet high inside, and outside from 20 feet to 30 feet. It was built -entirely of large pebbles, as from the sea-beach, laid in very thick -beds of mortar. Of course, such stones could have no bond, and are -about the worst material that could, under ordinary circumstances, have -been selected, but so firm is the mortar that the wall remains sound, -and in places, even the parapet, 2 feet thick, and composed of the -same material, is standing. Towards the north-east is a sharp angle, -and another of some boldness towards the south-west, but neither there -nor elsewhere do there seem to have been any mural towers, although it -must be confessed that a dense underwood of thorn and bramble renders a -close inspection of the exterior impracticable. - -The Norman keep stood upon or just within the line of the _enceinte_, -at its south end, close to the east of the entrance, and opposite to -the church. It was a square of 40 feet, standing north and south, and -about 240 feet south of the mound. Its walls at the base were 9 feet 6 -inches thick, and at the summit but little, if anything less, and its -exterior face was vertical. The basement chamber at the ground level -was 21 feet square and 14 feet high, and above it were three stages, -all with timber floors. The height to the rampart wall is, by guess, -about 70 feet, or a diameter and three-quarters. The first floor, 23 -feet high, either rested upon joists which were supported by the north -and south walls, now gone, or, which is more probable, upon a ledge in -the wall, which is reduced in thickness at that level about 6 inches, -as seen on the west side. Only the west wall remains, and the lower 6 -feet or 8 feet of the east wall. The north and south walls are entirely -removed. The west wall is solid at the base, but the east wall is -recessed in a curious way inside, and seems besides to have contained -two cavities like cesspits. The whole mass has, however, been so pulled -about, that little can be made of it. - -At the first floor, also, the west wall is solid, save that in its -south end is a short mural passage, vaulted, which seems to have ended -in a garderobe, the vent of which is marked by a sort of vertical -furrow in the wall. This passage was probably entered by a door in the -south wall, near the south-west angle. The east floor, 19 feet high, -rested upon six joists in the east and west walls. In its west wall -is a full-centred recess, 3 feet deep, 2 feet above the floor, 5 feet -wide, with jambs 7 feet high. In the recess is a window 3 feet wide, -with jambs 5 feet high, also full-centred. Both recess and window are -quite plain, and are not splayed. - -The third floor, 14 feet high, also rested on six joists, east and -west. This has no window to the west, but in the wall are two recesses -for the vertical beams of a roof, and at the base of each a corbel. -This looks as though the roof was inclined, as at Bridgenorth and -elsewhere, at a low pitch, the north and south walls being its gables. - -There are some indications, in a foundation, as of a forebuilding -attached to the north face, where probably was the entrance. The -material of the keep is chalk flint, laid in copious beds of mortar. -The flints are undressed, and the workmanship is coursed rubble, very -plain and good, but rather rough, with a tendency to herring-bone -work. The window is dressed with ashlar, as are the hollow quoins -of the interior, but there is no ornament, not even the usual -Norman pilaster or plinth. The ashlar is probably the malm rock -of the neighbourhood, a bed below the chalk, much like that used -at Dorchester, and for some of the adjacent Oxfordshire churches. -Altogether, this keep seems to be early Norman work, perhaps as early -as Malling, and was probably built by the first De Braose before 1095, -when his son was in possession. - -When the keep was blown up, as it evidently was, with powder, the south -and east walls fell in four or five huge masses into the adjacent -ditch, where they remain but little altered, though obscured with -vegetation. If these were cleared, something more of the detail of the -keep might be discovered. The north wall seems to have been broken up -and removed. - -About 40 feet west of the keep are the remains of the entrance. So far -as can now be seen there was no considerable gatehouse, probably only -an arch in the curtain, as at Richmond. The fragment of a wall shows -the approach to have been steep, and about 40 feet from the gate was a -bridge, the pier and counter-pier of which, 13 feet apart, are still -standing in the ditch, here not above 90 feet wide and 30 feet deep. -The approach to the counter-pier rises steeply from the foot of the -hill and passes the church. - -The only building of which there are positive traces, beside the keep, -within the area, was a rectangular pile, built upon the curtain, -60 feet long, and projecting 24 feet into the area. This is placed -opposite to and east of the mound, and the passage between the two was -only 15 feet broad. A part of the base of this building remains, and -shows a plinth and fragment of wall faced with squared flint. The work -looks many centuries later than the keep, and most certainly is not -Norman. There is no trace of a well. - -The parish church shares the protection of St. Nicholas, in common with -Old Shoreham. It is in substance Norman, probably rather later than the -castle, and was originally a cross church with a central tower. The -nave and central square remain, but the choir and transepts have been -removed, and the arches blocked up. The south door of the nave has a -plain billet moulding, but the original opening has been walled up, -and a smaller segmental doorway inserted. The cruciform plan seems to -have been much in use here. It is seen at Old Shoreham, Steyning, and -Broadwater. - -Bramber has little or no history. The lords were among the wildest, -most turbulent, and most unfortunate of the Norman barons. Their -founder, William de Braose, received from the Conqueror forty-one -lordships in Sussex, chiefly in this rape, and others in Dorset, Hants, -Berks, Wilts, and Surrey. He founded St. Peter’s Priory, at Sele. - -Philip, his son, adhered to Rufus, but was opposed to Henry I., and was -disinherited. He married Berta, daughter of Milo, Earl of Hereford, -with whom he had Brecknock, Gower, and other south Welsh lordships, -and thus laid the foundation of much of the power and most of the -misfortunes of his race. He probably founded the strong castles of -Oystermouth and of Swansea. - -William, the grandson of the founder, recovered the estates. He founded -New Shoreham church and port. He also joined in the invasion of Ireland -with Henry II., and held the whole kingdom of Limerick in fee. He is -accused, though upon scanty evidence, of a wholesale massacre of his -Welsh neighbours at Abergavenny. His possessions in England, Wales, -and Ireland were enormous, and he also held the Honour of Braose in -the Bailliewick of Falaise, in Normandy, and a share of the Honour -of Totnes. He married Maud de Hayes or St. Valerie. For some reason -not very clearly ascertained, he became obnoxious to King John, and -their strife, much embittered by the outspeaking of his wife, led -in 1210 to his attainder and exile, and the death of his wife and -William their son, it is said of starvation, in the prison of Windsor -Castle. He himself died at Paris shortly afterwards, in 1212. He was -a considerable benefactor to the Church, and it is recorded of him -that he was careful to use God’s name with great reverence. The king -seized the Rape of Bramber, and granted the barony to Richard, Earl of -Cornwall. Giles, Bishop of Hereford, and Reginald de Braose, brothers -of the attainted baron, obtained after a time a share of the estates. -Bramber was granted to the bishop, who, however, died within the -year. Finally, in the reign of Henry III., Reginald recovered Bramber -and Knapp, and most of the rest of the property, and having married -Grecia, daughter of William de la Bruere, died 6th Henry III., and was -succeeded by William his son. - -William de Braose married Eve Mareschal, a co-heir of the great earl. -He fell into the hands of Prince Llewelyn, who accused him of too great -intimacy with his princess, and put him to death at Builth, it is said, -by hanging. He left four daughters co-heirs, whose descendants held the -greater part of the estates. - -There remained, however, an heir male, in John de Braose, by Maud de -Clare: he was the grandson by Maud de Clare of that William who was -famished with his mother at Windsor, and he recovered Bramber and -Gower. His son was William de Braose, who held Bramber and Gower, and -added considerably to the Sussex estates. He is said, in 1262, to have -raised a large sum of money from his tenants by foregoing his right of -murage. He died at Findon, 1290, 19 Edward I., and was succeeded by -John de Braose of Bramber, who married Margaret, daughter of Llewelyn, -Prince of Wales. He died at Bramber of a fall from his horse (16 Henry -III., 1232), and was succeeded by William, who died 19 Edward I. -William was a powerful baron, and active in the wars of Edward I. and -II. He was, however, extravagant, and reduced to sell Gower, which led -afterwards to disputes between the purchaser and the lawful heirs of -the vendor, of whom Aliva, his elder daughter, married John de Mowbray, -from whom descended, in the seventh generation, Margaret de Mowbray, -who married Sir Robert Howard, whence comes the Duke of Norfolk, the -present owner of Bramber Castle. The barony is in abeyance. Probably, -with the failure of the elder male line of De Braose, the castle -ceased to be a residence, but in 1644 it was strong enough to be held -by Captain James Temple, for the king, against a strong Parliamentary -party, and it was probably in consequence that the keep was blown up, -and the castle reduced to its present condition. There is an engraving -by Hollar, taken 150 years ago, representing it very much as it now is. - -Another branch of the family of De Braose rose to the rank of Barons of -Parliament, and held large Sussex possessions. The last male of this -cadet branch, De Braose of Chesworth and East Grinsted, died in the -reign of Richard II. - -Bramber is, like Pontefract, Lewes, and Dudley, an example of a natural -hill, scarped and defended by art, and crowned with an artificial -mound; but, unlike those castles, it has both a mound and rectangular -keep, a rare combination, found also at Guildford and Christchurch. -A rectangular keep upon a natural isolated hill, unaccompanied by a -mound, though not usual, is not unknown. Examples of it are seen at -Hedingham, Corfe, and Bridgenorth. At Bramber, as indeed is the case -in many other sites of early fortresses, the original earthworks have -survived the Norman additions, and remain pretty much as they must have -existed before the Conquest. - - - - - BRIDGENORTH, OLDBURY, AND QUATFORD, IN SHROPSHIRE. - - -The river Severn, in its course from Shrewsbury to Worcester, passes -for several miles down a deep and rugged ravine, within or near to -which lie the populous districts of Coalbrook Dale, Iron Bridge, Coal -Port, and Broseley, early seats of the iron manufacture, and evidences -of the wealth, though scarcely in harmony with the natural beauty, of -the country. The ravine commences a little below the ivy-covered ruins -of Buildwas Abbey, and terminates twenty to twenty-five miles lower -down, about Bewdley and Stourbridge, where it opens out into a valley -of a soft and smiling character. - -About half-way down, between Pendlestone rock and the incoming of -the Worf, the Severn receives upon its right bank the waters from a -short but deep and broad valley, which descends obliquely from the -north-west, and between which and the main valley intervenes the point -of a steep and narrow ridge of rock, rising about 200 feet above the -river, and upon the nearly level summit of which is placed the town and -what remains of the Castle of Bridgenorth. The rock is more lofty, and -the position far more striking, than that of Pontefract Castle, the -defences of which were also in a great degree natural, and in these -respects Bridgenorth may challenge comparison with Coucy, which it also -resembles in the relation of the castle to the town. In both places the -castle lay contiguous to the town, and their connected defences formed -the common _enceinte_, while the castle had besides a ditch proper to -itself. - -[Illustration: BRIDGENORTH CASTLE.] - -At Bridgenorth the castle occupied the apex and south end of the -platform, the broader and northern part of which was covered by the -town, and the town walls abutted against those of the castle, while -the castle ditch traversed the platform from one face to the other. -Of the defences of the town only the north gate remains, and that in -a very mutilated and disguised form, but the line of the walls may be -traced, partly by the inequality of the ground and the arrangement of -the streets, and partly by the existence of the cliff upon which they -in part stood. An ancient fortified bridge, standing when Grose visited -the place late in the last century, though now rebuilt, crossed the -Severn east of the town, and was approached from it by a steep and -narrow flight of rock-cut steps, and by a carriage-way cut in traverses -almost as steep. This bridge defended the passage of the river, and -connected the place with the suburb called the Lower Town upon the -left bank. It is this bridge which is supposed to have given to the -place its early name of Brug, or Breig, the distinctive “North” being -an addition, probably in the thirteenth century, when there is said -to have been an earlier bridge a little lower down. The town contains -several old buildings, and among them, near the bridge, a very fine one -framed with timber, in which was born Bishop Percy. There is also the -fine parish church of St. Leonard’s, which stands at the north end of -the town, east of the north gate, and just within the line of the old -walls. - -The castle platform is in plan somewhat of an equilateral triangle, -each side being about a furlong. Leland says its area is about -one-third that of the town. The two sides of this area were protected -by a cliff so steep as to render a ditch unnecessary, and the face of -which, where it needed support, was, and still is, revetted, the wall -and edge of the cliff having been, no doubt, crowned by a parapet. The -cliff rises out of a steep talus, or slope. The base of the area was -defended by a wall within a ditch, upon which was a great gatehouse, -standing in Leland’s time and for a century later. The ditch has been -filled up and built over, and the wall removed. Just within its line -still stands what remains of the keep, and a few yards to the east of -that was the castle chapel, now the church of St. Mary Magdalen, and, -until recently, a peculiar with a special jurisdiction. The chapel was -collegiate with an endowment for certain prebendaries, disendowed at -the Reformation. The present building, constructed in 1796, is a large -and distressing example of Telford’s church architecture, in what the -great engineer was pleased to regard as the Grecian style. The two -buildings stand on the highest part of the castle area, which falls 30 -feet to 40 feet towards the southern point. A modern wall has taken -the place of the old _enceinte_. The view thence is very noble, nor -does any town in England possess a finer promenade than that with which -corporate care has encircled the area. - -The fragment of the keep, long known as “the leaning tower of -Bridgenorth,” seems to be the only masonry remaining of the castle, for -the revetment wall of the cliff looks as though it had been replaced. -The keep was a regular rectangular tower of the usual Norman pattern, -but in dimensions very unworthy of the powerful earl who built it, -or of the celebrated fortress of which it was the citadel. It was -45 feet square, and from 60 feet to 70 feet high to the base of the -parapet. On each face were two pilaster strips, 8 feet broad by 6 -inches projection, placed close up to but not covering the angles of -the tower, which are thus converted into nooks, or hollow angles, of -6 inches in the side, and which, instead of, as usual, terminating -above and below in a flat square, end in a sloping surface, as though -to receive a column. The pilasters rise from a common plinth, and -ascend to the parapet. Whether they were continued upwards so as to -form the usual angle-turrets does not appear. Each had two sets-off on -the face and outer edge only, reducing the breadth to 7 feet 6 inches -and 7 feet. The sets-off were continued round the building. In the -west face was also another pilaster of the same breadth and 15 inches -projection. This died into the wall some feet below the summit, and -seems to have been connected with the entrance door, which probably -opened in its face, for it is broken away below and a part of the rough -backing of an arch is seen. The walls at the base are 9 feet thick, -and about 7 feet at the summit. The building is of three stages, a -basement, at the ground level, 12 feet high; a first floor, 25 feet; -and a second floor rather more, perhaps 30 feet. The floors were of -timber. The first floor seems to have rested on a ledge, the upper and -the flat roof upon joists, those of the lower lying east and west; -those of the upper, north and south. The joist holes in the north wall -have been closed by early work, and above is a slight set-off or shelf -in the wall, as though the level of the floor had been altered. In the -west wall, also, new joist holes, smaller, have been cut above the old -ones. - -The original roof was very steep, having two slopes and a central -gutter, as at Porchester, and the reverse of the arrangement at Ludlow, -where the ridge was central, and the two gutters lateral. The weather -table remains perfect in the north wall, with a hole 2 feet high by 1 -foot broad, to carry the beam which supported the gutter and the feet -of the rafters. The table is seen continued horizontally upon the west -wall, where it was laid as a flashing to cover the upper edge of the -tiling. The walls were brought up to a level line all round, so as to -conceal the roof. This arrangement, as at Ludlow, Richmond, Porchester, -and the gatehouse of Sherborne, shows that there was no original -intention of using the roof as a platform for mangonels and such -like heavy machines. The flat roof, of lead, was apparently of later -introduction. No traces remain of any mural staircase in the north or -west wall, nor of any mural passages. - -The basement was, probably, a dark store or cellar, reached only by a -trap in the floor above. The entrance seems to have been on the first -floor in the west wall, in which also are traces of a loop or small -window. The north wall remains perfect. It was most exposed, and is -without openings of any kind. In what remains of the south wall is one -jamb of an original fireplace, of which is seen the sloping back, and -part of a lateral nook and Norman abacus above it. The flanking shaft -is gone. In the part of the east wall still remaining is the northern -half of a small full-centred window, deeply splayed inwardly. The east -and south walls above the first floor are gone. In the west wall, upper -floor, is seen the north jamb of a small full-centred window set in a -bold splay of hourglass section. North of it, in the same wall, is a -small recess, probably for a lamp, and which seems to have been round -headed. There, probably, was a fireplace in the south wall. - -Projecting from the outside of the south wall, bonded into, and of -the same age with it, is a fragment of curtain 7 feet 6 inches thick, -in which, as at Kenilworth, is seen the jamb of a doorway, defended -outside by a portcullis, the groove of which, square and 5 inches deep -by 3 inches broad, shows that the grate was of iron. The groove, as at -Kenilworth, stops about 3 feet from the ground, the door having been -reached by steps. The groove is not open at bottom, but runs up behind -a covering wall, as usual, and was evidently worked from the rampart, -as is still seen at the Fishergate postern, at York. The door jamb is -about 6 feet from the keep. This was evidently the entrance into the -innermost ward, in which, or rather upon the wall of which, stood the -keep. - -A few feet to the west of the keep is a mass of masonry, clearly a part -of the forebuilding which covered the entrance. Its face towards the -keep is 13 feet long, and towards the south 16 feet. It varies from 3 -feet to 6 feet thick, and is at present about 10 feet high. At present -it is distant from the keep 3 feet 6 inches, but the two faces were -evidently once in contact, and were displaced by an explosion. The mine -by which the keep was destroyed seems to have been placed here. - -The material of the keep was rubble-stone faced with excellent -fine-jointed ashlar. The exterior face of the forebuilding seems to -have had a similar casing. - -It is not easy to obtain accurate measurements of the keep, so much has -been removed, so much injured, and what remains is so obscured with -ivy. Moreover, the interior is fitted up for two dog-kennels, kept in -a very filthy condition, and with putrid carrion suspended from the -walls. The ruins also stand in three distinct enclosures, all locked -up. A mine has been sprung between the keep and the forebuilding, and -the explosion has removed all the upper part of the latter, and so -tilted the keep that it leans at an angle of fifteen degrees eastward -from the vertical, and the upper part of the east and south walls are -gone. Moreover, the keep seems to have been lifted bodily about three -feet towards the east, and the north wall has a large open crack. About -fifteen yards from the south-east angle stands a huge ivy-covered mass -of masonry, probably the detached angle of the tower. What remains of -the keep is held together by the excellence of the cement. The ruin is -in a state of great filth and neglect, and it is much to be regretted -that the whole area is not converted into a public garden. Judicious -excavation would probably throw much light upon the details of the -keep, and show the line of its contiguous curtain wall. - -The masonry and details of the keep answer very well to the date -of 1101 to 1102, to which history assigns it. It is certainly not -earlier. The curtain of the inner ward was clearly of the same date, -and enclosed a court in the north-west quarter of the general area, -of which the keep probably formed the north-east angle, and which was -entered on the east side close south of the keep. All else is gone; -the “mighty North gate” of which Leland speaks is no more. The very -ruins have perished, and the last trace of them, a good Norman arch, -discovered while pulling down some houses in 1821, has since been -destroyed by local Vandals. - -The early history of Bridgenorth is exceedingly obscure. It is stated -in the Saxon Chronicle that when, in 896, Alfred stranded the Danish -ships in the Essex Lea, the Danes left them, traversed England, passed -the winter at Quatbridge on the Severn, and there threw up a work. -Three of the four original texts are thus rendered. The fourth makes -them rest at “Brygce,” or Bridge, on the Severn. Florence of Worcester -supports Quatbridge, and mentions the work or fortress. “Brygce,” in -the Chronicle, is thought to be an interpolation, both where appended -to Quat, and where it stands alone, it being probable that the Severn -was not bridged at that time. There are at present two parishes into -the names of which Quat enters on the left bank of the river, below -Bridgenorth, Quat and Quatford, and upon the river is Danesford. Quat -is regarded by Eyton as a corruption of the British “Coed,” a wood, the -whole district having been a forest. - -In the same Chronicle it is recorded that Æthelflæda, the great lady of -the Mercians, a mighty burgh-builder in her day, and called by Henry of -Huntingdon “Terror virgo virorum,” built, in 912, a burgh at Bricge, -to which Florence adds, “on the western bank of Severn.” Bricge could -scarcely be Bridgenorth, which is not even mentioned in Domesday. We -ought, however, to find near the river, about Bridgenorth, earthworks -thrown up by the Danes and by Æthelflæda, and it will be seen that -there remain at the least three distinct works, any one or all of which -may be of the ninth or tenth centuries. These are Oldbury, Quatford -Castle, and Quatford. - -Bridgenorth is not mentioned in Domesday. The Norman castle did not -then exist, and there is no reason, strong and tempting as is the -site, for supposing that it was occupied either by the Danes or by -Æthelflæda. Mr. Eyton is of opinion that the site of the later town -and castle is included within a certain two hides of land which in the -survey constituted the demesne lands of the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, -within his great manor of Morville. Quatford, not Quatbridge, is -mentioned in that record in conjunction with Ardintone. “Ibi,” that -is in Ardintone, “Molendinum de iij oris et nova domus et burgum -Quatford dictum nil reddens,” “there is a mill worth three ounces (5s. -per annum), and a new house, and the borough called Quatford, paying -nothing.” In 1085, therefore, it may be accepted that the earl had a -new house at Quatford, where, indeed, it is known that at the request -of his second wife Adelais, and in acknowledgment of her escape from -shipwreck, he founded, about 1086, a collegiate church. The foundation -charter of this alludes to the mount nigh to the bridge; the latter, -probably an appendage to the new house, the former possibly part of the -older earthwork of what is now known as Quatford Castle. - -Earl Roger was succeeded in his English Honour and estates by his -second son Earl Hugh, who was slain in Wales in 1098, and left the -succession open to his elder brother, Robert de Belesme, who had -already inherited his father’s estates in Normandy, and was Count -of Ponthieu in right of his wife. Robert, who thus became Earl of -Shrewsbury, though a cruel tyrant, was a man of great ability and -energy, not only a great soldier, and “princeps militiæ,” or “Commander -of the Forces” to Rufus, but a great military engineer. He selected the -site and planned the works of the celebrated castle of Gisors on the -Franco-Norman frontier. His brother’s death found him beleaguered in -his castle of Balaon by Fulk, Count of Anjou, and the siege was raised -by Rufus, who granted him, or confirmed him in, his brother’s Honour. -When he came to England is uncertain, probably not before the end of -1099. - -On the death, in 1100, of Rufus, Earl Robert took part with Duke -Robert, whose claims, however, were not at first brought forward. It -was probably while preparing for their open assertion that he decided -to fortify the strong position which rose unoccupied scarce a mile -from his father’s church and residence. His decision was prompt, and -followed at once by his acts. He transferred the “Burgus” of Quatford -to a new town on the hill, and with it his father’s house and bridge, -which he also rebuilt. The result was the borough town, castle, and -bridge of Bridgenorth, the latter structure giving name to the whole as -Bridge or Bruge, the distinctive “north” not being added till the reign -of Edward II. or III. - -With Bridgenorth, Earl Robert also founded the castle of “Caroclove” -in Wales, and such was his need that the works were carried on day -and night. He also fortified Arundel, Shrewsbury, and Tickhill. His -exertions in 1100 and 1101, when he seems to have built the castle, -must have been excessive. King Henry, however, was not less active. He -despatched Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, to lay siege to Tickhill, while -he himself, having commenced with Arundel, proceeded to Bridgenorth. -He took it, after a three weeks’ siege, in September, 1102, and this -brought to a close Earl Robert’s short tenure of power in England. The -earl fled to Normandy, his earldom of Shrewsbury was forfeited, and -Bridgenorth was after a time granted to Hugh de Mortimer of Wigmore, -the son of one of Henry’s most trusted supporters. In 1126, Waleran, -Earl of Mellent, was here imprisoned, as was Meredith ab Llywarch in -1128. In 1130 wine was sent hither for the king’s use, so that Mortimer -was probably rather constable for the Crown than the owner in fee. - -Mortimer, in the new reign, took the part of Stephen, at whose death -he held both Wigmore and Bridgenorth. As he was in rebellion against -Henry II., the king took the field against him, and in April, 1155, the -castle a second time stood a royal siege. Cleobury, one of Mortimer’s -castles, surrendered in July, and Wigmore and Bridgenorth followed. -Henry was for some time before the place, and his charter to Stoneley -Abbey is dated “apud Brugium in obsidione.” It was at this siege that -Hubert de St. Clair is said to have stepped forward to receive the -arrow aimed at his sovereign, a romantic but unfounded tale. Henry -retained the castle for the Crown, and used it largely as a prison -for his Welsh hostages. In 1173-4, when Prince Henry rose against -his father, Bridgenorth was victualled at a cost of £22. 5s. 2d. In -1175-6 the king dated a Wenlock Abbey charter from hence. The frequent -charges for repairs between 1166 and 1189 show the importance attached -to this castle by Henry II. In 1176 the Pipe Roll gives a charge of 1d. -per day for the castle porter. - -King John was six times at Bridgenorth, passing there about fourteen -days. He confirmed a charter of incorporation to the town. Both he -and his predecessor, Richard, kept up the castle, as is attested by -frequent charges for repairs during sixteen years. In 1198 there was -paid 6s. 3d. for the hire of the barge in which the wife of Griffith -ab Rhys was conveyed from Bridgenorth to Gloucester. In 1203 John -presented to a prebend in the castle chapel. In 1209 a stag from the -adjacent forest entered the castle through a postern and was captured, -and no doubt converted into venison by the castellans. For this they -were prosecuted by the verdurers, and the proceedings imply that the -castle was then in charge of five persons only, of whom one was the -constable. No doubt in time of peace the royal castles were left almost -to themselves, and often not even kept in repair. When a war arose -they were repaired, garrisoned, and victualled in all haste. So far as -repairs went, Bridgenorth, however, seems to have fared well. We read -of repairs on the king’s house, on the basement of the castle, on the -“Barbe-kana et Pons-tornalis” or barbican and drawbridge; on the turret -of the outer wall, the chimney of the great chamber, the castle walls, -the tower, the well, the glass windows in the hall, the queen’s oriel, -and the chapel. - -These charges are continued through the reign of Henry III., and well -into that of Edward I., from 1218 to 1281. In 1232 the sheriff was to -cause to be repaired the castle stable, and the kitchen within the -barbican of the tower, and in 1244-5 was a charge for covering the -tower at Brug with lead. This was probably the keep. In 1267, Henry -III. and his queen were at Bridgenorth, and it would seem that the -Mortimers were still connected with the castle, for, in 1273, on the -death of Hugh de Mortimer, Edward I. continued his successor Ralph in -the offices of sheriff of the county and constable of the castle. - -In 1281 an inquisition was held upon the state of the building, which -had latterly been neglected. The timbers of the great tower were -rotten, the leaden covering having been carried away; also the castle -bridge was broken down, so that carriages could not cross it. - -In common with most other castles held by the Crown and therefore -not inhabited, Bridgenorth seems to have been allowed to fall into -decay from the reign of Edward I., so that probably little remained -beyond the walls. At any rate, it played no part in English history -until the great rebellion, when the town declared for the king, -for whom the castle was garrisoned. The tower was attacked by the -Parliamentary forces on the north side, and was entered by a breach -near St. Leonard’s Church. Upon this the town was burned up to the -castle, which still held out. The Parliamentary batteries are said to -have been posted upon the Oldbury earthwork, which is probable enough, -though there are no traces of parapets or breastworks of that date, -which, however, from the distance from the castle and the deep valley -between, were probably not needed. The garrison held out three weeks, -and capitulated on honourable terms. The castle was blown up, and the -materials probably sold. - -Any account of Bridgenorth Castle would be very imperfect that -did not take notice of the very remarkable earthworks seen in its -neighbourhood, and which are evidently connected with the events -referred to as of the ninth and tenth centuries. These are three in -number—Oldbury, Quatford Castle, and Quatford; and first of Oldbury. - -On the left bank of the Severn, about a quarter of a mile below and -south-west of the castle, and on the opposite side of the deep dry -valley that forms its western defence, the high ground of Oldbury is -broken by three deep combes which descend to the river, and between -which are two high ridges or knolls, steep towards the Severn and the -combe on either side, and on the west connected by a neck with the -higher land. The larger of these, that nearest the castle, is known by -the inelegant but most descriptive name of “Pan Pudding Hill.” It does, -in fact, much resemble in figure a beef-steak pudding just turned over -out of the pan in which it was boiled. Naturally oblong, it has been -scarped and rounded. The circular flat top is 150 feet diameter. In the -centre is a slight nipple-like mound 3 feet high, and a raised bank now -about 4 feet high crests its circumference. Towards the river the slope -is steep for 50 feet or 60 feet, towards the land it is protected by a -cross trench about 50 feet broad and 10 feet to 12 feet deep. Half-way -down the slope on the eastern side is a narrow ledge or path which may -have been protected by a stockade. Towards the south this ledge expands -into a stage or shelf from 90 feet to 100 feet broad, and which is -excavated so as to carry a ditch. The arrangements are very simple, -and the mound is mainly natural, though scarped and fashioned by art. -It was probably here that the Parliamentary guns were posted in the -seventeenth century. - -Close south of this hill is a second work, lower, smaller, and less -clearly defined. Its summit is also circular, and about 100 feet -diameter. These two works are of one general type, and probably of one -date, and if not the work of Æthelflæda are no doubt of her period. -They are either English or Danish, not British. That the main work is -older than the Norman fortress is evident from a document of 1299, in -which it is called “the old castle.” Moreover, it is the burgh which -gives name to Oldbury, the parish in which it is situated. - -Quatford Castle is on the left bank of the Severn, one and a quarter -miles below Bridgenorth, and a furlong from the river, the intervening -ground being a strip of meadow, while Danesford is still the name of -an adjacent ford and village. A short steep combe descends from the -high ground to the north-east, and, branching below, includes a knoll -of rock perhaps 150 feet above the valley and 200 feet above the -river. The soft red rock has been pared and scarped, and a part of -the material employed to give an artificial top to the hill. This is -somewhat of an oval, and seems to have had a sort of mound at its east -end, now occupied by a modern castellated house. The slopes are steep, -especially towards the west, and they are broken by narrow terraces, -now walks, but which may have been ditches. The approach is by a sort -of causeway on the north-east or least steep side. The summit and sides -of the work are converted into a house and gardens, but the general -arrangement of the original hill can readily be detected. It must have -been very strong, and resembles generally Devizes and similar works -of English origin. Probably this is the site of the “nova domus” of -Earl Roger, as it was the seat of his English predecessor. It is a -very curious work, and deserves to be surveyed on a large scale by the -officers of ordnance. It may be mentioned that in the courtyard is a -small passage cut in the rock, at an angle of forty-five degrees, and -which descends by ninety-four steps to a well, whence the house is -supplied. The passage is evidently an addition, the original well shaft -descending, as now, vertically from the surface. - -A little north-west of the castle, towards Bridgenorth, the tail of a -piece of detached highish ground has been cut off by a trench, near a -place called, in the inch ordnance, “Dog in the Wall.” It seems to have -been a light temporary work for the accommodation of a small body of -men. - -On the same road, two miles south of the town, is Quatford, close to -the parish church of that name, where the road crosses a steep ridge -in deep, but probably modern, rock cutting. The ridge abuts upon the -Severn, in a bold rocky promontory about 70 feet high. Upon it is -thrown up a mound about 30 feet high, and mainly artificial. It is -circular, and about 60 feet diameter on the top, which has been much -cut about, probably for modern purposes. The sides are steep, about -three quarters to one in slope. This mound is divided from the root -of the promontory by a trench cut in the rock about 12 feet deep and -12 feet broad, which extends from cliff to cliff, and includes about -three-fourths of the mound. Outside this ditch and to the east of it -is an area of irregular figure, governed by the outline of the ground. -Its north and south sides are defended by a ditch, which to the south -is deep and wide. This probably included the east side, but is now -superseded by the hollow road. The area is not very large, and would -perhaps accommodate about two hundred men. - -West of and beyond the road is the church, a building with some Norman -remains. It stands rather higher than the camp, and its churchyard -would, with a little care, have formed a part of and doubled the area -of the camp. Whether it ever did so it is difficult to say, probably -not. The ford, which gives part of its name to the village, is still in -use when the river is low. It crosses the Severn below the camp. - -This camp is omitted in the ordnance map, and of the earthwork of Burf -Castle, placed a mile and a half to the west on that record, but one -side remains. - -It may be observed that the character of the surface of the country -hereabouts is very favourable for the construction of these earthworks -with mounds. There are scores of natural rounded hillocks of red -sandstone that have an artificial aspect, and that, with a little -scarping, would be strong. There is one, especially, close east of -the road between Quatford and Dudmaston Park, that looks very like an -English earthwork, and wants nothing but a ditch to make it perfect. -Besides the earthworks above described are others in the district -which appear to be of the same type. Such are Castle Hill, nine miles -south-east from Bridgenorth, and the isolated knoll called “the Devil’s -Spittle Dish,” two miles south-east of Bewdley. - - - - - BRONLLYS TOWER, BRECKNOCKSHIRE. - - -Bronllys tower, on the left bank of the Llyfni, a tributary of the Wye, -is situate in the parish of the same name, close north of the town of -Talgarth, on the regular and ancient way between Hereford and Brecknock. - -The tower occupies the summit of a mound or knoll of earth, in great -part artificial, which crowns the steep bank of the adjacent river; -rising, perhaps, 60 feet above the stream, and 30 feet or so above the -ground to the west of and behind the building. The mound is placed at -the apex of an earthwork of rather a pear-shaped outline, of which -the river-bank forms the steep east side, while to its base, or north -face, has been applied a vallum nearly rectangular, and which may or -may not be a Roman addition to a Celtic camp. The mound, which has -borne the very considerable weight of the tower in safety, must be of -considerably earlier date; and altogether the work resembles much one -of those numerous instances in which advantage has been taken of an -earlier mound to give elevation to a Norman or early English keep. - -There are, however, it is said, remains of masonry, of the character -and probable age of the tower, still standing upon a part of the -vallum, and indications that, as is known to have been the case, the -tower did not stand alone, but was within a base court. These walls are -not now of any extent, and seem to be included within a modern house -built upon the old enclosure. - -This tower is at its base 37 feet in diameter, and batters inwards to -12 feet high, when it is girt by a bold cordon or string-course, much -eroded, but apparently of a half-round section, with a water-groove -on its under side. Above this the tower is cylindrical, and 34 feet -diameter, or very nearly so, to the summit, which is at present about -60, and may have been 70 feet high. Besides the battering base there is -a slight rough set-off, apparently part of the foundation, above ground -on the southern face. Round the whole is a walk of about 18 inches -broad, so that the mound is about 40 feet across at its top. - -The tower is composed of a basement and three floors, above which was -the battlement, now completely destroyed. The basement within was -cylindrical, 18 feet diameter, with walls 9 feet 6 inches thick, and -covered by a pointed vault, the ridge of which runs about north-east -and south-west. This room was aired rather than lighted by a stepped -recess, terminating in a small loop or hole at a considerable height, -through which nothing could be seen. It was entered on the opposite -or west side by a trap door in the first floor, which lifted within a -window recess, and disclosed a flight of eight very steep stairs, 2 -feet 7 inches broad, terminating in a doorway rather above 7 feet from -the floor; below which, therefore, was probably a wooden ladder. The -rebate shows the door to have opened inwards, and to have had bolts on -its outer side. The floor is on the level of the top of the mound, and -in its centre is a depression which may indicate a well. - -Two openings have been broken into this chamber from the outside, on -the east and west sides. Why nine feet of masonry should have been -twice pierced, at immense labour, it is difficult to say; nor is there -any trace of door or loop which might have made the task easier, or -have suggested these openings. The broken walls do, however, show at -the very base of the structure, on each side, a horizontal or nearly -horizontal square drain, of very rough construction, in the substance -of the wall. These holes have been the subject of much speculation. -They were evidently drains from the upper floors of the tower, -collected to fall into one outlet. Such drains may be seen in the -heart of an overthrown solid tower at Corfe. It is not improbable that -one of the breaches may have contained a recess or garderobe, which -communicated with the drain, and suggested the penetration of the wall -in that direction. - -The first floor, of 17 feet 9 inches clear diameter, was entered by an -exterior door in the wall, at the level of the cordon, or 12 feet above -the ground, on the east side. There must have been exterior steps; -but they did not bond into the wall, and may have been of wood. The -door has 3 feet 3 inches opening, with a drop arch and plain chamfered -moulding. It was defended by an interior door; but there was no -portcullis or other defence. The door-recess is 4 feet broad, and has a -drop arch. - -This floor had two windows towards the north and south-west, the -openings of which are about 18 inches broad, with plain equilateral -heads. The former opens from a recess 7 feet 4 inches broad, having -stone side-seats; between which, in the floor, is the trap descending -into the dungeon. The other window has a recess 6 feet 10 inches broad, -with a stone seat on its left side. In its right, or west jamb, is -a door 2 feet 5 inches wide, square headed, beneath a drop relieving -arch; from which rises a mural stair 2 feet 5 inches broad, lighted by -two exterior loops, and with a flat covering, leading to the second -floor. The window recesses are segmental, and are formed of excellent -limestone tufa ashlar. - -The second story had a timber floor resting on twelve corbels, and is -cylindrical, like the first, and of the same diameter, but higher. -It was the best room. Besides its entrance door on the west, it has -on the south-west a fireplace under a flat segmental arch with plain -chamfer, above which are two slender octagonal corbels, which evidently -supported a hood, probably of timber. There are also two windows -beneath drop-arch recesses, towards the south-east and north-east. -The former has stone seats; and the latter a light 2 feet broad, with -a cinquefoil head, of which the central foil is an ogee. The head is -made of two stones only. The moulding is plain, having a shutter rebate -inside; and outside, rounded jambs in place of the usual chamfer. This -recess has a stone seat on the west side only. In the east jamb is a -small square-headed door opening upon a mural stair of 2 feet 5 inches -broad, of which nineteen steps remain, and which led to the third floor. - -The stair is lighted by a small hole below, and above by a -square-headed loop of 9 inches in a recess splayed to 3 feet 7 inches -opening. The loop, though about 60 feet from the ground, was closed by -one vertical and three horizontal bars. This floor may have been used -as a prison. - -The third stage has walls 8 feet thick, and had a wooden floor. The -stair from below opened into it on the south-east side, but seems to -have been continued in the south wall, so as to reach the battlement -platform, now entirely gone. This floor has a small mural chamber, no -doubt a garderobe, on its west side, the door into which is narrow, and -has an arch of two stones, which seems to be four-centred, or of Tudor -pattern. This door is placed between a window on the north-west, the -recess of which has a flat drop arch; and another on the south-west, of -which the recess is broken away. There is also a small fireplace on the -north side, and another window to the north-east. - -In the wall close south of the mural chamber are two small square -shafts, one of which was no doubt a chimney and the other perhaps a -garderobe vent from the battlements. - -Bronllys Tower presents divers peculiarities. Though of rude masonry, -its door and window dressings are excellent. In general design it -resembles early English work; but its doors, recesses, fireplace, -and corbels, seem of early Decorated, and perhaps, in parts, of -Perpendicular work. It is altogether superior in detail to Penrice, -which it resembles in dimensions, and it is inferior to Tre-Tower. The -walls may be safely assigned to the first quarter of the thirteenth -century; but it was no doubt inhabited as a place of defence, and -afterwards as a dwelling, for two centuries and a half after this; -and from time to time it received certain alterations, of which the -present fireplace-front, the cinquefoiled and other windows, and the -entrance to the mural chamber in the upper floor, may be cited as -instances. The vault of the basement is possibly original, but may be -an addition. - - - - - THE CASTLES OF BROUGH AND BROUGHAM, WESTMORELAND. - - -“Anne Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery,” Baroness Clifford, -Westmoreland, and Vesci, hereditary sheriff of Westmoreland, and Lady -of the Honour of Skipton, in Craven, was in every way a remarkable -woman: she was of high birth, held large estates, was the widow of -two considerable peers, and had received and largely profited by an -excellent education. To a strong and copious memory she added a sound -judgment and a discerning spirit. She was a person of great firmness -of character, and passed her life amidst events that exercised and -strengthened that quality. Among the many subjects upon which she was -informed, and which ranged, says Dr. Donne, from “predestination to -slea silk,” was included a very close knowledge of the particulars -of her own estates, and a very thorough determination to maintain -her houses and castles in good repair. She found the castles of her -Clifford and Vipont ancestors, Appleby, Brougham, and Brough, in ruins; -she restored and made them habitable, and, though time and the hand of -the spoiler have again brought two of them, Brougham and Brough, to -decay, their walls still exhibit much of the amending hand of the great -Countess, as well as of the original work of her remote ancestors. - - - BROUGH CASTLE. - -Brough Castle covers the whole of a steep knoll which rises 60 feet on -the left bank of the Swimdale or Helle Beck, and is about 50 yards from -the water. The beck receives the Augill from the south-east, just above -the castle, and their combined waters, at times of considerable volume -and force, fall into the Eden about a mile and a half lower down. The -castle itself is 630 feet above the sea-level, and the encircling fells -of Westmoreland and Yorkshire rise to elevations of from 1,000 feet to -2,000 feet. About five miles to the east are the sources of the Greta -and the Balder, and a little further off and towards the north the head -springs of the Lune, not the noble stream that gives name to Lancaster, -but a tributary to the Tees. - -Even in this wild and almost impenetrable country are traces of Roman -civilisation. The road from Lavatræ (Bowes) to Luguvallium (Carlisle) -ran through Brough, which is identified with the station Verteræ, and -by Appleby and Brougham, joining at Penrith the main road, the work of -the same people, from the south. Five and seven miles to the east of -Brough are two Roman camps, and there are others upon the same line of -road at Redlands and Kirkby-Thore, and a very perfect one at Brougham. -The Roman road at Brough runs generally east and west, and crosses the -beck at Market Brough, so called in distinction from Church-Brough, -which lies three furlongs to the south of the river, and contains -the castle. The collective parish is named “Brough-under-Stainmore.” -Verteræ, if identified with the existing camp and castle, stands off -the main road, and south of the river, as at Brougham. - -[Illustration: BROUGH CASTLE] - -Verteræ is represented by a rectangular camp, of which the castle -covers the northern and higher end, that next to the river. This camp -is 157 yards north and south, by 113 yards east and west, of which -the platform within the ditch covers 134 yards by 90 yards. Of this -area there is cut off at the northern end by a cross-ditch a plot, 90 -yards east and west by 50 yards, which is occupied by the castle. This -portion is further defended by some additional earthworks, perhaps -Norman, to the east and west. The southern fragment of the camp seems -to have been used as a sort of outwork to the castle, probably for the -protection of sheep and cattle. - -The castle was thus placed cross-wise in the camp, and parallel to -the river, the action of which has carried away the outer half of its -ditch, and converted the slope into a precipitous bank, at the top -of which is the curtain-wall. The eastern outwork is composed of the -end of the knoll, or ridge, on which the castle stands, and which is -scarped into a triangular platform, the base of which, 57 yards long, -covers the end of the fortress, and projects 38 yards. The ditch -cutting off this work from the body of the place is 23 yards broad, and -very deep. The earthworks westward are two banks and ditches, across -the tail of the knoll, one 57 yards long, and 47 yards in advance of -the main ditch, and the other 84 yards further in advance, and 94 yards -long. Both are intended to cut off approaches along the river bank. The -cross-ditch covering the south front of the castle is about 30 yards -broad, and up it, from the east, came the main approach. These ditches, -on the south-east and west fronts, are wholly artificial. There is also -a trace of a bank and ditch along the east front of the camp, about 30 -yards in advance of the main ditch, and about 60 yards long. A road, -which may be Roman, comes up from the south, and crosses the Augill by -a bridge, 250 yards above or to the east of the castle, to join the -main road over another bridge in Market Brough. Upon this stream is the -castle mill. The defences, in masonry, seem to have been confined to -the castle proper. There is no trace of such upon the outworks, which -probably were stockaded. The ditches were at far too high a level to -have been fed from the river; but the soil is retentive, and they seem -to have been filled with rain water. - -The castle is composed of one ward, a trapezium in outline, the east, -north, and west sides being at right angles, and respectively 77, 90, -and 57 yards, and the south or oblique side, 94 yards. It is, in fact, -a right-angled triangle, with the acute angle truncated. The keep is -placed at the truncated end, and forms the south-west angle of the -ward, its south and west sides being exterior, and in the line of the -curtain. The domestic buildings were along the south side, and about -the south-east angle, and built against the curtain. Near the centre -of that side was the gatehouse, and attached east of it the hall, -beyond which a large three-quarter drum tower capped the south-east -angle. This and the gatehouse are the only mural towers. The kitchen -and chapel, and some later buildings, probably rested against the east -wall, and there are slight foundations between the gatehouse and the -keep. The north curtain, towards the river, seems to have been free -from buildings. Upon it are two buttresses, and in one a garderobe, -entered probably by a side door and passage in the wall. This curtain -is 3 feet to 5 feet thick, and from 12 feet to 15 feet high inside. - -The _Gatehouse_ is placed near the centre of the south side of the -castle. It was an oblong building, and formed the west end of a block, -of which the hall and withdrawing-room formed the eastern part and -remainder. It was composed of a passage between two walls, of which -one remains, and is 6 feet 6 inches thick and 45 feet long; the -outer 10 feet being outside the curtain. The portal is gone, but the -spring-stone remains of the inner doorway, 3 feet 7 inches broad, and -recessed 8 feet 6 inches within the inner front. The vault of the -passage, about 10 feet long, rested upon three bold ribs, of which the -springing-stones remain, and beyond which was the outer gate, of which -a part only remains. There was an upper floor, and if the rubbish were -cleared away the plan of the gatehouse would be visible. The walls seem -Norman, but the ribs, vault, and fittings are probably insertions of -the Decorated age. - -The _Hall_ was poor. It was on the first-floor level, and had a floor -above it, and, therefore, a flat ceiling. The basement is composed of -three vaults placed transversely, with flat, slightly-pointed arches. -The doors are towards the court, and one chamber has a small Tudor -fireplace, in a corner. Each had a loop in the outer end, and in the -ends of two are mural garderobes in the substance of the curtain. The -hall was not above 12 feet or 14 feet high. In its north side is a -round-arched recess, probably the original entrance, by an outer stair; -and near it a fireplace. In the south or curtain side are two good late -Decorated windows of two lights, rather flamboyant in tone, with plain -exterior drips. Above these is a step, or ledge, for the floor of the -upper room, and two windows, not directly over those of the hall. - -There is no very decided evidence of a _Chapel_. The _Kitchen_, -probably, was near the north-east end of the hall, and against the -east end of the curtain. The withdrawing-rooms were at the east end of -the hall, and extended into _Clifford’s Tower_, a fine bold drum of -30 feet diameter, which caps the south-east angle of the ward. This -tower seems to be of Decorated date, and the base and part of the wall -original; but it has been almost rebuilt, probably with the old cut -stones, in the Tudor period, to which belong its numerous square-headed -windows. Part of it was taken down in 1763. - -The _Keep_ stands upon rather the highest part of the enclosure. It -is rectangular, 43 feet east and west, by 51 feet north and south, -and stands upon the curtain, with which its west and south faces are -continuous. As it does not quite cover the whole end of the ward, -this is closed by a low curtain, 17 feet long and 3 feet thick, which -extends from the keep to the north-west angle of the ward. The keep is -composed of a basement and three floors, and is about 60 feet high. The -parapet is gone. It has a plinth only on the two exterior faces, where -the ground is low, and there are two sets-off which indicate the level -of the second and upper floors. At the end of each face is a pilaster, -7 feet broad, and of 6 inches projection, and those adjacent meet and -form a solid angle. These pilasters rose clear of the wall to form -angle turrets, of which parts remain. From the upper set-off, on the -north and south faces, rises an intermediate pilaster, 3 feet broad. -The walls at the base are 10 feet thick, and, at the top, 6 feet. -The basement is at present nearly filled up with earth and rubbish, -concealing much of the east side. Part of the south-east angle fell in -in 1792, and obscures the details of the main entrance. - -The _Basement_ is at present entered by a plain round-headed doorway -of 4 feet 7 inches opening, in the north wall near its east end. This -has a rebate for an inner door, but no groove for a portcullis. The -outer jambs are broken away. It is pretty clear, from a comparison of -its ring-stones with the original arches above, that this entrance is -an insertion, probably of the time of James I. or Charles I. In the -same side, near the doorway, is a very peculiar air-hole, formed of two -loops, 2 feet apart, which converge to a single exterior loop. There -are similar loops, of much later date, at Caernarvon. Possibly the -basement was divided into two chambers, and one loop opened from each; -but there is no trace of any partition. In the west wall there was -probably another loop, now converted into a window of 2 feet opening, -square topped, set in a bold splayed recess, evidently an insertion -of a period when security was no longer the first consideration. The -window opens in the line of the plinth, the set-off of which is carried -over its head as a square hood-moulding. The south wall was blank, and -so, probably, was that to the east. The basement was 13 feet or 14 -feet high, with a flat timber ceiling. There certainly were no mural -chambers, and no staircase in it. It was probably entered from above by -a trapdoor and ladder, and used as a store. - -The _first floor_, about 13 feet high, seems to have had loops in plain -round-headed recesses in the north, south, and west sides, of which -the latter is broken away, and a two-light Tudor window inserted. The -northern loop has also been replaced by a similar window. In the south -wall the loop is represented by a small square opening. In the ruins of -the east side may be traced the remains of a doorway and the base of -a lobby and staircase in the wall. It is clear that the external door -was in this face, near the south end, and that it opened direct into -the first floor, while right and left, in the thickness of the wall, -was a mural passage, at its south end a mere lobby, but to the north -containing a straight staircase which rises 13 feet by twelve steps, 4 -feet 4 inches broad, towards the east angle, where was a small lobby -which opened on the second floor, and was lighted by a loop in the east -wall. - -Thus, the _second floor_ was entered in its east side by a direct -mural stair, like those at Carlisle, at Chepstow, and at Ludlow. -In each of the sides, north, south, and west, of this floor is an -original round-headed recess, and in the east wall, over the mural -stair, are traces of a shorter recess, placed higher up, whence -seems to have been a passage into a mural chamber in the south-east -angle. The southern recess alone contains its original window. This -is a small coupled window of two lights, square headed, but within a -round-headed arch. The dividing shaft is decidedly Norman, as is the -whole character of the opening. The north window is also coupled and -round headed, but looks like a Stuart insertion. The east and west -windows are square headed, of Tudor date. In the north-west angle is a -mural recess with loops, possibly a garderobe, and in the north-east -angle a square-headed doorway opens by a lobby into a well-stair, which -commences at this level and ascends to the roof. It is 7 feet 6 inches -in diameter, and rises 31 feet by forty-six steps to the allure, or -rampart walk. This second was originally the principal and uppermost -floor, lofty, and with a high-pitched roof, the weather moulding of -which is still seen on the east and west walls. The roof ridge was at -the level of the rampart walk, and, as the north and south walls seem -original, there must have been a deep cavity on either side, with the -gutter in its bottom. Subsequently this roof was removed, and replaced -by a flat roof, at the rampart level, the line of which is marked by a -row of corbels in the north and south walls. The cause of this change, -common, probably, to all Norman keeps, was the superior convenience for -defence of a flat roof, rendered possible by the introduction of sheet -lead as a roofing material. - -The _third floor_ was formed by dividing the height thus gained by a -floor laid at the level of the springing of the old roof, and thus -was created a second floor of 10 feet, and a third of 20 feet. In the -west wall was opened a square-headed window, in a splayed recess, and -close south of it is a small Tudor fireplace, the flue of which ascends -into the south-west turret. The east wall is less perfect, but still -shows the line of the old roof, and the jamb of a Tudor window. In the -north-east angle is the door from the well-stair. - -The floors of the walls were throughout of timber, the joists of the -first and second resting in the holes in the north and south walls of -the turrets; that at the south-west is probably modern. It contains -the flues of several fireplaces which appear to have been inserted -in the south wall, but which have fallen out. The keep probably had -originally no fireplaces. The north-east turret contains the head of -the well-stair. The other two turrets seem to have been mere shells, -having only the two outer walls. They all rose about 12 feet above the -rampart walk, and 5 feet or 6 feet above the crest of the parapet on -the outside of the east and south walls of the keep. Near the top are -ranges of triangular holes formed by thin tile-stones set on edge, and -looking much like pigeon-holes, which they probably were. The row in -the south wall has five holes, and in the south-east turret are three. -In the east wall are two sets, one of three holes, and one, imperfect, -of two. There is one hole in the north-east turret. They are evidently -original, and do not appear to communicate with the interior. There is -no trace of a regular forebuilding, for which the keep, like Goderich, -was too small, but there was probably an open stair, either of wood or -stone, ascending to the main door, which was about 12 feet from the -ground. The exterior of the keep was quite plain, and of rather rude -workmanship. The pilasters are of square stones, and the wall, in part -of similar material, and in part of stones of irregular shape, laid as -uncoursed rubble. There is no herring-bone work, and no visible trace -of Roman material worked up. - -The keep is evidently late Norman, and the walls are original, though -much pulled about, and with many insertions of the Tudor and Stuart -days. This is another example of the high-pitched roof, as at Richmond -and Bridgenorth, the whole roof having been concealed by the walls. - -Probably the founder of the castle built both the keep and the curtain -wall on the lines of the present curtain, and cut the cross-ditch which -isolates it from the rest of the Roman camp. The gatehouse and hall, -and the south-east tower were probably alterations and additions of the -Decorated period. The whole fortress was repaired by Countess Anne, -whose hand may be traced throughout the structure. The keep has been -split with gunpowder, probably by order of the Parliament, producing -fissures in its north and south walls. - -Robert de Veteriponte, or Vipont, the head of a great Westmoreland -family, to which the armorial bearings of the Musgraves and Lowthers, -the Blenkinsops and Hellbecks, show them to have paid early allegiance, -is regarded as the founder of the castles of Brougham and Brough, at -any rate in their Norman form. His immediate ancestor came over with -Duke William of Normandy, and the family first planted themselves in -the counties of Devon, Northampton, and York. Robert, the second or -third in descent, flourished in the reigns of Henry II., Richard, John, -and Henry III., dying in 1228, the twelfth of the latter sovereign. He -filled many posts of military trust, was custos of many castles, and -sheriff of many midland and northern counties. He was also a justice -itinerant, and of the Common Pleas. In 1203 (4 John) he had a grant -from the king of the Bailliewick of Westmoreland and the castles -of Appleby and Burg, at first during pleasure, but afterwards in -fee. Possibly the grant was connected with the fact that his mother, -Maud, was a member of the great Westmoreland family of Morville, and -probably a daughter of Hugh de Morville, one of Becket’s assassins. -Robert’s wife, Idonea de Buisli, was heiress of the castle and Honour -of Tickhill. He was a man of very great wealth and power, and likely to -have taken steps to secure his Westmoreland barony against its northern -neighbours. The grant mentions the castles of Appleby and Burgh; and -Burgh, that is Brough, was sacked by William of Scotland in 1174. -Probably, therefore, there already existed some kind of strongholds -at those places, founded, it may be, by the English on the Roman -stations. Moreover, the year 1204 is very late indeed for keeps of so -decided a Norman type, and it is no doubt possible that De Meschines, -or De Morville, the preceding lords of the fee, may have built both -castles.[2] - -John de Vipont, son and successor, died 25 Henry III., in debt to -the king, who gave his estates in ward to the Prior of Carlisle, -who neglected the castles. In his time the keep of Brough was out -of repair, and the joists rotten. Lord John sided with the barons, -and died of wounds received at Lewes. His daughter, and finally sole -heiress, Isabel, was married to Roger de Clifford,—the Roger of the -inscription over the gate of Brougham,—and who was killed in battle in -Anglesea by the Welsh, in the reign of Edward I. Robert de Clifford, -their son, lord of the Honour of Skipton, of Appleby, Brougham, and -Brough, fell at Bannockburn. There were then two parks at Brough, a -mill, and the demesne land. The castle ditches let for the herbage at -6s. 8d. per annum, and the constable had 40s. - -Roger, the next lord, was a great builder; he followed the fortunes and -shared the fate of Thomas of Lancaster. He is thought to have made the -additions to the eastern side of Brougham, where his arms and those of -his wife, Maud Beauchamp, were long to be seen. His successor was his -brother Robert, whose second and surviving son Roger, proved age 28 -Edward III., recovered the family estates which had been forfeited, and -kept his castles in repair. He died, 15 Richard II., seized of Appleby, -Burgham, and Burgh. The four following lords fell in battle: Thomas in -Germany, John in France, Thomas at St. Alban’s, and John at Towton. In -4 Henry V., the castle of Brougham lay waste, and the whole profits of -the demesne were not sufficient to repair and maintain it. The next, -Henry, was the Shepherd Lord, who, in 1519, held a great feast at -Brough, at Christmas, which was followed, in 1521, by a severe fire, in -which the castle was burned to the bare walls, and long remained waste. -The succeeding lord and his son, both Henry, were the first and second -Earls of Cumberland, of whom the latter died at Brougham Castle about -1560. George, the third earl, the admiral, who died 1605, was born at -Brough in the last year of Queen Mary, 1558. With his brother Francis, -the fourth earl, who entertained King James at Brough for three days - in 1617, the male line failed, and the estates and baronies came to -Countess Anne, the daughter of Earl George. This lady, who repaired -Brougham and Brough in 1651-2, was born at Brougham in 1589, in the -same room in which her father was born, her mother died, and King -James was received. Margaret, her daughter, by the Earl of Dorset, -carried the estates to the Tuftons, earls of Thanet, who also inherited -the hereditary shrievalty of Westmoreland, until their extinction in -the present century. They dismantled Brougham and Brough, and sold -the fittings in 1714. The present owner appears to be very attentive -to what remains of the two castles. Both are repaired in a very -substantial manner. - - - BROUGHAM CASTLE. - -This very curious pile stands on the right bank of the river Eamont, -just below the point at which it is joined from the south by the -Lowther, so that the combined stream covers the fortress on the north, -as do the two waters and the marshy ground between them on the west -front. The castle is placed but a few yards distant from and but a few -feet above the Eamont, and between it and the large rectangular camp -which marks the site of the Roman “Brovacum,” whence both castle and -township derive their names; such, at least, seems the most probable -etymology, though a claim has been set up for Burgham, which would have -been more tenable had there been evidence of the place having been an -English as well as a Roman stronghold. - -The Roman road from Brough and Appleby towards Carlisle and Penrith -skirts the north-eastern front of both camp and castle, and is carried, -by a modern bridge, across the river, a few yards below the latter. -Above the castle and upon the Eamont was placed the castle mill, the -weir connected with which still remains. The actual site of Brovacum -has been claimed for Brougham Hall, on the adjacent high ground; but, -however this may be, the camp below is undoubtedly Roman, and an -excellent example of the entrenchments of that people. A Roman altar -was found, in 1602, at the confluence of the two rivers. What earlier -name is embodied in the Roman Brovacum is not known, but “Bro” in South -Wales is the old Welsh word for “the hill country,” and is preserved -in Brocastle and Broviscin, in Glamorgan. The parish of Brougham is -large; the church is called Ninekirks, probably a corruption of St. -Ninian’s kirk. The parochial chapel, which stands near Brougham Hall, -is dedicated to St. Wilfrid. - -The camp is contained within a single bank and exterior ditch, both -very well marked, though in height and depth very much reduced. Along -the scarp or inner slope of the ditch are traces of a step or terrace, -as for a line of palisades, in front of and below the main defence. -The area within the ditch is 113 yards broad, and its length, now 134 -yards, was probably 198 yards, those being the proportions of the camp -at Brough. The ditch is about 25 yards broad. The entrance is gone; -it was no doubt in the centre of the east side, that towards the road. -The angles are, as usual, slightly rounded. The castle stands a few -yards north of the camp, the adjacent parts of the latter having been -cut away and levelled in forming its outworks. The castle is, in plan, -a very irregular four-sided figure; the south and west sides meet at -less than a right angle, and are in length 80 yards and 77 yards. The -north side, at right angles to the west, and upon the river, is 50 -yards. The east side has been partly rebuilt, with a low salient angle. -It is in length about 40 yards. This area is the main, or rather the -only, court of the castle. The keep originally stood clear within the -court, near to its north-east angle; a large gatehouse now occupies -that angle, and much of the north front, and is connected with the -keep, which, therefore, is no longer isolated. The hall and domestic -buildings stand against the south wall, and are continued a short -distance along the east wall. A large square tower is placed at the -south-west angle, and covers a postern. The west wall is free, and -seems to have been low. The castle is about 50 yards from the river, -and 30 feet above it. The entrance was from the east, along the bank -of the river. A ditch, wholly artificial, and probably filled with -rainwater, protected the west, south, and east fronts. Towards the west -it is broadest and deepest, that being the exposed front. Towards the -river the natural fall and the marshy character of the ground were a -sufficient defence. The entrance is, and probably always was, in the -east wall, at its north or river end. This part of the _enceinte_ wall -is built with a shoulder or re-entering angle, so as to command, for -some yards, the approach to the outer gate. The moat is now traversed -by a causeway of earth, replacing the earlier drawbridge. - -[Illustration: BROUGHAM CASTLE] - -The _Gatehouse_, rectangular in plan, and 90 feet long by 39 feet -broad, occupies the space between the keep and the north wall, and -extends either way beyond the keep. It is composed of two parts,—one, -a block of chambers, lodges, &c., forms, or rather abuts upon, the -curtain; the other, connecting these chambers with the keep, contains -the vaulted entrance. The entrance is broken transversely into two -parts, separated by a small open court. The outer passage, 34 feet -long, belongs to the outer gate; the other, 36 feet, to the inner gate. -The keep forms one side and the lodges the other. Thus, there are -really two gatehouses,—one abutting on the north-east, and one on the -north-west, angle of the keep, each with its own defences and gates, -the buildings on the north communicating with both. The exterior portal -is in the east wall. It has no flanking towers, being protected by the -curtain. The north-east angle is capped by a square buttress, placed -diagonally. The gateway has a plain, flat segmental arch over it. Upon -a stone are the words, “This made Roger,” and above are two tiers, each -of two good Decorated windows of two lights, with trefoiled heads and a -quatrefoil in the head, and divided by a transom. Between the two upper -windows are three bold corbels, intended to support a machicolation -resembling those on each face of the keep. It is said that formerly -the arms of Vaux, “checquy,” were carved over the entrance; but it -seems probable that they were the arms of Clifford, “chequy, a fess,” -or it may have been “a bendlet.” The passage within, 11 feet broad, -is vaulted. The first defence was a portcullis, of which the square -groove, 6 inches broad by 4 inches deep, remains. Within this is the -rebate for a pair of gates, and on the right the small door of a lodge. -At the inner end of the passage was a second pair of gates, opening -towards the first pair, and beyond them the open court, with the keep -wall on the left. Above this outer gateway is a large room, 21 feet -east and west, by 32 feet long. In its west wall is a fireplace, and -a door opening into the middle chambers. In its north wall a good -Decorated window looks upon the river; in the east wall are two windows -overlooking the outer gate, and between them, over the gate, a recess -for working the portcullis. - -[Illustration: - -_Ground Plan of Norman Keep. Brougham Castle._ - -_PLAN OF_ BROUGHAM CASTLE] - -Beyond the open court is the second part of the gatehouse, which -commences by a portcullis, backed by a pair of doors, within which -is a passage 20 feet long by 16 feet broad, vaulted in two bays with -transverse and diagonal ribs springing from six corbels. There are no -ridge ribs; the inner or further portal also had doors. The left-hand -lodge is a vaulted cell, 11 feet long by 3 feet 3 inches broad. On -the right the room is much larger, and leads to the north postern. -The exterior or north front of these two gatehouses forms a handsome -block, and is pierced by various openings at different levels. At its -north-east corner is an angle buttress; then follows one in section a -half square, set on diagonally; and west of this, again, is a large -square buttress, in one side of which is the north postern, a small -shoulder-headed door at the foot of a flight of stairs. - -The lofty tower at the south-west angle of the court is about 35 feet -square, with an appendage on the east face. It has thick walls and -mural passages, and projects but little from the curtain. It has a -basement and three upper floors. The first floor was entered by an -exterior flight of stairs, which also communicated with the rampart -of the west curtain. At its junction with the tower is the postern, -the approach to which is guarded by a loop, while nearly over the door -discharges the shoot of a garderobe. - -Along the south wall are the domestic buildings, of which the chief -was the chapel, about 35 feet by 20 feet. This was on the first floor, -with a timber floor and open roof. The chamber below was entered from -the court by a lancet door. The chapel had a large east window, of -which the jambs remain; and in its south or curtain wall are two long -trefoil-headed windows, splayed within. Towards the east end are three -sedilia, also with trefoiled heads and trefoils in the spandrels, the -whole beneath a flat top. There is also a piscina of late Decorated -aspect. Near the chapel, towards the south-east angle, the remains of a -large fireplace seem to indicate the kitchen, and along the east wall -are two windows, and traces of a fireplace between them, all which seem -to belong to the hall. At the north end, also, on the first floor, -are remains of a handsome door in the Perpendicular style, with a -four-centred arch beneath a square head. The staircase may have been -exterior. Grose shows some walls here in 1775, which are now gone. - -The _Keep_, called in Countess Anne’s time “the Roman Tower,” the -only remain of the original castle, is 44 feet square, and, in its -present state, of unusual height. Its exterior plinth is confined to -the north side. The two western angles are covered by pilasters, 12 -feet broad and of 6 inches projection, one on each face, meeting so -as to form a solid angle. Two other pilasters, balancing these, cover -the east end of the north and south walls, but there are none on the -east side, that having been covered by the forebuilding. The south face -is prolonged eastwards 12 feet by a wall 5 feet thick, which rises to -the third-floor level, and formed the south end of the forebuilding. -The pilasters rise to the present summit of the wall, and terminated -originally in four square turrets, of which traces remain at the two -northern angles. The keep has a basement and three upper floors, of -which the uppermost, if not an addition, has been recast. The walls -are 11 feet thick at the base, and at least 10 feet at the rampart -level. The parapet is gone. There is no external set-off. In the -centre of each face, and near the top, are three or four bold corbels, -which evidently carried a short machicolation; and in the angles, near -the top, are several cruciform loops, slightly fantailed at the top -and bottom, and with lateral arms ending in oillets, much resembling -those at Kenilworth. Some of these are the lower half of those of the -turrets, which, with the parapet, were standing in 1775. At the upper -part of the south-eastern angle the wall is corbelled out 12 inches -for a breadth of 15 feet on the southern, and rather less on the -eastern, face. This is to give a little more space to a mural oratory, -which has a loop on the south face, and a small trefoil-headed window -towards the east, clear of the forebuilding. On the north face, near -the east pilaster, a vertical line of six loops shows the presence of a -well-stair from the first floor. The four lower loops have round heads; -the two upper have square heads, and are probably later. - -The basement is at the ground level. It has splayed loops to the -north, west, and south; and in the east side is a recess with parallel -sides, and a trace of a rebate of a doorway. This, if original, must -have led into a cell below the forebuilding, as at Rochester; but it -may be a Decorated insertion. It is nearly covered up with rubbish. -In the north-east angle, which has been filled up with a short wall, -is a small door opening into a bent passage, which now leads into -the open air, at where was the foot of the great entrance-staircase. -There may always have been a cell here, but the cross-wall and the -outer door are not original. In the west end of the north wall is -another recess opening into a garderobe chamber, 5 feet long by 3 feet -broad, and original. This basement floor has had a vaulted and ribbed -roof, springing from corbels at the angles, and from four others, in -the centre of each side. There was, in 1775, a central pier. As at -Richmond, this vault was an insertion replacing timber. The basement -was about 13 feet high. - -The _first floor_ is 23 feet square. It has round-headed -window-openings to the north and west, in round-headed recesses, with -beaded angles. In the south wall was a fireplace, probably a garderobe, -like that below. In the north-east angle, filled up like that below by -a short cross-wall, is a door opening on a well-stair, which occupies -that angle, and ascends to the roof. The east wall has been in some -measure rebuilt, recently. In it may be seen parts of a large Decorated -doorway, evidently inserted to give a direct entrance to the chamber. -This floor has had an arcade against its walls, of which traces -remain on the south and west sides. The arcade had slender piers and -trefoiled arches. It is unusual to find so ornate a room in the first, -or, indeed, any floor in a Norman keep: it must have more resembled a -chapter-house than a private chamber. The chapel at Castle Rising was -so arcaded, and those at York, and in the curtain at Richmond. This -floor was about 15 feet high, and was covered by the joists and floor -of the room above. - -The _second floor_ has round-headed recesses, beaded at the angles, for -the windows, in the north and west sides; and a flue, now laid open, -occupies the south side. In the east wall is the original entrance,—a -plain round-headed arch of 6 feet opening, with a chamfered rebate for -an exterior door. There was no grate. Close north of this is a small -door entering an oblique passage, which opened, as at Middleham and -Rochester, upon the turret over the outer entrance of the forebuilding. -The well-stair has no direct opening into this floor, whatever may have -been the case before the alterations. There seems to be, as below, a -garderobe in the north-west angle. - -With this floor the original keep seems to have ended. There is now, -however, a _third floor_, which, if not altogether new, has been -remodelled. The walls are very thick, and the four angles within are -filled up with short walls, converting the chamber into an octagon, -or rather into a square with the angles taken off. One of these -fillings-up, that to the north-east, is carried down the whole way. The -other three are confined to the top floor, and rest upon brackets. This -floor had a large recess and a window in each of the four main faces, -of which that to the west is segmental and ribbed. These recesses are -now quite inaccessible; but it would appear, from the thickness of the -wall, and from certain square apertures outside, that they communicate -on the west side with mural chambers. In the north-west angle is a -very remarkable fireplace of about 9 feet opening, with a perfectly -flat platband, composed of thirteen stones joggled together. This is a -very fine example of this kind of work, and it stands quite unaltered. -In the opposite, or south-eastern angle, is a shallow-pointed recess, -and in it a square-headed doorway, which opens into the oratory. -The window recess in the south wall differs from the rest. Its arch -was high-pointed, and moulded with deep reduplicated bands, with -half-shafts with bell capitals; no doubt Decorated, but of Early -English character. From the east jamb of this recess a second passage -opens into the oratory, and this was probably the principal entrance -to it. The oratory is seen from below to be vaulted and groined. It -occupies the south-eastern angle of the building. - -[Illustration: KEEP, VERTICAL SECTION.] - -The east face of the keep was covered by the _Forebuilding_, which -evidently contained a straight staircase, which rose from the -north-east corner of the keep, and ascended to the main doorway on the -second-floor level. This doorway, as at Middleham, is near the south -end of the wall, but, notwithstanding, the steps must have begun above -the ground level, to reach, without undue steepness, so considerable a -height. The wall has been so much injured, and so freely repaired, that -the marks of the stairs are no longer visible, but a toothing and some -springing stones, as for an arch, seem to show that the staircase -rose from the north-east angle, under a covered way or low tower, the -battlements of which were evidently reached by the oblique passage -still seen above in the wall, as at Middleham and Rochester. Below the -level of the original doorway are traces of a larger and more lofty -doorway, in the ornate Decorated style,—evidently an insertion. This -would give direct passage into the first floor of the keep, and was -probably inserted when the arcading was introduced, and this converted -into the main apartment. There are other toothings and roughnesses in -the wall, indicating various alterations. The forebuilding was about 12 -feet broad, and contained a basement and two floors, as shown by the -openings in the south wall, which are, near the ground, a loop; above -it, a small window; and above that a garderobe, corbelled out upon -two heavy blocks upon the south wall. Above the line of roof of the -forebuilding is to be seen the east window of the oratory, and near it -a cruciform loop. - -[Illustration: KEEP, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.] - -Unfortunately for the close examination of this very curious keep, the -upper part is inaccessible, and ladders of sufficient length are not -readily to be procured. The architectural history of the castle may be -inferred from its details, so far as these are visible. It is evident -that the original fortress was a late Norman keep, and it must have -been placed within an _enceinte_ pretty closely corresponding to that -now seen, and which skirts the edge of the ditch. Of this supposed -original _enceinte_ wall, as well as of the domestic buildings and -gatehouse, which must have been present in some form or other within -it, there remain no very certain traces. The keep, judging from -internal evidence, and probably the ditches were the work of Robert de -Vipont, very early in the thirteenth century. - -In the Decorated period the castle underwent great alterations. The -keep was probably raised a story, and an oratory included in the new -work. The basement was vaulted, the first floor arcaded, and the -forebuilding so altered as to admit of an entrance on that floor. All -the rest of the castle, gatehouses, domestic buildings, and the whole -of the _enceinte_ wall belong to one general period, and are probably -the work of Roger de Clifford, the first of his race who held this -property, and the husband of Isabel de Vipont, its heiress, in the -reign of Edward I. Usually, when a Norman fortress was remodelled in -the Edwardian period, the keep was neglected, and left in its original -isolation; here, however, it was decided to turn the keep to account, -and to ornament its principal chambers, and connect them with the suite -of rooms in the upper floor of the gatehouse. - -The drawing represents a section of the keep east and west, looking -south. Something of the various additions is here shown, and the -springings of the vault of the basement. - -The exterior view of the keep is taken from the south-west quarter, and -shows, above, the projection for the oratory, and below and beyond it -the end wall of the demolished forebuilding. On the left is seen the -river gateway of the entrance. - -There are some peculiarities of detail in this castle which need -further investigation. The large windows of the first and second -floors of the keep are original; but the half-piers and bell-caps in -the exterior jambs look much later, and may be a part of the Decorated -additions. It is said that the buildings against the east wall received -some alterations from another Roger de Clifford, grandson of the -former. It is curious that walls so thick as those of the keep, and -of such good material, should have been left solid, for the most part -unpierced by the chambers and passages so much affected by the Norman -architects. It is also to be observed that the curtain wall is but -scantily furnished with flanking defences. Countess Anne mentions “the -Tower of Leaguer,” and “the Pagan Tower,” and “the Greystoke State -Chamber,” in Brougham Castle. - - - - - THE CASTLE OF BUILTH, IN BRECKNOCKSHIRE. - - -The name of Builth, borne at this time by a considerable town, and -by a Hundred of the county of Brecknock, is very ancient. As, like -Brecon, the town is placed in an open valley, accessible without much -difficulty to an enemy from the east, it has suffered from invasion -from a very early period, and to these and similar attacks are to be -attributed various strongholds, both of earth and masonry, of which -the remains are abundant upon the marches of England and Wales, and in -such tracts of the latter territory as either Saxon or Norman, having -overrun, thought it worth while to retain. - -The construction of Offa’s Dyke, in the eighth century, must have been -preceded by many years of conquest, and the establishment of many -English strongholds throughout the annexed district, and probably also -beyond it. Nothing short of a present inability to rise would have kept -the Welsh quiet during the construction of such a work, or have forced -them to accept, even passively, a limit which cut off a large part of -their fairest territory. The fortresses of Builth and Brecon, which -resemble in general character those of known English origin elsewhere, -were probably advanced posts thrown up either during the wars which -preceded the dyke, or to aid the aggressions which followed it. The -plan of construction leads rather to the latter conclusion, and points -to the ninth or early part of the tenth century. - -However this may be, it is certain that when Bernard Newmarch invaded -Brecknock, towards the end of the eleventh century, he found the -earthworks of Brecon and Builth already existing, and occupied them, -as was usual, by works of a Norman character. Probably these were -at first of timber, for a structure of masonry required time and -peace, and generally tradition has imputed the oldest Norman military -buildings in Wales to the immediate successors of the conquerors, -rather than to the conquerors themselves. Where the age can be safely -inferred, either from the design of the building or from its ornament, -it is generally found to be of very late Norman, verging upon the early -English period. - -Newmarch was succeeded by Milo Fitz Walter, who married his daughter. -He was created Earl of Hereford by the Empress Maud, in 1140, and -received from her the moat, or more probably the “mote” and castle of -that city. His sons died childless, Mahel, the last of them, having -been killed by the falling of a stone from Bronllys tower. Builth was -inherited by his sister Berta, who married Philip de Braose, who, -indeed, is said already to have possessed himself of that territory, -and to have afterwards married its lawful heiress, as Newmarch had -married the Welsh Nest, by way of precaution. - -Their son, William de Braose, also a powerful baron in Devon, -flourished in the reigns of Henry II., Richard, and John, and died in -exile in 1210. His brother Giles, Bishop of Hereford, succeeded, and, -dying in 1215, was followed by his brother Reginald. In his time occurs -the earliest mention of the castle. In 1219, 4 Henry III., the Sheriff -of Gloucestershire is directed to give immediate aid to Reginald de -Braose “ad castrum suum de Buetto firmandum et fossatum et trencheyas -ibidem faciendas contra inimicos nostros.” Also 12 September, 1223, 7 -Henry III., the king directs all the sheriffs of England, excepting -those of Stafford, Salop, Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford, who -probably had already, being near, discharged their duty, to raise men -and march to Gloucester, the reason being the king’s sure information -that Reynold de Braose was besieged in his castle of Builth by Llewelyn -and a multitude of armed men. What the result was is unknown, but -some years later, in July, 1260, after De Braose’s death, when the -castle was in charge of Roger de Mortimer, it was besieged and taken -by Llewelyn. Roger was in London, and, as it was his duty to have been -at his post, he had a regular remission in form, stating that he was -attending Parliament by special precept. It is stated therein that -he held the castle “ex ballio” by deputation from Prince Edward. In -August, Llewelyn was still in possession, and there remains a precept -on the subject, directed to Richard de Clare and others. - -Reginald de Braose, who was lord during the siege of 1223, is generally -stated to have died in 1221, which seems disproved by Rymer’s record. -He died, however, about that time, and was followed by William his son, -who, in 1229, was hanged, according to the Welsh, by Llewelyn. On his -death, leaving only daughters, the Crown took the castles, and they -were granted to Prince Edward, who held them in 1254, when his father -renewed the grant. - -5 Edward I., some question arose about certain tythes held by the prior -and convent of Brecon under William, William his son, ... and Reginald -de Braose, Lords of Builth, and it appears from a later entry, 13 -Edward I., that it was their duty to serve a chapel or chantry within -the castle, then called “the King’s Castle.” 25 Edward I., John Giffard -was custos, and his allowance was reduced by the treasury because it -was more than was usual. - -17 Edward II., 1324, a survey was taken of the castle for the Crown. -The castle yard and curtilage were worth per annum 12d., and there were -40 acres in demesne of arable at 3d. per acre, total 10s. Also 10 acres -of meadow at 12d., total 10s. Also the “communitas patriæ,” hangers on -outside the vill, paid the king every second year, for all services -and annual rents, 10 cows or 20 marcs in money at the lord’s pleasure, -that is, £1. 6s. 8d. for each cow, its money-value at that time. Rents -of assize in Lanveir 70s., probably from 75 burgesses. A ferry 4s. per -annum. The land of Talevan, in the king’s hands, 2s. The land of Tyr -Maukyn, 2s. Pannage of hogs, 20s. The king had there four mills, each -at 10s. No villenage there. All pleas and perquisites of the court -merchant in Lanveir 57s. per annum. Pleas and payments of the courts -“patriæ,” 17s. Ammobrages, 13s. 4d. No royalties, villenage, demesne, -or other outgoings. No profits accruing to the king in Builth save the -above. - -Llanfair is the town of Builth, its Welsh name being -Llanfair-ym-Muallt, or St. Mary’s, Builth. Ammobrage is thought by -Spelman to be the same with Chevage, a poll-tax paid by villeins to -their lord. Jones, the Brecknock historian, gives it a Welsh etymology, -and makes it a sort of excise. - -The importance of these frontier castles naturally ceased after the -settlement of Wales by 3 Edward I., and the Crown no longer cared to -retain them. 9 Edward III., Builth Castle was vested in Eubolo le -Strange and Alesia his wife, and 14 Edward III. Thomas de Bradestan, -Banneret, had “Thlanver” Castle, probably “Blaenlleveny,” and the -Lordship of Builth. - -16 Edward III., 1342-3, Gilbert Talbot, Justiciary of South Wales, was -directed to raise levies in the divisions of Builth, Ewias-Lacy, and -Ewias-Harold, and similar precepts were issued in 1367. - -34 Edward III., 1360-1, Roger de Mortimer held the castle and cantred -of Builth, and 5 Richard II., Edward Earl of March and Philippa his -wife held Bewolthe or Beult Castle, as did Earl Roger, their successor, -22 Richard II. On the attainder of the Mortimers the castle fell to the -Crown, and so remained till granted away by Charles II., since which it -has passed through many hands. - -Regard being had to the position of the castle upon an exposed and very -dangerous frontier, it is not surprising that its walls and towers were -planned with some skill, and executed with great passive strength. But -of the works in masonry, scarce a trace now remains above ground, and -the site of a fortress which could hold Llewelyn and his armed Welshmen -in check, probably for several weeks, is now indicated by heaps of -earth of a rather remarkable character, and which, from their position -and size, make a feature in the outline of the town from whatever point -beheld. - -[Illustration: - -THE CASTLE OF BUILTH. - -J. H. Le Keux, Durham. ] - -Moreover these earthworks, which have survived the masonry that for -so many centuries crowned their summits, are, it is evident, of far -earlier date than the Norman work, and have only in these latter times -resumed much of the appearance which they originally presented. - -For they resemble in their general features and in their details, -those earthworks nearer to, or within the English border, as Wigmore, -Richard’s Castle, Kilpeck, and Ewias-Harold, which again resemble those -of Warwick, Leicester, Bedford, and Towcester, the dates and authors -of which are on record, and all of which, wherever situated, are quite -unlike the grand hill-camps so common on the border, and usually -attributed to the British. - -Hence a peculiar interest attaches to works such as these at Builth. -Not only as regards the English part of the community is there the -presumption, amounting almost to demonstration, that they were the -work of their proper ancestors, but, what is of interest to all, it is -possible to fix an approximate date to their construction, which is by -no means the case with the larger and probably older hill-camps. - -The town of Builth stands in the north-eastern quarter of Brecknock, -in the Hundred of its name, just upon a bold curve of the Wye, which, -escaping from the deep valley in which it descends from Rhayader -Gwy, and about to plunge into that by which it reaches the more open -country near Glasbury and Hay, here traverses a broad expanse of mead -overlooked by the town, to which it not improbably gave origin. - -On the eastern edge of the town, and, like it, a hundred yards above -and as many distant from the river, is placed the castle. It commands -a considerable view towards the north, and was within an easy ride of -Payn’s Castle and other fortresses upon the middle Wye and the Usk. It -stands upon a bank falling steeply towards the north of the river, and, -though higher on all sides than the adjacent ground, is approached by -an easy ascent from the south, on which side was its entrance. - -The castle occupied a plot of ground nearly circular, being about -180 yards north and south, by 190 yards east and west. Its principal -feature is a conical mound, table topped, wholly artificial, 60 -feet diameter at the top, 200 feet diameter from the centre of the -circumscribing ditch, and from the bottom of that ditch 60 feet high. -The ditch is carried all round from 100 to 120 feet broad, being -narrowest towards the north, the side naturally strong. For about -four-fifths of its circumference to the south, the mound is covered by -two curved platforms, convex towards the field, and concave towards -the rear. That on the south-east is the larger, and from 60 to 90 -feet broad and 400 feet long. That on the west is 30 to 35 feet broad -and 200 feet long. They are separated by a deep trench about 100 -feet broad, which connects the inner with the outer ditch. At their -other or northern extremities they end more gradually, but leave the -northern front of the mound uncovered. These platforms are in their -rear about 30 feet above the bottom of the ditch of which they form -the counterscarp, and consequently about 30 feet below the top of the -mound. They slope gently outwards. The western platform has along its -inner edge a narrow steep bank about 6 feet high. This could scarcely -have carried a palisade, there being no space for a walk behind it. It -looks more as though it had been thrown up during a siege, to cover -those who proposed to storm the mound. - -Outside and in front of these platforms is a ditch of from 70 to 100 -feet broad, and 15 to 25 feet deep. It covers the southern four-fifths -of the work, but, towards the north, where the platforms cease, it is -continued into and forms part of the inner ditch. - -Finally, encircling the whole, is a bank upon the edge of the outer -ditch, of variable height and thickness, sometimes narrow and from 5 to -6 feet high, in other parts expanded into a platform of from 12 to 20 -feet. This bank subsides into the natural slope of the ground, which is -very steep towards the north only. - -Although but one small fragment of masonry remains above ground, there -are traces of walls where the foundations have been dug up, and here -and there are heaps which probably cover the remains of towers. There -was evidently a central tower or keep, circular or many sided, covering -the top of the mound, and probably, like Bronllys, of early English or -late Norman date. The north slope of the mound, covered only by the -ditch and bank, formed part of the _enceinte_, as at Berkhampstead, and -from the keep descended eastwards a curtain, of which a part remains, -which crossed the ditch, and evidently was carried along the platform -so as to include it. There are upon it two small mounds, which seem to -have been towers flanking the entrance. How this curtain was continued, -whether it was confined to the east platform or whether it traversed -the cross ditch, and included the west platform, is uncertain. In -either case it must have finally turned inwards, crossed the inner -ditch, and reascended the mound to abut upon the keep tower. The castle -seems to have been composed of a keep and a single ward, and probably -owed much of its strength against a sudden attack to its contracted -area. The ditches are far above any source of water from adjacent -ground. They seem, however, to have been more or less wet, probably -from the rain water. The cross ditch and adjacent parts of the ditches -are still boggy, and would form a small pool, but for a drain which has -been cut in the outer bank. - -The approach seems to have lain through the town of Builth along an -existing road, and to have reached the outer barrier where the ditch is -partially filled up on the eastern side; thence crossing the platform, -where there seems to have been a causeway across the inner ditch, and -no doubt from it a flight of steps led up the mound. - - - - - CAERNARVON CASTLE. - - -Of the three greatest military works executed by Edward I. in Wales, -Caernarvon is undoubtedly the chief; nor, indeed, is there any castle -in Britain laid out with greater uniformity of design, or in which -the resources of the military engineer are more skilfully set forth. -Moreover, it has suffered less than any other of equal magnitude from -violence, or natural decay, or the rapacity of local builders. Its -towers, walls, and gatehouses, stand as firm and free from injury as -when they came from the hand of the mason. Floors and roofs, indeed, -have been removed, and the interior lodgings, hall, and chapel, are -wanting, but their removal, if it took place, has been effected with -so much care that it is uncertain whether they were ever erected, -and whether the toothings and roughnesses of the contiguous walls -were not left with a view to their addition. In these latest days the -Crown, always the owner of the pile, has shown unusual zeal for its -conservation. Mr. Salvin, than whom no man could more skilfully restore -an ancient castle, was consulted upon its necessary repairs, and Mr. -Turner, as deputy-constable, watches over the fabric with no common -care. - -The castle and town of Caernarvon are placed upon the right or northern -bank of the Seiont, a river known to fame by the construction upon its -meadow of the Roman Segontium, at no great distance above the castle, -which, with the town, stands within the junction of the river with -the waters of the Menai Strait, so that two sides of the position are -protected, the one by the river, the other by the sea. Segontium, -or Caer Seiont, seems to have been succeeded by the Welsh camp of -Caer-yn-Arvon, so called from its position upon the shore of Arvon, -no longer “dreary Arvon,” but one of the most charming spots in North -Wales. - -The town, founded, with the castle, by King Edward, is somewhat of -a parallelogram in plan. It is contained within a curtain wall, -strengthened by ten towers, of which two form the east and west -gatehouses, and three cap the principal angles of the enclosure. They -are either cylindrical or half cylinders, open at the rear. - -The south end of the area is closed by the castle, of which the -principal face is thus towards and within the town. The opposite or -southern face rests upon the Seiont, as does the western, and did, -to some extent, the eastern end. Wilson’s picture, taken in the last -century, shows the walls rising almost from the water’s edge, and the -cross ditch before the Queen’s Gate still open, but at this time a -broad quay intervenes between the castle walls and the river, and of -the broad and deep ditch separating the fortress from the town only a -part remains. The ditch was, probably, deep enough to admit the tidal -waters. - -The castle somewhat resembles an hourglass in plan, its outline being -governed by the rocky ridge on which it stands, and which lifts it a -few feet above the level of the town. It is in length about 100 yards, -and in breadth from 30 to 40 yards, the narrowest part being at the -centre. Its outline is polygonal, and on each angle is a tower, also -polygonal. Of these there are nine, two of which are double, and form -gatehouses. There are also two smaller towers, also polygonal, in the -centre of two of the curtains. The ground falls rather steeply from the -south-east end, but at its lowest is some feet above the water level. - -The main or King’s Gatehouse, a very noble structure, is in the centre -of the town front, and occupies a re-entering angle of the wall. It -is broad and high, with an unusually lofty and ornate archway, in -the upper part of which is a statue of Edward II., who completed the -castle, and below this the recessed gateway. Two bold half-octagons -flank the entrance, the approach to which was by a drawbridge, now -superseded by a work in masonry. The portal is broad and high, vaulted -and ribbed, with the usual portcullis grooves, rebates, and bar holes -for doors, and _meurtrières_ in the vault. On either side is a lodge, -an unusually spacious chamber. Both of the flanking towers are looped, -and in that to the right is a mural gallery, with loops completing the -command of the approach. The rear of this right-hand tower is prolonged -into a square building forming the prison tower, in one angle of which -is a well staircase leading to the upper floor of the gatehouse and its -roof. At the foot of this staircase a small portcullised doorway opens -westwards upon the kitchen. - -From the Prison Tower a narrow building connected the gatehouse with -the opposite or Exchequer Tower, and thus divided the castle into an -eastern or upper, and a western or lower, ward. A handsome archway -pierced this building, and opened from one ward to the other. Building -and gatehouse are gone, but the jambs of one side, with two portcullis -grooves, show that the portal was strong and was ornate. - -Besides the King’s Gate the upper ward was entered by a second or -Queen’s Gate, a very remarkable structure, seeing that it is placed at -the highest part of the fortress, and that the cill of its entrance -is some 25 feet above the present ground, and must have been 12 feet -or 14 feet more above the bottom of the now filled-up ditch. How this -entrance was approached does not appear, if by a drawbridge the pier -on which it fell must have been a very lofty structure, and a sort of -viaduct must have led up to it. The portal is vaulted and ribbed, and -had a portcullis and gates, but the lateral chambers do not open from -it. The rear of the gatehouse seems not to have been completed, but -close to it, to the west, is the jamb of a small portcullised gateway, -with ornate mouldings. Into what it led is not very apparent. - -The towers, though differing widely in details, are all of one general -type, and probably designed by one hand. Each has a basement at about -the exterior ground level, damp and dark, and only to be reached by -a ladder from the floor above. Possibly these basements were not -intended to be used. They were not vaulted, and have no sewers. Each -tower has a first floor at the court level, and at this level, or a -few steps above it, the wall is pierced all round by a mural gallery, -looped to the field and connected with divers mural chambers and -garderobes. The second floor has windows of a larger opening, as has -the third or uppermost. Each floor has a fireplace, usually a mere -opening in the wall, and each is reached by a well staircase, which -begins at the first-floor level and ends in a tall turret which rises -some 20 feet above the roof. From the upper floor a doorway opens out -upon the rampart of the curtain. The floor was all of timber. The roof -was almost flat, having a very slight pitch to a central ridge, and was -covered with lead. - -The curtain, everywhere unusually thick and lofty, along the north side -was looped in two stages, showing that it gave support to long ranges -of buildings, probably barracks, with thick walls and very low-pitched -lead-covered roofs. These buildings are wanting, but the towers and -curtains are toothed, to give bond to their walls when built. - -The most remarkable part of the castle is the arrangement for the -defence of the southern or river front. On this face the curtain is of -immense thickness, extending from the Queen’s Gate to the Eagle Tower, -and including in that distance the Prince’s and the Exchequer Towers, -and two others of smaller dimensions. This wall, from the Queen’s Gate -to the Prince’s Tower, contains, at a little above the court level, a -broad and lofty gallery, which not only pierces the curtain, but is -continued through the walls of the towers, with an occasional vaulted -chamber or lobby, as a “place d’armes.” This gallery is looped towards -the field, and has an occasional window and door towards the court. It -descends by steps so as to preserve its level as regards the court, and -in its walls are several garderobes. - -Above this, of the same length and similarly constructed, is a second -gallery, also looped towards the field, but either the inner wall -and roof of this gallery have been removed, or, more probably, never -completed, for it now remains as an open platform. The thicker and -outer wall, however, is perfect, and carries what is still a broad -rampart walk, or allure, reached by occasional flights of steps in the -wall from the upper gallery. Thus was provided a triple line of loops, -and these loops are not, as was often the case, mere air-holes, but are -so contrived as to afford ample scope for the effective use of either -longbow or arblast. No body of assailants, however brave, unprotected -by armour or unsupplied with regular siege appliances, could have -withstood such a line of defence, manned, as it would be, with the -first archers in Europe, exposing those without, in front and flank, to -a shower of clothyard shafts and iron-pointed quarrells. - -The curtain, from the Prince’s to the Eagle Tower, though as thick as -elsewhere, is solid below, having only the upper gallery; neither does -it communicate with the Eagle Tower, which forms a sort of keep or -citadel, being in dimensions rather larger than, and in strength fully -equal to, any of the others. This tower, also, is of rather superior -and certainly more ornate workmanship than the rest. Its mouldings are -all of the best Decorated period, and it was evidently intended for the -reception of distinguished visitors. - -The Well Tower, that next west of the King’s Gate, contains a very -remarkable well. The well, with a pipe of 5 feet diameter, descends in -the thickness of the wall, in which also is the well chamber, whence -the well was worked. The whole, both well and chamber, are in excellent -order. Unlike the other towers, the basement of the Well Tower is -entered from the court by a steep direct flight of steps. The reason -of this is seen in a postern which opens from the floor of the tower -in the wall. It is 16 feet above the bottom of the ditch, serving, -probably, as an internal communication with the town. The great kitchen -does not now exist. It was of large size and rectangular plan, and -extended from the Well Tower to the King’s Gatehouse. At one end are -seen two curious stone circles, probably intended to carry large iron -cauldrons with a space below for a fire. In the side wall, or curtain, -are some mural chambers, and a trough with a stone pipe by which water -was conveyed from the well-chamber through the wall. There is also -the springing-stone of a moulded rib, showing that the kitchen had an -open roof. In this wall a straight staircase ascends to the gatehouse, -possibly to the cook’s bedchamber. - -Opposite to the kitchen a line of foundations shows the position and -dimensions of the great hall, 100 feet by 60 feet. It was built against -the south curtain, and extended from the Exchequer to the Prince’s -Tower, the latter being, probably, at the dais end. From the other end -of the hall, a straight staircase led to a postern which opened upon -the quay and the river. - -Caernarvon is mainly built of limestone. The stones are hammer dressed, -and roughly squared, and laid throughout in courses. Ashlar is very -freely used, and finely cut. The mouldings employed are characteristic -of the Decorated period, and the stone has preserved its surface and -arris uninjured. - -The absence of the hall and kitchen, the offices and barracks, and of -the cross building separating the two wards, gives an incomplete and -unfinished appearance to the interior of the castle, but this does not -affect its military details and those of its towers, gatehouses, and -curtains; these are very perfect and very curious. With the decline of -the Decorated period in architecture military defences also began to -decline, and the works of Edward III. and his successors, though often -palatial in their grandeur, are never of a purely military type, and in -this respect are never equal to those of the earlier Edwardian period. - -[Illustration: _Caernarvon Castle._] - -Caernarvon was begun in 1283, immediately upon the execution of David, -the last Welsh prince. The first work was that of quarrying the cross -ditch, and collecting materials and workmen, the latter being drafted -from the English counties. Caernarvon, Conway, Criccaeth, and -Harlech, were in progress together, and nothing short of the hope of -consolidating his kingdom could have induced so economical a sovereign -as Edward to incur expenses which, in one year, for Caernarvon alone, -amounted to above £3,000. The king was here for the first time in 1284, -in which year, April 25th, Edward of Caernarvon was born, probably in -the town. By 1295 so little progress had been made that the Welsh, -rising in local insurrection, succeeded in burning the town, and taking -what was then executed of the castle. How much was then built, or how -much they left standing is unknown, but from that time quicker progress -was made, and at Edward’s death the castle was certainly in a forward -state. The work was continued and completed by his son. The Eagle -Tower was covered in in 1316, and the king’s statue set up over the -great gate in 1320, and by 1322 the castle was completed for defensive -purposes. The chamberlain of North Wales seems to have resided here, -and the Exchequer Tower was so called because here were deposited the -financial returns for the northern counties, but it may be doubted -whether the grand accommodations designed by the original architect for -the visits of the sovereign were ever actually executed. - -[Illustration: _BATTLEMENTS—EAGLE-TOWER, CAERNARVON._] - -The castle fell into the hands of Owain Glendwr, and was held -alternately by king and parliament during the Great Rebellion. - -One of the many valuable papers contributed by the late Mr. Hartshorne -to the _Journal of the Archæological Institute_ contains an excellent -history of this castle; had that gentleman bent himself also to the -easier task of its description, this account would have been uncalled -for. - -The larger of the accompanying illustrations gives a bird’s-eye view of -the castle from the north-west. In the front and centre is the King’s -Gatehouse, and next, on the spectator’s right, is the Well Tower, and -beyond it, the Eagle Tower. On the extreme left is the interior of the -Queen’s Gatehouse, placed between the Granary Tower on the left and -the Black Tower. Opposite to the King’s Gate is the Exchequer Tower, -and between it and the Eagle is the Prince’s Tower. In the lower or -right-hand court are seen the foundations of the hall; next on the left -of the King’s Gate is the Dungeon Tower. - -The smaller illustration shows the allure or rampart-walk of the -Eagle Tower. The rear wall, if it ever existed, has been removed. The -cut shows the merlon, with its contained loop, the plain flat-sided -embrasure, and the figures placed upon the ridge of the coping, one -of which gives name to the tower. The small, shoulder-headed doorway -opening from the tower upon the rampart is also seen. - - - - - CAERPHILLY CASTLE, GLAMORGAN. - - -Caerphilly is by very much the most extensive castle in Wales, and is -reputed to cover, with its outworks and earthworks, about thirty acres. - -The castle owes its celebrity to its great extent, and to the -peculiar manner in which one of its towers has been thrown out of the -perpendicular by the forces employed for its destruction. Its real -merits are of a less obvious but much higher character, and rest upon -the great military skill exhibited in its design and construction. It -possesses few associations with historical events. But one, and he a -falling, sovereign is certainly known to have visited it. It is not, -like Kidwelly or Cardiff, the head of a feudal honour or lordship, nor -is it surrounded by any franchise or barony. It has not even received -the barren dignity of conferring a title of honour upon any of its -numerous possessors. It has been celebrated by no bard, and even -mentioned only by one. - -Neither does Caerphilly possess many of the ordinary sources of -interest. It boasts not the architectural decorations of Caernarvon, -the commanding position of Conway, nor the picturesque beauty of -Raglan. It is simply a ruin of great extent, and possessing that sort -of rugged sublimity which is inseparable from an assemblage of lofty -walls and massive and partially overthrown towers, though neither -bosomed in woods, nor mantled, to any extent, with ivy. - -It is remarkable that this castle should have remained altogether -neglected, or very superficially noted by the historians of Wales. The -earlier authorities, Caradoc of Llancarvan and Giraldus Cambrensis, -flourished before the erection of the present edifice, but it is -singular that silence concerning so immense a structure should have -been preserved by Lloyd, and his commentator Powel, and transmitted -almost unbroken by the indefatigable, though credulous, author of the -“Munimenta.” - -It is not, however, difficult to divine the causes of the obscurity in -which the early history of Caerphilly is involved, and the absence of -any historical associations may perhaps be permitted to account for the -continued silence of modern writers. - -A castle of considerable magnitude had been erected soon after the -Norman invasion of Wales, at Cardiff; a position which, from its -proximity to the estuary of the Severn, and the mouth of the Taff, -from the fertility of its subjacent meadows, from the protection which -it reciprocally afforded to, and received from, the people of the -town, and from its greater distance from the mountains, and consequent -diminished liability to be surprised by their crafty and warlike -inhabitants, was invariably the chief residence of the feudal Lords of -Glamorgan; and from hence it followed, as a necessary consequence, that -Caerphilly, which, from its dangerous proximity, they were obliged to -retain in their immediate possession, fell into comparative neglect, -and, although very superior in magnitude to Cardiff, was considered -only as its dependency in importance. - -It was to the Lord of Cardiff that the feudatories of Glamorgan owed -suit and service, and it was to the castle court of that place that -they were bound annually to repair. - -The castle of Cardiff is mentioned as the residence of great Norman -barons; it was more than once honoured by a royal guest, and, even at -the far later period of the Parliamentary wars, its acquisition was -considered of great importance. Caerphilly, on the contrary, is rarely -mentioned by the chroniclers, and as a military post ceased to be of -importance upon the death of Llewelyn and the reduction and settlement -of the Principality by Edward. These considerations will explain the -little notice taken by contemporaries of this magnificent fortress, and -the consequent dearth of information respecting its fortunes. - -Caerphilly stands upon that wide tract of debateable ground between -England and Wales, which was so long contested by both nations under -the title of “The Marches,” and which, beneath the Normans, had its own -customs and its governors, known as the Lords Marchers. - -The castle, though in the Marches, is within the Welsh border, being -about a mile from the river Rhymny, the boundary between Monmouth and -Glamorgan, and, since the reign of Henry VIII., between England and the -Principality, in this direction. - -The Lordship of Senghenydd, within which the castle is placed, was -granted at the conquest of Glamorgan to Einon of Collwyn, a Welsh lord, -whose granddaughter, Nest, “verch Madoc ap Cradoc ap Einon,” married -Cadivor ap Cydrich, a grandson of Gwaethvoed, and the father of Ivor -Bach, who is described as [mesne] Lord of Senghenydd. Griffith, the -son of Ivor, married a sister of Rhys, Prince of South Wales, before -1174, when he did homage to Henry II., at Gloucester. By this match -the influence of the family, already great, with the Welsh, was much -increased and became very great. They dwelt too near Cardiff actually -to organise insurrections, but they were always ready to promote them -at any favourable opportunity. Many such opportunities occurred during -the reign of Henry III., when the Earls of Pembroke wielded the power -of the infant lord of Glamorgan, and were continually at war with -Henry. Llewelyn, then Prince of Wales, was sometimes in alliance with -the earl, and sometimes harassed his rear, descending from the uplands -of Caermarthen and Cardiff, and bursting into Monmouthshire across the -unguarded pass of Senghenydd. It became the business of Gilbert de -Clare, on coming into his lordship, to bar this passage, and this he -effectually completed by the construction of Caerphilly. The name of -his architect or engineer is unknown to fame, but he was a deacon in -his craft, and the earl gave full play to his abilities. - -The castle is placed in the midst of a deep and broad hollow, open on -the east towards the Rhymny, and divided on the west from the valley of -the Taff by the mountain ridge of Mynydd Mayo. North and north-west, -at a greater distance, is the concave crest of Mynydd Eglwisilan, and -on the south, the long and well-known elevation which separates the -hill-country of Glamorgan from the plain, and is intersected by the -ravines of the Taff, the Rhymny, and the Ebbw. This ridge is locally -known as Cefn Carnau, and, on the road from the castle to the sea, is -crowned by the ancient stronghold of Môr-graig. The traveller, who -wishes to see Caerphilly to advantage, should descend upon it soon -after sunrise in autumn, from one of the surrounding heights, when the -grey towers of the castle will be seen rising out of an immense sea of -mist. - -The whole basin is a part of the Glamorganshire coalfield. The mineral -has long been worked on Caerphilly mountain, where it appears on the -surface, and the castle is chiefly constructed of the fissile sandstone -of the neighbourhood, which appears to have been quarried from a large -excavation by the roadside, near Chapel-Martin. - -Along the base of the mountains, and extending some way up their -skirts, here, as in all the valleys in the neighbourhood, lie vast -deposits of gravel and sand, composed in part of the _débris_ of the -neighbouring rocks, but chiefly of rolled pebbles, brought down from -the northern hills by diluvial agency. - -Near the centre of the basin is a bed of gravel, of considerable extent -and thickness, the surface of which has been deeply wrought, by some -natural process, into a series of furrows and eminences. - -A narrow tongue of slightly elevated ground, the termination of a -low peninsula of gravel, projects eastwards, and, by its projection, -divides a swampy flat of considerable breadth into two portions. -These are contained within irregular gravel banks, similar to, though -somewhat higher than, the central peninsula. The southern is shorter, -and almost parallel to it; the northern is prolonged, and curves -around its point, until it is separated from the southern only by an -inconsiderable gorge. The swamp thus assumes something of the figure of -a horse-shoe. - -South of the peninsula, the Nant-y-Gledyr, a large rivulet, flows from -the south-west, across the swamp, through the gorge, to join the Rhymny. - -North-east of the peninsula a smaller spring, partly fed by the -Nant-y-Gledyr, flows across a part of the northern swamp; and, north of -this again, another spring contributes to the same. Naturally, these -waters seem to have found their way, by a depression or gorge, to the -north-eastward, into the lower part of the Nant-y-Gledyr, outside of -and below the upper gorge already mentioned. - -The tongue of land thus guarded was well suited for the purposes -of defence, supposing the peninsula to have been converted, by a -cross-trench, into an island. Water was abundant, pasturage at hand, -and the morass would form a secure front. There is, however, no -evidence that the spot was occupied by the Welsh, though it has been -supposed that the stronghold of Senghenydd was here situated. - -When the castle was constructed the surface of the ground underwent -considerable alteration. The first business of the Norman engineer was -to provide for the protection of his fortress by a large expanse of -water. To effect this, the bed of the Nant-y-Gledyr was dammed up at -one gorge, and the northern waters at the other, and the two divisions -of the swamp thus formed into lakes, the southern of about 13 acres, -the northern of about one or two. - -Advantage was taken of a narrow and curved ridge, which proceeded from -the root of the peninsula, to divide the northern water into two parts, -of which the one formed the middle, and the other the inner, moat. - -The inner moat communicated with the southern lake by two cross cuts; -one, the old natural termination of the peninsula eastwards, the other, -an artificial cut across it on the west; and thus the circuit of the -inner moat was completed. - -The island which was thus formed, and encircled by this moat, was -scarped into curtains and bastions, and faced with stone; and the -single cross-cut westward, not being deemed a sufficient defence, the -peninsula was divided by a second cross-cut further westward, and -the second island, thus formed, was converted into a sort of large -horn-work or demi-lune, covering the western approach. This also was -scarped and revetted. - -Thus, then, the principal features of the ground plan are—the end of -the peninsula converted into an _island_, and defended on the north by -the _inner north moat_, on the south by the _lake_, on the east by the -_inner east moat_, and on the west by the _inner cross-cut_—the whole -making up the _inner moat_. - -Proceeding outwards, we have, as the boundaries of this moat—on the -west, the _horn-work_, prolonged on the north into the _curved ridge_ -forming the counterscarp of the inner moat; on the east, the natural -bank occupied by the _southern half of the grand front_; and on the -south, the acclivity of the _bank of the lake_, rising rather steeply. -All these form the outer boundaries of the inner moat. The second, -or middle, line of defence is less complete, and is confined to the -west and northern sides. It begins with the outer _cross-cut_, west -of the horn-work, which communicates at one end with the lake, and at -the other with the _middle moat_. Beyond this middle line of defence -is, upon the north-west, a high knoll, the summit of which has been -carved into a _redoubt_; towards the north the _northern bank_, which -is protected westwards by the _northern brook_, and thickened eastwards -into a dam wall; and towards the north-east, east, and south-east, by -the continuation of this bank, and the _northern half of the grand -front_, built upon it. - -These defences are again strengthened—on the north by one division of -the _outer moat_, formed by the passage of the north brook, and on the -east by the other division extending in advance of the grand front, -and connected with the Nant-y-Gledyr, near the great drawbridge. These -moats are divided by a sort of _causeway_ at the north-east angle of -the outworks, reserved for the passage of cavalry from a sally-port. A -part of the earth excavated from these outer moats seems to have been -thrown up outside, so as to form banks, one of which is occupied by the -main street of Caerphilly, the other by the Nant-Garw road. - -It is hoped that reference to the plan, and to the bird’s-eye view of -the lake, will suffice to render the above description intelligible. - -For the purpose of the description of the castle itself, the whole may -be considered as composed of five parts, each of which will be further -subdivided. These parts are:— - -I.—The GRAND FRONT. II.—The HORN-WORK. III.—The REDOUBT. IV.—The MIDDLE -WARD. V.—The INNER WARD. - -I.—The eastern or GRAND FRONT of Caerphilly is a very fine and complete -specimen of a mediæval line of defence. It is composed of a long -curtain wall of considerable height and thickness, strengthened on the -exterior by buttresses and buttress-towers, rising in the centre into -a broad and lofty gatehouse, and terminated, at either extremity, by -clusters of towers that protect its sally-ports, and prevent it from -being out-flanked. Before it is a broad and deep moat, supplied with -water, and crossed by a double drawbridge. In its rear is a second -moat, also crossed by a drawbridge. The length of the façade is about -250 yards, the height varies from 20 to 60 feet. - -It is divided into the great gatehouse, the northern curtain and -postern, and the southern curtain and postern. - -The _Great Gatehouse_ stands a little on the north side of the centre. -Its line of front is not exactly parallel to those of the curtains, the -plan being irregular. - -The _Gatehouse proper_ is a lofty oblong building, 50 feet broad by -35 feet deep, and about 60 feet high. It is perforated below by the -portal, but rises above as a broad tower. Its lateral portions project -6 feet beyond the portal, and form porters’ lodges. - -[Illustration: CAERPHILLY.] - -The portal, 10 feet wide by 20 feet high, was defended by gates, -portcullis, and stockade. It is guarded by loops on each side from the -lodges. Those opening from the portal, measure 20 feet by 10 feet, -have fireplaces, and were floored with timber. The walls are 9 feet -thick, and are looped in various directions for defence. - -[Illustration: - -Caerphilly Castle. - -_Face p. 320, Vol. I._ ] - -Passing through the gatehouse, behind it is a broad platform, which -extends behind the southern curtain, and is scarped and revetted -towards the inner moat; on the right of this is a prolongation of the -gatehouse westwards, into the _gatehouse tower_. One of two doorways -leads up this tower by a hexagonal well-stair, 9 feet in mean diameter; -this opens upon seven apartments in two stories, and terminates in a -lofty quadrangular turret. In the first story are devices for working -the portcullis, and a small fireplace and oven, probably intended to -serve the purpose of a cooking-place for the porter and his assistants. -These rooms are vaulted. From this story a passage opens upon the -rampart of the northern curtain, and led, probably by a temporary plank -bridge, across an abyss in the thickness of the wall, about 29 feet -deep and 5 feet wide, and opening below between the grates of a water -gate. A passage, at the ground level, leads from the platform through -the gatehouse tower, across the ditch or canal from the water gate, -to the northern curtain, and was defended by gates, portcullis, and -drawbridge. - -From the gatehouse a _dividing wall_, 20 feet high and 6 feet thick, -extends westward 80 feet to the edge of the inner moat, and thus cuts -off the platform and the whole of the southern from the northern -curtain. Each face has been embattled, so that should either curtain be -taken, the other could still be defended. - -At the union of the gatehouse with the _northern curtain_, in the -latter, at the level of the water’s edge, is a low-browed archway, -which could only have been accessible by a boat, and is a water gate. -It is defended by two grates, and a cavity open above between them, -and thence a _covered way_, once probably a sort of canal, leads close -under, and north of, the dividing wall, to the edge of the inner moat. - -This curtain runs northward for 130 yards, and is strengthened -exteriorly by three _buttress towers_, quadrangular and solid below, -but hexagonal and chambered above. Each has a projection of 20 feet; -they are of unequal breadth. The chambers have each a loop in front, -and one at the junction of the tower with the wall on either side. They -were accessible only from the rampart. - -In the curtain itself are six loops, opening in pairs between the -buttress towers. The curtain ends, northward, in a pair of towers, -connected by the vault of a portal, the _north postern_, regularly -defended, and opening upon a plot of ground and causeway separating the -two parts of the outer moat. - -Behind, and parallel to this curtain, at a distance of 19 feet, was a -slight wall, 4 feet thick, which formed the back wall of a _postern -gallery_, leading from the gatehouse to the north postern, and forming -above a broad flat walk for the defence of the ramparts. This gallery -is said to have been fitted up as a stable. - -_Southern Curtain._—The general plan of this curtain is irregular; it -passes south-eastward from the gatehouse, forms a large semicircle, -and, passing off in a long straight wall, crosses the Nant-y-Gledyr, -and terminates in a _tête-du-pont_ and a postern. This wall contains a -large mural garderobe tower at its angle, and is supported exteriorly -by seven quadrangular solid buttresses. In one place it is perforated -for the discharge of the waste waters of the mill, and in another for -the passage of the Nant-y-Gledyr, being, at that part, where subjected -to great pressure, 15 feet thick. This curtain is accessible from the -_tête-du-pont_; and upon it, through the garderobe tower is a mural -chamber, serving as a “place d’armes.” The face of the wall, between -the buttresses, is wrought into a concavity, increasing towards -the summit, so that any missile dropped from it would be projected -outwards. The soil of the platform behind this curtain is 25 feet above -the exterior level. - -The _Platform_ is a large surface of sward behind the southern curtain, -between it and the counterscarp of the inner moat; upon it stood the -_mill_, and from it dropped the inner drawbridge. It increases in -breadth from the dam to the dividing wall, where it measures 94 feet. - -The _Tête-du-pont_ terminates the southern curtain. It consists of -a curve of the wall, westward, into a semicircle, with towers and a -postern gate, protected by a bifurcated wall, intended to prevent the -curtain from being outflanked. It rests upon the outer edge of the lake. - -In front of this great line of defence is a moat, about 60 feet wide, -and crossed by a double drawbridge of two spans of 18 feet each at -the great gateway, connected with a large pier in the centre of the -moat, capable of being converted into a sort of barbican. This moat -communicates with, and admitted of being filled from, the Nant-y-Gledyr. - -Such is the principal front and eastern line of defence, not only -calculated to withstand attacks from the front, flanks, or rear, but -also capable of being held out, the southern against the northern part. - -From the northern extremity of this front, at the northern postern, a -bank of earth, lined inwards, or on its southern face, by a wall, and -at one part thickened into a dam, divides the middle from the outer -moat, at present skirted by the Nant-Garw road. This is the _north -bank_. - -From the same front, from the end of the covered way, close to the -dividing wall, a second bank of earth is given off, and, passing -westwards to unite with the horn-work, divides the inner from the -middle moat, and forms a part of the northern defences of the -castle. Its inner face is partially lined by a wall, in which is a -sluice-tunnel. This is the _curved ridge_. - -II.—The HORN-WORK covering the western front of the castle, and -placed between the middle and outer gates, is an irregular polygon of -about three acres, revetted all round with a wall of 15 feet high, -above which is a talus of about 8 feet more. From its south-western -face issues one of the feeding springs of the lake. On the eastern, -or longest face, is a semi-pier, to receive the drawbridge, of 20 -feet span, from the opposite gatehouse of the middle ward. On the -north-western face a similar semi-pier, between half-round bastions, -seems to have supported the drawbridge, also of 20 feet span, giving -access to the castle in this direction. Possibly each bridge was of two -pieces, one dropping from each bank upon a central tressel or timber -structure in the ditch. - -III.—The REDOUBT has already been mentioned as being formed by scraping -down a knoll of gravel on the north-west quarter of the castle. - -The body of this earthwork is quadrangular, capped at the three outer -angles by three bastions, and excavated in the centre into a sort -of casemate. The curtain, towards the castle, is intersected by two -trenches, separated by a mound or cavalier, and leading into the centre -of the work. - -Outside the redoubt, and following the curve of its bastions, is a -ditch, upon the outer three sides broad and deep, on the fourth side -but slightly marked. - -The ramparts of the redoubt are unprovided with either parapets for -canon or banquettes for musquetry, and the scarp is continued unbroken -to the rampart. Neither scarp nor counterscarp, though steep, has any -retaining wall. - -Beyond its main ditch is a spacious _glacis_, terminating in three low -bastions and a shallow ditch. Both ditches were probably dry. - -The whole work resembles much those thrown up in haste during the wars -between Charles I. and the Parliament, and has either been partially -destroyed, or, which seems more probable, has never been entirely -completed. No doubt it was stockaded. - -The inner and middle wards of the castle occupy the island, which has -already been described as formed out of the end of the peninsula. - -This island is scarped into a parallelogram, 111 yards east and west, -by 96 north and south. The four angles are capped by large bastions, -parts of circles. The intervening straight lines are termed, in -fortification, curtains. - -The sides or scarps of these bastions and curtains are faced with a -stone wall 30 feet high, and surmounted by a parapet of from 5 feet to -12 feet more; and within this enclosure are contained the middle and -inner ward. - -The inner ward is formed by placing a second parallelogram, smaller -than the last, within it. This forms the inner, and the concentric -space between the two, the middle, ward. - -IV.—The _Middle Ward_ thus presents four divisions, towards the -cardinal points, all forming terraces of from 16 to 20 yards broad, -and the opposite sides being of nearly equal length. Upon the east and -west are the gatehouses; on the south, offices, and a water gate; and, -on the north, an open terrace, overlooking the outer defences of the -castle on that side. - -The _Eastern Gatehouse_ is formed of two low towers, with half-round -projections towards the moat, and a portal between the two. The walls -are thick, and there is a lodge on each side, lighted by three loops. -Above these lodges was the battlement. On the north side is a square -building, the use of which is unknown. This gatehouse was connected -with that of the inner ward, and between the two there seem to have -been side doors. - -One of these, on the south, led to the _Water-tank_, lined with -masonry, 50 feet long by 20 wide, probably a fish-preserve connected -with the kitchen. - -In front of this gatehouse, and dividing it from the platform of the -grand gate, the moat is about 45 feet wide. As there are no traces of a -central pier for the drawbridge which must have crossed this space, it -seems probable that it rested on an intermediate tressel of timber, as -at Raby and Holt, which admitted of being removed or destroyed in the -event of a siege. - -The _Western Gatehouse_ is placed opposite to the horn-work, and -between them is a moat 60 feet wide. The portal is loftier, and the -front broader, than in the eastern gatehouse. There are two chambers -on either side of the portal, and above them a first story, with -fireplaces and chimneys. - -Between this gate and the north-west tower of the inner ward are some -later buildings, and a wall, which seems to have been intended to cut -off the communication between the gatehouse and the north terrace. On -the south side is a similar wall, shutting off the south terrace. - -The offices and water-gate passage occupy a part of the south terrace -of this ward. - -The _Water-gate Gallery_ leads from the hall to the lake, and is big -enough to contain a boat. It is vaulted by a succession of narrow -arches, in steps, instead of by one sloping vault. Above it are -chambers, probably for cooks and attendants in the kitchens. - -Against this passage, upon its eastern side, is the _Kitchen Tower_—a -low tower of great strength, having the ground floor vaulted, and -recesses, apparently for boiling and stewing, on a large scale. The -fireplace is in the upper story. - -The kitchen communicated with the hall, and with a sort of yard -occupying the eastern end of the south terrace. A well-stair leads down -to the lower, and up to the upper, kitchen. - -In the yard is the oven, and a passage leading to the tank. Here, also, -against the south curtain of the inner ward is a low oblong building, -with one or two bows to the south, which seems to have been connected -with the kitchen, and, in modern days, would have been the still-room. - -V.—The INNER WARD is a quadrangle, measuring 200 feet east and west, by -160 feet north and south. It is contained within four curtain walls, -capped at the angles by four round towers, and broken on the east and -west sides by two lofty and magnificent gatehouses. The south side of -the court thus formed is occupied by the hall and state apartments. - -Of the _Curtains_, those on the north and east, are about 30 feet -high, including the battlement. That on the south is higher by a -story, and the rampart walk is continued along it—below, as a vaulted -_triforial gallery_ in the thickness of the wall, above, as an open -walk. The triforial passage in the southern curtain is called the -Braose Gallery, why, it is difficult to say, since the barons of that -name, though lords of Gower, had no property east of the Nedd, in -Glamorgan. - -The four _Bastion Towers_ which cap the angles of this ward are -very marked features in the appearance of the castle. They have a -projection, outside the wall, of three-fourths of a circle; are of -three stages, with timber roofs and floors; and measure, in exterior -diameter, 36 feet, and within, 18 feet; the walls being 9 feet thick. -Each story is lighted by loopholes, very large within, but appearing -exteriorly as a line. A well-stair leads to the summit of each. These -towers open into the court, and upon the battlements. Their type is -best seen in the north-west tower. - -The _Eastern Gatehouse_ is a superb pile. It is oblong, and has -two half-round bows on its eastern side, and two round turrets, of -three-quarter circle projection, at the north-west and south-west -angles, within the court. The building is traversed by a portal, -entered between the bow towers. The arch is “drop,” and the entrance -is defended by gates, palisade, and portcullis. Above the opening into -the court is a shoot for dropping missiles upon those below. On each -side of the portal are lodges, and the second story is a spacious -hall or council-chamber, with a large fireplace, and two large and -handsome windows looking towards the court. Above this chamber is -the battlement. On the north and south sides of this gatehouse are a -number of small apartments, mostly vaulted, and some of them used as -portcullis rooms. Over the door leading to the ramparts, on the south, -is a small oratory or chapel, with a ribbed and vaulted roof, and two -Decorated windows. - -The _Western Gatehouse_ is on the same plan, but rather smaller, and -without turrets towards the court, its staircases being contained -within the thickness of the wall. The lodges on each side of the portal -are vaulted and ribbed, with ornamental corbels. They open direct into -the court. The state chamber above is not so large as in the eastern -gatehouse. It rests upon a vaulted floor. - -The _Hall_ is built against the south curtain. It measures 73 feet by -35 feet, and was about 30 feet high. It is lighted by four large and -lofty windows towards the court, with ogee arches and reduplicated -bands of the ball-flower moulding; within are crocketed canopies, in a -somewhat stiff, but excellent, style. Between the windows is a broad -fireplace, and to the east of them a door, which was the principal -entrance on the south side. A door in the curtain leads down a long -vaulted passage to the water gate of the lake, and another door leads -to the kitchen and bakehouse, in the middle ward. A plain door at the -west end opens into some state apartments, and other doors, and a large -window at the east end, communicate with a cellar and the chapel. - -The roof, of timber, sprung from fourteen short clustered pilasters, -resting upon heads as corbels, placed against the north and south -walls. The north wall is of dressed stone, and carried a stringcourse -with ball flowers, about 3 feet above the ground. On the east wall is -a stringcourse connected with the drip-stone of the chapel window. The -east, south, and western sides were plastered, and probably painted, or -hung with tapestry. - -The _Chapel_, east of the hall—evident from its position and large east -window—presents nothing remarkable. There are four _state apartments_ -west of the hall, two on the ground and two on the first floor. They -are lighted from the north, and one of the windows is of great length -and cinquefoiled, with a quatrefoil in the head. A staircase in the -thickness of the curtain wall leads into the Braose Gallery, as well as -to the upper rooms, and to some appendages connected with the sewage, -and which seem to have been added. - -In the grand court, a little to the north of the eastern entrance, is -the well, about 4 feet diameter. - - - PRESENT CONDITION. - -The castle, in its present condition, assumes a very different -appearance from that described as its original state, although enough -remains to bear out the description. - -The eastern, or main front, is in good preservation. The masonry of the -three northern buttresses is but little injured, although between them -and the curtain are deep fissures, evidently the work of gunpowder, -aided by the presence of a long window on either side. The mine was -evidently sprung at the gorge of these buttresses, but the quantity of -powder introduced has not been sufficient to overthrow them. - -Most of the smaller buttresses on the southern flank are unhurt, but -the two at the southern extremity are laid prostrate, with their -connecting curtain, 15 feet in thickness, forming a chasm, through -which the Nant-y-Gledyr takes its undisturbed course. The object of -this destruction, which was permanently to empty the lake, has been -gained. It is now a meadow. - -The lower story of the grand gatehouse, and the piers of its bridge, -are in tolerable order; but the upper chambers of the former are -much battered, and the staircases rendered inaccessible, above a -certain height, by the absence of the newels, and the fracture of the -stone steps. The great pier stands alone, but the outer semi-pier -is encumbered with cottages. The outer and eastern moat, now of no -great depth, is still marshy. At its northern end the sides are -cultivated; towards the southern, cottages are built in it. Between -these two portions, north of the pier, is the modern entrance, passing -through the water gate, now a battered hole 11 feet wide: near it a -door has been opened into a sort of cavity below the lower story of -the gatehouse, used as a cart hovel. The foundations of the southern -curtain, being in the moat, are tolerably perfect. Those of the -northern, elevated upon a bank of earth, are much battered. - -The _tête-du-pont_, in which the southern curtain terminates, has -suffered considerably. The curvilinear wall between the towers is -levelled to a breastwork, and the side of the portal towards the lake -has been blown quite away, as has been also the entrance and part of -the floor of the neighbouring D-shaped tower. - -The northern limb of the bifurcated wall, proceeding from the postern, -has been blown out of the perpendicular; and, although there is no -great danger of its fall, the loose stones adjoining its fissure are a -source of danger to the antiquary who may attempt to scale it. Cottages -are clustered against the outside of this wall, and its re-entering -angle is occupied by a pigstye. - -South of the castle, west of the _tête-du-pont_, the land on the back -of the lake is partly in tillage, and partly occupied by cottages; on -the north, to the west of the sally-port, the wall between the outer -and second moat is reduced to a line of foundation. The peculiar -thickness of this wall, where it has served the purpose of a dam, is -well seen. The outer moat has, in this direction, been encroached upon -by the Nant-Garw road, which tops its counterscarp for about 100 yards. -The mill is levelled to the ground. A dry watercourse, and the tunnel -enlarged into a breach, still mark the ancient exit of its waters. The -drainage of the lake was, of course, fatal to the mill. The modern -miller of Caerphilly has removed to the outside of the great southern -breach, where he takes advantage of the Nant-y-Gledyr. - -The horn-work covering the western entrance remains in excellent -preservation, and its revetment, except where in part quarried, is -nearly as sound as ever, although its gatehouse and western pier, if -ever they existed, have been destroyed. They were probably of timber. -The moat, to the west of the horn-work, being still in wet weather the -channel of a rivulet, is overgrown with reeds and aquatic plants; to -the east or castle side it is swampy in wet weather; and on the south -is the bed of the ancient inundation, now a plain of sward, across -which a path leads to a spring. - -Along the exterior line of defence to the north-west, the redoubt, -fosses, and adjacent earthworks are obscured by young trees and -brushwood, by the effects of tillage, and by the buildings of the -castle farm. - -Entering the castle by the east water gate, the wall parallel to the -curtain which formed the back of the northern or stable gallery is seen -on the right, levelled nearly with the soil, and, consequently, all -regular access to the buttress chambers is thus cut off. - -The counterscarp of the inner moat is in ruins, choking up the moat. -All vestiges of the eastern drawbridge between the grand front and the -middle ward have disappeared. - -The flanking towers of the eastern gatehouse of the middle ward are -destroyed, that on the south completely, and that on the north very -nearly so, the ruins of the singular building attached to it having -prevented its entire destruction. - -At the opposite or western extremity of this ward, the gatehouse is in -rather better condition. The portal has been broken away below, but the -hollow semi-piers connecting it with the horn-work remain. The front of -this gatehouse, of great thickness, is perfect, and is garnished with a -pair of chimneys; its inner part has been destroyed. The windows in the -front are the only vestiges of the upper story. - -On the north front of this ward the curtain is much shattered by the -fall of the inner towers, and, as all the bastions have been ruined and -blown up, their exact line of boundary is scarcely traceable. - -Upon the southern side, the wide lake and the strength of the -outbuildings have, in some degree, preserved the curtain, but the -doorway of the water gate, which opens in it, is much injured. A few -feet below its sill, a long black stain marks the height of the water -in former times, and gives about 9 feet as the average depth of the -lake. - -The gallery, kitchens, &c., which occupy this side, are much injured; -but in front of the great oven a portion of the parapet remains, here -about 12 feet high, and furnished with a loop. - -The tank remains, though nearly choked up with stones and brambles. -Since the fall of the adjacent wall of the bastion, its position has -been insecure. Recently its wall has cracked, and, unless repaired, it -may be expected soon to fall into the moat. - -Ascending from the eastern gatehouse, across a mass of almost -untraceable ruins, the central ward of the castle is entered. - -With the exception of a partial breach on the northern side, the -curtains of this inner ward have suffered but little, and the height of -the parapet and rerewall may still be inferred, by the projections at -its junction with the towers. - -The eastern gatehouse has been separated by a blast into two portions; -of which the inner, towering to a prodigious height, still remains -tolerably perfect; while the outer, broken into fragments, has crushed -the lower gatehouse beneath its weight, and still encumbers it with its -ruins. - -The western gatehouse has been more fortunate; the staircases, however, -are broken and irregular, and the vaulting injured. Through the floor -of its central apartment a hole has been broken into the vaults of the -portal, and of one of the lodges beneath. - -In the floor of the Braose or triforial gallery are two large holes -which open upon a staircase and passage below. - -The buildings within the court have suffered severely. The hall is -covered by a temporary roof, but the structure of its ancient roof -is apparent from the remaining corbels. The pavement has been long -removed: the sills of the windows have been cut away, and the tracery -and mouldings which adorned them are broken and defaced. - -A window and door at the east end have been shattered into one, and the -vaulted passage leading to the offices is a shapeless and rugged hole. - -The vaulted roof of the kitchen is broken, but enough remains to -display its original structure. The steps of the water-gate gallery -have been removed, but the vaulted roof is but little injured. - -In the great court a depression in the sward indicates the ancient -well. It has lately been opened a few feet down, but nothing of -importance was discovered. - -The four bastion towers of this ward deserve special notice, since it -is the position of one of them which has conferred upon this castle -much of the notoriety it possesses. - -That these four towers have been mined and blown up with gunpowder, at -some period when the effects of that agent were well understood, is -evident on inspection. The mine has been sprung near the centre of each -tower, and has produced effects, differing in degree only, upon each. -That on the north-east is altogether levelled, on the outside, entirely -to the ground, crushing in its descent the very bastion on which its -foundation rested—on the inside, the door and a portion of wall, as -high as the curtain, only remain. The destruction of the north-western -tower has not been by any means so complete. Only a third of its outer -circumference has fallen, and the rest, deprived indeed of its floors, -remains as firm as ever. The portion which has fallen lies in fragments -upon the neighbouring bastion. - -At the south-western tower the mine has operated outwards; the whole -of the outer portion has fallen upon the bastion and into the ditch, -but the inner strip connecting it with the rest of the building, and -containing the entrances to the several stories, has been protected by -the outbuildings on its southern side, and is unshaken. - -The last, or south-eastern, is the celebrated leaning tower, the -obliquity of which has been much exaggerated, and absurdly accounted -for. In the case of this tower the mine has exploded in a contrary -direction from the rest, and the inner portion, with the adjoining -curtain, has been thrown into the court, while the outer portion -remains standing, although the force of the explosion has thrown the -mass out of the perpendicular, so that it overhangs its base, towards -the south-west, nine feet. The parapet at its summit remains quite -perfect, and is the only one in the castle that is so. - -The neighbourhood of these four towers, and the intervening gatehouses, -upon which the force of the gunpowder has been chiefly employed, is -a chaos of ruins; subverted masses of the gallery, staircases, the -vaulting of large portions of the chambers themselves, lie in confusion -upon the ground; and the thin mantle of vegetation which has enveloped -them, although it adds much to their picturesque beauty, increases -in no slight degree the difficulty of accurately comprehending their -original disposition. - -Throughout this immense building the iron work, even to the staples of -the doorways, has been removed; nor is there any lead to be found in -the sockets of the window-bars. - -The hewn stone forming the door-frames, window-cases, newels of the -well-staircases, and in some instances the stairs themselves, have -been rudely wrenched away, with damage to the walls, for the purpose, -probably, of converting them into lime. - -Portcullises, stockades, doors, with the roof of the hall, and every -particle of timber in the place, have long been removed. Every -staircase, gallery, and chamber is pervious to the rain, and exposed -to the pernicious force of the frost, yet such and so durable are the -materials, and so firm the mortar with which the whole is cemented, -that time and weather alone have produced but trifling injuries upon -the pile, compared with the wilful destruction of the hand of man. - -Before arriving at any general conclusion respecting the age of -Caerphilly, it will be proper to make a few remarks upon certain -details, on which those conclusions in some measure rest. - -And first of the doorways. With certain exceptions shortly to be -enumerated, the doorways throughout the building are of the same -general character. The arches are “drop,” that is to say, they are -obtusely pointed arches, whose centres lie below their spring. This -is obviously the best form of the pointed arch for the portals of a -castle, and it is that usually employed in the military structures of -the Edwardian period. With the same exceptions, the arch-mouldings -are composed of a five-sided rib, upon the front and widest face of -which a smaller rib, of the same figure, is placed. This pattern of -rib-moulding is also very commonly employed in castles. - -The principal portals, together with the doors leading from the first -story of the towers upon the ramparts, are defended by portcullises, -working in a D-shaped groove. This groove passes up as a chase or -slot into the chamber above; but there is no evidence of the sort -of contrivance employed in raising the portcullis. The portcullis, -however, might have been raised by mere manual exertion, and a bar -thrust across would be sufficient to retain it securely when raised. -The sills are destroyed, so that it does not appear whether the points -of the portcullis were received into, or had worn, small holes in them. -Besides the portcullis, the larger portals are provided with a chase, -but without side grooves, intended, as is presumed, to allow of the use -of a sort of wooden frame. Also, in the main portals are four or five -square holes or _meurtrières_ in the arch, through which beams to form -a stockade might be dropped. It may be observed further that although -some of the portal passages are of considerable length, yet the ribs of -their vaults are all transverse, never passing diagonally from an angle -towards the centre, in the manner employed at Caldecot and elsewhere, -to vault a compartment of such passages. - -There appears to have been more than one kind of drawbridge employed -in this castle. In some places, as at the great gate, and at the -passage in its gatehouse tower, the bridge, when drawn up, fitted into -a depression, so as to lie flush with the upper wall, from whence, -therefore, its length may be inferred. In other cases it simply rested -against the wall, making a projection. It seems always to have been -long enough, when up, to cover the gateway. - -The method of hanging the bridge also varied. On the sides of some -of the portals a stone has been inserted, into which the horizontal -pivots of the bridge (of iron, from the small size of the pintle or -hole) fitted; but, connected with the place for the gudgeon or pivot -is another groove, which passes up at an angle of forty-five degrees -for a few feet, and then passes on horizontally for a few more. It -appears as though this were a contrivance, when the bridge was raised, -for throwing its lower end upwards and forwards, so as more effectually -to shield the upper part of the door, to present an oblique surface -to missiles, and, by making the bridge lean back against the wall, to -remove the strain from its chains or ropes, and to prevent it from -falling, even should they be broken. It may be, however, that into -these grooves fitted some lever, or other contrivance for working the -bridge; where they occur, there are no holes above for the passage of -the drawbridge chains into the portcullis chamber. Similar grooves are -seen in the upper gatehouse at Chepstow. - -The defences of the great, or water, postern are singular. The grooves, -which in other cases form the portcullis slides, here stop abruptly -a little above the arch. They are too deep for the hinges of gates, -and were probably filled by a defence similar to a portcullis, but -which was received into a cavity below. Indeed, as there is only a -lofty wall, and no chamber above the postern, the regular plan was -inadmissible. - -There is a further contrivance for the defence of a gate, consisting of -a sort of shoot, opening obliquely downwards from the sill of a window, -employed in two places in this castle; one over the door of the eastern -inner gateway, and the other over the door of the north-west principal -bastion tower; in both cases evidently with a view to the defence of -the towers when the enemy had gained the inner court. - -The battlements and parapets throughout the castle are of a very plain -description. They are massy and flat topped, the coping being a rough -slab of sandstone. The height and thickness, together with that of -the rerewall and the width of the rampart walk, may be always deduced -from a careful inspection of the walls or towers against which they -terminate. The parapet and rerewall are usually of the same height, and -nearly as high as the top of the doors leading to them. - -The embrasures are contained within parallel sides, and bear a small -proportion to the merlons, which latter are each perforated by a loop. -These details may be seen upon the summit of the leaning tower, or, -more conveniently, upon the northern curtain, toward the north-west -bastion tower. It is evident, from the unfinished character of the -battlements, and the flat undressed coping, that they were intended -to be masked by an exterior gallery, or brattice of wood, resting on -the stone corbels which still remain. For this reason there are no -machicolations in stone, or devices for dropping missiles through the -floor of a projecting parapet—a contrivance which adds so materially -to the grandeur of the towers of Warwick, Raglan, and Cardiff. Over -the eastern middle gateway, the parapet has a false machicolation, or -slight projection, supported upon a table of corbel blocks, but without -apertures, or a projection sufficient to admit of any. - -The windows, with certain exceptions, are either loops, or, if larger, -of a very plain character. In the hall, however, and in the large -rooms of the two inner gatehouses, they are very wide and lofty, and -have been highly ornamented. The two latter rooms are so much injured, -and the windows so mutilated, that it can only be said, that what -little remains of ornament are seen resemble in style the more perfect -ornaments of the hall. The oratory attached to the eastern inner -gatehouse has a vaulted roof, divided into two square compartments, -supported by transverse and diagonal ribs. The two windows towards the -south are long and narrow, without a mullion, and trefoiled; their -mouldings are only an exterior chamfer. There are some other windows in -the gatehouses, looking towards the interior, which are much shorter, -but otherwise resemble this. The four hall windows are lofty and well -proportioned; they open to within four feet of the ground. - -The exterior moulding of the windows is completely gone; that of the -door was discovered by removing the grass about its base. - -The interior mouldings of the windows are extremely rich, owing to the -reduplication of the bands, to occupy the great thickness of the wall. -The angles of the mouldings are, at two depths, removed, and their -place occupied by a hollow groove, in which the pomegranate ornament -is placed at intervals, making up the circle by its projection. Beyond -each of these bands of pomegranates are pilaster strips, filleted at -their angles, and surmounted by small angular capitals: within is a -handsome ogee canopy, enriched with crockets and finials, in a very -pure style. - -The door has a good internal drip, but its inner moulding is composed -of only one band of ball flowers. The outer mouldings are rich. There -are three bands of pomegranates, which no doubt were continued, as in -the windows, round the arch; and between them are two rows of small -disengaged columns, with the circular concave pedestal. Of these only -the pedestal remains. - -The fourteen corbels upon which the beams of the roof rested are -composed of three short clustered columns, connected by their posterior -half, and separated by a fillet and bold hollow; above they are crowned -with a neat cap moulding, and below, they rest upon three projecting -busts, of which the central is the lowest and largest. A fillet runs -up the centre of each of these columns, and, pausing at the abacus, is -continued up the capital, and finally dies in the astragal. Corbels, of -somewhat earlier date, but in general appearance resembling these, may -be seen in the keep at Chepstow. - -There are no decorations remaining about the fireplace. The plain -stringcourse along the east end of the hall, returned from the corbel -of the chapel window, is perfect. A base tablet is seen at the west end -of the north side, but it is destroyed along its length. - -A long window in one of the staterooms resembles, though on a much -larger scale, the windows of the oratory already described. It appears, -however, to have been trefoiled, with a quatrefoil above the head. - -There are two small polygonal apartments on either side of the inner -western gate, in the vaulted roofs of which a plain diagonal rib rises -from a corbel at each angle, and meets its fellow in the centre. The -corbels have three flat faces, and terminate in a point, which rests -upon some animal, in every case wantonly defaced. They appear to have -been lodges. - -Caerphilly presents as little architectural decoration, in proportion -to its extent, as any castellated building in Britain. - -Generally, its series of concentric defences, and the general -disposition of its constituent parts, resemble those of Harlech and -Beaumaris. The plan of these concentric castles is very peculiar. It is -unlike the earlier Norman castles, in which the keep was the principal -feature, and in which comfort was sacrificed to safety; and it is also -unlike the later castles, which possess not only large interior, but -large exterior, windows, as at Sheriff-Hutton, and in which there is no -building to which the name of keep could be attached. - -Nor is the style of architecture employed at Caerphilly less -characteristic of its age; the drop arch, the perfectly plain rib, -the general absence of decorations and armorial bearings, the plain -battlements, and the absence of machicolations, indicate generally the -same period. - -The columns of the hall doorway, the concave moulding of their -pedestals, the triple cluster of columns forming the corbels of the -roof, their bell capitals, and light cap moulding, are due to the Early -English style, which prevailed from 1189 to 1307. - -On the other hand, the pomegranate moulding, the rich, though chaste -and somewhat stiff, canopies of the door and windows, the little -pilasters in the windows with the pentagonal capitals, the ogee arches, -and the plain fillet running up the columnar corbels of the roof, are -marks all belonging to the Decorated style, which prevailed from 1307 -to 1377. - -The mixture of these two styles, very common in English buildings, -denotes a period varying according to the preponderance of either, and -in the present instance may legitimately be referred to the latter -quarter of the thirteenth century, when the Decorated style was -beginning to supersede the Early English. Instances of this transition, -and of the ball-flower, or pomegranate, moulding, may be seen round the -inside of the choir of Bristol Cathedral, and on the outside of the -south aisle of Keynsham Church. - -The earlier alterations at Chepstow, and more particularly the oratory -attached to Martin’s Tower, and the columnar corbels in the keep, may -be cited as of an earlier date than Caerphilly, having been evidently -placed there before the decline of the Early English style. - -The internal evidence of the building, which would place its date about -the end of the reign of Henry III., agrees with the evidence of records -cited hereafter, in which the castle is referred to, in the year 1272, -as having been lately erected by Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester -and Hertford. - -Before this period, mention is occasionally made of the castle of -Senghenydd, which, from its having been taken, retaken, and more -than once utterly destroyed, was evidently a place much contested, -but of no great magnitude or passive strength. After the erection of -Caerphilly, Senghenydd Castle is not again mentioned. It is therefore -not impossible that Senghenydd Castle was a rude fortification of -timber and undressed stone, upon the peninsula afterwards occupied by -Caerphilly. - -Caerphilly having then certainly been founded by Earl Gilbert a little -before 1272, the question arises as to whether the whole of it was then -built. - -The inner ward, its curtains, bastions, gatehouses, with all their -contents and appendages, are of one date. The south wall was always of -its present height, and therefore always intended to support the roof -of the hall, the walls of which are bonded into it. The gatehouses -are evidently part of the original plan, and the long windows of the -staterooms, and those of the oratory in the inner gatehouse are, in -their form and mouldings, precisely similar. - -It appears that the curtain connecting the north-west bastion tower -with the west gatehouse was originally as low as the northern curtain, -but that a sort of gallery, and its superincumbent rampart, have been -added. A cluster of buildings has also been added on the outside of the -south curtain, at the angle formed by its junction with the south-west -tower. - -The general design of the middle ward, and most of its buildings, are -clearly of the date of the inner ward. The western gatehouse, however, -appears to be of somewhat later date; the false machicolations, the -holes for the portcullis chains, the chimneys rising above the parapet, -and the less durable character of the masonry, seem to indicate this. -The walls, moreover, by means of which this gatehouse is connected -with the curtain of the inner ballium, though of the same age with the -former, are not bonded into, and are separated by fissures from, the -latter—a tolerably sure indication of difference of age. - -It is not improbable that the whole exterior line of defence on the -east, and the horn-work on the west, were the last parts of the castle -completed. They form, however, parts of the original design, since, had -the ground on which they stand been left unoccupied, the castle would -not have been tenable. - -With respect to the redoubt, it is perfectly evident, from its -appearance, that it was thrown up, not only when gunpowder was in -general use, but when the science of fortification was pretty well -understood. It seems, like the earthworks at Donnington and other -castles, to be of the age of Charles I. - -The injuries received by this castle are similar to others at Corfe and -elsewhere, known to be referable to the same period of civil strife in -which the battle of St. Fagan’s, and the occupation of Cardiff, prove -the men of Glamorgan to have taken an active part. Nothing, therefore, -seems more probable than that the redoubt should have been thrown -up hastily by one party for the defence of the castle, and that the -dismantling of the whole should have been perpetrated by the other, -to prevent such a defence being practicable in future. Though history -has afforded no clue as to the one of the contending parties to which -either proceeding is to be referred, there can be no doubt but that the -blowing up of the towers was the work of the Parliament. - -There seems no reason to suppose that the works of Caerphilly were -never completed. The flanking towers on either wing rest upon the lake, -and the horn-work is a sufficient defence in the opposite direction. - -About three-quarters of a mile from Caerphilly, on the Rudry road, are -the ruins of the “VAN,” or “Ffanvawr,” the ancient and very stately -manor-house of the Lewis family, the direct descendants in blood, and -the heirs in heritage, of Ivor Bach, on whose land Caerphilly was -erected. - -Most of the outer walls of the house, and a curious old dovecot, -remain standing. They are of the age of Elizabeth or James, but much -of the hewn stone employed in the windows, doorcases, quoins, and -stringcourses of the lower story, are either of oolite or Sutton -stone, and are very evidently a part of the spoils of Caerphilly. Most -of these stones have been worked up, and their original ornaments -destroyed, but one long stringcourse of Decorated date, evidently much -earlier than the wall in which it is embedded, extends along the west -front of the house. - -These stones could not have been removed from Caerphilly earlier than -the reign of Elizabeth, in which reign, or rather in that of Henry -VIII., the castle was used as a prison. Probably the central parts were -so occupied, and the parts allowed to be spoiled were those connected -with the east front. In appropriating the stones of Caerphilly to the -erection of their manor-house, the Lewis family, from whom the ground -was originally wrested, may have committed a breach of taste, but none -had a better moral right to help themselves from that source. - - - - - CARDIFF CASTLE, GLAMORGAN. - - -The castle of Cardiff, though not unknown to border fame, has been the -theatre of no great historical event, nor does it present any very -striking peculiarities of position, scenery, or structure. Its claim -to more than local interest rests upon the character and fortunes of -the great barons whose inheritance and occasional residence it was from -the 11th to the 15th century, from the reign of Rufus to that of Henry -VI. Probably a Roman castrum, and certainly a hold of the local British -princes, it was won, in 1090, by the sword of Robert Fitzhamon, lord -of the Honour of Gloucester, and by him constituted the “caput” of his -newly acquired seignory of Morgan and Glamorgan. - -Mabel, the heiress of Fitzhamon, conveyed his possessions, with her -hand, to Robert Consul, Earl of Gloucester, bastard son of Henry I., -and the reputed builder of the Norman parts of the castle. - -They were succeeded by their son William, Earl of Gloucester, who died -1173, leaving daughters only; the inheritance was then for a time -held by King John, then Earl of Moreton, by marriage with Isabel, the -youngest co-heir; and on her divorce, soon after 1199, by Geoffrey de -Mandeville, Earl of Essex, who died, 1216. Isabel’s third husband was -Hubert de Burgh, she died childless. - -Upon this, Almaric d’Evreux, who married Mabel, the elder co-heir, -became Earl of Gloucester; but Mabel’s issue also failed. - -Amice, the second co-heir, had married Richard, head of the powerful -house of De Clare; and their son Gilbert, Earl of Hertford, thus -finally became Earl of Gloucester, lord of that honour, and possessor -of the castle of Cardiff. He died 1229. - -Four earls of the race of Clare possessed Cardiff Castle for nearly a -century; and though chiefly resident at Clare and Tonbridge, did much -to adorn the castle and consolidate the seignory. - -In 1320, Eleanor, the elder co-heir of the last De Clare, was married -to Hugh le Despenser the younger, the minion of Edward II. During the -minority or attainder of their son, Hugh d’Audley who had married the -second co-heir, had the earldom, and possibly held Cardiff at his death -in 1347. The Despensers then reappeared in the person of Thomas, son -of Edward, who was son of Hugh and Eleanor de Clare. This Thomas was -created earl of Gloucester in 1397, and attainted and beheaded in 1400. -His son Richard, who succeeded, died a minor and childless, in 1414. - -The earldom of Gloucester was not revived, but, including the first -Hugh, five members of this unfortunate race held the seignory and -castle for ninety-four years. - -Isabel le Despenser, sister of Richard, and the final heiress, was born -at Cardiff Castle, which she did much to strengthen and embellish. -She married the cousins, Richard Beauchamp, earl of Worcester, and -Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. The Earl of Worcester married -before 1415-16, and died about 1421, leaving a daughter, whose -descendants became barons Le Despenser in her right, but who did not -inherit Cardiff. Countess Isabel’s chief works at Cardiff were probably -executed after her second marriage, which took place before 1425. Her -charter to Cardiff, as Countess of Worcester, in 1423, confirms those -of her paternal ancestors. Her son, Henry, Duke of Warwick, succeeded -his father in 1439, and died in 1446. His heiress, Anne Beauchamp, -had but a brief and nominal tenure of the seignory, dying in 1449, an -infant of six years. - -The castle then descended to the representative of another Anne -Beauchamp, sister and heiress to the duke. She married Richard Nevile, -the great Earl of Salisbury and Warwick, who thus added Cardiff to his -already extensive possessions. One of the town charters, dated Cardiff -Castle, 12th March, 1451, was granted by Richard, Earl of Warwick, Lord -le Despenser, &c., and Anne his wife. - -Upon the earl’s death, in 1471, Cardiff Castle fell to Anne, his -younger daughter and co-heir by Anne Beauchamp, in whose right her -husband Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., became -lord of Cardiff Castle and the seignory, and in the latter capacity -granted various charters and confirmations yet extant. - -Upon the fall and death of Richard, the claims by heirship were set -aside and the castle and seignory escheated to the Crown. They were -subsequently granted to Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford; but on his -death, in 1495, again became crown property. The seignory, with its -“jura regalia” and prerogatives of marchership, was not again revived; -but Henry VII. and his son leased the lordship to Charles Somerset, -who was residing at Cardiff in 1513; and Edward VI. granted or sold -the castle of Cardiff, with much of the landed estate and the manorial -rights of the old seignory, to William Herbert, the first of the new -earls of Pembroke, in whose heirs general the whole has since remained. - -The history of this long succession of powerful lords, most of whom -set their mark upon the great transactions of their age and country, -has invested the castle with something of historical interest; which, -however, can scarcely be extended to the particulars of the building -itself, the subject of the present paper. - -The castle of Cardiff stands upon the broad gravel plain between the -rivers Taff and Rhymny, upon the left bank of, and two hundred yards -from the former stream, at about the lowest point at which, in ordinary -seasons, it is fordable. - -The position, having a river in front and rear, and the sea close upon -the southern flank, is such as would be selected by a commander skilled -in the art of war, and enclosed in an enemy’s country; and such as, -with disciplined troops, would be impregnable. - -These conditions, the name of the place, and its position upon the -well-known “via maritima,” are suggestive of a Roman origin; an -opinion, indeed, but moderately supported by scanty discoveries of -Roman remains, but in unison with the form and character of a part of -the earthworks which enter into the composition of the present castle. - -These appear to have been a single lofty bank raised from an exterior -ditch, and enclosing much of three sides of a quadrangular space, of -which the fourth lies open towards the river; a practice by no means -unusual in Roman or “quasi-” Roman encampments. It is possible, though -scarcely probable, that the earthwork was once complete on the three -sides down to the river, and that the south-western part was destroyed -to form a very considerable mound, which still remains towering over -the banks of the enclosure, and is crowned by the shell of an early -multangular keep. Wallingford, Tamworth and Wareham are instances in -which a quadrangular earthwork has been in part retained and in part -removed by the builders of a Norman castle, and in each of which also -there is a mound. - -Whatever may have been its origin, the castle of Cardiff covers a -plot of ground nearly square in plan, being 200 yards east and west -by 216 yards north and south; and bounded on the north and east, and -partially on the south, sides, by banks of earth, and on the west and -remainder of the south side by a wall. The banks are about 30 feet -high, 90 feet broad at the base, and 12 feet at the summit, along -which runs a light embattled wall about 6 feet high and 2 feet thick. -This wall is mentioned by Meyric, in 1578, as in decay, and it was -rebuilt from its shallow foundation of only 2 feet in 1861. It cannot -have been intended as a serious military defence, and the recent -excavations did not reveal any traces of an older or more substantial -work. At the south-east, north-east, and north-west angles, the banks -are strengthened, possibly to carry towers, of which, however, no -foundations have been discovered. The earthwork is returned about 70 -yards along the south, and about 30 yards along the west, fronts, to -give support to, and cover the commencement of, the walls of those -sides which, with an inconsiderable exception, are evidently very -ancient, and were probably executed by Robert, Consul or Earl of -Gloucester. - -These walls are magnificent works, being 40 feet high and 10 feet -thick, and perfectly solid. - -The main buildings of the castle are in the line and form a part of the -west wall. In the centre of the south side is the gateway, once of the -outer ward, now of the general inclosure, a mere arch in the curtain, -and, in its present form, probably of the age of Henry VIII., whose -arms may have occupied a square stone frame remaining above and on the -outside of the gate. - -Close west of the gate is a lofty tower, apparently of early English or -early Decorated date, and restored by the late Lord Bute. This is the -black tower. Though so near the gate it is clear that it never had any -direct communication with it, nor was intended as a gatehouse. Meyric -describes it as a great tower, some stories high, and covered with -lead, with two chambers in each story, the lowest being prisons, known -as Stavell-y-Oged and Stavell Wen. One, the larger of these prisons, -now disused, has a pointed vault and a small loop, high up in the -east wall. This tower has four original entrances: one to each of the -basement prisons, one from the remains of the great curtain, and one -from the ramparts of the castle wall. All are on the north and western -faces, and there is no doorway opening towards the great gateway. It -is thus clear that this tower, though placed close to the gateway, was -never used as a gatehouse. - -The northern bank of the general enclosure presents a slight angle -outwards, and near the salient a tunnel has been cut through it. This -was done about thirty years ago, to give a carriage drive towards the -Senghenydd road. - -Outside, at the foot of the bank, along the north, south, and east -fronts, was a wet ditch, anciently fed by the Taff through the -intervention of the mill leat. This moat covered the three fronts, -extending as far as the north or Senghenydd gate of the town. In the -time of Meyric it was dry and silted up. More recently the eastern -portion has been to some extent superseded by the Glamorganshire -canal, and the northern, at a lower level, is now a part of the feeder -by which the river water is conveyed under the canal to the Dock -reservoir. The southern arm has been filled up and built over for -many centuries, and its existence is only known from the soft, black -soil found in occasional excavations. The mill leat which supplied -the lord’s mill, at which the people of Cardiff were bound to grind, -and which was occasionally used to flood the low ground for purposes -of defence, still runs along the west front of the castle. In the -reign of Elizabeth there were three grist-mills and a tucking-mill -dependent upon the castle, and one grist-mill was standing in 1660, -but was afterwards replaced by a tanyard, removed in 1861, when the -new lodge and town bridge were erected. The bridge then destroyed -was built about 1796, and replaced a structure of four stone arches, -probably of the age of Elizabeth (and referred to in certain Acts of -Parliament), placed rather above the castle; so that the high-road from -it, towards the west gate of the town, crossed the marsh by a causeway -and the leat by a bridge of three arches, and defiled close under the -main buildings of the castle. Part of the old gate of the town, with -its iron gudgeons, may still be seen in the brushwood a few yards in -advance of the great tower, showing how the road entered the town under -the castle wall. A small Tudor archway still remains on the right of -the old entrance, nearly in a line with the Red House, a building of -considerable antiquity, now much altered, and known as the Cardiff Arms -Hotel. Recently some excavations between this building and the castle -disclosed the foundations of the old town wall, and a large arched -passage which might be either a postern or a sewer. It was not followed -up. - -The area within the castle wall is about 10 acres, and within the -counterscarp of the moat about 13 acres. - -Within the great enclosure, near to, and a little west of, the centre -of the north bank, is the Mound, a grand earthwork, which rises from -a circular base of 60 yards in diameter to a height of 32 feet above -the surrounding ground. Its summit is a platform, also circular, 36 -yards across, and crowned by the remains of the keep, called by Leland -the White Tower. This is a shell, or polygon of twelve nearly equal -sides, 80 feet in diameter, the wall being 9 feet thick and 30 feet -high, and constructed mainly of rolled pebbles. This wall is pierced by -the putlog holes, so common in the older masonry, especially of this -district; and in one of the eastern sides is a fireplace of enormous -dimensions, but the chimney of which appears as a mere recess in the -wall, with no present traces of a fourth side or front. Near it is -a sink, so that this was evidently a kitchen: a part, no doubt, of -the buildings which the wall supported. The walls have never been -strengthened by buttresses or pilaster strips; but the exterior angles -of the polygon are capped with ashlar quoins, which appear to be of -the date of the Beauchamp alterations, with some recent additions, one -of which may be the fireplace. The entrance was through a lofty and -strong gate-tower, duly portcullised on the south side, and of which a -part remains. The shell is probably the work of Robert Consul; but the -style and finish of the gate-tower testify to its being due to Isabel -Beauchamp, or her husband, of Warwick. - -This gatehouse was connected with a cluster of towers of great -strength, which occupied the southern slope of the mound, and -terminated below in a second gateway, which was the first or outer -entrance from the middle ward into the keep. Here, though in an older -structure, was the reputed scene of the barbarity practised upon -Curthose, and of his subsequent imprisonment. Meyric describes the -rooms in these buildings as “not so fair as strong.” They were probably -barracks. Much of this building fell down late in the last century, -and was removed. It was, no doubt, of Norman foundation, and probably -altered both by the De Clares and by Isabel Beauchamp. - -Since this account was drawn up, the ditch of the mound has been -carefully opened out, and once more supplied with water. This laid open -the piles of an early bridge, and the arch of a later one, probably of -late Norman date, with the base of a gateway at the foot of the mound, -and a well close to it. Also were laid bare parts of the steps by which -the mound was ascended, laid alongside of a cross wall as at Tickhill. - -The keep does not seem to have contained any central building. A plain -stone stair, of which traces remain against the wall, led to the -battlement, which was also accessible from the gatehouse. Probably an -interior lean-to or shed surrounded the court. - -On the face of the opposite fronts of the gate-tower of the keep and -of the Black Tower, are sections of the great curtain wall, which -extended from one to the other. This wall, thus seen to have been 7 -feet thick and 30 feet high, and embattled on each face, was probably -not the work of the founder of the castle. It was removed late in -the last century, but the foundations remain, and have been laid open. -From Meyric’s description, and an oil painting preserved in the castle, -it appears that it was pierced near its centre by a gateway, flanked -by one if not two semi-drum towers which projected towards the outer -ward, and which, in fact, formed the real gateway to the strong part -of the castle. There was a second smaller door, a sort of postern, in -the southern drum. The foundations corroborate this view. Probably the -curtain was an addition by an early De Clare, after, and probably in -consequence of, the well-known and successful attack of Ivor Bach. - -[Illustration: CARDIFF CASTLE LODGINGS. MAIN FLOOR - -CARDIFF CASTLE. - -G. T. Clark del J. H. Le Keux sc ] - -For the completion of the defence it was absolutely necessary that -the great curtain should have been continued north of the keep. This -portion, however, has been removed. It certainly was never bonded into -the keep wall, but a corbel remaining on the north and outside of this -may have been connected with it. - -The lodgings, or habitable part of the castle, form a rectangular pile, -145 feet long by 55 feet deep, which occupies about two-sevenths of the -western side of the court towards the southern end, and thus forms a -part of the outer line of defence. This pile is composed of a tower, -a central part or body, two main wings, and two lesser wings. All are -built against the great Norman wall; the tower and lesser wings outside -of it, the remainder inside. - -The tower is a bold and well-proportioned octagon of 10 feet in the -side, three faces of which project from the outer or west front, -while the remainder is incorporated into, and now forms part of, the -older Norman wall. It rises from a square base of 26 feet, passing by -broaches into an octagon, to a height of 75 feet, or 12 feet above the -contiguous buildings. It is boldly machicolated, having five corbel -arches on each face, and a lofty parapet above, with two embrasures -each way, the intervening merlons, eight in number, being pierced with -a cruciform loop or oillet. The four outer or western angles, at the -base of the parapet, are capped with bold grotesque heads of animals as -gurgoyles. - -The base is solid. About 6 feet above the ground it contains a rude -chamber, 13 feet square, having a barrel vault, slightly pointed, with -doorways, which seem to be original, in its northern and southern, or -gable ends. The northern door, now blocked up, was, as late as the last -century, a postern; and the chamber was a passage, and seems, from -traces of a wall, to have contained a sort of lodge, subdivided into -two cells. - -Above this chamber is the cylindrical interior of the tower, 13 feet -diameter, now a mere shell, occupied by a stair, and vaulted above. -There are six windows in two tiers, the lower 38 feet from the ground. -They are almost loops, small and square headed, but boldly splayed -within, so as to give light and air, and showing the great thickness -of the wall. Their arrangement proves the upper part of the tower to -have been occupied by two chambers. It is difficult to speculate on the -use of the lower part, which must always have been dark, and is rather -large for a newel staircase. The present stairs and the groining above -are very modern, though the latter may cover older work. - -The shell is original and untouched. The material is lias ashlar, -backed with rolled pebbles from the Taff. The quoins and battlements -are chiefly of a white limestone, dressed with care. This tower gives -character to the whole mass of the building. It has been compared with -Guy’s tower at Warwick, which, though of smaller dimensions, it much -resembles; and it is, no doubt, the work of the same nobleman or his -wife, possibly of the same architect, and probably was built between -the years 1425 and 1439, during which period Richard, Earl of Warwick, -was lord of Cardiff.[3] Some of the prints of the last century show a -turret rising out of the Cardiff tower; but this seems to have been a -fiction, for no traces of such a turret are found, and in that position -it would have been inconsistent with the internal arrangements of the -tower. - -Immediately behind the tower is the central part, or body of the -building, about 70 feet by 30 feet, now composed of a dining-room and -entrance lobby on the main floor; a basement, with cellars and offices -below, and a range of bedrooms above. The tower is divided from this -building by the older main wall of the castle, 10 feet thick and 40 -feet high, which runs through the whole, and is much cut about and -mutilated by later communications. - -The present dining-room and lobby appear to have composed a hall, 62 -feet long by 18 feet broad and 13 feet high, having a flat ceiling, -probably like that of the hall at Warwick. A passage cut through the -wall leads from the lobby into the tower at the foot of the stair, and -is no doubt as old as the tower. In recent times, probably by the first -Stuart, the face of the great wall has been cut away 3 feet, from the -floor level upwards, to give a width of 21 feet to the dining-room. -Also, about five years ago, a passage 32 feet long and 3 feet wide, was -cut like a tunnel through the axis of this wall, to give a way from the -tower to the breakfast-room and offices beyond. - -The eastern front of this hall, which looks into the middle ward, forms -the centre of the present façade. It is divided into three compartments -by four octagonal turrets of half projection, about 4 feet in the side. -These rise to the roof. That to the south contains a stair, with an -original door from the court. The other three consist of two stages -of three windows in each, divided by a string-course. In the lower -stage the two central turrets are more ornate than the rest, and have -their angles capped with slender buttresses surmounted by pinnacles. -This tabernacle work is original in the southernmost of the two, but -was added to the other when the windows were pierced in it, and it -was cased, a few years ago. These turrets are battlemented and looped -above, and range with the regular parapet of the building, but they are -not machicolated, their structure being but slight. The stair-turret -is much older than the rest. The stair, 7 feet in diameter, rudely -restored upon an original newel, communicates with the basement as -well as with the court, and by doors, now closed up, opened into the -hall and bedrooms. It is from the position of these doors, and from -the turret windows, that the height of the old hall has been inferred. -The stair is lighted by square-headed windows, and above by a small -quatrefoiled opening. It leads up to the roof. - -The three curtains or wall spaces connecting the four turrets are -also pierced by two rows of single windows, six in all—the lower -range square headed, the upper pointed. All are of two lights, with a -transom. The turret and curtain windows are all alike, save that in the -former the lower tier are pointed. - -The present entrance door is modern, made by cutting down a window, -and probably all the windows have been renewed during the past -half-century. A drawing of this front in 1776 shows, however, windows -generally resembling the present, excepting that the turret second from -the north, like the stair-turret, has no large windows. - -Passing into the interior, the three turrets appear as bays from the -main and upper floors, the middle one opening by a sort of passage, as -though it had been once a mere dark closet, or perhaps a staircase: the -other two open by pointed arches with plain, bold, round, and hollow -mouldings. The wall is 5 feet thick, and the passage through it is -divided by three ribs into two panels, which are continued through the -soffit. The bays themselves, 8 feet wide, with walls only 18 inches -thick, have five faces, of which the two inner ones are blank, and -the three outer pierced by the windows already described. Each of -the six angles, and the centres of the two blank sides are occupied -by a slender pilaster shaft, rising from a tall octagonal base, and -terminating in a delicate cap, decorated with a sort of trefoil. These -shafts are arranged above with some ingenuity, so as to support the -sixteen ribs of a groined octagonal roof, meeting at a central boss. In -the two northern bays and those of the upper story, this boss is a mass -of foliage, probably a very modern restoration; but in the southern -bay of the three, that next the stair-turret, it bears an original and -elaborate armorial achievement. Within a wreath formed of a vine stem, -truncated so as to represent the well-known ragged staff of Warwick, -is a shield, set anglewise, of Newburgh and Beauchamp quarterly; and -in the centre, Despenser, on an escocheon of pretence. The helmet -has large tasselled lambrequins, and upon it is placed the Beauchamp -crest of the siren’s head, ducally gorged. The whole is painted in -colours, probably after the original pattern; and it is obviously the -achievement of Richard Earl of Warwick, and Isabel Despenser, who -therefore built these turrets, as is also evident from their style. It -is, however, probable, that the ribs and groining of the central bay -were copied from the others, and added when its windows were opened, -and its walls cased or reconstructed. - -It appears from Meyric’s description, and the drawing, two centuries -later, by Grose, that the entrance to the hall in the sixteenth, -seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, was at its southern end, at the -south-eastern corner, near which were the kitchens. The turret-stair -seems then to have been either closed, or used only for communication -between the basement, bedrooms, and roof. Grose shows its outer door, -as now, partially below the level of the soil. - -At the upper or northern end of the hall, on the site of the present -drawing-room, was “a fair dining chamber,” and two other rooms; and, -above these, two other stories, this being the part of the castle in -which the lord and his immediate family and attendants were lodged. -It will be observed that all these arrangements, about the existence -of which there can be no doubt, leave the most highly decorated bay -window, or oriel, and the staircase, at the lower end of the hall. This -could never have been intended when the bay was constructed, and this, -therefore, indicates an earlier and reversed arrangement. - -It is well known that Earl Henry, son of the Herbert purchaser, made -considerable alterations in the castle lodgings; but what they were has -not been recorded, nor, as yet, inferred. It may, however, be safely -asserted that he actually reversed all the internal arrangements. It -is clear that in the hall of Richard Beauchamp, the south, with its -heraldic oriel, was the dais end; and this will account for the group -of buildings convenient to this end, which he raised outside of the -great wall; and thus, also, the entrance to the great tower would -open, as was proper, upon the lower end of the hall. Meyric says the -Herberts removed the flower-garden to the north from the south end of -the building, where, no doubt, it had been placed for the convenience -of the occupants of the dais. This also accounts for the turret-stair, -which gave a ready egress into the lord’s private garden, and an access -downwards into the cellar, and upwards into the first floor, where -naturally the safest and best bedrooms would be placed. Also, the -drawing of 1776 shows certain broken walls about the southern end of -the building, on the side of the modern offices, as though the entrance -of the Herberts had been accomplished by the incomplete removal of -old buildings, an inference which is strengthened by a tower shown -in the old oil painting in the castle. It is, therefore, I think, -incontestable that the dais of Richard Beauchamp, and probably of the -De Clares, was at the southern, as that of the Herberts was at the -northern end. The north wall of the former hall is modern, built by the -Stuarts; but the south wall is original, and, from the considerable -distance between it and the oriel, it is possible that there was a -small withdrawing-room cut off from the hall, into which the staircase -turret opened. - -The basement is composed of one spacious chamber, or cellar, 62 -feet long by 18 feet broad, and spanned by a rather highly-pointed -and four-centred vault, without ribs or groins, but of good -workmanship, and as perfect as when first constructed. This proves, -incontrovertibly, the dimensions of the ancient hall above it. It is, -of course, of Beauchamp date. At its north end is an original doorway -of 4 feet 6 inches opening, with irons for double doors, and holes, -showing that these doors were barred from within. One end, possibly of -the original oak bar, remains in its hole. There seems to have been a -similar door at the southern end; and it is evident from the old work -that the turret-stair opened into the south-west angle of this vault. -There are also two other openings, each in the old and enormously thick -wall, at the south-west angle, which may be original. - -The two greater wings are evidently the work of the first Stuart owner, -sixty or seventy years ago, when, no doubt, the central wall was first -cut into longitudinally. The northern wing is an entire rebuilding of -the Herbert residence, of which nothing now remains. The wall between -this wing and the central part was built with it, and replaces the -original northern end wall of the hall of the De Clares and Beauchamps. - -The southern wing is of the same Stuart date, excepting that the wall -between it and the central part is original. It is the southern end -wall of the old hall. The wing itself covers the old entrance used by -the Herberts, and stands on the site of a group of towers, shown in -the oil painting in the castle, and of which the entrance was a part. -Probably these towers were Clare and Beauchamp work, and demolished by -the Herberts. They are shown in the painting, but they are wanting in -the drawings of 1776. - -There remain to be noticed two lesser wings, or groups of buildings, -placed outside the great wall, one on each flank of the building, and -each connected with the central octagon tower by a sort of corridor. - -Of these wings, the southern appears to be coëval with the tower. Its -two lower stories, 14 feet square, are vaulted. The southern corridor, -which connects the wing with the octagon tower, communicates in its -first floor with the basement story of the tower, and seems to have -been the passage from the tower postern towards the interior of the -building. The present wall, however, is in part, if not altogether, -modern, and presents difficulties which have not as yet been cleared up. - -The northern wing and its corridor are Stuart work. This wing is -occupied, on the one floor, by the back drawing-room, to enlarge which -above 7 feet have been cut away from the face of the great wall. - -Seldom has an old wall been so severely treated, or stood the -mutilation so well. The gain, however, has been an excellent back -drawing-room and study, accessible, by means of these tunnellings, from -both the great drawing-room and the lobby. - -Altogether, notwithstanding many faults of detail, the general result -of the alterations and additions made since 1775 has been decidedly -successful. The great court has been cleared, and the keep, though -deprived of its ditch and lower gatehouses, still presents a venerable -aspect, and in summer, when its surrounding thorns are in bloom, one of -singular beauty. The Black Tower has been restored nearly after the old -pattern. In the main building, the great tower which once capped the -north-western angle, has, by additions on the north, been placed in the -centre of its front; and within the court, the addition of the south, -and reconstruction of the north wing, and the opening of windows in the -blind turret, have added much to the completeness of the whole. - -In place of the old hall is an entrance lobby and a dining-room, which, -with a breakfast-room and drawing-room, all of large size and excellent -proportions, a back drawing-room, study, and some smaller apartments, -form a suite, quite equal to the aspects and pretensions of the -building. The antiquary, indeed, may be permitted to regret the extent -to which the internal features have been removed or masked by modern -plaster-work and upholstery. - -In speculating upon the age, absolute or relative, of the different -parts of this castle, our only guide, down at least to the age of -Elizabeth, is the internal evidence of its structure, and especially -the plans of its basement and main stories. From these it may be safely -inferred that the great west wall of the enclosure, the work of Robert -Consul or his successor, was originally continued in an unbroken line, -the Norman buildings having been in some other part of the court as -well as upon the mound. The castle of Robert Consul was probably a -rectangular enclosure, 216 yards by 84 yards, contained within three -very substantial walls, and possibly a wooden palisade, on the line -of which stood the mound and its keep; and east of this enclosure was -a second rectangular space, the outer ward, 216 yards by 116 yards, -contained within three banks of earth, strengthened by a moat on the -north, by a moat and the town gate on the east, and by a moat and the -town itself on the south, and perhaps further defended by a palisade of -timber or a mere breast-wall along the crest of the bank. The entrance, -even then, from the town was, probably, where it now is, by an archway -in the curtain opening into the outer ward; and that from the outer -into the middle ward was probably in the centre of the intervening -defence. There was certainly no tower at the south-west angle, and -probably none at the north-west; and the Black Tower also seems of -rather later date. The castle was, in fact, in two parts, the one a -mere enclosure of strong walls, and a palisade, with a circular mound; -the other, and larger part, an enclosure within earthworks. - -Such seems to have been the Norman castle, calculated from its enormous -passive strength to defy any military machines likely to be brought -against it by the Welsh. The next additions were probably the Black -Tower and the cross curtain wall; and the next, with a view to the -occasional residence of the De Clares, the older part of the present -lodgings, built within and against the western wall. - -The extent of this structure cannot now be determined; but it is -probable that it included the present front or east wall of the centre -of the building, the south or cross wall connecting this with the -great wall, and a corresponding north wall, destroyed by the Herberts -or Stuarts, and rebuilt by the latter. There would thus be a clear -space of about 61 feet by 18 feet for the hall; and no doubt there were -besides kitchens at the northern, and some additional buildings at the -southern end. This would give a moderate hall and lodgings, and, with -the Black Tower and the keep, afford very fair accommodation for a -baron and his train. The southern stair-turret was, probably, an early -addition to this work. - -Whether the great curtain wall which divided the castle proper from the -mere earthen enclosure be regarded as coëval with the outer wall, or of -later date, the gateway in it, with the drum towers, of which a sketch -and the foundations remain, were evidently later, and probably De Clare -insertions. - -The extinction of the De Clares, the division of the inheritance, -the construction of Caerphilly, and the gradual pacification of the -country, were causes which, with the long-continued misfortunes of the -Despensers, no doubt led to the partial neglect of Cardiff, or at any -rate, for a time, checked any additions to its buildings. Caerphilly, -however, once so magnificent, seems to have been found too heavy a -burthen, and to have been neglected, and the heiress who closed the -line of Despenser was born at Cardiff. Probably this fact, and the -ambitious designs of the Beauchamps, led to the partial reconstruction -of the castle; which, moreover, had, no doubt, suffered from Owen -Glendower. Richard and Isabel Beauchamp evidently built the great -octagonal tower, bonding it securely into the old wall. Connected with -this, and at the same time, they added, also outside of and bonded into -the wall, the southern lesser wing, or that towards the town gate. -Within the court they probably remodelled the lodgings, constructing -a grand vault below the hall. Also, they added three turrets to the -east wall, groining the interior of, at least, two of them as bays from -the great hall, and embellishing with their armorial shield that which -opened upon the dais. A tower, containing retiring-rooms at the south, -and probably kitchens at the north end seem also to have been additions -of the same epoch. - -Within the court, upon the line of the eastern curtain, and up the -slope of the mound, the Beauchamps also seem to have constructed or -reconstructed the cluster of buildings of which a fragment only is -left. This is that ruined tower which rises considerably above every -other part of the enclosure, and adds as much to the picturesque -appearance of the castle as it formerly did to its material strength. - -The Herberts, in their day, made considerable changes. They seem to -have pulled down the kitchens, or whatever buildings existed at the -north end of the lodgings, and to have replaced them by an Elizabethan -building with large mullioned bay windows. They also pulled down the -buildings on the south, and established a kitchen garden on their site. -It is probable that the Herbert work was of a much less solid character -than that which preceded it, since it has all disappeared. - -Towards the close of the last century, in 1778, soon after the Stuarts -came into possession, under the advice of “Capability” Brown they -pulled down the Herbert buildings, cleared the great court, filled up -the moat of the keep (then called the Magazine), constructed the two -wings, modernised the interior of the lodgings, and left everything, in -general features, as lately seen. - -It is singular, that in so important a castle as Cardiff no traces -should remain of a regular gatehouse. Leland speaks of two gates, -the Shire Hall and the Exchequer; of which the former was, no doubt, -the present gate, and the latter, probably, that from the outer to -the middle ward. That the present occupies the place of the original -entrance is pretty certain. Where else could it have been? If cut -through the earthworks, or through any other parts of the wall, traces -would certainly remain. Probably, therefore, as already stated, and as -was sometimes the case, the entrance was a mere gateway in the curtain; -and the real barrier was that from the outer into the middle ward, -which was certainly of great strength. The outer ward must have been a -place of common resort for exchequer and other public business; and the -knights’ lodgings were occupied regularly by some persons, though not -usually by the owners. The traffic attendant upon this state of things -would have made the formalities of gates, portcullis, and drawbridge, -inconvenient, and may have been a reason for the usual regular defences -of the gateway having been dispensed with. The foundations of these -buildings, public and private, have been laid open in the great court. - -The only remaining difficulty relates to the defences of the -circumscribing embankment. Buck’s general view, published in 1748, and -an engraving by Ryland, show an extensive wall, covering the great -wall and the earthwork at the north-west angle, and prolonged upon the -present course of the feeder. This can scarcely be one of Buck’s common -errors in perspective, since he shows also the present wall capping the -earthen bank. It is, therefore, possible that there was, on the north -front, a wall between the bank and the moat. But, however this may be, -it must be remembered that the enemy who surmounted the earthworks -still had before him a fortress which for thickness and height of wall -was equalled by few in Britain. The chapel of the castle, the Shire -Hall, and the knights’ houses stood in the outer ward, and might be -burned or destroyed; but the knights themselves, and their followers -and effects, would take refuge and be in absolute security in the -interior parts of the castle. - -Rees Meyric, writing about 1578, has left a minute, and, on the whole, -a very intelligible account of the castle as restored by the Earls of -Pembroke for their occasional residence, before the building of Wilton. -From his description it appears that the principal entrance was from -the town by “a fair gate,” having the Black Tower with its prisons -on the left, and opening into the outer ward. This ward occupied the -eastern part of the general enclosure, being separated from the inner -and middle wards by the mound and the strong curtain that extended from -the Black to the White Tower or keep. - -In this outer ward Leland saw the lodgings of the twelve knights of -Glamorgan who held their lands by the tenure of castle-guard and the -payment of ward silver. In Meyric’s time there remained but one, held -by Sir Edward Mansell, and which had belonged to the Bassetts. Here -also, near the north-eastern corner, as drawn by Speed and seen by -Meyrick, stood the lord’s courthouse, used as the Shire Hall, and in -which the lord’s court for the borough was held until late in the last -century. This was protected by a special wall, upon which the knights’ -lodgings stood and formed a part. A small chapel completed the group. -This chapel was granted, with the parish church of St. Mary in Cardiff, -by one of the early Norman earls to the monastery at Tewkesbury, and is -mentioned in a general charter of confirmation by Nicholas, Bishop of -Llandaff (“Dug. Mon.,” ii. 67). The space between the Shire Hall court -and the adjacent bank was occupied by gardens and orchards. - -The middle ward was entered a little north of the centre of the curtain -wall, by a gateway between two drum towers, with a postern in that on -the left. - -Entering the middle ward, in front was the lord’s lodging, and on the -left a stair led to the battlement, and a roadway to the Black Tower, -which road was divided by a wall from the woodyard, which, as now, -occupied the south-east corner of the court. - -On the right, a way, rising rapidly, led to the keep across the ditch -of the mound and up its side. This way passed through, and was defended -by, two gatehouses duly portcullised, and was further protected by -the great curtain, under and along the rear of which it ran. The -correctness of this description has been proved by recent excavations. - -The middle ward occupied all the space south of the mound, a cross wall -dividing it from the inner ward. Its west side was chiefly occupied -by the lodgings. The original plaisance, or lord’s garden, was in the -south-west corner of this ward, and was by the Herberts converted into -a kitchen garden. - -The inner ward lay next, north of the middle ward, communicating with -it by a door in the cross wall. This ward was also bounded by a part -of the ditch of the keep; but it seems to have been of small area, and -not to have extended to the north outer wall, but to have been limited -by a wall which extended from the north-west angle of the keep, down -the slope, towards the north-western angle buttress of the general -enclosure. This ward contained the Herbert flower-garden, no doubt -placed there for privacy, and to be under the windows of the private -apartments, with which it seems to have been connected by an ornamental -stone staircase shown in one of the drawings of the last century. A -postern opened from this garden, through the great west wall, just -outside of the west gate of the town, and not far from the postern of -the octagon tower. - -The narrow space north of the mound must have been shut off in some way -of which there are now no traces. - -The main building in Meyric’s time looked, as regards its central -part, much as it did ten years ago. The south wing and the present -kitchens were wanting, and the entrance was up a few steps and by -an open terrace to the south-west corner of the pile. Entering, the -visitor stood in the hall, 61 feet long by 18 feet broad, and 13 feet 6 -inches high, with a flat ceiling. On the right was a door opening into -the stair-turret; on the left another, opening through the great wall -into the Beauchamp lesser wing. Walking up the hall, the fireplace was -on the left, and beyond it a passage leading into the Beauchamp tower; -on the right, two bay windows and three ordinary windows lighted the -room, and near the centre was a closet occupying the middle turret. -At the upper or north end of the hall, doors led into the private -rooms, of large size, on both the hall and upper floors, and lighted -with large mullioned windows, looking north into the garden, and -west through a bay cut in the outer wall. In a second floor were the -bedrooms, and, above all, a flat leaded roof, commanding one of the -most lovely prospects in Britain. - -This description was drawn up in 1861. Since that time the castle has -undergone great alterations; several new towers have been added, and -the interior has been completely remodelled. Over the vault of the -basement is the library, and above that the hall. The details are in -that semi-Italian style in which Burges was so great a master, and -all that a very refined taste, on the part of both the owner and the -architect, could devise, has been executed in a manner and with a -profusion which more than rivals Alnwick. - - - - - CARLISLE CASTLE. - - -The city of Carlisle appears first early in the ninth century, in -the history of Nennius, as Cair-Luadiit, or Luilid, or the Castra -Luguballia, one of the “octo et viginti civitates ... cum innumeris -castellis ex lapidibus et lateribus fabricatis,” enumerated by that -respectable authority. The fame of Carlisle, however, is due neither -to this early mention, nor to the subsequent gift of the place by King -Ecgfrid to St. Cuthbert, but rather to its name as a centre of the -early cycle of Arthurian romance, well supported by its subsequent -celebration in Border tales and ballads. Indeed, whether in fable or -in fact, Carlisle enjoys no mean reputation. It played a part in the -British, Roman, Saxon, and Danish occupations of the island, and, after -having been held as a frontier fortress, by the Scots against the -English, became, in its turn, the great stronghold of northern England -against the Scots, and the scourge of the wild tribes of the debatable -land. - -City and castle are naturally strong. The castle occupies a bluff, -projecting towards the north, in a position which no doubt created its -early, and caused its long-continued importance. Across its front -flows the deep and rapid Eden, here seven miles from the sands, and a -score from its final disappearance in the Firth of the Solway. Above -the city, and covering its eastern flank, the Petterill comes down to -reinforce the Eden, which river, close below the city and beneath its -walls, receives, by two branches, the waters of the Caldew, which thus -covers the flank of the post towards the west. - -The city, so protected on the three sides on which it was most liable -to be attacked, is built upon ground about 60 feet above the Eden, -and which, slightly rising, terminates to the north in the prominence -occupied by the castle, and which no doubt is the site of the “Caer,” -whence, whether of British or Roman origin, the city derives the first -half of its name. - -Luguballia, or Caer Luel, does not stand upon, but about a mile within, -the line of the Roman wall. This great work, coming from the direction -of Wallby, and in the line of Linstock and Drawdykes, passed by -Stanwix, across the river, to terminate on the Solway, at Dykesfield, -near Burgh-upon-Sands. - -The castle occupies the northern, highest, and strongest part of the -city, about 60 feet above the river. It is built upon the New Red -Sandstone rock, and to the east, north, and west the slopes are very -steep towards the meads, which fringe to a considerable breadth the -left bank of the Eden, and the right of the Caldew. In plan the castle -area is nearly a right-angled triangle, of which the right angle is to -the south-west, and the long side, somewhat convex, and 256 yards in -length, is presented towards the north and east. Of the other sides, -that towards the city on the south is 200 yards, and that to the west -143 yards in length. The space within the walls is rather under three -acres. - -The outer defence towards the city is an artificial ditch, 240 yards -long, 30 yards broad, and about 10 yards deep, cut across the high -ground from slope to slope, and stopped at each end by the wall -connecting the city with the castle, which thus, though an independent -work, is made to form part of the general _enceinte_. Between the -castle and the city is an open space, about 78 yards broad, which -contains the ditch and a broad glacis, and which, with the castle, -lies outside the municipal boundary. On the west side, about 45 yards -within this boundary, is Irishgate Brow, the site of the Irish gate of -the city. The Scottish gate stood on a somewhat similar position on the -east side; and the third or English gate, guarded by the citadel, was -at the opposite or south end of the city. - -The castle is composed of an outer and an inner ward, the keep standing -in the latter. The inner ward forms the eastern end or apex of the -area, of which it occupies about a fifth, and it is divided from -the outer ward by a cross wall, 90 yards long, upon the low salient -of which is the inner gatehouse. The other sides of this ward are -the east, 96 yards, and the south, 73 yards. The keep stands in the -south-west angle, about 20 feet from the two adjacent curtains, of -which the south is thrown out about 18 feet to gain space, and to form -a shoulder flanking the outer gate. - -The main entrance is from the city in the middle of the south front, -40 yards west of the keep, through the great gatehouse. The drawbridge -across the ditch was removed in the last century, and is replaced -by a bridge of stone, which crosses the ditch and leads up to the -_gatehouse_, called John de Ireby’s or Irby’s tower. It opens into the -outer ward. - -The plan of this gatehouse is peculiar. It may be conveniently -described as a plain structure, 44 feet square and of 20 feet -projection in front of the line of the curtain. It is composed of a -basement and upper floor, but the entrance, instead of passing, as -usual, through the centre of the building, is at its east end. The -south-east angle of the building is hollow, forming a nook or recess -of 18 feet each way, the two outer sides being walls 6 feet thick, and -about half the height of the main building. These walls are provided -with parapets, front and rear, so as to form a covered way, which -communicates with the east curtain. In front of this inclosure is -the outer gate, of 11 feet opening, with a drop-pointed arch, placed -in a sunk square-headed panel, intended to lodge the drawbridge when -lifted. This entrance leads into an open chamber 12 feet square, -commanded by its outer walls. It is, in fact, a barbican, niched in -a hollow angle of the gatehouse, with outer walls the height of the -curtain. The barbican leads to a second archway, with a portcullis in -a square groove, and a gate. Then follows a vaulted passage ending in -another gate which opens into the ward. In the passage, on the left, -is a lancet doorway opening upon a rising well-staircase, and beyond -it a drop-arched door opening into the lodge. On the right hand is a -shoulder-headed door, which leads, or did lead, into a staircase. In -the front wall of the gatehouse are two corbels, which seem to have -carried a small oriel or bartisan, commanding the approach. Appended -to the east side of the gatehouse, but entirely within the ward, is a -smaller building, fitted on obliquely, as though an addition. - -Entering the outer ward, the well is seen at 40 yards’ distance. The -buildings within the ward are modern, of various degrees of ugliness, -and painfully substantial. Some are detached and harmless; others are -built into the old curtain, so as to conceal and more or less injure -it. The curtain, which is extremely curious, and most of it original, -is best seen from the outside. Besides the gatehouse, it carries but -one mural tower,—an original one, open in the gorge, in the centre of -the west front. - -The _gatehouse_ of the inner ward is placed upon the salient and -central point of the cross curtain. It is called the Captain’s Tower. -It is rectangular, or nearly so, about 32 feet each way, with a -projection from the curtain of 18 feet. There is one floor above the -portal, which is central. The gateway is a low drop arch, flanked by a -pair of buttresses. The passage is vaulted, and has a door at each end, -and at the inner end also a portcullis. Over the outside of the inner -gateway is a ring of tracery, unusual, but effective. Much of this -gatehouse is Decorated, but the buttresses seem Norman. - -[Illustration: CARLISLE CASTLE. - -_Face p. 352, Vol. I_ ] There was originally a ditch in front of this -wall, and a gate with a drawbridge, all now gone. In later days, a -small half-moon battery was thrown up about 8 yards in advance of this -gate, and protected by a ditch of its own. This battery was connected -by a light field-work, which extended from it to the outer gatehouse, -laid in a zigzag form, so as to cover and protect a communication -between the two gates, supposing the outer ward to have been breached -and entered from the north-west side. These works have been removed and -the ground made level. - -The cross wall of the inner ward is original, strong, and well built, -and backed by a ramp of earth and masonry, containing casemates, one of -which has a Perpendicular doorway. These were no doubt added, perhaps -by Henry VIII., to enable the wall to carry cannon. In the front of -this wall, a little north of the gatehouse, is a large pointed arch of -late Norman aspect, now walled up, and which may have been the original -entrance. - -The _Keep_ is rectangular, 66 feet north and south, by 61 feet east -and west, and at present only 68 feet high. It is very plain. There -is the common high and stepped plinth, from which rise pilasters, 12 -feet broad and 1 foot projection, two on each face, meeting at and -covering each angle, which is solid. The walls do not batter, but are -reduced slightly by one set-off, at a different level on each face. -The window-cases, though in the original positions, are not original. -The parapet has been removed, and the summit thus lowered, vaulted and -converted into a platform for guns laid _en barbette_. The south wall -is 8 feet thick, the west rather more, and the east and adjacent part -of the north wall, 15 feet. The interior contains a basement and two -upper floors. It is divided by the usual cross wall, laid north and -south. The presumption is greatly in favour of this wall being a part -of the original design; it has, however, been so much altered that it -is difficult to speak positively as to its age or original height. The -entrance is at the ground level, at the north end of the east face. -It has a portcullis, probably the work of Edward I.; from its jamb on -the left, a straight stair ascends in the east wall to the south-east -angle of the first floor, as at Chepstow and Ludlow. The basement has -been subdivided into four compartments, which are vaulted in stone. One -is a passage against the north wall, terminating in a well-stair in -the north-west angle. This stair, now disused, is original, and led to -the first floor, but probably no higher. From the passage doors open -on the left into two vaults, parted by the cross wall of the building. -The east vault is one chamber; the west subdivided by a cross wall -into two, the inner entered through the outer. The vaulting is a plain -pointed barrel, very evidently an insertion. In the smaller vaults are -late stone seats. One of the doorways is of Perpendicular date. These -vaults were evidently prisons, intended no doubt for the custody of -Border reivers, and probably a late addition. In the north wall is a -recess connected with the well. - -The first floor, about 16 feet high, is vaulted in modern brick, and -used as a mess-room. In its north side was a very large fireplace, -flanked by Norman columns; but this is now walled up. This floor is -now entered solely from the south-east angle, but formerly had also a -door near the north-west corner, from the well-stair. There is also a -door near the south-west angle, which opens into a second well-stair, -which probably led to the upper floors and the battlements. This is now -closed, and there is no direct way from the first to the upper floors. - -The second floor is reached, at this time, by an exterior door in the -west wall, approached by an exterior stair on the north face, and from -the rampart on the east. This door is not original, and has been broken -through at the place of a recess, probably looped, which led from the -second floor into a mural chamber and garderobe in the east wall, and -which are seen on the right hand of the door on entering. This second -floor is about 16 feet high, and has a timber ceiling. In the east -wall, over the present entrance door, is a mural chamber, on the walls -of which are some curious carvings by prisoners. One represents the -Percy crescent and fetterlock, and another a coat of arms. From this -floor a ladder leads through a trap into the upper floor—a modern -arrangement. - -The third or upper floor is vaulted in modern brick to support the gun -platform above. This platform is formed of large slabs of stone, laid -down in 1812, which may also be the date of the vault. The walls above -are 11 feet thick all round. - -The well of the keep is reputed to be Roman, though this is quite as -likely to be true of the larger one in the outer ward. When the keep -was built, the well, whether new or old, was included within the north -wall, between the doorway and the north-east angle, and its pipe was -carried up in the wall, no doubt with a lighted chamber at each floor, -as indicated by a line of loops still seen in the wall. To make the -well available when the keep was shut up as a prison, a hole was cut in -the outside of the north wall, near the ground level, into the pipe of -the well, and through this the water is still drawn up. The well is 78 -feet deep, and its present cill is 92 feet above the sea level. - -A curious external stair, probably Edwardian, has been built against -the north face of the keep, and leads up, by the well, to the ramparts -of the curtain, and so to the door of the second floor of the keep. No -doubt its original use was to lead to the ramparts only. - -The keep, though much disfigured to make it carry artillery, and much -obscured by its conversion into prisons, a mess-room, and store-rooms, -is for the most part original, and if cleared, as it should be, of the -vaultings of the upper floors, would be a tolerably perfect specimen of -a Norman keep, with a full share of mural chambers and appendages. - -The hall and other domestic buildings, including what was called Queen -Mary’s Tower, most of which were standing at the close of the last -century, were ranged at the south-east angle, upon the adjacent walls, -as shown in Grose’s view. All are now gone save a fragment of panelled -work, part of the shell of a grand staircase of early Edwardian date, -which led to the chief apartments. - -It appears that in the east wall, near its south end, and, therefore, -under the midst of these apartments, was, in the last century, a Norman -postern with chevron mouldings and a portcullis groove, leading from -the inner ward into the field, independent of the city. These details -are shown in some of the late views of the castle. Grose, in 1774, -shows, obscurely, the position and size of the gateway, and the Norman -pilasters by which the adjacent wall was strengthened. The upper part -of this curtain seems to have been Early English. All about this angle -is now modern. - -The space between the keep and its adjacent curtains has been filled up -with earth, kept off from the keep by a sort of area wall, and thus the -ramparts here, as well as along the cross wall, are made wide enough -for cannon. The upfilling is modern, and should be cleared out. - -A walk, called the “Castle Walk,” or Castle Bank, has been laid out at -the foot of the curtain outside, whence its details may be conveniently -studied. The south-east angle, as has been said, is modern, but -proceeding north and westward the old Norman part comes into view, -and on the north side of the inner ward the Norman pilasters are seen -rising from a plinth, but partly concealed by six enormous stepped -buttresses of great projection, and Decorated or Perpendicular date, no -doubt a great support to the wall and very curious, but, in a military -point of view, very much in the way. - -From near the centre of the north front there was a spur work, composed -of a strong curtain wall, carried down the slope and ending in a -round tower. This was of course intended to annoy the enemy should he -attack on the west side. The whole is now removed: possibly it was an -Edwardian addition. The north face of the curtain and its north-west -corner have been much restored in the Decorated period, but most of -the west wall is original. Near its centre is a small tower, like the -Alnwick Garret Tower, 28 feet broad by 18 feet deep, and about 9 feet -projection, and open at the gorge. It is wholly Norman, of the date of -the keep. It has a stepped plinth about 10 feet high, with six sets-off -of 2 inches each, and on the front face is a central pilaster, dying -into the wall at the base of the original parapet. In its north face, -high up, is the shoot of a garderobe flush with the face of the wall, -and lower down a stone water-spout. About 10 yards south of this tower -are traces of a small postern. The wall connecting the castle with -the city on this side is of Norman origin; but has some buttresses -apparently Edwardian, in one of which is a garderobe shoot, similar to -that of the garret tower. Upon this wall, south of the ditch, is King -Richard III.’s, or _Tile Tower_, 26 feet broad by 20 feet deep, of no -internal projection. This looks Edwardian, but probably is altered from -Norman. It stands about 30 yards north of the city boundary. It is -said that a few years ago a subterranean passage was discovered between -this tower and the keep, and was at once closed up. This is stated -in the “History of Carlisle, 1838,” and should be true, but it seems -improbable, for the passage must have dipped deep to pass under the -ditch. - -The south wall of the castle is for the most part original, the Norman -pilasters being seen east and west of the gatehouse. East again of -these, as far as the keep, the wall seems Edwardian, but beyond that, -where it belongs to the inner ward, it is Norman. - -The wall between the south-east angle of the castle and the city, about -90 yards long, is mixed Norman and Edwardian, and as it crosses the -ditch it makes a zigzag or shoulder, in which is a large round-headed -postern gateway, either original or in the place of an original -opening, intended, probably, to allow of cattle being driven on to -the esplanade and ditch from the meads on the approach of an enemy. -Probably there was a way from this gate along what is called the Lady’s -Walk, at the foot of the south wall, as far as the great gate. South -of this postern, near what is called the city stone, are traces of a -large bastion, probably a part of the city defences. The postern is now -walled up, and a bank of earth raised against it behind. - -The _enceinte_ wall of the castle, being built against the natural -slope, is outside about 28 feet and inside 18 feet high. It varies from -8 feet to 10 feet thick. - -The plan of the castle—a headland converted into a detached camp by -a cross ditch—may be British or English, but the general outline of -the masonry, which follows the line of the earthworks, is Norman. The -Norman engineer evidently built the _enceinte_ wall along the edge of -the slope, and planned the inner and outer ward, and the keep. The -castle is generally attributed to William Rufus, who was here in 1092, -when Carlisle, from a Scottish, became an English frontier place. The -see was created by Henry I., and the first bishop consecrated in 1133, -when probably the city wall, of which a part may still be seen below -the deanery, was built. Carlisle was taken by the Scots, and besieged -by Stephen and by John. The latter sovereign was here four times in the -years 1201-6-8, and 1212. In 1204 the constable of Chester was ordered -sixty marcs for fortifying the castle. In 1205 certain grass cut in -the neighbourhood was to be stored there. In 1215 Robert de Ros was -custos of the castle, but in 1216 Robert de Vipont seems to have been -in charge of the repairs and the garrison. - -In 1222 Henry III. ordered the houses within the castle to be repaired, -and two ballistæ of horn and two of wood were to be sent there. Walter -Mauclerc was in charge. In 1222 the garrison was continued, and in the -king’s pay. - -Edward I. used Carlisle in the Scottish wars, and was here in 1293, -after the great fire, which much injured both city and castle in the -preceding year. Between 1293 and 1307, he was here seven times, often -for many days. He kept his last birthday here in 1307, and went forth -hence to die in the immediate neighbourhood. To his reign are to be -attributed most of the Edwardian additions, repairs of the wall and -keep, the gatehouses, and the domestic buildings, of which only traces -remain. In 1302, Bishop Hatton, then governor, expended £275. 4s. 11d. -in works. The Great Hall, supposed to have been then erected, needed -repairs in 1344. - -Camden says that Richard III. repaired the castle, and the six -marvellous buttresses may be of that date, though they look earlier. -Henry VIII. appears to have much altered the castle, probably to make -it carry artillery. He built a block-house or citadel at the south -end of the city, and armed it with cannon, and he repaired the city -walls. His work was probably done in haste, for, in 1563, the whole was -in great decay, as appears from a survey made by the queen’s order, -printed by Grose. Three sides of the keep were in a dangerous state. -The Captain’s Tower wanted parapets, as did much of the inner curtain, -and all the glass of the great hall and great chamber was decayed. In -the outer ward was an open breach, 70 feet long, where the wall had -fallen in 1557. The result of this survey was the building a chapel and -barrack, and no doubt the reparation of the wall and keep. - -Mary Queen of Scots found some sort of accommodation here when she fled -from Scotland, and gave name to the lodgings lately pulled down. The -castle suffered somewhat during the great rebellion, but escaped being -dismantled. It was battered from the west, and taken by the Duke of -Cumberland in 1745. - -Probably the greatest and most destructive changes are those of modern -date. The hall was taken down in 1827, and the chapel and other -buildings in 1835. - -There are traces of two light field-works in the meads north of the -castle, the smaller in the rear of the other, evidently prepared for -the reception of the Scots, in 1745, as they approached over the brow -at Stanwix. - -The castle is far too confined and too much a part of the city for the -purpose to which it is applied. The military should be removed, the -modern buildings cleared away, the keep restored, and the area laid out -for the pleasure of the people of Carlisle, and so as to show off the -remains to the greatest advantage. - -In the neighbourhood of Carlisle are other military works deserving -notice. Such is, at Hayton, Castle Hill, a mound 12 feet high, and 100 -feet diameter at the top. Linstock Castle was built before 1133, but -is now little more than a farmhouse, into which it was converted in -1768. Scaleby Castle was built by Robert de Tilliol, who had licence -to crenellate it in 1307. It was largely repaired in 1596, but retains -much of its original character, and has always been inhabited. Naworth -Castle was the chief seat of the English Barony of Gillsland, at the -Conquest granted to Hubert de Vaux, from whom it descended through the -Dacres to the Howards. The present structure was the work of Ralph Lord -Dacre, in 1335, and is a good example of the quadrangular castles of -that date. Rose Castle was in the Barony of Dalston, and is attributed -to 1336, when Bishop Kirby had a licence to crenellate. It was also a -moated quadrangle. Highhead Castle, on the Ive, is drawn by Buck. Here -was a castle in 1326, but the licence is dated in 1342. The castle was -rebuilt in 1714. Dalston Hall is a castellated house, probably of the -middle of the fourteenth century. - -The Roman wall may be traced at various points, both east and west of -the passage of the Eden. It is well seen in a field close to Drawdykes, -a stiff, square farmhouse, built on the site of a Roman Castellum. The -inscription “Diis Manibus,” built into its walls, is said to have been -dug up in Carlisle, near the old citadel. - - - - - CASTELL COCH, GLAMORGAN. - - -The river Taff, from its origin under the Brecon Beacons, after a -course of about 26 miles through the northern and mountain district -of Glamorgan, escapes by a deep and narrow ravine across the last -elevation, and rolls its course, unfettered, to the Bristol Channel. - -The ridge which it thus finally cleaves, and which divides the hill -country from the plain, is part of the great southern escarpment of -the coal basin of Glamorgan, supported there by the mountain limestone -rising from below, and in its turn reposing upon the old red sandstone, -the denuded surface of which forms, under the later horizontal rocks -and drift gravel, the basis of the plain. The escarpment, extending for -many miles along the contiguous counties of Monmouth and Glamorgan, is -traversed, in this immediate neighbourhood, by the three passes of the -Ebbw, the Rhymny, and the Taff. The heights bounding the latter river, -though in actual elevation below some other parts of the chain, produce -a very striking effect, from the abruptness of their rise from the -plain. - -These heights, on each side of the pass, must always have been regarded -by the inhabitants of the country as places of great security. On the -right bank of the river, the huge lumpish sandstone mass of the Garth -rises to 981 feet above the sea, and is crowned by two remarkable -tumuli, well known as landmarks in the vale, and visible even from the -distant shores of Somerset. The lower Garth, which rises to the front -of the great Garth, opposite to Castell Coch, forms the right bank of -the pass. - -The elevation on the left bank, though lower, is more precipitous. -It presents, in the lichen-stained crags about its summits, and the -rich verdure which clothes its sides and base, all those features so -well known to geologists as characterising the scenery of the mountain -limestone. - -Nature has rendered the west and south sides of this height— those -exposed to any foe from beyond sea—nearly inaccessible. Across the -north-eastern side, lines of circumvallation have been hewn out of the -rock, the dimensions of which show the value attached to the place, as -a fortress, by the Cymry. - -There was reason in the choice. From hence the long ships of the Danish -rovers could be seen while yet distant from the shore, and timely -notice be given, and protection afforded to, the people of the plain, -should the ravagers extend their sweep far inwards from the coast. A -beacon fire upon the headland of Penarth—celebrated in Anglo-Norman -verse for its ancient oak, and long marked by its white church—answered -here, or on the opposite Garth, would be repeated from the summits of -the distant mountains of Brecon and Caermarthen, and would at once -spread the tidings of invasion over the whole of the southern coast. - -The Normans, within a century and a half after the conquest of -Glamorgan, had completed a chain of castles along the plain country, -from Chepstow to Pembroke, and were only exposed to the invasions of -the Welsh from the mountain tracts upon the north. To check these they -threw up a number of fortresses, either upon, or within the verge of, -the hill country, of which Morlais and Castell Coch may be cited as -examples. - -The site of the Cymric camp was far too difficult of access to allow of -the ready transport into it of provisions, or munitions of war, or of -a constant and rapid communication with the chief castle at Cardiff. -Lower down the scarp, though still high above the plain, the Norman -engineer selected a natural platform on the limestone rock, separated -from the main scarp by a natural depression, and sufficiently removed -from the summit to be out of the reach of any military engines with -which the Welsh were likely to be acquainted, or which they were likely -to be able to bring, with their forces, against the castle. There -is an easy approach to this platform from the east, which probably -communicated with the old road, called Roman, and no doubt Cymric, -which leads direct from Cardiff to Rubina, and close upon which is -the low circular mound, which was the site of a tower of the time of -Henry III., at Whitchurch, and the Celtic tumulus of Twmpath. Upon this -platform was erected the fortress which is here to be described. - -Castell Coch, so called from the red tint of its materials, is, in -general plan, a triangle, each angle being capped by a drum tower. Its -general divisions are the _south_, _east_, and _northern towers_, the -_gate tower_, the _curtains_ and _hall_, and the _outworks_. - -The platform occupied by the whole is about 200 yards long by 70 yards -broad, and the principal works of the castle occupy its west end. -The south face is, in part, precipitous, and from 20 feet to 30 feet -high. The north face, towards the upper hill-side, is deepened into a -formidable moat, and the east end was defended by a fosse, cut deeply -across the rock, and beyond this by two towers, connected by a curtain -wall. - -The _North Tower_ rises from a square base to a cylindrical -superstructure, the north and south angles terminating in buttresses, -each the half of a pyramid cut vertically and diagonally across, after -a fashion very common in Welsh castles, and well seen in Marten’s tower -at Chepstow. The cylinder is 40 feet in diameter. It contains three -stories, of which the middle one is on a level with the inner court, or -_terre-plein_, of the place. - -The lower story may have been a cellar. It is vaulted, and has two -great cross-springer ribs, and two windows opening high above the -floor. A narrow passage, vaulted, with steps, leads into it from the -court. Its internal diameter is 18 feet, its walls upwards of 10 feet -thick. The windows were mere loopholes. - -The middle story is also circular and vaulted, with similar ribs. Here, -however, the windows open nearly on the level of the floor, though also -loops. There is a fireplace, with a flue carried up in the wall. The -flue is backed with stone. The entrance to this chamber is also from -the court, and, on the east side of the vaulted passage, a gallery -passes off in the thickness of the wall, and leads to what was a small -garderobe, occupying a square projection on the east side of the tower, -at its junction with the curtain. The general dimensions of this story, -and the thickness of the walls, correspond with those of the room below. - -The upper story contains one chamber, the south and east sides of which -are flat, the rest circular. Here are no less than three fireplaces, -each of large dimensions, with funnels in the thickness of the wall. -It contains also two small recesses, one a sort of sink, and has two -windows. There are also two doors, one, on the south side, opening upon -the roof and ramparts of the hall and west front, the other, eastwards, -leading to the ramparts of the great or northern curtain. Access to -this chamber, from below, seems to have been obtained by an exterior -stair between the tower and the hall. This story, within, is about 26 -feet mean diameter, and the walls vary from 2 feet 3 inches to 4 feet -thick. It was roofed flat, with timber, and above were ramparts and a -parapet, probably reached by means of a trap-door in the roof. It was -evidently the kitchen, here, as at Morlais and Coningsburgh, placed in -an upper floor. - -This tower is the most perfect of the whole, and in tolerable -preservation, although the lower chamber is half full of rubbish; the -small apartment connected with the middle story is broken down, and the -roof and ramparts are wanting on the summit. This tower, however, is -evidently the type of, and has served in the present instance as a clue -to, the original plan of the others. - -The _South Tower_ corresponded nearly to the last, and, like it, -appears to have contained three chambers, and at its junction with -the west curtain, a square projection, containing in the middle -story a small garderobe, and in the upper, probably a communication -with the battlements of the hall. The lower chamber is entered by a -vaulted passage, down steps, from the courtyard. The middle or main -chamber probably was entered on the level, by a passage from the -courtyard, and a mural gallery seems to have led from this passage to -the window or opening in the south end of the hall. The upper chamber -was accessible from the hall battlements, as it probably also was from -those of the gateway curtain. It is uncertain whether this tower rose -from a square base—probably it did. Its upper part was cylindrical, -40 feet diameter. The walls are 8 feet thick, and the chambers do not -appear to have been vaulted. This tower is in a ruined state. The two -outer thirds of its circumference have been blown away by a mine, but -the part connected with the hall, including a door below, two windows -in the lower and middle story, and the small chamber in the wall, -remain tolerably perfect, and remove all doubts as to the original -elevation and particulars of the whole. - -The _East Tower_ corresponds in altitude and general arrangements to -the other two, like them containing three stories. It is cylindrical -from the base, and 40 feet diameter; but, towards the courtyard, it -presents a flat face, with two shoulders projecting at its junction -with its curtains. Like the other towers, it has a square projection -for a small chamber, here found at its junction outside with the great -or northern curtain. The lower story, like those of the other towers, -is below the level of the court, but instead of being entered directly -by a distinct staircase, a gallery branches off from the passage to the -middle chamber, and descends, winding in the thickness of the wall, -to a vaulted prison below. This lower chamber is filled up, but its -existence is evident enough, and the staircase is seen through a great -rent in the wall. The diameter is 18 feet 4 inches, and the thickness -of the wall 10 feet 10 inches. - -The first floor is entered by a passage from the court, on a level. -This chamber had two loops. There is no fireplace, and no trace of a -vault, although the walls are above 10 feet thick. On either hand, -opening out of the passage leading to this chamber, are galleries in -the wall, that on the right descending to the chamber below, that on -the left running on a level, to open into a small chamber in the square -projection between the tower and the great curtain. Here seems to have -been the well. The upper chamber appears to have been entered from the -ramparts by a long pointed doorway in the gorge; and over the lower -door, leading from this, on the right, a passage leads to a spiral -stair in the wall, which evidently gave access to the battlements of -the tower. This tower has been rent asunder by a central explosion, but -the outer part has only shifted a little. - -The _Hall_ stands upon a vaulted chamber, now filled up with rubbish. -It occupies the space between the north and south towers, which it -connects, its outer wall forming the curtain between them. It is -rectangular, 30 feet 8 inches by 17 feet 8 inches, vaulted, with a -pointed arch, and having its outer wall 7 feet, and its inner wall -6 feet, thick. In the former are three loops, splayed towards the -interior, and having pointed heads. They are high above the base of the -wall, and command a fine view. The door was near the north end of the -opposite side, and possibly there may have been a fireplace on the same -side with the door. At the south end is a window, which opens into a -sort of gallery in the south tower. - -Above the vaulted roof was, probably, a platform, with a low battlement -towards the court, and a high one towards the exterior of the castle. -This platform communicated with the north and south towers directly, -and with the court by a narrow stair, already noticed as leading to the -upper chamber of the north tower. The hall is now much mutilated, the -vault and part of the east wall being destroyed. - -The great curtain is a large irregular segment of a circle, about 80 -feet exterior face, and with a chord of about 60 feet. It originally -was a wall 3 feet thick, which appears to have been found of -insufficient breadth for the use of military engines on the north and -north-east battlements, upon these, the weakest sides of the fortress; -wherefore a parallel wall was built within and against it, 6 feet -thick, extending the whole way from the north to the east tower. The -old wall contains seven loops at the courtyard level, and to preserve -these an arch, 6 feet diameter, is turned in the new work, opposite -to each. Above, there is, of course, a rampart walk of ample width, -entered from the tower at either end. The exterior of this wall, below -the level of the court, is strengthened by a stone facing, forming the -scarp of its moat. This curtain remains tolerably perfect. There is a -breach near its junction with the north tower, and the new and inner -wall is wanting opposite to the four loops, though traces of it are -discernible in the mortar upon the old wall. - -The _Gatehouse Curtain_ is much less perfect. It appears to have -been slightly convex in plan towards the exterior, and about 28 feet -in length between the south and east towers, from both of which its -ramparts were, no doubt, entered. It is about 5 feet thick. One loop -remains, about 6 feet above the courtyard level, which could only have -been used by means of a platform, perhaps of timber. Twenty-one feet -from its junction with the east tower, a small half-round tower seems -to have projected from the curtain, serving, no doubt, to defend the -gateway, which seems to have lain between this and the south tower, and -probably consisted in a simple archway and passage, with a portcullis -and doors. That the entrance was here, and between these towers, is -certain from the causeway leading to it, but the gate-tower, and most -of the curtain, are utterly gone. - -Thus much of the castle. We next reach the _Outworks_. - -The south and north tower, and the hall curtain, needed no exterior -defence. They rise from a very steep bank, and their foundations are -of scarped rock and solid masonry. They are quite unassailable from -below. The other two sides are more exposed. In front of the south -tower is the commencement of the moat, broken by a causeway opposite -to the inner gateway, and leading from it to the outer court. Beyond -the causeway the moat deepens, and is carried round the east tower and -great curtain, steep and deep, and hewn in the rock, so as to render -this, the naturally weaker side, very strong. The moat, which must -always have been dry, ends, opposite to the north tower, in a curious -excavation, resembling a water-tank, which, however, it could scarcely -have been. - -The outer court of the castle occupies the remainder or east end of the -natural platform. Its dimensions are about 100 feet long by 40 feet -wide. Its southern side, a continuation of the line of the same face of -the castle, was defended by a precipice, partly natural, partly scarped -by art, though now broken down and filled up. There are no traces of a -wall on this side, but probably there was a parapet. - -The opposite, north, or landward, side, is defended by a branch from -the moat, which, after being interrupted and traversed by a causeway, -sweeps round the east end of the works, and terminates in a deep and -broad excavation, which is carried to the brink of the cliff, and thus -defends also the east end of this outer court. - -The west end of the platform, or that towards the castle, is cut off -from that building by its proper moat, traversed, as already mentioned, -by the causeway leading to the inner gateway. There is no evidence of -any walled defence to this court, and yet, without such, the moat on -the land side would scarcely have been sufficient to delay an enemy, so -as to expose him to the fire from the east tower and gateway curtain, -upon which the defence of this side depended. - -As the principal object was to command the regular approach from the -eastward, the defences were prolonged in this direction. Outside, and -on the counterscarp of the moat of the outer court, and 6 feet from -the edge of the south precipice, there are traces of a _tower_, about -30 feet diameter, with what may have been a sort of buttress on its -southern side, extending to the precipice. Opposite, on its northern -side, and at its junction with a lower curtain, is what appears to have -been a well-stair, or the foundation of a distinct turret. There is no -moat to the east of the tower, but the ground falls in a natural scarp. - -This _Lower Curtain_, indicated, like the towers, by a mound of earth -only, sweeps round, so as to cover the counterscarp of the outer -moat, and ends in the _roadway tower_, about 40 feet diameter, the -foundations of which are very distinct, and which must have completely -commanded the approach, at a point much in advance of, and below, the -outer causeway and the eastern tower. The regular approach, it is -clear, lay from the east, and between the precipitous height crowned -by the old Cymric camp and the level platform of the castle, and, -approaching it by the side least strongly defended by nature, would, -at 150 yards from the body of the place, be flanked by the fire of -the lower tower, then of the lower curtain, and then of the roadway -tower. Supposing these silenced, and the outer causeway reached, the -besieger came directly below the east tower, and a part of its adjacent -curtains; and as he crossed the outer court, and reached the second -causeway, he would be opposed by a fire from the east and south towers, -their curtain, and the gateway tower. - -Even if the place were surprised and entered, each of the three -towers, and the platform of the hall, admitted of being defended for -a few hours, until aid had been signalled for, and sent from Cardiff. -No doubt, before brave men, all defences fail; and the Welsh, who -certainly were not wanting in courage, did, according to tradition, -more than once take this castle, probably by surprise and escalade; -nevertheless, it was a very strong fortress, both by nature and art, -and must have been a sore thorn in the side of the mountaineers of -Glamorgan. - -The present condition of each part of the castle has already been -described. It may be added, generally, that the whole is very thickly -grown over with brushwood and weeds, so much so that it is difficult to -make out the details of the plan of the building. Although no ornaments -remain, yet it is clear from the general plan, and from the doorways, -that no part of the castle is in the Norman style. It is, probably, -Early English, and may very well be of the reign of Henry III., and -probably a little earlier than Caerphilly. - -Here and there, especially in the outer court, are some handsome Scotch -firs, and a number of venerable beeches, the peculiar green of whose -foliage marks, from a great distance, the line of the old approach. -These, of course, with the wood clothing the hill side, and the ivy -upon the walls and towers, should be left untouched; but it is much -to be wished that the castle itself, and the works of the Cymric camp -above, were cleared of timber and underwood, and a little care taken to -encourage fair greensward in their stead. - -This castle has descended with the rest of the De Clare estates, and is -now the property of the Marquis of Bute. - -There are various traditions concerning it, but a great deficiency of -recorded information. Being the key of the upper country, it must have -witnessed many an inburst of the native Welsh, from the Norman Conquest -to the days of Owen Glendower, who is supposed to have descended by -this pass when he burned the episcopal palace of Llandaff, and ravaged -Cardiff. - -Since this account was written the castle has been cleared of rubbish, -and completely restored, so as to be again habitable. A well has -been discovered in one of the towers, and cleared out, as has also -been a very strong dungeon. The restoration is very complete indeed, -in excellent taste, and in strict accordance with what has been -ascertained of the original structure. - - - - - CASTLE RISING, NORFOLK. - - -Castle Rising, probably so called from its position on ground that is -high or rising compared with the low levels of the district, stands -about two miles from the estuary of the Wash upon its eastern or -Norfolk shore. Half a mile north of the village a large tract of low -land is traversed by the Babingley river, and it is evident that before -this part of the country was drained and reclaimed by tillage, the -approaches to the village upon at least three sides, the north, west -and east, must have been almost impracticable. These considerations -probably governed those who chose Rising as a residence. The soil is -light and sandy, like that of the Dunes of Holland, but contains just -enough of vegetable mould to support a growth of turf. The trees are -chiefly ash and willow of very large size, and upon the slopes of the -castle are some noble and very ancient thorns. The richness of the -vegetation in and about the village is in favourable contrast with the -dreary and barren heath land by which it is surrounded. - -The earthworks are on a large scale, and probably the remains of a -great English residence, the centre of a large estate; circumstances -which no doubt led to the adaptation of this position for the Norman -fortress whence the village has derived the prefix to its more ancient -name. - -The central and principal division of the fortress is composed of an -irregular oval area about 67 yards east and west by 80 yards north and -south, contained within a broad and lofty bank, which, in its turn, is -surrounded by a very formidable ditch. Outside this ditch, covering the -east face, is a subsidiary work, also within a bank and ditch. It is -in form nearly a parallelogram, but its sides are somewhat irregularly -convex, and its angles rounded. Its north end is about 60 yards and its -south 70 yards broad, and its length of front 90 yards; but the ends -are inclined, so that where it abuts upon the main ditch it is about 80 -yards. - -This is balanced by a corresponding earthwork on the west point of the -central work. This earthwork is about 100 yards north and south by 30 -yards broad, and is also contained within a bank and ditch. The ditches -of these earthworks do not actually run into the main ditch. A narrow -causeway of earth is left between them. The whole exterior girth of the -ditch is reported to be 10,803 yards. The central earthwork is about 30 -feet high from the inclosed area, and outside is about 60 feet above -the bottom of the ditch. It is about 15 feet wide at the top, and, -being composed of light soil, has a considerable slope. The banks of -the outworks are not so high, being about 20 feet inside and 40 feet -outside. Those to the east are, however, higher, and at the points -nearly as high as those of the centre. The westward work is altogether -of a lighter character, though still of great strength. The works cover -about 13 acres. They are wholly artificial. - -The main entrance was from the north, along the edge of the -counterscarp of the main ditch, and it thus entered the eastern -outwork. Near its centre the road crossed the ditch by a bridge, and -entered the central ward by a notch in its eastern bank. The western -outwork seems to have been entered from the central ward by steps up -and down the bank, connected probably with a light bridge over the -ditch. It may be that it was only used for cattle. - -[Illustration: CASTLE RISING KEEP.] - -It has been thought that these earthworks are of somewhat different -dates, and that the central is the oldest. The circle, or irregular -oval, with a bank and ditch, with or without a mound, is a not uncommon -form of earthwork in England, and is probably the work of the English -in the seventh and eighth centuries. That is to say, where the work is -on a low site, and the form not governed, as in British works, by the -outline of the ground. These English enclosures rarely stand alone. -Usually there were one or more appendages outside, and abutting upon -the main ditch, as at Laughton and Kilpeck, probably additions, but -not much later than the main work. They were usually also at no great -distance from the parish church. From the tendency of the outworks at -Castle Rising to the rectangular form, they have been supposed, by good -authority, to be Roman, and the Romans had no doubt a settlement at -Brancaster, about fifteen miles to the north. But Roman works seldom -are composed of earthworks of this magnitude, the Roman custom, where -great security was needed, having been to build a wall. Also, if the -outworks only be Roman, the central work must be British, which is -scarcely consistent with what is known of the defences of that people. -Most probably the central is an English work, and the outworks either -of the same date, or early additions by the same people. But, be the -principal origin what it may, it is clear that here, as at Norwich, -Clare, Hedingham, and Castle Acre, the Norman invader, having grasped -the estate of the English lord, proceeded, as in Normandy, to combine -the new fashion of castle-building with the old defences. - -[Illustration: UPPER FLOOR] - -The keep, the chapel, and the gatehouse, the only parts in early -masonry of which anything now remains, were probably among the -works earliest executed. The _Keep_ is a very noble example of the -rectangular Norman type. Not that its area, still less its height, -would place it in the first rank, but to considerable dimensions it -adds a degree of ornament rarely bestowed upon military buildings, and -though a ruin, its parts are unusually well preserved, and excellent -both in materials and workmanship. Like Hedingham, it stands within, -but not in the centre of, the inner ward. It almost touches the slope -of the western bank, and is about thirty yards from the gatehouse -and the eastern bank. Between the north and south banks it is nearly -midway. It is in plan rectangular, measuring at the base 75 feet east -and west, by 64 feet north and south, and, to the rampart walk, 50 -feet high. Each face is flanked by two pilasters, 7 feet broad by 6 -inches projection. These meet at, but do not cover, the angle, and the -nook so formed is occupied by a shaft, not quite detached, and similar -shafts take the place of the other angles of each flanking pilaster. -Intermediate, on the north and south faces, are three pilasters of 3 -feet breadth, and there is one on the east face, all dying into the -parapets. The west face is of a complex character. Upon it are two -large recesses, 9 feet broad and 2 feet deep, of which one is arched -over the near parapet level. There are, besides, four recesses, each -of 4 feet opening, by 2 feet 6 inches deep, arched over a little below -the first-floor level. All these five recesses have their soffits -pierced by the vents of garderobes. The wall has only one slight -set-off near its summit. The flanking pilasters have none, the others -mostly two, but very high up. There was a square turret at each angle, -now nearly gone. At the base of these turrets, the nook-shafts ceased, -and the turret angle was solid. The parapet is gone. Considerably -below its base were round holes, apparently to take off the water. The -walls at the base are, the north and east sides, 7 feet, the south -6 feet 6 inches, and the west 6 feet thick, and this thickness is -preserved to the top, or very nearly so. The east face is covered by -the forebuilding, here very perfect. This prolongs the north front -by 20 feet, and the south by 9 feet. The keep has a basement at the -ground level, and a first floor. At two points, however, the upper -floor is subdivided so as to give a partial second floor. Part of the -forebuilding also, as at Rochester, has a second floor. The entrance -is in the south end of the building, in which a straight stair rises -to the main door of the keep, which is at the first-floor level. There -are well-staircases, 7 feet diameter, in the north-east and south-west -angles of the keep, ascending by seventy-six steps from the base to -the summit, and communicating with the first floor. It is, however, -to be observed that the base of the well-stair is about 4 feet above -the ground-level, so that it is entered by a stair of five steps, -projecting into the rooms. This seems to have been the case at Dover, -before the floor was raised. It is difficult to discover the reason for -it. - -The keep is divided into a north and south chamber by a cross-wall, 6 -feet thick, which ascends to the roof. The two chambers are 58 feet -long; the north 25 feet, and the south 16 feet broad. The _north -chamber_ was again divided, equally, longways, by an arcade of four -lofty arches, of 11 feet span, springing from corbels in the wall, and -from three square piers, 3 feet broad by 4 feet. The spandrel walls -of this arcade supported the joists of the floor above. The three -eastern arches and their two piers are gone. The western pier gives -off two lateral arches north and south, dividing the end bay into two -square spaces, which are vaulted and groined and carry upper chambers, -shortening by so much the upper great room or hall. This lower room is -aired rather than lighted by three loops in the north and two in the -west wall, placed high up and in splayed recesses, round-headed. There -is also in the north wall a small lobby at the foot of the well-stair, -from which there seems to have been a passage rising 3 feet into a -mural chamber 8 feet above the ground. In the west end of the great -chamber an interior door at the ground-level has been broken. It has -a pointed head, and is an insertion. Probably it represents a loop. A -round-headed doorway of 4 feet aperture opens in a segmental recess -in the cross-wall into the south chamber. The door opened towards the -north, and was barred on that side. The recess is groined. The well is -in the floor of the north chamber, between two of the piers, under the -second arch from the east. It is 4 feet diameter, with a pipe of ashlar -rising about 3 feet above the ground-level. - -The _south chamber_ was crossed by three plain broad arches, springing -from corbels high up in the wall, and carrying the joists of the floor -above. The eastern bay, however, is vaulted and groined, and supports -the chapel. The other two arches are broken away. This chamber has four -loops to the south and one to the west. Its well-stair also has a small -lobby in the wall, 5 feet above the floor. In the east end of the south -wall is a door ascending four steps, which opens into the staircase of -the forebuilding. Although this door, in its present state, appears not -to be original, it may be really so. There is one in a somewhat similar -position at Dover. - -The first floor is also divided into two main chambers by the -cross-wall, and each is shortened by the rooms cut off, from one at -the east, and from the other at the west, end. The great chambers are, -the north, 47 feet by 23 feet, and the south, 42 feet by 15 feet. The -north room was the _hall_. It was entered from the vestibule of the -forebuilding by a handsome main door, of 6 feet opening, near the -north end of the east wall. Close to it, in the same wall, is a second -round-headed door, which descends by ten steps upon the staircase of -the forebuilding. This door is evidently an insertion in the place -of a loop. A third and small door, segmental, opens into a narrow -mural passage leading over the middle gate of the fore-building, and -by a branch into the chapel. In the cross-wall, a door opens into the -south chamber, and near it is a deep round-headed recess, 5 feet from -the floor, perhaps a cupboard, and again a recess, 8 feet broad and 5 -feet deep, at the floor-level, possibly for a brazier of charcoal, but -without a flue. Near the east end of this same wall is a small window, -a Decorated insertion, and near it a segmental door, both opening -into the ante-chapel. The north wall is pierced by a gallery, 3 feet -6 inches broad, of five bays, between each of which is a plain arch, -reducing the way to 2 feet 9 inches. Two of these bays have coupled -exterior windows, one pair square-headed, the other round-headed and -trefoiled, and on each cusp a disc, as in the recess at Coningsburgh, -producing a heavy effect. The fifth bay has a loop. Four of these bays -open by large arches, at the floor-level, into the great chamber, of -which this gallery thus formed a part. The eastern bay communicates -with the well-stair. It is groined, and its side towards the chamber -seems to have been partially closed, and there are three small shafts -which seem to have opened into the mural chamber below. They cannot be -for garderobes, and their use is obscure. This bay has a very handsome -window, of two lights, coupled, and the shaft common to the two is -worked in a rather remarkable fret or knot. These windows had shutters. -There is no trace of glass. The gallery, which is 62 feet long, has a -loop at its west end, and a rude opening, probably once a window, of -three small lights, near that end in the north wall. The north-west -aisle is occupied by a cylindrical shaft, 5 feet 6 inches diameter, -which commences with the floor-level, and is open like a fireplace. -At the roof-level it is gathered in with brick, and ascends as a -chimney-shaft. In its sides are four loops, in two tiers, besides six -small round-headed niches higher up, probably for the escape of smoke -and steam. At this end the gallery opens into a lofty vaulted chamber, -in the east wall of which an opening has been broken into the hall, -and in the south wall is a curious low segmental recess, of 10 feet -span and 3 feet rise, partly walled up, and in the upfilling some small -niches. The great height of this chamber, the vaulted roof, the shaft -and steam-holes at one corner, the niches round it, and its position -next to the hall, point it out as the kitchen. - -In the west end of the hall a door leads into a room corresponding with -the kitchen, to the south of it. This is 8 feet by 12 feet, and has -three niches in its west and two in its east wall. In its north and -south walls are arches of relief, like that of the flat recess in the -kitchen. The reason for these three arches, turned in three parallel -walls, is not apparent. Two of these might serve to direct the weight -of the wall above from the vault below upon the piers, but the third is -in the cross-wall, which is solid. The south room had a timber roof, -and was probably a sort of still-room, for light cooking or pastry. -Between these two rooms a door from the hall opens into an =∟=-shaped -vaulted passage, ending in a mural vault, 10 feet by 5 feet, in the -west wall of which are two loops and two double garderobes. - -The roof of the hall was of timber, resting on six pairs of principals, -of which the corbels that carried the hammer-beams remain. Some are -carved as male or female heads, and one represents an animal. The pitch -of the gable is marked upon the east wall, across which, at the level -of the corbels, is a bold band of chevron work, and upon this rests a -window of 2 feet 6 inches opening, which gave light from an upper mural -gallery into the roof. In this gable a second opening, 7 feet wide, has -been made into the same gallery. This larger window cuts the chevron -band, descending somewhat below it. It was evidently an insertion to -give more light to the hall, and is opened on one side instead of in -the place of the small window, in order that it may be clear of the -forebuilding. - -The _south chamber_ was entered from the hall by a doorway 5 feet -broad, placed in a large recess 5 feet deep. In the south wall are two -round-headed windows, trefoiled, with discs on the cusps, and between -them a fireplace and chimney-shaft have been inserted, probably during -the Tudor period. There is also a sort of cupboard in this wall, and -a door opening into a lobby 7 feet by 3 feet 4 inches, which opens -upon the south-west well-stair. In the east wall is a small door, -a Decorated insertion, opening into the chapel. In the north wall, -besides the door from the hall, are a cupboard and a small segmental -door, opening into a mural garderobe in the west wall. In the west -end are two small doors opening into mural chambers, each containing -a garderobe lighted by a loop. It will thus be seen that all the -garderobes are upon the west front, and there seem to have been others -in the battlements above them. The south chamber had a lofty open roof -like that of the hall, but high up in its west gable a window has been -opened as though to suit an added interior gallery or balcony at the -level of the room above the chapel at the opposite end. This window, -however, is the only indication of such an insertion, nor are there -any other windows or any traces of floor-joists, only below the window -are some joist-holes. This window is of two lights, lancet-shaped and -trefoiled. In the central spandrel is a peculiar ornament composed of -four loops, which outside are replaced by a small circle. This window -stands in a full-centred recess which may be original, but the window -itself is an insertion. - -Walled off at the east end of the chamber is the _ante-chapel_, 9 feet -by 13 feet, and vaulted. It is placed partly in the cross-wall and -partly in the south chamber. It has a door and window into the hall, -of which the latter seems an insertion. Also are seen a door and two -loops, of hour-glass section, in the opposite or south wall opening -into the chapel. In the east wall is a door, whence a narrow passage -leads upon the roof of the forebuilding over the middle gate. - -The _chapel_, which could be entered from the hall either through the -ante-chapel or round it by a mural passage, has but one original door, -which is in its north wall. A second door has been opened, in the -early English period, in the west wall. The chapel is 13 feet east -and west by 14 feet, and has a flat timber ceiling. The southern side -has a deep recess, let into the wall of the keep, and in it are the -remains of a triple window, probably formed of three loops. In the two -jambs of this arch are side recesses. High up in the north wall are -the two hour-glass loops from the ante-chapel. The chapel has been -much injured; but there are remains of a handsome arcade with detached -shafts upon the lower half of the west and north walls, and in the -south is what seems to have been a coupled window. In the east wall is -a handsome arch of 7 feet 6 inches span, with shafts in front of the -piers with carved caps. This opens into a sort of chancel, 5 feet deep -by 9 feet wide, with nook-shafts. It is vaulted, groined, and ribbed. -There is no boss, but about the intersection of the ribs is some rude -carving, from which a lamp seems to have been suspended. There is a -window to the east, now broken down, but which was probably composed of -three coupled lights, and in the south wall is a recess with a loop. -An attempt has been made, apparently in the Tudor period, to insert a -fireplace in the north wall. - -From the first floor the south-west well-stair leads to the roof -only; but the north-east stair, in its way to the roof, has two side -openings, of which the first, 2 feet 4 inches wide, leads by a narrow -passage up fourteen steps towards the ramparts of the vestibule tower. -This is now blocked by the inserted vault, with which that building is -covered in. Eight steps above this lower opening a second leads into a -gallery in the east wall. Above this opening, seventeen more steps lead -to the ramparts of the keep, which are 22 feet above the level of the -first floor. The eastern gallery is vaulted, and 32 feet long. From one -side of it a door enters the second floor of the forebuilding tower, -and beyond it, also in the east or outer side, is a loop. In the west -side are two openings, already described, which open into the gable -end of the hall roof. At its south end this gallery makes a turn at -right angles, and ends in a small bedchamber, 18 feet by 14 feet, which -is over the chapel, and has a window to the south. As the parapets -are gone, and the ramparts not accessible, the roof above the kitchen -cannot be examined; but there does not appear to have been any second -floor in that quarter. - -The _forebuilding_ is a very perfect and a very good example of this -peculiar appendage to a Norman keep. It is composed of three parts,—a -lower staircase, an upper staircase, and a vestibule tower. At its -south end is the outer gateway, at the ground-level, in line with the -southern face of the keep. The portal is full-centred, and flanked by -two columns beneath a plain abacus, from which springs the arch with a -bold roll-moulding. There is no portcullis. The door opened inwards, -and was strongly barred. The wall is 6 feet thick, and the vaulted -passage through it, inside the doorway, is segmental and groined. -Within, the passage is 8 feet wide, and contains the lower staircase -of fifteen steps. In the inner face of the wall, over the doorway, is -a large, deep recess, probably to lighten the weight on the entrance -arch. On the right or outer wall, high up, is a loop, and on the left, -at the fourth step, a large door, already mentioned, opens into the -southern chamber. It seems to be of late Decorated date, and probably -represents an original loop, or it may be a doorway. At the head -of this first staircase is the middle or second doorway, of 5 feet -opening, also full-centred, with flanking columns. The head, also, has -a bold roll-moulding. The wall in which it is placed is 4 feet thick, -and the landing 5 feet deep. The portal is recessed, and in the soffit -in front of it is an opening, 2 feet broad by 6 inches deep, a shaft -or _meurtrière_ from the top of the wall, where is a walk. This seems -to have had high parapets, and a loop looking down the staircase. The -opening was for the defence of the portal. This door also was barred. -Within it rises the second staircase, in the same line, of nineteen -steps, 8 feet wide, and ascending to the upper and inner doorway, the -door of the vestibule. On the right is a second loop, on the left a -clumsy doorway ascending to the hall, already mentioned, and evidently -an insertion. The staircase is solid, containing no vault or chamber -below. It was roofed with timber, at two levels, of a low pitch, -divided by the wall of the middle gate, and leaning against the keep -wall. - -The doorway at the stairhead much resembles those below. It is set in a -deep recess, has flanking shafts, and a roll-moulding round the head. -There is no portcullis. The doorway opens into a chamber 14 feet by -15 feet, which is the vestibule to the main entrance of the keep, and -at the level of its first floor. It has two windows to the north, two -to the east, and to the south the staircase door and a window, which -rakes the exterior of the outer wall of the staircase. These windows -seem to have been of 12-inch opening, but have been enlarged. They are -placed in deep recesses, as in an arcade. In the west wall is the great -entrance—a noble archway—deeply recessed, and flanked with four shafts -on either side. The exterior arch is 10 feet span, the doorway itself 6 -feet. The plinths are unusually high, being 3 feet. The caps are fluted -and cushioned. The outer arch is full-centred, the actual doorway -segmental. The arch bands are worked in chevron and other mouldings. -Close north of the great entrance a plain narrow door opens into the -adjacent well-stair, but this is clearly an enlarged loop, which was -intended to light the staircase. The original covering of this room, -like its present floor, was of timber, but this has been replaced by an -ill-executed vault of the early Decorated period. It is arranged in two -bays, the dividing rib springing from pilasters let into the north and -south walls. Each bay is crossed diagonally by two ribs, springing from -corbels of half-octagon figure. The vaulting obscures and spoils the -old Norman details of this very handsome chamber. - -Below the vestibule is the ground floor, probably a prison, a mere pit, -14 feet by 16 feet, and 21 feet high, aired by two loops very high up -in the east wall, and possibly by a third in the south wall. In the -west wall, the wall of the keep, is a lofty recess beneath the keep -entrance, within which a hole has been broken. At present this chamber -is entered by a door at the ground-level in the south wall, but this is -certainly an insertion. The original entrance must have been by a trap -and ladder from the vestibule floor. - -The second floor of the vestibule tower was 16 feet square, and had -four round-headed windows of 2 feet opening, now converted into -shoulder-headed windows. There are two in the north, two in the east, -and one in the south faces, each in a plain flat-sided recess, 3 feet -broad. In the west wall, where is the entrance from the mural gallery, -is a recess, 12 feet broad and 2 feet deep, above the grand entrance -of the keep. Its angle is replaced by a nook-shaft, the particulars of -which show that though the walls and the position of the windows are -original, the floor-level has been raised, and a fireplace inserted in -the south wall. Like the vestibule, this room has had its flat timber -roof replaced by a high-pitched vault in two bays, groined and ribbed, -and with a dividing rib. All the ribs spring from semi-octagonal piers -inserted into the old walls. This vault appears outside in the form of -a high-pitched roof. It is of the age of that below. - -The material of this keep is, in substance, flint rubble, coursed, -but it is faced largely with ashlar; and far more attention has been -paid to ornamentation than is usual with military buildings. The -forebuilding is faced wholly with ashlar, and richly ornamented. -Over the outer portal are broad bands of hatched and chevron work, -filling up an arcade of two arches, above which is a circle, with a -centre carved as a head. The south-eastern angle is occupied by a -nook-shaft. The east front, the wall of the staircase, is even more -richly wrought. Here are two arcades at different levels, corresponding -to the level of each staircase roof, and above is a line of circles, -with centres carved as heads. There is a notion that the mural passage -over the middle doorway ended in a postern high up in this wall, -whence a ladder could be dropped; but there seems no ground for this -improbable opinion. Had there been such a postern, the two loops on -the stair would have been arranged for its defence; whereas they are -too high up to be used, save for light and air. It is curious that -the forebuilding should be so much more ornate outside than the keep; -whereas at Dover and Rochester, where also it contained a chapel, -its outside is remarkably plain. The subordinate staircases, that -is, those at the two angles, are clumsily arranged, and there is no -arrangement by means of a landing to suit the steps to the level of the -floors supplied. No doubt the main stair was that chiefly in use. The -keep bears a close resemblance to that of Norwich, especially in the -position of its kitchen, north gallery, and chapel. The forebuilding -also is on the same plan. The arches generally are full-centred, though -a few of the doorways are segmental. Where the mural galleries are at -all expanded in breadth, and in the door recesses of the cross-wall -and of the outer entrance, the vaulting is lightly groined; and this, -which occurs also in the Tower of London and at Rochester, produces a -good effect, and takes off from the sameness of the barrel-vault. In -the kitchen are piled up a heap of fragments of carved stones found in -or about the castle. They are in all the styles—Norman, early English, -Decorated, and a few Perpendicular. Probably some came from the chapel -of St. Nicholas; many of them can scarcely have belonged to the keep. -If Castle Rising was built by the architect of Norwich keep, it must -be early Norman, for Norwich was besieged 1076, at the revolt of -Earl Guader, and Harrod supposes the present keep to have been then -standing; but the ornamentation of Castle Rising looks much later, and -on the whole there is no reason to refuse assent to the tradition which -attributes it to William d’Albini, who died 1176. As usual, there are -no subterranean chambers. Though the three doorways of the forebuilding -had not, as at Dover, each a tower, each had a distinct defence, the -outer from the battlement over the portal, the middle also from a -battlement pierced by a shaft, and communicating with the keep, and the -inner as a part of the vestibule tower. - -The _gatehouse_ stands near the centre of the east side of the keep -ward, in the earth bank which has been cut away to allow it to be -built. It is 325 yards from the north-east angle of the keep, and of -the same age. It is of the usual Norman pattern, a rectangular tower -pierced by a passage, with an arch of 12 feet opening at each end, set -in the walls, of which the outer is 6 feet, and the inner 5 feet thick. -The arches are quite plain, without rebate or chamfer. The passage -between the two is also 12 feet wide and 13 feet long, and had a flat -timber roof, the floor of the chamber above, now removed. The outer -arch has a portcullis groove, 3½ inches broad by 4½ inches deep, and -square. In the north wall are two shallow recesses, of 4 feet span -by 1 foot 10 inches deep. In the south wall is one similar recess, -and a door of 2 feet 6 inches opening, which seems to have led into a -well-stair in the south-west angle of the building. In front of the -outer gateway the approach, 15 feet wide, lies between two walls, of -which the southern still projects 15 feet. They probably protected the -drawbridge, and between them was the bridge-pit. Beyond these walls -is the great ditch of the place, here about 80 feet broad and 30 feet -deep, crossed by a bridge in masonry, of two arches, of which the inner -one is walled up. The open arch seems of Tudor date, but the piers look -original. The outer end of the bridge rests upon the counterscarp of -the ditch, about the centre of the eastern ward. - -The gatehouse stood on the ground level, and, therefore, lower than -the curtain of the _enceinte_, which was built on the crest of the -earth bank. The original curtain, if one there was, as is probable, -is entirely gone, and has been replaced by a brick wall of the age of -Henry VII., also nearly all gone. Of this wall there remain, on the -south side of the gate, about 12 yards. It is 2 feet thick, but within -was lined by an arcade 3 feet thick, which carried the rampart walk, -as at Southampton. These arches are 8 feet span, and four-centred, -with piers 3 feet broad, and within each arch or recess was a loop. -There remain three arches and a half. Besides this there is a fragment -of curtain south-west of the keep, and traces of foundations along the -bank. - -In the central ward, a few yards north of the keep, is a well, and -further north are the remains of the great chapel. This was composed of -a nave, choir or presbytery, and apse. The nave is about 12 feet broad -and 25 feet long. The arch into the presbytery was 5 feet broad, and -across it is the base of a stone screen with a door of 3 feet. There -was a south door and a north window. The font stood in the centre, -near the west end. The presbytery was 8 feet long by 9 feet broad, -with a loop to the south, and an arch of 6 feet opening into the apse. -The apse was rounded, and 8 feet broad by 9 feet long, and had loops -splayed internally to the north and east, and probably to the south. -It is said that the very early Norman font, now in the parish church, -came from hence. The masonry of what remains of this building is of -a rude character, and it is probably older than the keep. This is -supposed to be the chapel of St. Nicholas mentioned in the records. At -present its remains are niched into the bank, and it has the appearance -of being the older of the two, though this can scarcely be the case. -The sand of the bank is liable to be shifted by the wind, and as late -as the commencement of the present century the central ward was much -encumbered with it, and the keep more or less buried, so that this is -probably the cause of the half-buried condition of the ruins of the -chapel. - -The keep, chapel, and gatehouse are the only remains of Norman masonry -at present seen above ground. The inner ward must have contained -domestic buildings on a large scale, fit for the reception of royalty, -but the foundations which remain on the south of the keep seem very -late, probably of the Tudor period. They are said to be those of the -constable’s lodgings. There is no trace of masonry of any kind in the -two outer wards. - -The parish church, standing in the village of Castle Rising, is a fine -example of the late Norman style. Its west front, especially, is very -rich, and it has a good central tower. The chancel is rather later. The -font is very massive. Its square bowl is covered with carvings of an -early character, and it stands upon a plain cylinder, properly copied -from the original support. The bowl is said to have come from the -castle. - -Rising, or rather Snettisham, in which manor it is contained, was a -part of the estate of Edwyn, a Dane, and a follower of Canute. So says -Dugdale. In Domesday it is entered as a “bervite” of the manor of -Snettisham. “_Huic manerio jacet una bervita Risinga._” It had belonged -to Archbishop Stigand, and, on his forfeiture, William gave it to -Bishop Odo, then Earl of Kent. After Odo’s fall, Rufus granted it to -William d’Albini, the royal “pincerna,” or butler, son of Roger, and -whose younger brother Nigel was ancestor of the great house of Mowbray. -The son of William was “William with the Strong Hand,” the celebrated -Earl of Arundel, and Lord of Buckenham, in Norfolk, who married Adeliza -of Louvaine, the Dowager Queen of Henry I., and is the reputed builder -of the keep before 1176. - -Their son, a third William, died 1190, leaving a fourth William, who -died 1221, and whose eldest son, a fifth William, died childless in -1224, when Rising came to his brother Hugh, who left four sisters, -co-heirs, of whom Cecily had Rising, and married Roger, Lord Montalt. -Their eldest son, John Montalt, died childless, and was followed by his -brother Robert, who died 3 Edward I., leaving Roger, who died childless -25 Edward I., and Robert, who succeeded. This Robert de Montalt was -a very considerable person, both as a warrior and a statesman. He is -locally celebrated for the winning of a very important law-suit against -the corporation of Lynn for the tolls of that port and market in the -reign of Edward II. Having no issue, he, in 1 Edward III., sold the -reversion of Castle Rising to the Crown, for the benefit of Queen -Isabella, the “She-Wolf of France,” with remainder to John of Eltham, -the king’s brother. In 1331 Isabella came into possession, and here -lived in retirement to within a year of her death, which occurred at -Hertford in 1358. Edward, with his queen, here visited his mother, in -the fourteenth year of his reign. - -John of Eltham having died childless, the castle came to the Black -Prince, and became part of the duchy of Cornwall, and so descended to -Richard II., who exchanged it with John, Duke of Bretagne, who held it -in 1397, and occasionally resided there. It was afterwards recovered -by the Crown, and granted to Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, from -whom it passed to Edward IV., who again annexed it to the duchy, but -the castle was probably then in a ruinous state. In the time of Henry -VII. it seems to have been repaired. The roof of the keep was then -covered with tiles, with great gutters of lead. In the reign of Henry -VIII. it was again in decay, and the keep and gatehouse were roofless, -and it would seem that the constable’s lodging was the only habitable -part. Finally, the king exchanged the castle manor and chase of Rising -with Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, and in 1693 it came to another -Thomas Howard, ancestor of the Earls of Suffolk and Berks, one of whose -descendants still holds it. As late as the 31st of Elizabeth there was -a curtain-wall upon the bank which was in danger from the burrowing of -the conies, and there was also a gatehouse and a bridge 90 yards long -and 7 yards broad. Under the castle, by the tenure of castle-guard, -were held the manors of Hunstanton, Reydon, and the Wottons. - - - - - CHÂTEAU-GAILLARD, ON THE SEINE. - - -Château-Gaillard, though a French castle, is here introduced as being -the work of an English king, and a very remarkable example of the -military architecture of the close of the twelfth century. - -Château-Gaillard, the “Saucy Castle” of Cœur-de-Lion, the work of one -year of his brief reign, and the enduring monument of his skill as -a military engineer, is in its position and details one of the most -remarkable, and in its history one of the most interesting of the -castles of Normandy. Although a ruin, enough remains to enable the -antiquary to recover all its leading particulars. These particulars, -both in plan and elevation, are so peculiar that experience derived -from other buildings throws but an uncertain light upon their age; -but of this guide, usually so important, they are independent, from -the somewhat uncommon fact that the fortress is wholly of one date, -and that date is on record. Moreover, within a few years of its -construction, whilst its defences were new and perfect, with a numerous -garrison and a castellan, one of the best soldiers of the Anglo-Norman -baronage, it was besieged by the whole disposable force of the most -powerful monarch of his day; and the particulars of the siege have been -recorded by a contemporary historian with a minuteness which leaves -little for the imagination to supply, and which, by the help of the -place and works, but little changed, enables us to obtain a very clear -comprehension of the manner in which great fortresses were attacked and -defended at the commencement of the thirteenth century. - -Château-Gaillard crowns the almost precipitous head of a bold and -narrow promontory of chalk, which, isolated on either hand by a deep -valley, stands out from the broad table-land of Le Vexin, at a height -of 300 feet above the deep and rapid Seine, which washes and has for -ages threatened to undermine its base. - -The course of the Seine through Normandy, from below the conflux of the -Epte to the sea, is one rapid succession of bold and graceful curves, -the concavities of which, bluff and precipitous, are attacked by the -advancing stream, in strong contrast to the opposite banks, which, -deposited and encircled by it, are low and fertile, and studded with -ancient villages, churches, and manor-houses, rising through a mantle -of rich, smiling verdure. - -At the bottom of one of the grandest of these reaches, on the margin of -a vast amphitheatre, stands the saucy boast of Cœur-de-Lion. Right and -left are the bold bluffs of the chalk range, masked with turf, green as -that of Sussex or Kent, varied by the occasional protrusion of a cliff -of chalk, and relieved by a band of vegetation covering up the foot of -the steep, and intervening between the high ground and the river. In -front, beyond the innumerable islands of the Seine, is the tongue of -rich low land known as the peninsula of Bernieres, a village, which, -with Toeni and Venables—names familiar in Anglo-Norman history—is seen -in the foreground. The valley on the right, or east, and immediately -below the castle, is that of the Gambon, upon which are the towns of -Great and Little Andelys; the former the birthplace—or within a mile of -the birthplace—of Nicholas Poussin and Brunel; the latter half-a-mile -lower down, upon the junction of the stream with the Seine, and -under the immediate command of the castle, and contemporary with its -foundation. - -Château-Gaillard is composed of two principal parts, the castle proper -and the outwork: the one covering the whole head of the promontory, the -other occupying the only level ground, being the root of the ridge, -from which the fortress could be attacked on equal terms. - -The castle proper is composed of a keep; an inner ward, of the -_enceinte_ of which the keep forms a part, and which has its own -ditch; and an outer ward, within which the inner ward is placed, the -two uniting, or nearly so, at the north end. This division of the -fortress is therefore concentric. The outwork, in advance of the ditch -of the outer ward, has a ditch of its own, and presents its salient or -strongest part towards the south. - -The keep is a tower of which one half, in plan, is round, and the -other projects into the ward as a right angle, or spur—a form of tower -well known in French castles. It is 48 feet in diameter, or 55 feet -taken at the spur. The walls are 11 feet thick, at the spur 18 feet, -and the circular interior is 26 feet. At this time it is composed of -a basement and a first floor; nor does there appear to have been a -second below the ramparts. In the basement is one window towards the -west, or exterior, and a rough aperture towards the east, or the inner -ward. There are marks as though this had been a door of 4 feet 6 inches -opening; but if so, it was doubtless not original. This keep is not -likely to have had an entrance on the ground floor. - -The first floor has two windows towards the west, and a door to the -north. The windows being on the cliff side, and inaccessible, are -moderately large. They are of two lights, flat-headed, beneath an -equilateral arch. Their internal recesses are slightly pointed. The -doorway, also flat-headed, occupies the space of a window-light. In -the other space is a loop, commanding the approach. Both are beneath a -round-headed arch, the tympanum being closed. - -There are neither mural chambers nor a staircase within the keep. The -floors and stairs were of wood. There is no fireplace, nor visible -garderobe, and no well. The spur is solid. - -The exterior is very peculiar. The lower two-thirds batters -considerably all round, so as to add strength to the base, and cause a -missile dropped from above to be projected outwards upon an assailant. -About half-way up this slope there commences from corbels a series of -buttresses, which expand laterally as they rise, but have vertical -faces. They are, in fact, machicolations, but commencing low down; and, -like ordinary machicolations, are connected by a series of arches, -carrying the parapet, behind which was a passage for projectiles, -as, for example, at Avignon. These exaggerated machicolations give a -considerable increase of space to the top of the keep, but they are -confined to its inner two-thirds, the outer side being sufficiently -secure without them. As the upper part of the keep has been removed, -the arches are gone, and only the buttresses remain. One of these -defences overhung the entrance. - -From a curious representation of the castle in stone in the church -of Great Andelys, there is evidence that the keep was surmounted by -a second and smaller tower within the rampart walk, and this again -by another within that, rising like the tubes of a telescope. These -probably were of timber. - -A narrow flight of steps, commencing at the ward level, and carried up -the outside of the keep, ascended, with two turns, to the entrance. -Part of this narrow and dangerous staircase remains. There are also -traces of a lean-to building on the east side of the keep, probably an -addition. - -The material of the keep is flint rubble, grouted in a copious bath of -mortar, and faced inside and out with ashlar. The stones are about 1 -foot 6 inches long by 6 inches high, and are a hard and durable variety -of chalk, with occasional flints. The material is probably local. The -workmanship, though plain and without ornament, is good. The joints are -moderately open, enough to admit an ordinary lead-pencil. - -The inner ward is something of the shape of the human ear, the keep -standing in the west or hollow side, and the lobe being to the north or -north-east. This ward measures about 200 feet north and south by 100 -feet east and west. Its _enceinte_ wall is one of the curiosities of -the castle. It is in girth about 500 feet. Of this the keep, a round -tower, and an intermediate building, occupy about one-third on the -north-west quarter, and the remaining two-thirds includes some plain -wall, a gateway, and seventeen segmental buttresses of 9 feet in the -chord, placed upon the curtain 3 feet apart. The wall, about 8 feet -thick, is plain within. By means of this arrangement great strength was -given to the wall, and a series of flanking defences provided on the -only face on which the ground admitted of any attack being directed. -This part of the wall was probably about 30 feet high, and stood upon -a vertical scarp of about 20 feet more. The battlements are gone, so -that it does not appear how the wall was crested. A wall similarly -buttressed, and of rather earlier date, existed at the Castle of -Cherbourg, and there is something a little like it at Caerphilly. - -The keep has already been described. It stands in the line of this -_enceinte_, on the west side, which it protects. Annexed to the keep, -on the north side, and also a part of the _enceinte_, is a rectangular -building, probably the lodging of the castellan. It is about 30 feet -wide, and 40 feet long, having a basement excavated in the chalk rock. -It is of two floors, with fireplaces and segmental arches, and has an -appendage on the north, perhaps for offices. It has windows in the -curtain looking over the cliff towards the river. Stairs from hence -descend to the postern, and the keep stair lies between this building -and the keep. - -At the northern point outside of, but engaged in, the wall, is the -foundation of a round tower, now included in a square bastion, -belonging rather to the outer ward than to this. - -The postern is common to this and the outer ward, or rather at this -point the two run into one, and the postern pierces the common wall. It -is a narrow door having a flat top supported by two brackets, and above -a round-head arch with closed tympanum. It opens in a re-entering angle -of the wall, covered by the bastion, and upon the scarp, so that it -must have been reached by a shifting bridge or ladder, the arrangements -for working which seem indicated by some recesses for bars just within -the portal. There is no portcullis; the defence was a barred door. The -cill of this postern is about 30 feet below the base of the keep. It is -reached by steps cut in the chalk rock, and but little worn. - -The great gateway of this ward opens in the curtain to the east, -and had a gatehouse almost entirely within the wall. This gate is -considerably below the level of the ward. A steep descent leads to -it, and the portal vault has three hanging ribs or arches, with a -portcullis inside them, with a square groove. The inner half of the -portal is gone; probably there was a second vault and portcullis, and -an open space between. The face of the porter’s lodge is gone, but the -lodge is seen to have had a plain segmental vault. Outside the gate is -a curious square groove as for a portcullis, but it is stopped, and -does not descend below the springing level of the gate arch. - -This gate opens upon the ditch. The base of the scarp-pier of the -bridge remains. The counterscarp has tumbled in. There was, probably, -a central pier in the ditch. The present bridge is not original. The -approach to this gate left by Cœur-de-Lion was a causeway, formed by -leaving the rock uncut. It was over this causeway that the inner ward -was stormed and taken. - -Just within this gate was a well 270 feet deep, now blocked up. - -Outside the _enceinte_ is the ditch, about 20 feet deep, and 30 feet -wide at the gate, and along the south front, with vertical sides, but -running out to nothing on the steep ground as its ends pass northwards. - -This ditch is, in fact, in the _outer ward_, which envelopes the inner -ward. This ward is oblong, about 325 feet north and south, and 200 -feet east and west. Its northern half is of an irregular oval form, -following the rock, and terminating in two large rectangular conjoined -bastions upon the precipitous north end. The southern half is nearly -rectangular; having a straight south face 125 feet long, flanked by -two drum towers. From these pass off the lateral curtains, forming the -east and west front, and ending in two other drum towers, of which -that to the east, nearly opposite the inner-ward gateway, is gone. The -curtain, from this tower northwards, is also gone. On the opposite or -west side it is a mere parapet, cresting the precipice and following -its outlines. From the manner in which the inner ward is placed in -this ward it occupies nearly all its northern end, but leaves to the -south a platform, outside the ditch, of about 140 feet by 100 feet. -Here is a rectangular foundation, about 40 feet broad by 60 feet long, -and divided lengthways by a wall. Its length is north and south, but -here is said to have been the chapel, probably built across one end. -It was the work of King John, placed upon a substructure of cellars, -and in close contiguity to the castle garderobe in the west wall. -“Juxta foricas, quod quidem religioni contrarium videbatur,” says the -chronicler. The end walls and the east side are faced with ashlar, but -there is now nothing like a chapel. Here, however, it appears to have -been, and its roof was visible above the wall. These foundations are -interesting, since it was here, through a window in the contiguous -wall, that the ward was entered and surprised during the great siege. - -[Illustration: PLAN OF CHÂTEAU-GAILLARD.] - -No regular gateway remains in this ward. There is an opening in the -south curtain which led to the great outwork, but which could scarcely -have been the regular entrance. Neither could this have been on the -west or north fronts. Probably, therefore, it was to the north-east, -where the wall is now wanting. It is said not to have been opposite the -inner gateway. At best the approach must have been little suited to -wheel carriages. There was a well in the east quarter of this ward. - -Mention has to be made of some curious chambers cut in the chalk of -the escarpment of the ditch, from which at this time they are entered. -There are three or four of these, about 80 feet in length and 7 feet -high. They are carved with a sort of rough regularity, with pilasters -left against the wall, and bands representing segmental arches. One -large octagonal pier has a cap and base, and the latter has the -water-bearing hollow of the Early English style, and is evidently -original. It is probable, from what is said of these places in the -account of the surprise of this ward, that they had a door towards the -ditch, but they seem to have been also entered by a round hole, 4 feet -across, in the roof, as was the case with the dungeons at Coucy. - -The outer ward has its proper ditch, cut with vertical sides across -the ridge in front of the south wall, between it and the rear of the -outwork. This ditch is about 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep, but runs -out to nothing when it reaches the steep ground. - -The outwork, ravelin, or outer ward, is an antemural work, intended to -cover the only side upon which the castle was open to an attack from -level, or rather rising, ground, and to occupy what would otherwise -have been a very dangerous platform. - -It is in figure an isosceles triangle, having a base of 125 feet, and -sides of 175 feet. Each of the three angles is capped by a round tower -of 35 feet diameter, having walls 11 feet thick, and which seem to -have been at least 40 feet high. Besides these, in the side walls, -60 feet in rear of the front tower, are two subordinate towers, also -round, of 25 feet diameter; and again, a few feet from these, the -curtain is slightly bent, so as to present an obtuse salient to the -field. The work, therefore, though in general plan a triangle, has -really five angles and as many towers. The front tower has a well-stair -at its junction with its western curtain. The curtain is much broken -down, but must have been at least 30 feet high, and, near the front, -about 12 feet thick, and elsewhere 8 feet. - -The rear or gorge wall is not exactly a curtain to the flanking -towers. It is placed a little outside of them, on the edge of the -ditch; and between it and the east tower was the gateway, the special -and independent entrance of the outwork. The north side is gone, but -the other side shows the springing of the portal arches and a square -portcullis groove. In this gorge wall, not far from the gate, is a -large arch, corresponding to that already mentioned in the outer-ward -wall. This was, no doubt, a way of communication between the castle -and the earthwork. This ditch was crossed by a wall at the east end, -which connected the two works and protected the bridge. The west end is -filled with ruins. There are now no traces of buildings in the outwork. - -The towers of the outwork are of great strength, and have been faced -with ashlar. The front tower especially is strong, and does not appear -ever to have been mined or breached. Also the rock beneath it is -undisturbed. Possibly the breach spoken of at the siege was in the -adjacent curtain on the east. - -In the rear of this work is the ditch already described, and along its -front and flanks is another ditch, proper to the outwork, and the most -formidable of all the defences. It is above 30 feet wide, and at the -advanced point, where the ground rises, above 40 feet deep. The scarp -and counterscarp are vertical. - -Besides these regular works are others of a less regular but very -formidable character, on the west side. This face of the rock towards -the Seine, steep naturally, has been scarped and defended by art. -Half-way down the slope is a round tower, connected, it is said, with -the work above, by a gallery cut in the chalk. From the tower a wall -descended to the river, so that the approaches on this side and the -road between the hill and the river were effectually commanded. This -wall seems to have terminated on the river bank, in a pier of which -traces remain, and which supported one end of a strong dam or weir of -piles, which extended across the river, and was part of the original -work of Cœur-de-Lion. Several other works were stepped into the rocky -slope, and especially covered the west side. - -The weir crossed above the island, called formerly D’Andelys, upon -which was the octangular fort, erected also by Richard, and of which -traces remain. The bridges from this island, either way, to the banks, -were of timber, and have left no trace behind. - -Finally are to be mentioned the fortifications of the lesser Andelys, -now destroyed, and the lake, fed by the waters of the Gambon, and -which washed the walls of Great Andelys, and completely enveloped the -lower town. These additional defences are now destroyed and the lake is -drained and filled up, but indications remain sufficient to verify the -detailed description of Guillaume le Breton, and to justify M. Deville -in his description, and M. le Duc, in his restorations, advanced under -the excellent articles “Château” and “Donjon” in his “Dictionary.” - - - - - THE CASTLE OF CHRISTCHURCH, HANTS. - - -The town, castle, and priory of Christchurch are placed upon the -south-eastern point and edge of a tongue of moderately-high ground, -which intervenes between the Stour on the west and the Avon on the -east. The two rivers of Dorset and Wilts meander like their prototype, - - “.... toties qui terris errat in isdem,” - -and flow across broad and marshy tracts of land to unite below -Christchurch in a spacious inlet of the bay which is formed, and on -the south-east protected, by the headland bearing the suggestive -name of Hengistbury. The position is thus strong and convenient: -unapproachable, by reason of the marshes, on the east and west; -presenting to the north a narrow and defencible front, and placed upon -a harbour in former days very suitable for small vessels, sheltered -from the prevailing west wind, and having a narrow and easily-guarded -entrance from the adjacent channel. Such a position was not likely to -be neglected by any people, even in the rudest age, and accordingly the -Britons seem to have fortified the headland: and those who drove them -out not only gave to that headland its present name, but, finding the -inner position better suited to their habits, fortified it with bank -and ditch, and within the area so enclosed threw up the usual mound, -or burh, the ordinary indication of the residence of an early English -chieftain. - -The remains of the British period are confined to the double banks -and ditches, which still crown the headland, and to the names of the -rivers, which there unite. Of a British town or church, Aberdour, as -such would have probably been called, no traces are to be found. - -The earliest mention of the place in Anglo-Saxon records is in the -Chronicle in A.D. 901, where it is recorded, that on the death of -Alfred and the succession of Edward the Elder, Æthelwold, his uncle’s -son, seized the vill at “Winburne and that at Tweoxneam,” but on -Edward’s marching to Badbury, and threatening an attack on Winburne, -now Wimborne, he fled into the North. This statement is repeated by -Florence of Worcester, with the additional information that Tweoxneam -was a royal vill. The place, under its better-known name of Twyneham, -occurs in a charter by Athelstan, dated April 23rd, 939, in which, -among other lands, he, the “king wielding all Britain,” gives to -God and St. Mary, to St. Michael, St. Sampson, and St. Branwaladre, -lands on Avene at Twynham. The character of a royal vill was long -sustained, and from Domesday it appears that it had belonged to the -Confessor and did then belong to King William. Long before that time, -however, a religious house had been founded there, and the canons of -Tuinham, or of the Holy Trinity of Thuinam, appear in the Survey as -tenants-in-chief. The foundation was probably an early one. Twynburn, -or Winburn, on the same Stour a few miles higher up, was founded -before 705, and Wareham before 876. In the Confessor’s time, there -were twenty-four canons and a dean; and in the reign of Rufus, the -latter post was filled by Ralf Flambard, who is said to have rebuilt -the college, which was practically re-founded by Richard de Redvers, -Earl of Devon, in the reign of Henry I., and whose son, Earl Baldwin, -obtained the conversion of the seculars into regular canons of the -order of St. Augustin. The mill is recorded in Domesday. In all these -transactions there is no mention of the castle. - -[Illustration: THE CASTLE OF CHRISTCHURCH.] - -The castle, however, though possibly not a structure in regular masonry -until a century later than the Conquest, was certainly a burh long -before that event, and probably at least as early as the ninth century, -preceding, no doubt, and being the cause of, the vill, or collection -of houses. It stands upon the right or west bank of the Avon river, -immediately below the ancient bridge which carries the high road across -it. Its eastern front stands about 16 yards from the river, and rises -out of, and forms, the bank of the Mill Leat, which intervenes between -the castle and the Avon. The leat commences about three quarters of a -mile higher up, and terminates at the ancient Priory Mill, now called -“Place Mill,” 500 yards lower down, where, having started from the -Avon, it falls into the Stour. As there seems to have been but one -mill, it is to be supposed that the lay and spiritual lords were in -accord upon the very interesting topic of multures. At any rate, it lay -with the former to cut off the supply of water. - -The area of the castle was roughly rectangular, about 110 yards -north and south, or parallel to the river, and 150 yards east and -west,—dimensions which include the ditch, now filled up, but of which -there are indications, with a breadth of 20 yards, along the north -and west fronts, now Castle and Church streets. The line of the ditch -along the south, or Priory, side is not traceable. The old Priory wall -is wanting there, and the ground has been levelled and cultivated as -a garden for above a century. Probably the ditch communicated at each -end with the mill-stream, and was filled from it, involving at the -deepest part not above 12 feet to 15 feet of excavation. No doubt there -was a bank within the ditch, thrown up from it, and which has since -been employed to fill it up. On the water front no earthworks were -necessary. The leat is 25 feet broad, and the river expands suddenly -below the bridge to 130 feet in width. - -In the highest and north-western quarter of the space thus enclosed is -the burh, attributed by Norden, with great probability, to Edward the -Elder, after the suppression of the rebellion of Æthelwald in 901. This -is an oblong mound, wholly artificial, and composed of chalk-gravel. It -measures about 160 feet north and south by 150 feet east and west, and -has a table summit about 120 feet by 90 feet; it is about 20 feet high. -This mound and base court, with the circumscribing bank and ditch, -and the watercourse, with, no doubt, a strong palisade, formed the -original fortress, which, side by side with the Priory, afforded to the -contiguous town temporal and spiritual protection. Here, upon the old -site, Richard de Redvers, having before obtained a grant of the manor -from Henry I., erected a castle such as was then in use. He walled in -the area, placing probably his curtain along the crest of the bank and -upon the edge of the mill leat. His keep he built upon the mound, and -the hall and domestic buildings upon the line of the wall, along the -edge of the water. He is said also to have walled the town. The masonry -remaining is but scanty and confined to some fragments of the keep and -the hall-house, both of which appear to be original. - -The keep is peculiar both in position and in its details. It is, or -has been, rectangular, and it stands upon the summit of the mound. It -is very unusual, for obvious reasons, to find rectangular keeps placed -upon artificial earthworks. At Guildford, where this appears to be the -case, it is only partially so, the tower being built on the slope of -the mound so that at least one half of it descends to the solid. It is, -no doubt, possible that here, the mound being of but moderate height, -the foundations may be laid below it; but more probably this is not the -case, and the engineer trusted, and securely, to the immense breadth -of his masonry to spread the weight and thus avoid unequal settlement. -Usually, when keeps are erected on artificial mounds, they are of the -shell type, as at Arundel. - -This keep is also peculiar in its details. It was a rectangular -tower, 50 feet north and south by 46 feet east and west. Its walls -were fully 11 feet thick. There are no traces of pilasters, and the -angles are chamfered off, the face of the chamfer being about 6 feet. -At present only the east and west sides are standing, to a height of -nearly 30 feet, and it is difficult to make out from them what were -the arrangements of the building. In the west wall is one opening; on -the east are two, flat-sided, 8 feet wide, about 18 feet high, and -descending to the ground-level. They are closed above by very flat -segmental arches—in fact, plat-bands—relieved by obtusely-pointed, if -not round-headed, arches of construction in the work immediately above -such details, so far as they can be seen or inferred. The low and -large openings, the chamfered angles, and the absence of pilasters are -utterly unlike what is usual in a Norman keep; though, from the great -mass and general figure of the building, it can scarcely be other than -Norman. Mitford, in Northumberland, though differing in detail from -the present tower, differs quite as much from the ordinary type, and -that certainly is of Norman date. The work of this keep is a sort of -coarse ashlar, rough, but of good quality. Perhaps more details might -be discovered but for a thick drapery of ivy, which, in this stage of -its decay, serves to protect the building. - -The hall, called the Constable’s House, is a rectangular building, 80 -feet north and south by 35 feet east and west, placed on the margin of -the leat, and rising out of it, so that its broadside forms a part of -the outer line of defence towards the east. At present it is detached -and stands alone, but it probably ranged with the curtain wall, of -which, however, there are now no traces. There seems to have been a -building connected with its south-west angle. - -The building was composed of a basement and a first floor. At each -end was a high-pitched gable, of which the southern only remains. -The walls are 5 feet thick, and the interior dimensions therefore 70 -feet by 25 feet. The basement is at the ground level and about 1 foot -above the top water of the leat, the height of which is regulated by -hatches. The entrance from the castle was in the west side, 16 feet -from the north end. The doorway, of 5 feet opening, seems to have had -a segmental head, but the ashlar has been roughly removed. In the two -ends were loops: that to the south has long been closed. In the east -side, towards its north end, are two loops. All these loops are mere -rectangular slits, evidently intended for air, not defence. Each is -placed in a splayed recess, 4 feet 6 inches wide, with a segmental -head. Also in the east wall, 4 feet from the south end, is a similar -recess, opening into a small door, which led into the garderobe turret. -Next, north of this, 12 feet from the south end, is a door opening on -the water, 7 feet wide, with a very flat arch, evidently original. The -jambs are of ashlar, and they have capitals of a peculiar character. -This was evidently the watergate for the admission of stores from -the river, here a few yards beyond the leat and a few feet below it. -The garderobe turret is a projection, 12 feet square, from the east -wall at its south end, standing in the leat, and pierced below by a -round-headed arch, or culvert, 4 feet broad, through which the water -flows freely, and into which the garderobes discharged. This basement -was evidently a store. It is said to have been crossed by a wall. Of -this there is now no trace. - -The first floor contained the hall, which occupied its whole area. The -main entrance was at the south end, near the south-west corner, by a -segmental-headed door; in the north wall is a window of two coupled -lights, each under a segmental head, with exterior drips, and the whole -placed within an exterior round-headed recess, the sides of which -contain flanking shafts, nooked. Above, not quite over the centre, -is a corbel carved as a human head. The arch-head and tympanum are -highly enriched with varieties of the chevron moulding, and upon the -chamfers of the lesser drips are rosettes carved with great delicacy. -Though heavily draped in ivy, enough is seen of this window to show -that it is late Norman, and of great beauty. There are windows similar -in type, but less rich in ornament, in the side walls, two in each, -and probably there were three, indicated by notches in the ivy. In -the east wall, 20 feet from the north end, are the remains of a large -fireplace, of which the convex back and the upper part of the circular -tunnel remain, and above is a tall cylindrical chimney-shaft, probably -original. A door from the south end of this wall led into the garderobe -turret, which had a loop to the east. There is also a round-headed -window in the south gable, which opened into the roof. There was no -vaulting; the floor and roof were of timber, the latter open. - -The view in Grose, taken in 1783, shows the garderobe turret to the -full height of the side wall, and the great chimney-shaft unincumbered -with ivy. It also shows the north-east angle unbroken, within which was -then contained a well-stair. This angle has now fallen away or been -removed, and its broken parts are so encumbered with ivy and rubbish -that nothing has been ascertained as to what may remain; but no doubt -the staircase ascended from the basement to the main floor and thence -to the roof or to the ramparts of the curtain. In Grose’s time, the -north wall was encumbered by a cottage and some chimneys and other -additions in brick; these have now been removed. The garderobe turret -was wilfully pulled down when the castle changed hands towards the end -of the last century. There is a letter in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ -complaining of this, and which possibly put a stop to further injuries. - -It is remarkable that a building closely resembling this is found at -Desmond’s Castle, at Adare, near Limerick. That castle is late Norman, -with a rectangular keep, though not on a mound, as the ground is -naturally high; and just below the keep, upon the bank of the river, -is placed the hall-house. It has a basement on the ground level, -evidently a store, with a separate entrance, and above is the hall, -with a boarded floor and open roof. The garderobe turret is built out -into the stream, has a culvert below, and is nearly perfect. The keep, -hall-house, and gate-house are there preserved, and if, as is probable, -the entrance at Christchurch was near the river at the foot of the -bridge, the relative position of the buildings would be the same. An -excellent plan of Desmond’s Castle will be found, with much else of a -valuable character, in Lord Dunraven’s “Memorials of Adare.” - -Christchurch Castle has not been the scene of any remarkable event, -nor does its name occur with any prominence in the history of the -country, or even of the county. The manor was first alienated from the -Crown by Henry I. in favour of Richard de Redvers, whom he created -Earl of Devon. In the “Monasticon” (vi., 304) is printed a grant -or confirmation by this earl to the canons of Christchurch of the -“Terram usque in aquam de havene, quæ est inter cimeterium et fossatum -castelli, messuagium supra ipsius castelli fossatum, quod habent ex -dono Gamelini.” This is the first mention of the castle, and would make -it earlier than 1137, in which year Earl Richard died. As the masonry -of the castle looks twenty or thirty years later, the allusion may be -to the earthworks, or older castle; and the present building may be -the work of Baldwin, the second earl, who granted a charter to the same -effect with that of his father, confirming lands between the churchyard -and the ditch of the castle (_ibid._, vi., 303). Earl Baldwin died -1155. In the rolls of Parliament, mention is made of John Randolph, -a former justice, as having been warder of the castle in the time of -Henry I. Baldwin’s son and successor was Earl Richard, who confirmed -his gifts, and died 8 Henry II., 1161, leaving Baldwin, the fourth -earl, who died childless, and was succeeded by his brother Richard, -fifth earl, who also died childless. The heir was William, called De -Vernon, sixth earl, brother of Richard, the third earl, and uncle to -the two last earls. He flourished during the reigns of Richard I. and -John. Probably during these transitions the Crown stepped in as custos, -for in a plea before the Curia Regis, in 1194, a certain Roger Waspail -affirms that seizin of certain lands was given to him by Earl John “in -werra sua dum fuit in Castello de Cristescherche.” A little later, -when Earl William was in possession, the king (2 John) confirmed a -settlement made by William de Vernon, Earl of Devon, by which Plympton -Castle, the caput of that honour, was to pass to his elder daughter, -and Christchurch and the Isle of Wight to Joan, the younger. John was -at Christchurch, either the priory or the castle, December 13, 1201. -Probably this deed was drawn up before the birth of Baldwin, the earl’s -son, or when it was supposed that Baldwin would die childless. As it -was, it did not take effect, for though Baldwin died before his father, -he left a son, Baldwin, seventh earl, who was also Earl of the Isle of -Wight. - -In 1210, 11 John, the king was again at Christchurch, on his way -from Clarendon to Canford. Baldwin died 1245, leaving a son, another -Baldwin, eighth and last earl of the House of Redvers. He died 47 Henry -III., 1262-3, and is described as Baldwin de Lisle, Earl of Devon, and -he died seized of the manor of Christchurch. It appears from the “Testa -de Nevile” that he held that manor “de veteri feoffamento,” by what -service is not recorded. - -The earl’s heir was his sister Isabel, who married William de Fortibus, -Earl of Albermarle, who died in 1260. Isabel succeeded to the whole -estate, with the reversion of Christchurch, which was held in dower by -Countess Margaret. Countess Isabel died before 1269, leaving one child, -Aveline, who married Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III. She died -childless, having inherited Christchurch on the death of the Countess -Margaret in 20 Edward I., in which year she also died, having granted -or bequeathed Christchurch and some other parts of the earldom to the -king, by whom, in 1299, 27 Edward I., the “Castrum de Cristeschurche de -Twynham cum burgo et Manerio de Westovre et Hundredo de Cristeschurche” -were assigned as part of the dower of Queen Margaret. These -possessions, as part of the earldom of Devon, were claimed, in 1315, -8 & 9 Edward II., by Hugh de Courtenay, as heir-general of Countess -Isabel, but without success. The castle descended to Edward III., who -placed Thomas West in it as custos. - -In his third year, the king granted to Sir William de Montacute, -afterwards Earl of Salisbury, the castle and borough of -Christchurch-Twynam, the Manor of Westovre, and the Hundred of -Christchurch. The earl died so seized, and his will is dated at -Christchurch-Twynam, 20th April, 1397. With the exception of a short -forfeiture by Earl John to Henry IV., the castle remained in the -Montacutes until Earl Thomas, who died in 7 Henry V., and left it to -his daughter and heiress, Alice, who married Richard Nevile. Probably -it was regarded as a male fief, for in 32 Henry VI. was a grant of a -lease for twelve years of the manor, borough, and hundred, to Richard, -Earl of Salisbury, in right of the Lady Alice, his wife, at the rent of -a red rose. The leasehold appears to have been extended, and eventually -converted into a freehold, as the Christchurch estates were held by -the son of Richard and Alice, the king-maker Warwick, and descended -to his elder daughter and co-heir, Isabel, who married George, Duke -of Clarence. Their son, Edward, Earl of Warwick, held Christchurch -till his forfeiture and death, after which (5 Henry VIII.) his estates -and the title of Salisbury were allowed to his sister Margaret, -executed 1541, and who at her death or forfeiture held the manor, -castle, borough, and hundred of Christchurch, which then escheated -to the Crown. It is by descent from Countess Margaret, through her -granddaughter Catherine Pole, that the inheritors of the Hastings -baronies are now claiming the chantry erected for their Plantagenet -ancestress in the priory church. They, no doubt, are the heirs-general; -the heir male is the Earl of Huntingdon. - -From Henry to James, Christchurch remained in the Crown. The latter -sovereign granted it to trustees for the benefit of Prince Charles, -whence it passed by sale through various hands, and finally was -purchased by Sir George Rose in 1790. It is now the property of Lord -Strathnairn. - -The Priory buildings stood to the south of the church, and but -scanty traces of them remain. There are considerable fragments of -the containing wall to the south and east, and the fragments of two -mural towers and the gateway. On the low ground on the Stour to the -south-west, on the edge of the wet land called “QUOMPS,” are traces -of a large fish-pond. Beyond the mill are the “convent meadows.” On -the corbel shields terminating the drip-stone of the west door of -the tower, are, dexter, what appears to be a “cross patonce” for de -Fortibus; and, sinister, Montacute quartering Monthermer. - - - - - CLIFFORD CASTLE, HEREFORDSHIRE. - - -Clifford Castle is the most westward of the fortresses by which the -line of the Wye is protected in its passage across the county of -Hereford, and which appear to have been constructed, some long before, -some shortly before, and others shortly after, the Norman Conquest, for -the defence of that fertile acquisition against the ever-aggressive -Welsh of Brecknock and Radnor. - -As early as the first quarter of the ninth century, the Saxons, under -Egbert, had reduced Wales to a nominal subjection. And that great -prince, having conquered Mercia, and exercising power over all England, -is not unlikely to have strengthened the Mercian frontier and the Saxon -acquisitions generally on the Welsh side; and to this period may be -due, not improbably, such earthworks as those at Cardiff, Caerleon, -Shrewsbury, Old Radnor, and Builth, and, now partially destroyed, -at Hereford, and wholly so at Worcester: earthworks which, in their -main features, resemble those thrown up early in the tenth century at -Tutbury, Tamworth, and Leicester by Eadward the elder and his sister, -Æthelflæd. - -But, whatever may then have been done, it is very certain that during -the reign of the Confessor several of his Norman favourites settled -in England, and that, among them, Richard Fitz-Scrob had lands in the -north of Herefordshire, and there set up and gave name to Richard’s -Castle. As this castle was a great cause of offence, it probably was -something different from the fortified timber houses of the English -Thanes, and may well have been of stone, after the rising Norman -fashion. It was certainly a place of considerable strength, and was -useful during the invasion of Prince Griffith, in 1052. The fashion, -probably, did not extend among the English, for when the same prince -invaded Archenfield, and burned Hereford city, in 1055, he entered, -apparently without much difficulty, the strong place, or Gaer, by -which it was defended, and of which no doubt the banks and ditches, -yet remaining, and the mound, known to have been removed, were parts. -Harold retook and fortified the city in 1056. - -Herefordshire was at that time, and long afterwards, one of the most -valuable and most threatened of the English acquisitions on the Welsh -border. Before the Norman Conquest, it was under the vigorous sway of -Earl Harold, who beat back the Welsh from Rhuddlan to Gloucester and -Chepstow, although he was unable to prevent Caradoc ap Griffith from -destroying the hunting-seat in course of construction for the Confessor -at Portskewet. That Harold encouraged fortified places on these -marches is pretty certain, seeing that of the small number of castles -recorded in the Domesday Survey no less than ten are named as standing -in the marches of Monmouth and Hereford: namely, Wigmore, Clifford, -and Chepstow, of which Wigmore is reputed one of the oldest Honours -in the kingdom; Monmouth; Ewyas, founded before the Conquest, and -repaired before Domesday, by Alured de Marleburgh; Avretone; Caerleon, -famous for its Roman walls and its mount; Ferrars Castle; Herdeslie; -Waterleye. These and several others not mentioned in the Survey, but -existing at the time, were strengthened and held by the Norman invaders. - -Clifford Castle stands on the right bank of the Wye, at the bottom of -one of those short, sharp bends so frequent along the course of this -river, and which add so much to its beauty. It crowns a red sandstone -cliff about 150 feet above the stream, and close to it. The scarp, -naturally steep, has been recently made steeper by art, to allow of -the passage of the Brecon and Hereford Railway between the castle and -the river. The cliff is part of a knoll of high ground, about half a -mile long, and cut by the long-continued action of the river into a -semilunar figure. The highest part of this knoll is converted into a -narrow tongue by a broad and deep ravine, which descends from the north -nearly parallel to the Wye, and terminates in the river bank. A long, -tapering ridge is thus isolated between the ravine and the river, and -upon this stands the fortress. The ravine bounds the ridge on the south -and east, and a natural depression of no great depth crosses the latter -at the broad north end. The intermediate part is traversed by two -artificial cross ditches, which run from the river to the ravine, about -100 feet deep, but still considerably above the level of either. - -The central and highest part thus isolated contains the inner ward; -south of this a very small but strong division constitutes the outwork; -and on the north is the lower but broader expanse of the outer ward, -the three being thus in a line. - -The inner ward, of which alone any buildings remain, is roughly -quadrangular, about 100 feet square. Along the west or river front are -the hall and withdrawing-room. On the south front is a half-round tower -and a curtain. The east, or ravine, side is destroyed to the ground -level, as is nearly all the north end, in which was the gate-house. -The hall, 20 feet by 40 feet, was on the first floor. There was a -store or cellar under it, of which the east and south walls are gone. -Its entrance, and any light it may have had, were probably given on -the court or east side. The hall had a timber floor. It was lighted -by three windows in the west or river wall. Of these, the recess of -one remains, with a rather low, pointed arch. A door in the north wall -led into the withdrawing-room, and one at the south end into the mural -tower. The east and south walls are gone. The withdrawing-room occupied -the curved angle of the ward between the hall and the gate-house; -beneath it was a ground-floor. The south end of the hall, like the west -side, was an outer curtain. It abutted against a half-round tower, 30 -feet diameter, with walls 9 feet thick, and a gorge wall, 5 feet thick, -flush with the inner face of the curtain. This tower seems to have had -an under ground-floor, now filled up. The basement has a door from the -court, in the gorge; another door on the west side, probably a postern, -and two loops with wide recesses, opening towards the field. The upper -floor also had two loops to the field, a window in the gorge, and on -each side a door, one leading obliquely into the hall, and the other -into a mural chamber within the curtain, and containing a garderobe, -double. The floors were of timber. There is no staircase nor fireplace. - -The curtain breaks off towards the south-east angle, where it seems to -have expanded and probably abutted against a tower. In it is a mural -chamber, a garderobe, single, on the first floor level, and which -evidently opened from the destroyed tower. The two garderobes mentioned -open by oblique shoots in the wall, about 5 feet from the ground, -without any projection. As the whole east or ravine front is gone, -it is difficult to say whether there were towers at the south-east -and north-east angles; probably there were, and round ones. In the -north front are two circular depressions, evidently the place of the -two towers of the gate-house, and between them is the entrance. This -leads from the outer ward, and crossed the ditch upon a causeway of -earth, about 6 feet broad at the top, and the ascent up which from the -counterscarp of the ditch to the portal is very steep. The causeway -appears to be original, and has been pitched with stones on edge. At -the end of this ditch, where it opened on the river bank, it is crossed -by a curtain, 6 feet thick, intended to prevent enemies from crawling -up the river bank and surprising the adjacent gateway. This curtain is -now about 6 feet high, and probably was 25 feet or 30 feet. - -The outwork, south of the inner ward, and divided from it by a very -narrow but deep ditch, is not easily to be explained. It is the -extremity of the ridge, of a triangular figure, 60 feet on a side, -and level, showing no trace of earthwork or masonry of any kind. The -three scarps are very steep indeed, and quite sharp and clean cut, the -soft rock being covered with excellent firm turf. This outwork is so -dangerously near to the inner ward, and at so high a level, that it -must have been occupied, probably by a stockade or timber structure. It -is a very curious work. - -The outer ward, at the north end or root of the ridge, is 60 feet or 70 -feet lower, and much broader than the inner ward. Its defence on the -south is the cross ditch, over which passes the causeway to the inner -ward; on the west is the river-cliff, 80 feet to 90 feet high; and on -the east and north a steep scarp, partly of red rock, partly rivetted -in masonry, and from 10 feet to 20 feet deep. Beyond it is the upper -part of the ravine, and the natural depression connecting the ravine -with the river bank. This ward is something between a square and a -circle, and about 300 feet in diameter. It has evidently been defended -by a curtain, probably a low one, on the east and south, or exposed, -sides, and the ground, usually level, rises in a sort of ramp to what -appears to be the remains of the wall. This ramp is wanting on the -river and south faces, which, being covered by the river and the river -ward, were probably palisaded only. About the centre of the east front -is a low mound, apparently the foundations of a round mural tower. - -The depressed ground in the centre of the south front indicates that -the outer entrance was there; and midway between this and the causeway, -leading to the inner ward, are two long heaps of earth and stone with -a passage between them. They much resemble the remains of a long -gate-house, between the outer and inner gate; but if so, this must have -been in the middle of a wall dividing the outer ward into two, of which -no trace remains. - -This outer ward, never very strong, was evidently intended for the -reception of villagers and cattle during the inroads of the Welsh. The -earthworks, though deeper and broader than the Normans usually gave -to so small a fortress, have nothing of the character of British or -Saxon work, and are probably not older than the Conquest, or the reign -preceding it. But of the existing masonry none can be safely called -Norman. The walls are of inferior and rudely-coursed rubble; no ashlar -remains, save a bold cordon or bead, which runs along the top of the -lower or battering part of the wall, and this is not carried all round. -The arches of the mural tower are flat-pointed. On the whole, the -general appearance of the buildings points to the reign of Henry III., -and none of it seems of older date. Certainly no decidedly Norman work -is seen. - -The ditches were substantially dry, though they may have received and -retained more or less land-water. - -At the base of the slope of the outwork the ravine has been deepened -for a rectangular pond, probably a fish-stew, and an early drawing -shows water here collected. - -Looking from the inner ward upon the river, there is plainly seen, just -above the castle, the line of the old mill leat, now a green ditch, and -the small eyot upon which must have stood the castle mill. A ripple on -the river, here somewhat expanded, shows a ford; and opposite, on the -edge of a broad expanse of low, level mead, is the village of Cabalva, -said in Welsh to mean a horse-ford. Thus is seen at one view the cliff -and the ford which, under the Saxon sway, gave its appellation to the -parish, and from which one of the most celebrated of the great English -families derived its name. - -Clifford, though the cradle of a great race, could have been valuable -only while Herefordshire was an unsafe possession. With the settlement -of the country under Edward I., it probably fell into disuse and decay. -It is far too small and too inconvenient of access to be held, except -for safety; and such history as it has is confined to a very early and -warlike period. - -The castle is reputed with Striguil or Chepstow, Ewyas, and Wigmore, -to have been founded by William Fitz-Osborn, one of the companions -of the Conqueror, and the first Norman Earl of Herefordshire. He was -killed in 1070, and his third son, Roger de Bretuil, who succeeded to -his English lands, had forfeited them before the Domesday Survey, when -the castle was held by Ralph de Toni, who, by Dugdale, is said to have -married Alicia, one of Roger’s daughters. However this may have been, -he possessed Clifford Castle at the time of the Survey, and died 1102. - -How the castle passed from De Toni is unknown, but here Simon, son -of Richard FitzPons, was seated, and founded a priory, and he and -his brother Richard are said by Dugdale to have adopted the surname -of Clifford. Walter de Clifford, son of Richard, was a great Marcher -Baron, and living in 1165. His son, Walter the second, was a still -more powerful Baron. He died 1222, having married Margaret, daughter -of Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, and was father of a third Walter, and of -Roger, ancestor of the great house of Clifford, Earls of Cumberland. He -may well have been the builder of the existing castle. - -Walter, who died 1263, closed the elder line. Maud, his heiress, is -said to have married, first William de Longspée, Earl of Salisbury, -and, second, John Giffard, of Brimmesfield, who held, probably during -her life, Brunless Castle, the manor of Glasbury, and the manor and -castle of Clifford, being seized of them at his death, 27 Edward I. -Maud’s daughter by Longspée married Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, and -probably upon her mother’s death she obtained her heritage, for in the -inquisition held upon De Lacy and his wife, 4 Edward II., the manor and -castle of Clifford are included. The castle had probably now ceased -to be of importance, for it does not again occur in the inquisitions. -It is not usually regarded as having been the caput of an Honour; but -Giffard’s inquisition mentions its tenants by knights’ service, and -John de Solars, 4 Edward II., holds Paunteleye manor of the “Honour of -Clifford,” in the county of Gloucester, which in those days was not -always distinguished from other parts of the march. - -The Church of Clifford throws no light upon the architecture or owners -of the castle. The tower, of considerable size and solid aspect, may be -moderately old, but the rest of the building has been rebuilt in the -churchwarden manner prevalent in 1836, the roofs, however, having been -preserved. Also, from the old building, are preserved a good coffin-lid -cross in a circle, placed most unwisely as a cill to the north door; a -font, or rather the octagonal bowl of one, probably of Decorated date; -and in the chancel, loose on a shelf, a very fine life-sized effigy of -an ecclesiastic, robed and tonsured, boldly designed and excellently -executed in wood, and which deserves better care. - - - - - THE KEEP OF CLITHEROE, LANCASHIRE. - - -The castle of Clitheroe, the chief seat of an ancient and extensive -honour, though one of the smallest, is perhaps the strongest, the -oldest, and from its position one of the most remarkable, of the -fortresses of Lancashire. It is placed upon the left, or eastern, bank -of the Ribble, here the boundary between Yorkshire and Lancashire, -three quarters of a mile from the stream, and about 130 feet above -it. It occupies the summit and upper part of a limestone crag, which, -precipitous in parts, and very steep on its northern flank, falls, -according to the dip of the rock, less steeply towards the south or -south-west. Hence, the northern point was selected for the keep and -upper ward, and for the lower ward and approaches the shoulder and -slopes upon the south. The Roman way from Manchester, by Skipton to -York, ascends the dale about half a mile east of the rock, which could -scarcely have been neglected as a military post by any people who held -the district in other than very peaceful times. The town of Clitheroe -has sprung up at the foot of the rock upon the north-east. - -[Illustration] - -The keep stands within, but close to the east side of, a small rounded -area of about 80 feet by 90 feet, contained within a curtain wall, -which skirts the edge of the rock. This curtain is 6 feet thick, 12 -feet high inside, and from 14 feet to 20 feet outside. The circuit, -which has, no doubt, been complete, is broken for about 70 feet on the -southern side. This is the breadth of the neck by which the upper ward -was united to the lower, and the curtain at each end of the gap is -extended southwards and south-eastwards down the steep to include the -latter. Thus, what is wanting is none of the exterior curtain, only -the interior and cross wall between the two wards. The open space is -a steep of rugged, broken rock. Probably there was a cross wall and -doorway above, and a narrow flight of steps leading to it from below. - -[Illustration] - -The keep is of rough rubble masonry, with ashlar quoins and dressings. -It has neither plinth, set-off, nor string, and preserves its exterior -dimensions to the summit. Each angle is capped by two pilasters of 9 -feet breadth by 11 inches projection. They unite at the angles, which -are solid. The two southern angles are supported by extravagantly-large -low buttresses, of modern addition, but it is said they were preceded -by buttresses somewhat similar, though of much slighter character. - -The keep is 33 feet square and about 43 feet high. The walls are 8 feet -thick at the base, and consequently enclose a chamber 17 feet square. -This is the basement floor, and at the ground level. It is 9 feet high, -and the floor, which covered it above, and is now gone, rested upon -nine beams, and was therefore immensely strong. The north, south, and -west walls are each pierced by a loop, set in a round-headed recess, -5 feet broad and 5 feet high to the springing. Two of these loops -have been converted into open breaches, and the third, to the north, -has been walled up and the recess covered with a flat lintel. This -floor must have been entered from the room above by a trap and ladder. -It was, as usual, a store, the value of these strong small towers -depending upon their being well provisioned. - -The first floor rested upon a set-off of a foot, and is therefore 19 -feet square, with walls 7 feet thick. It is 23 feet high. It has in the -north and south walls small square-headed loops, placed in round-headed -recesses of 4 feet 6 inches opening. In its west side, close to the -north end, is a doorway 2 feet 10 inches broad and 8 feet high, -round-headed. In the north wall, on each side the loop, is a door. One -of these, flat-topped, of 2 feet 6 inches opening and 6 feet high, -leads through a small mural lobby, 4 feet 8 inches by 3 feet 2 inches, -into a well-stair, 7 feet diameter, which occupies the north-east -angle, and commencing at this level, ascends to the battlements by -fifty-four steps. The other door, of 2 feet 11 inches opening, 8 feet -high, and round-headed, leads by a passage bent at a right angle and -having a barrel vault, into a plain mural chamber, 7 feet by 5 feet, -also barrel-vaulted, and which, no doubt, had a loop in its west wall. -This wall, however, is now broken away, so that the chamber has much -the aspect of an entrance-lobby, which it certainly was not. - -The second, or uppermost, floor rests upon a set-off of 2 feet, and is -therefore 23 feet square, with walls 5 feet thick, and at present 11 -feet high. Singularly enough, it shows no trace of any wall-opening -whatever, as though it had been added in modern times for effect only, -which, however, does not appear to be the case. The staircase, however, -has certainly been repaired, and no doubt originally opened into this -floor. The wall at the interior angle is thickened somewhat to give -space for the stair. The walls may have been a foot or so higher, but -scarcely more. The parapet is gone, and was probably another 5 feet. -The north-east angle seems to have ended in a small square turret. - -The principal entrance was evidently on the first floor, in the -east wall, reached by an external stair built against the wall, and -ascending from the south end. This is clear from the position and -dimensions of the doorway, and from the absence of a loop on this side -of the basement, where it would have been covered by the staircase. - -The small door of the west wall of the same floor seems to have led -upon the rampart of the adjacent curtain, here only 11 feet from the -keep. There is such a door at Arques and at Rochester, and also at -Helmsley and Adare. This keep contains no fireplace nor garderobe, nor -ornament of any kind. - -The lower ward has been so altered for domestic purposes, and is so -built over, as to be very obscure. It was at least eight or ten times -the area of the upper ward, and descended 280 feet down the slope, with -an extreme breadth of 150 feet. The modern dwelling-house is built upon -the south-east curtain, and no doubt represents, and probably contains, -part of the old domestic buildings. Buck gives a view of the southern -front of this ward, and shows a large round tower upon one of the -angles not now seen. - -A convenient ascent skirts the foot of the west curtain, or rather of -the cliff upon which it stands, and enters at the upper end of the -lower ward, just below the keep. This, however, is probably modern. The -old way seems to be represented by the road from the town, which rises -on the other or eastern side. - -About a furlong to the south of, and much below the castle is a steep -straight bank of earth with an exterior ditch, probably an outwork -covering the foot of the hill. - -The castle is the property of the Duke of Buccleuch, whose steward for -the Honour of Clitheroe resides here, and allows visitors to enter the -keep unchallenged. The chief rents and royalties of the Honour are -vested in the Duke, and are said to be valuable. All is neatly kept, -and is in as substantial repair as becomes a ruin; but his Grace’s -most commendable zeal does certainly a little obscure the fabric it -preserves, and it is to be regretted that the new work was not made -more clearly distinguishable from the old. - -The name of Clitheroe, though evidently old, and said in part to be -British, does not occur in Domesday. Whittaker is of opinion that the -place is included in Bernulfeswic, now Burnoldswick, a parish about -six miles north-east of the castle, and that it is referred to as the -Castelry of Roger of Pictavensis or of Poictou. It is stated that “in -Bernulfeswic Garnel held twelve carucates, paying geld to Berenger de -Todeni. The manor is in the Castelry of Roger the Poitevin.” Usually -Roger is identified with the Castle of Lancaster, but at that time -Lancaster Castle was not built, and that lordship did not belong to -Roger. Roger was a large tenant in chief in the shires of Chester, -Derby, Notts, and Lincoln. In Yorkshire and Lancashire he then held -but little. The mesne lord, De Todeni, was one of the family who had -Belvoir; Dugdale says, the son of Robert de Todeni, who built it. He -does not again appear in connexion with this part of England. - -Roger is thought to have granted the fee to Roger de Buisli, from -whom, or from Albert Greslei, it came to the De Lacys of Pontefract, -lords of Blackburnshire, of whom Robert de Lacy is said to have held -it under De Buisli. This De Lacy, whose history belongs to Pontefract, -is the reputed founder of Clitheroe keep in the reign of Henry I., and -certainly the building is not of later date. From that time Clitheroe -shared with Pontefract the honour of being the seat of the De Lacy -power, and so remained until their estates merged in the earldom and -duchy of Lancaster, and this again in the Crown. The founder probably -also endowed the chapel of St. Michael within the castle, probably -in the lower ward, and which is mentioned in the reign of Henry I. -A claim, however, to represent this chapel is set up for the parish -church, though this building could never have been within the castle. - -Clitheroe, like other strong places in Lancashire, was held for the -king in the Parliamentary struggles, and in 1649 the castle was ordered -to be dismantled. - -Charles II. granted the castle and honour to General Monk, whose son, -Christopher Duke of Albemarle, left it to his wife, Lady Elizabeth -Cavendish, who again left it to her second husband, Ralph Duke of -Montague, from whom it has descended to the present owner. - - - - - THE CASTLE AND BARONY OF CLUN, SHROPSHIRE. - - -The church, village, and castle of Clun are situated near the centre -of a spacious amphitheatre of lofty but fertile hills, the summits -and upper slopes of which are covered with young and luxuriant -plantations, while in the lower parts are occasionally single trees, -chiefly oak, elm, and beech, of vast size and great age, the reliques -of an ancient demesne, and still standing out and to be distinguished -amidst the denizens of the hedgerows, which, though often of large -size, all belong to the period of enclosures and cultivation. Across -this rich and smiling land, amidst hamlets, churches, manor-places, -farmhouses, and cottages, with frequent orchards and gardens, green -pastures and root crops, and waving corn-fields, the river Clun pursues -its sinuous course, giving life and fertility to the scene, which, -indeed, is throughout imbued with an aspect of peace and—perhaps rather -indolent—prosperity. - -The ancient forest of Clun covered a large tract of upland, extending, -with a radius of about five miles, to the north and west of the seat -of the barony. Its border is that of the county of Salop, and runs -along the elevated ridge which, from Bishop’s Moat, on the east, to -Castell-cefn-fron, on the west, divides that county from Montgomery, -and the water-shed of the Clun from that of the Hafren or Upper Severn. -From this latter river the ridge is distant about five miles, and the -intervening country is mountainous and broken. The natural division -is, in part, strengthened by an artificial work, known as Saeson bank, -and placed considerably to the west of Offa’s Dyke, which, here very -perfect, runs north and south about three miles west of Clun, and thus -bisects the forest and the barony. Which of these earthworks is the -earlier is doubtful, but probably the Dyke. Connected with the Saeson -bank, and at right angles to it, are two short spurs, the age and -object of which are not very evident. - -The forest was never very thickly wooded in its upper and more exposed -parts, but that it was always scantily inhabited is evident from the -fact that it contains but one parish church, that of Mainstone, which -stands on the very line of the Dyke, about six miles north of Clun, on -the edge of a small brook—the Ffridd. From its singular position may be -drawn the inference that it is later than the Dyke. - -The water-courses of the forest contribute to form four rather -considerable streams, which finally unite to become the river Clun, -which thence descends eastwards down a deep and rather narrow valley, -by Clunton, Clunbury, and Clungunford, to Leintwardine, where, after a -course of about twelve miles, it joins the Teme, the river of Ludlow, -and of Tenbury. - -The Barony of Clun, called also the Honour and the Hundred, was more -extensive than the forest, and included lands of a more settled -character to the east and south. Obley, Pentrehodre, Hobendrid, -Hobbaris, Larkenhope, Eileston, and Manulton, were members of the manor -of Clun, which was co-extensive with the Hundred; and in the “Welshery” -attached to it were the hamlets of Aderdely and Bickton, Hodicote, -and Newcastle. It appears, in the twelfth century, to have contained -five vills and sub-manors, the borough town of Clun, and the manor of -Tempsett. Clun was also an ecclesiastical centre. Its noble parish -church of St. George was set over the chapels of St. Thomas of Clun, -St. Mary of Waterden, St. Swithun of Clunbury, St. Mary of Clunton, St. -Mary of Opperton, and the chapels of Edgton and Sibdon. The whole were -attached to the great abbey of Wenlock. Many of these chapelries have -become independent parishes, and the Hundred of Clun has disappeared as -a county division, being absorbed in that of Purslow. In 1837, 8,600 -acres of the old forest were enclosed by Act of Parliament, and in -1869, 1700 more. - -About a furlong below the point at which the collective waters from the -forest combine to form the Clun, that stream, there of considerable -volume, makes a sharp and sudden bend, in the hollow of which, upon its -left or convex bank, is placed the castle. The space thus partially -enclosed and protected by the river is about 600 yards in length, and -is occupied by a cluster of knolls or tumps of a soft, friable rock, -which has been carved and scarped for the purposes of defence, so as -to present, with its decomposed and grass-grown surface, much of an -artificial aspect. Amongst these knolls stands out one higher and of -even a more artificial appearance than the rest. It forms a conical -mound, about 40 yards in diameter at its table top, with very steep -sides, and in height above its surrounding ditch about 60 feet; and the -ditch, again, is about 30 feet above the bed of the river. The ditch -covers the mound upon its southern and eastern sides, but to the north -and west the slope descends direct to the river level, presenting a -very formidable appearance. The more exposed part is further protected -by three works in earth, beyond the ditch; of which the larger, to the -south-west, is of irregular figure, and about 40 yards deep by 70 yards -broad, having four irregular sides, of which the inner is concave, -and forms the counterscarp of the main ditch. Towards the river this -platform is scarped towards the mound and the adjacent platform; its -protection is a ditch, about 7 yards deep by 16 to 18 yards broad. The -top is level, save that along the edges of the three outer sides is a -narrow bank—a sort of parapet, on which was probably a stockade. At one -point, where the platform approaches the mound, is a small spur, as -though the ruin of the pier of a bridge, and which was evidently the -main entrance to the keep or principal mound. The road to this bridge -ascended the platform from the village on the south. - -To the east of this is a second platform, of the same height, and about -14 yards deep by 30 yards broad, its larger face being concave, and -applied to the main ditch. Its top is level, and has no trace of bank -or parapet. - -The third earthwork, of no great size, stands to the east of the keep -mound, and abuts upon its ditch to the west, and on the river to the -north. These two sides are prolonged, and the fork or hollow angle -between them is occupied by a depression, formerly a large pool, having -a sluice-gate towards the river. Between the bank of this pool and the -southern platform is a ditch, which seems to have been used as a hollow -way leading to the river front of the mound. - -Between the mound and west platform and the river are two lunated -patches of meadow about 90 yards deep, the one 70 yards and the other -140 yards long; they were probably employed as a safe pasture in -ordinary times for the garrison cattle, which, in case of attack, could -readily be taken up the platforms, or driven along the castle ditches -into the precincts of the town. - -Such are the earthworks as they are now seen, and in general features -much, no doubt, as they were seen when the Norman Picot took -possession of his dangerous grant. They belong to the class known as -burhs, or moated mounds, and date from the ninth or tenth century. By -whom they were thrown up, or, rather, carved out, is unknown; but it -may safely be asserted that they represent the chief residence of one -of those Englishmen who invaded and settled upon the Welsh territory, -and whose duty it was to defend the western and often-attacked border -of the Mercian kingdom. The occupant of such a position must have been -a bold and powerful leader; though whether he lived before or after the -formation of Offa’s Dyke is doubtful. Possibly a careful examination -of the Saeson bank ridge, where it is crossed by the Dyke, might throw -a light upon this point, and the researches should extend to Crugyn -or Castle Hill, on Bishop’s Castle racecourse, to Bishop’s Moat, -Caer-din, Tomen, Castell-cefn-fron or Bryn Amlwg, and some other camps -and tumuli on each side the border. Besides these are others, both -camps and tumuli, and a remarkable upright stone or maenhir within the -forest, all, no doubt, of British date. It must be borne in mind that -Clun, though an exposed part of the Mercian territory, was covered to -the north-west and north by the English settlements along the Upper -Severn, of which there are ample traces from Kerry to Welshpool, on -both sides of the Dyke. Looking at the extension of the barony of Clun, -westward of the Dyke, to a natural boundary, it seems probable that the -barony was founded when the Dyke was no longer the Mercian border, and -the English had pushed their settlements up the valley of the Severn. -This also would be more consistent with the figure of the earthworks -of Clun and of the adjacent district, which resemble those thrown up -by Æthelflæda and Edward the Elder early in the tenth century, and of -which Wigmore is a recorded example. - -[Illustration: THE CASTLE OF CLUN.] - -The position and estate of Clun, like those of many similar domains in -England and within the Marches, were at once taken possession of by -the Norman followers of the Conqueror, and held by Picot de Say as a -military fief dependent upon Roger de Montgomery at Shrewsbury. Whether -De Say or his immediate successors fortified the mounds with masonry -after the manner then coming into use in Normandy, or whether they -contented themselves with such defences, probably of timber, as they -found ready to hand, is not known, but if they had at once built a keep -and walls in the Norman manner, it is exceedingly improbable that no -trace of works usually so substantial should even now remain, and still -more so that they should have been decayed by the middle of the twelfth -century, which is probably the date of the older part of the masonry -now standing, and which it will be proper next to describe. - -The _Keep_.—This is a large rectangular tower built on the lower -edge and up the eastern slope of the mound, and therein resembling -Guildford. Its dimensions are 42 feet north and south by 68 feet east -and west, and the walls at the base are about 11 feet thick, and rise -to about 6 feet at the summit. It is of three stages; the first -resting on the basement, with its sill about 5 feet below the top -level of the mound. The floors are of timber, resting upon sets-off in -the side walls. The whole tower is about 80 feet high, its base being -about 30 feet above the river. The west wall is entirely gone. The two -eastern angles are capped each by two pilasters, 14 feet broad and -1 foot projection, meeting at a solid angle, and carried up without -break or diminution to the summit, where they may have supported square -turrets. The eastern curtain, between them, has a battering base, and a -plain cordon at the first-floor level. The walls are perfectly plain, -of coursed masonry, the stones probably hammer dressed; but, being -of a perishable character, they are much blistered and decayed. The -basement, 40 feet by 45 feet, has a floor about 20 feet above the outer -ground level, now covered up with rubbish. There is a small window to -the south, and a small square air-hole to the north, high up, as from a -dungeon. In the same side, near the middle, is a full-centred doorway, -2 feet 2 inches broad, once closed by a stout door, and opening upon -the slope of the mound. It leads into a passage 3 feet 6 inches broad, -which entered the chamber, but had on its left a mural staircase of -sixteen steps, which led to the first floor. Many of the steps remain, -but the inner wall, and most of the hanging arches of the vault, are -gone. - -The first floor, 23 feet by 45 feet, had two windows to the south, one -to the east, and to the north two, with a fireplace between them. The -windows are broken into mere apertures, but the recesses are 5 feet to -6 feet broad. The fireplace has a round back and a vertical tunnel. The -hood is broken away. There are no mural chambers, but outside, on each -face of the eastern angles, are two sham loops. - -The second floor has also five windows above, rather larger than those -below, and a fireplace in the same position. In each jamb of the east -window recess is a small door, which, by a passage, leads into a mural -chamber in the two eastern angles. Each, on each of its two outer -faces, has a small window. - -The third floor has two windows to the north, one to the east, and -two to the south, but here the position of the fireplace is between -them. From the east window recess are two passages, opening into two -chambers, each with two small windows above those of the second floor. -The second floor was the stateroom, and the third apparently bedrooms -belonging to it. The staircase may have been in the west wall. Of -the window recesses, some have arches obtusely pointed, others are -segmental. No doubt there was a door in the west wall, opening from the -mound. The recesses of the windows of the second and third floors had -each an ashlar rib, the only sort of ornament now visible. The keep, -though of large size and substantially built, suffers in appearance -from the badness of the material, its rough workmanship, and the very -sparing use of ashlar in its details. - -The summit of the mound was encircled by a curtain wall, of which the -upper part of the keep formed a part, so that with the rectangular -seems to have been combined a sort of shell keep, a most unusual -arrangement. Of this shell there remain two fragments; one, a -considerable one, towards the north-west, is composed of two nearly -half-round towers, or rather bastions, with their converse faces -outwards, and a short curtain connecting them, which seems to have -been the end of a hall, and to contain some later insertions. The -bastions are, no doubt, later than the keep. The other fragment is to -the south-west, about 12 feet long by 6 feet thick, and 20 feet high. -This also formed part of the general _enceinte_, but connected with -it is a small circular mound, thrown up on the edge of the greater -one, and wholly artificial. It is about 21 feet across at the top, -and 12 feet to 13 feet high, and possibly carried a small tower; near -it a depression seems to indicate the position of the well. The whole -surface of the mound is rough and scarred, as though the area had been -covered with buildings, as at Tamworth, and of which the foundations -had been dug up. - -The entrance to the mound could only have been on the western side -ascending from the south-west. All the other sides are absolutely -impracticable, and this has been so cut about that every vestige of a -road is gone. On the platforms are no traces of walls. They may have -had gatehouses of some sort, but the outer defences were probably -always of timber. - -The greater part of the borough, town, or rather village of Clun, is -placed to the east—that is, in the rear of the castle; but there are -houses on both banks of the river, which is spanned by an ancient -bridge of five ribbed arches, with recesses above over the projecting -piers. In this direction, a furlong from the castle, is the fine and -mainly Norman church of St. George, with a western tower, strong -enough to stand a siege, and in pattern resembling those of More and -Hope-Say. About a hundred yards beyond or south of the church is a very -remarkable ravine, natural, but which has, at that point, been scarped, -and the earth thrown inwards to form a bank. This ravine commences some -way above the church, and, becoming deeper and more steep, conveys a -considerable brook into the Clun, a little below the town. This ravine -adds immensely to the strength of the place. - -Clun is a borough by prescription, having two bailiffs and a recorder. -Recently it possessed a Hundred court for the recovery of small debts, -and a court leet. The bailiffs also held a civil court. The Fitz-Alan -charter, recognising its prescriptive rights, dates from the reign -of Edward II. In the town is an ancient almshouse, founded by Henry -Howard, Earl of Northampton, in 1614; and below it, upon the river, the -traces of a very considerable millpool, now dry. - -Clun is entered in Domesday as held by Picot. Edric had held it. Picot -held large possessions (twenty-seven mansions) in the then Hundred of -Rinlau, besides Conodovre, Basecherc, and Lentevrde, under Earl Roger -de Montgomery. It appears from Mr. Eyton’s researches that Picot was -a to-name, and that the grantee, as Robert de Say, with Adeloya his -wife, and Robert and Henry, his sons, is named in a charter relating -to St. Martin of Seez, of the probable date of 1060, and is there -described as “Robertus de Sai qui cognominabatur Picot.” Sai was a vill -near Exmes, the chief seat of the Norman viscounty of Earl Roger, who -was the patron of the house of Seez. - -That which in 1060 was a cognomen, in 1086 had become a nomen. In 1074 -Odericus refers to him simply as Picod, one of the five whom Earl Roger -placed over his new earldom of Shrewsbury, and again as Picot de Sai, -when, in 1083, the Earl vowed to found Shrewsbury Abbey. Edric, Picot’s -predecessor at Clun, was, without doubt, the Edric Silvaticus, or the -Wild, so well known on the Welsh marches. Picot lived till about 1098, -and was succeeded by his son, Henry de Say, who flourished in the reign -of Henry I., and seems to have been alive as late as 1129-30. In his -time, or that of his successor, and probably son, Helias de Say, Clun -and Obley were eliminated from Ringau, and erected into an independent -Hundred and Honour; becoming, in fact, a marcher lordship, such as -Oswestry. Helias left a sole child, Isabel de Say, Lady of Clun, who -married—first, William Fitz Alan; second, Geoffrey de Vere, when the -barony contained 11¾ knights’ fees; and third, William Boterell, in -whose time it seems to have been that the castle was stormed and burned -by Llewellyn and his Welshmen. - -William Fitz Alan was the son of Alan, son of Flaald, who obtained from -the Conqueror the manor of Oswaldestre or Blancminster, which in 1148 -had belonged to Meredith ap Blethyn, a somewhat singular instance of a -Welsh landholder so far to the east of Offa’s Dyke. Meredith built a -castle there, which, on Fitz Alan’s death in 1160, was in the custody -of the sheriff, who sank a well there, and provided it with stores and -palisades for defence. William Fitz Alan’s next brother, Walter, was -ancestor of the House of Stewart. William’s first wife was a niece of -Robert Earl of Gloucester. His second was Isabel de Say, by whom he -left— - -William Fitz Alan, who inherited Clun and Oswestry. He obtained an -annual fair from King John for Clun. It seems probable that the Castle -of Clun burned by the Welsh was the timber structure inhabited by -Edric, and that it was replaced by works in masonry, including the -existing keep, by this William, who, dying, 1210, left - -William Fitz Alan, who died at Clun about 1215, and was succeeded by -his brother, - -John Fitz Alan, Lord of Clun and Oswestry, who held the barony but not -the castle of Clun, and who died about 1243, leaving a son, - -John Fitz Alan, who acquired Arundel Castle from his mother, and died -1267, leaving— - -John Fitz Alan, Lord of Clun and Oswestry, and Earl of Arundel, who -died 1272. - -It was upon his death that an inquisition was ordered into the -condition of Clun Castle, which was reported to be small, but pretty -well built. The roof of the tower wanted lead, and the bridge to be -repaired. Outside the castle was a bailey, enclosed with a fosse, and -a gate not yet finished. In the bailey stood a grange, stable, and -bakehouse. In the town were 183 burgages. The tenants held by castle -guard, each finding a serviens and horse for forty days at 4½d. per -day. The burgesses were to provide twenty men when the lord hunted. - -In 1293, Richard Earl of Arundel received £200 from his Welsh tenants -in Tempsett for a charter. At his death in 1301, Clun Castle was worth -no more than the expenses of its maintenance, or £20 per annum. There -were two water-mills. - -Clun continued to be held by a long succession of Fitz Alans, few of -whom were likely to have resided, until, the male line failing, Mary, -daughter and co-heir of Henry Fitz Alan, married Thomas Howard, Duke -of Norfolk, and carried the earldom of Arundel and the barony and -castle of Clun into that family in the person of her son, Philip Earl -of Arundel, who died 1595, under an attainder. Thomas, his son and -successor, was restored in blood, but only partially in property, so -that, though titular lord of Clun and Oswaldestre, he never possessed -the estates, which were granted by King James to his grandfather’s -brother, Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, who founded the almshouse -at Clun. From Henry Howard, Clun and Oswestry passed by will to his -nephew, Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, whose younger son, Sir Robert, -has a monument in the church of Clun, and by whose descendants the -property was sold. - - - - - COCKERMOUTH CASTLE, CUMBERLAND. - - -This castle occupies the point of a steep and, in part, rocky knoll -which intervenes between the confluence of the Derwent and the Cocker, -two rivers of Cumberland, the one, on the north, flowing immediately -at the foot of the rock, the other, on the south and west, separated -from it by an irregular strip of land from 50 yards to 70 yards broad, -of uneven surface, and covered by a part of the town which shares its -name with the castle. It is not until 120 yards below the castle that -the actual meeting of the waters takes place. Two of the sides of the -position are thus fortified by nature; the other, the root of the -promontory, has no such protection. It seems to have been covered by an -artificial ditch, connecting the cliff of the Derwent with the sloping -bank of the Cocker. This, however, has been filled up, and all that -remains of it is a tradition, confirmed by slight depression in the -soil. - -The castle, following the outline of the rock, is triangular in plan. -Its north and south sides face towards the Derwent and the Cocker, and -are in length 110 yards and 120 yards. They crest the slope at about -36 feet above the level of the water, and are connected by a base line -of 76 yards, in which is the entrance, facing towards the east. The -castle commands much of the town, and is placed outside of it to the -north and east. The parish church stands within the town upon a height -opposite to, and south-west of, the castle, the Cocker in its narrow -valley flowing between them. - -The curtain within which the castle is contained, is about 30 feet -high, and is capped at its western or acute angle by a half-round -tower, and at the two angles of the base are two rectangular towers, -that to the north-east being the gatehouse. Between them is a small -buttress turret, solid, and 8 feet square. There are also two rather -large buttresses, additions upon the south curtain near the east end, -and three small flat ones upon the older front of the wall, at the west -end. On the exterior of the north wall are seven buttresses of various -dimensions and dates. - -The triangular interior of the castle is subdivided by a cross line of -buildings, about 60 yards from the base, into two wards, the lower or -eastern, four sided, being the larger, and the upper or inner being -a small triangle. Where the cross wall unites at its south end with -the curtain is, upon the latter, a small square tower, called the -“Bell Tower,” and at the north end a much larger tower, containing the -kitchen. Between these, on the cross wall, is the inner gatehouse. The -level of the upper ward is about 6 feet above that of the lower. This -gatehouse is not central, being 34 yards from the north, and 19 yards -from the south curtain. It is rectangular, or nearly so, and in plan a -capital =⟙=, the outer portal being in the centre of the cross head, -the inner one in the foot, and a large chamber in the stem between -them. The head is 36 feet broad, with a projection of 18 feet, and the -gatehouse is 60 feet deep. The cill of the outer entrance being 6 feet -above the outer ward, must have been approached by some kind of bridge -or inclined plane, of which all traces are now gone. The outer arch is -lofty and segmental, of 9 feet opening. It supports a screen parapet, -embattled, behind which is an opening or machecoule 9 feet broad and 4 -feet deep. Behind this is an equilateral arch opening into a passage 10 -feet deep, vaulted and ribbed from the four angles, the ribs meeting at -the centre with two ridge ribs, the central point of the eight being -without boss or circle. Beyond the passage is a second arch of 8 feet -opening, and beyond it a sort of vaulted passage or vestibule splayed -and 9 feet deep, opening into the interior of the gatehouse at the -first-floor level. Beyond and right and left of this inner vestibule -are two doors of 2 feet opening, one segmental and one shoulder headed. -These open each into a small acutely vaulted prison, about 8 feet by -16 feet, lighted by a small loop. From each there opens, in the outer -wall, a small door into a mural garderobe. In the centre of each prison -is a small square trap, which is the only entrance into the lower -prison or dungeon, which is of the size of and vaulted as the upper -one, but without any other opening. Two holes in the upper vaults seem -intended to carry a horizontal bar from which a prisoner or his food -might be lowered through the trap. These prisons are placed on each -side of, and parallel to, the gateway, in the thick cross head of the -=⟙=. - -[Illustration: COCKERMOUTH CASTLE.] - -The basement of the gatehouse-chamber, 21 feet broad by 29 feet deep, -and about 10 feet high, is quite plain, and without loops. It is -entered in the west wall, from the upper ward, by a flight of twelve -steps, beneath a lancet doorway. The covering of this room was the -timber floor of the gatehouse. The first floor, also 21 feet by 29 -feet, has in its side walls two doorways, of 3 feet opening, and -acutely pointed, which led into the lateral chambers. In its west wall, -but near the north end, is the inner gateway, piercing a wall 9 feet -thick, and opening into the upper ward. This passage is vaulted. It -has no portcullis, and but one rebate for a door. In the north side of -the passage a narrow, shoulder-headed door leads into a small vaulted -lodge, looped towards the upper ward. - -Entering this ward, on the left, is the door descending to the -basement, and further on, right and left, are two doors, each lancet, -and at the top of flights of twelve steps, which descended into the -basements of the lateral chambers. The gatehouse had an upper floor, -now mostly gone. - -There were two lateral chambers on each side of the gatehouse, parted -by an east-and-west cross-wall, now destroyed. The large spaces thus -formed are not quite rectangular. That on the north averages about 26 -feet east and west by about 35 feet north and south; and that on the -south is a mean square of about 35 feet. Of the four chambers by which -these spaces were occupied, the basements of the two next the gatehouse -were covered with a pointed vault. Except these, the floors above -were timber. The walls of the southern rooms are mostly destroyed, -those of the northern are tolerably perfect, and show the windows and -fireplaces of a first and second floor, with small mural chambers in -the north-east angle. The southern chamber abutted upon the curtain, -in which is seen a rude round-headed arch, now a postern, but which -has a Norman aspect, and looks as though intended originally for the -recess of a loop. The small square bell-turret, of about 18 feet by 10 -feet, at the south-west angle of this chamber, stands upon and slightly -projects from the exterior of the curtain. The basement looks of the -age of the curtain; the superstructure, of that of the cross buildings -and inner gatehouse. - -At the other or north end of the cross buildings is the kitchen tower, -a very remarkable structure. In plan it is nearly rectangular. It is -composed of a basement and a first floor. The basement is reached from -the upper ward by fifteen descending steps, down a vaulted passage in -the wall, at the head of which is a round-headed door of Decorated -date. The chamber is about 30 feet square, having a central octagonal -pier without base or cap, whence spring eight ribs meeting eight other -ribs which spring from corbels in the angles and form responds in -the centre of each face. Each of the four bays thus formed is again -spanned by ribs springing diagonally from the responds. There are -no ridge-ribs, and the vaulting spaces are filled up with rubble. -The arches are pointed, and the vault about 20 feet high. In the two -eastern spaces are square-headed loops, opening on the lower ward -and now concealed by a modern building. In the north wall is a small -water-drain. This chamber was probably a cellar, introduced and vaulted -to place the stone floor of the kitchen on the level of the hall. It -is called a chapel, but bears no indication of having been intended or -ever used as such. - -Above the cellar is the kitchen, the floor of which is level with that -of the hall, and about 10 feet above that of the upper ward. In plan -it is rather rhomboidal than rectangular. The two eastern angles are -right angles, that to the north-west acute, and that to the south-west -obtuse. The north and east sides measure 35 feet and 37 feet, and the -opposite sides 29 feet and 38 feet respectively. In the south wall are -two fireplaces, 11 feet broad by 2 feet deep, with remains of stone -hoods, and with square vertical funnels running up a common shaft at -the inner end of each fireplace. The funnels also receive those from -the fireplaces in the rooms to the south, the whole forming one stack. -Over these fireplaces, high up in the south wall, is a large long loop, -square headed, and about 2 feet wide. In the east wall are two other -loops of the same width, and about 24 feet long, crossed by a transom, -square headed, but placed within shoulder-headed recesses. These -openings are clearly intended to carry off the vapour. North of these -loops is a small door, whence a narrow mural stair ascends 10 feet to a -second door that opened upon a gallery along the north wall. - -In the centre of the north wall is a bold pier, 7 feet wide by 4 feet -deep, from which spring laterally two pointed arches, thus forming two -recesses. The soffits are ribbed, one with two and one with three ribs, -plainly chamfered. In each recess is a loop, square headed, and opening -on the curtain, and above, 10 feet from the floor, is a string which -supported the floor of a timber gallery, which ran along this north -side, and was carried out in front of the pier, and thus overlooked -the culinary operations. It was entered at the east end from the door -already mentioned. In its west end was another door, opening into a -mural chamber, not now accessible, but which may have communicated with -the hall. Above the gallery were two other loops. At the gallery level -the pier is pierced by two narrow passages, with round-headed doors, -which lead to a small chamber in the curtain, probably a garderobe. -Below, the lateral faces of the pier are hollowed, as for cupboards. - -The west wall of the kitchen is now chiefly occupied by a large lofty -arch, of 15 feet span, and about 30 feet high, evidently a modern -insertion together with the wall above, and opening into what was -the hall. On the south side of it are traces of a part of the old -buttery-hatch. To the north is the only door of the kitchen, 4 feet -broad, and shoulder headed, and which opened from the lower end of -the hall. It is curious that so large a kitchen should have had no -other outlet. Grose gives a drawing taken in 1774, which shows this -west wall of the kitchen before the great arch was inserted. The wall -contains an immense hole or gap, above which, on the outside, is the -weather moulding of the high-pitched roof of the hall. The kitchen was -very lofty, and had an open timber roof the corbels of the hammer-beams -of which remain. Above was the parapet, one side of which belonged to -the outer curtain. - -Abutting from the west wall of the kitchen, in the rebuilding of which -the moulding showing the pitch of the hall roof has been removed, was -the east, or lower end of the hall, a building 30 feet wide by about 50 -feet long, of which the curtain formed the north side. The south wall -is levelled nearly to the ground, but its foundations show its exterior -buttresses, and the place of the door in the basement near the east end -of the wall. The western wall, dividing it from the withdrawing-room, -is gone. The basement below the hall seems to have been about 10 feet -high. It was covered by the timber floor. The entrance was in the south -wall, close to the east end, probably by an interior stair. One jamb -of the doorway remains, richly moulded in the Decorated style, though -much decayed. The hall had three large windows in the north wall, which -is strengthened outside by three buttresses, evidently added to the -older wall when the hall was built. The windows are of the fashion -so common in the halls of Decorated castles. They are of two lights -trefoiled, with a transom, and in the head a quatrefoil. That next -the east end has a stone window-seat, and the others may have been so -provided. Outside, the windows have a good drip-stone. Probably the -fireplace was in the south wall. In the east wall, near the south end, -is a large plain trefoil-headed recess, not even chamfered, resembling -a large piscina, with a stone shelf. It was possibly intended to place -the dishes upon when received from the adjacent buttery-hatch. South -of this a small door leads into a well-stair, which led to the roof, -and is lighted by a small and very neat foliated circle. The cant or -filling up of the adjacent angle of the kitchen is produced by this -staircase. The hall had an open timber roof, some of the corbels of -which remain. - -The rooms west of the hall extend to and include the western or angle -tower. The room next the hall had two large Tudor windows in the -curtain; they are flat topped, of three lights, with a transom, and -within flat-arched recesses; they are evident insertions. The interior -of the west tower is roughly four sided, and the gorge wall is gone. -It had a basement with three loops, with large splayed and pointed -recesses, and above were three floors, each with an excellent one-light -trefoiled window of Decorated date; the two lower are towards the west; -the upper, a marked feature in the view of the castle from the town, -is towards the south. In the north wall a straight stair leads up to -a mural garderobe, the opening of which is projected upon two corbels -high up at the junction of the curtain with the tower. The lower part -of this tower seems original; the upper part has been rebuilt, no doubt -in the Decorated period. Twenty-two feet in the rear of the tower -remains the base of a doorway which led into these chambers from the -upper ward. The well was a yard or two from the entrance to the room -below the hall. Its place is now marked by a pump. - -The _Lower Ward_ is much obscured by the erection against the north -curtain of a dwelling-house, and against the south, of stables, -both modern. A building has also been placed against the east wall, -connected with the gatehouse. The south-eastern angle is formed by the -_Flag Tower_, 32 feet square, and projecting outwards about 9 feet upon -the two curtains. It has a basement and two upper floors, each entered -from the court, and the two latter by external separate stone stairs. -A third stair, also exterior, ascends from the east curtain to the -battlements. The arrangement is altogether peculiar. Moreover, the roof -of the tower is high pitched, having the south gable stepped in the -Scottish fashion, flush with the outer wall, while the north gable is -set in about 3 feet so as to allow of a rampart walk along three sides -of the tower. The tower is occupied, and locked up. - -The tower corresponding to this, and forming the north-east angle of -the ward, is the gatehouse. It is rectangular, 50 feet broad by 22 feet -deep, and pierced by the gateway passage, with spacious rooms on each -side and above, all inhabited. The outer gateway is round headed, and -rather less than half a circle. The passage is vaulted, and has rebates -for a central and two outer doors, of which that next the entrance -seems to have been inserted to replace a portcullis. Over the front, -beneath a long flat label, are five shields of arms: 1. What seems to -have been a cinquefoil within an orle of crosslets flory, Umfranville. -2. Barry of 6, Multon. 3. Three luces haurient, Lucy. 4. A lion -rampant, Percy. 5. A saltire, Nevile. The gatehouse has two floors over -the gateway in the Perpendicular style, and later than the lower part, -which is Decorated. To this has been added an upper story, built into -the battlements of that below, which appear in the face of the wall. - -The portal is flanked by two flat pilasters, which have been partially -concealed by the addition of a _Barbican_, composed of two lateral -walls of 18 feet projection, and 7 feet 6 inches thickness, terminating -in square piers, which supported a cross arch of entrance, over -which was a parapet, now gone. These walls were about 12 feet high, -parapeted, and the ramparts reached by two lateral straight stairs -niched in the wall. There was no doubt originally a drawbridge to -the main gate, which may have been moved forward when the barbican -was added. Grose’s drawing shows a sort of ravelin of earth in front -of this outer entrance, which probably was thrown up during the -Parliamentary struggles. All this front, outside the walls, has been -levelled and converted into a garden and approach. Outside the north -and south curtains, between the wall and the top of the slope, is a -walk of about 9 feet broad. - -The accounts of this castle claim for it a very remote origin, and -describe the knoll upon which it stands as artificial. This, however, -is not the case. The knoll is evidently natural, and the point of a -tract of high land which is bounded by two rivers. The position is not -the less strong, and is such as either Britons, Romans, or Saxons might -very well have availed themselves of. There is, however, no positive -evidence that they did so, and nothing now seen is of necessity older, -or as old, as the Conquest. The foundations of the western tower, and -of the greater part of its contiguous curtains, so far as they contain -the upper ward, are probably Norman, and may be the work of William de -Meschines, in the reign of Henry I. As the works could scarcely have -been confined to so small an area as the present upper ward, it is -probable that the whole of the present area was included in the Norman -castle, and that the cross ditch was then excavated. How the area was -then occupied, where was the hall, where the kitchen, does not appear; -probably not on the present site, seeing that the windows are evident -insertions in, and the buttresses additions to, the north curtain. -Moreover, no part of the line of buildings dividing the upper from the -lower ward shows any trace of Norman work. Whatever or wherever were -the Norman buildings, they probably stood until the Decorated period, -or early in the fourteenth century, when the present cross buildings, -the kitchen and the hall, seem to have been erected, and much of the -curtain rebuilt or strengthened. - -The outer gatehouse and the south-eastern tower are not unlikely to -be of the same date, though there have been large additions to, and -alterations in, the former building, in the Perpendicular period, -when the barbican was added. The Tudor windows in the upper ward -are the only traces of still later alterations. The effects of the -Parliamentary strife upon the building, beyond the removal of the -roofs, do not appear to have been serious; and, as the gatehouse seems -always to have been inhabited, no doubt some sort of attention was paid -to it, and to the flag tower. More recently, a dwelling-house has been -built within the area, within one window of which hangs a curious relic -of the past, in the shape of an escutcheon of Percy and Lucy quartered, -in old stained glass. - -The remodelling of the Norman castle in the Decorated period was -probably the work of Anthony de Lucy, who held the lordship from 2 -Edward II. to 17 Edward III., and was an active soldier, a great -military chief in the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, and -likely enough to put into the best possible order a castle important -both to his own estates and to the national frontier committed to his -charge. - -The Perpendicular additions, including the armorial shields over the -gateway, must have been later than 22 Richard II., when Maud, the -Lucy heiress, carried Cockermouth Castle to Henry Percy, who agreed -to quarter her arms. The Umfranville shield commemorates Maud’s first -husband, Gilbert, Earl of Angus. The Nevile shield is that of Henry -Percy’s first wife, who was a daughter of Ralph Lord Nevile. As this -Henry was a very considerable person, and survived till 1408, it is -probable that he built or rebuilt the upper part of the gatehouse -between 1388–9 and 1408. - -Cockermouth Castle has but a scanty history, which perhaps accounts for -the perfect condition of its outer walls. In 1221 Henry III. ordered it -to be laid siege to, and, if taken, destroyed; but this fate it either -escaped, or, if carried out, it was restored a century later with great -completeness. It makes no figure in the Wars of the Roses, nor does it -appear to what extent it shared in the vicissitudes of the house of -Percy. The town seems to have been taken by surprise in 1387 by a band -of Scottish marauders. Mary of Scotland rested here, no doubt on her -way from Workington to Carlisle, after her landing in Cumberland. In -August, 1648, the castle, held for the Parliament, was attacked by the -Royalists of the neighbourhood, and held out a month, till relieved -by the Parliamentary General Ashton. It seems to have been spared the -usual fate of English castles of that period at the hands of one or the -other party. In 1688, the only habitable parts were the gateway and the -courthouse, probably the adjacent building. - - - DESCENT. - -Cockermouth was the “caput” of the barony of Allerdale, usually called -in the Inquisitions the Honour of Cockermouth. There is no collected -list of the lands held of the Honour, but they seem to have been -extensive, and are specified in divers inquisitions from time to time, -with the names of their holders. The original grantee seems to have -been William, brother of the well-known Ranulph de Meschines, Earl -of Chester. He received, either from the Conqueror or from Henry I., -the territory of Copland, between the Dudden and the Derwent, and was -probably the founder of the castle of Cockermouth, as he was of the -Monastery of St. Bees. His son Ranulph died childless, and his heir was -Cicely, who married Robert de Romilly, Lord of Skipton. Cockermouth -came to Alice, their third daughter and co-heir, who married William -FitzDuncan, Earl of Moray, in Scotland, nephew to King Malcolm. Amabel, -their second daughter and co-heir, had Egremont, and married Reginald -de Lucy, living 20 Henry II.; while Cicely, the elder daughter, married -William le Gros, Earl of Albemarle, who died 1179. Their second -daughter, Hawise le Gros, married, first, William de Mandeville, Earl -of Essex, and secondly, William de Fortibus, in her right Earl of -Albemarle, and who (1215) had restored to him by King John the manor of -Cockermouth, and (1216) certain confiscated lands held of the Honour. -In February, 1221, King Henry ordered the Sheriff of Westmoreland -to summon his forces to lay siege to, take, and utterly destroy the -Castle of Cockermouth; but later in the year the manor was granted -again to the Earl. It is said that this Earl held half the castle, -which escheated to the Crown, and was granted in 1323 by Edward II. to -Anthony, Lord Lucy, who held the other moiety. The descent, however, is -exceedingly obscure. It appears that Richard de Lucy, Amabel’s son, had -Egremont, and died about 15 John, leaving Amabel and Alice. His wife, -Ada de Morville, married secondly, Thomas de Multon, and left issue, -while Multon’s two sons by a former wife married—1. Lambert de Multon -to Amabel; and 2. Alan de Multon to Alice, the co-heirs. - -Lambert’s great-granddaughter, the heiress of Egremont, married Thomas -de Lucy, and Alan’s son, Thomas de Multon, took the name of Lucy, and -died 33 Edward I., and probably held the Castle of Cockermouth. He -was followed by his sons, Thomas, who died childless, 2 Edward II., -and Anthony de Lucy, a great baron and military leader in the Western -marches. He died 17 Edward III., leaving Thomas de Lucy, who died -seized of Cockermouth Castle and Honour 39 Edward III., having married -his remote cousin, Margaret de Multon, the heiress of Egremont, and -thus reunited the whole inheritance, the second moiety of Cockermouth -having been acquired by his father. - -Thomas and Margaret had Anthony de Lucy, aged twenty-four, 39 Edward -III., and Maud. Anthony had Joan, who died young, 43 Edward III., -seized of the castle and Honour, when Maud became the heiress. She -married Gilbert de Umfranville, Earl of Angus, who died 4 Richard -II. They had but one son, Sir Robert, who predeceased his father, -childless. The earl died 4 Richard II., seized of the castle and -Honour, and Maud then, 8 Richard II., married Henry de Percy, Earl -of Northumberland. The inheritance, failing the heirs of her body, -was settled upon the heirs male of her husband, who were to bear the -arms of Percy and Lucy quarterly. This remainder took effect, and -Cockermouth passed to the descendant of Percy by his first wife, -Margaret, daughter of Ralph Lord Neville, whose arms appear over the -gateway of Cockermouth, as do those of the Earl of Angus. - -Earl Henry was slain at Braham Moor, 1408. Hotspur, his valiant son, -fell at Shrewsbury. Henry, the next earl, and lord of Cockermouth, -fell at St. Alban’s, 1455, as did his son Henry, at Towton, in 1461. -Henry, the next earl, met a violent death in the Tower in 1489, being -the fifth lord of Cockermouth of that brave, brilliant, and unfortunate -race. Henry, the next earl, died a natural death in 1527, as did his -son Henry, childless, in 1537. The next inheritors were his nephews, -sons of his brother, Sir Thomas; the earl Thomas, who was beheaded, -leaving an only daughter, 1572, and Earl Henry, who died 1585. Henry, -the next earl, died 1632, and was followed by Earl Algernon, who -died 1668, whose son, Earl Jocelyn, was the last male of the ancient -race, his son Henry having died young. Elizabeth, Baroness Percy, the -daughter and sole heir, married Charles Seymour, Duke of Somerset. -Algernon, their son, created Earl of Egremont and Baron Cockermouth, -died 1750, and was father of Elizabeth, the Seymour-Percy heiress; but -Duke Algernon had also a sister, Katherine, upon whose son, Sir Charles -Wyndham, the earldom and barony, and the castle of Cockermouth, were -settled, and so descended to George, the last earl, who died without -a successor in 1845, bequeathing Cockermouth to his natural son. -Cockermouth Castle, therefore, having descended through the houses -of De Meschines, De Fortibus, Multon, Lucy, and Percy, can boast a -connexion with some of the most celebrated of the northern barons. It -has, however, another, and certainly not less brilliant, association. -In the adjacent town was born William Wordsworth, and the green -court, flower-crowned walls, and gloomy dungeons of the castle are -commemorated in one of the sweetest of his sonnets:— - - FROM THE SPIRIT OF COCKERMOUTH CASTLE. - - “Thou look’st upon me, and dost fondly think, - Poet! that, stricken as both are by years, - We, differing once so much, are now compeers, - Prepared, when each has stood his time, to sink - Into the dust. Erewhile a sterner link - United us; when thou, in boyish play, - Entering my dungeon, didst become a prey - To soul-appalling darkness. Not a blink - Of light was there; and thus did I, thy tutor, - Make thy young thoughts acquainted with the grave, - While thou wert chasing the wing’d butterfly - Through my green courts; or climbing, a bold suitor, - Up to the flowers whose golden progeny - Still round my shatter’d brow in beauty wave.” - - - - - THE KEEP OF THE CASTLE OF COLCHESTER, ESSEX. - - -When Hubert of Rie, standing at early dawn between the church and his -castle, - - “Entre li mostier e sa mote,” - -welcomed, harboured, and under the escort of his three sons, sent -forward his hard-bested lord by the road still known as “Le Voye le -Duc,” he probably little thought that the incident would become matter -of history, and still less could he have anticipated the splendid -reward, for this and other faithful services, his sons were to receive, -twenty years later, from that same sovereign in a foreign and then -unconquered land. Whether Hubert himself took part in the conquest -is unknown; he certainly did not desert his mote and mostier in the -Cotentin for any English possessions, but of his sons, Ralph and -Adam received lands as under tenants in the counties of Nottingham, -Derby, and Kent; and Eudo, called by Dugdale the fourth son, but the -principal representative of the family in England, appears in the -Survey as tenant in chief of sixty-four manors in the counties of -Beds, Cambridge, Essex, Hants, Herts, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Norfolk, -Northampton, and Suffolk. - -Of these manors twenty-five were in Essex, in which county Eudo, -entitled from his office “Dapifer,” resided, and his possessions there -lay in twelve of its twenty hundreds. In Colchester the lordship and -demesne of the town were held by the king. Eudo’s interest there was -but moderate, consisting of five houses, 40 acres of land, and a claim -to the fourth of certain lands held “in elemosina Regis.” How he -maintained his military position we are not told, or why he settled in -Colchester. The only Essex castle mentioned in Domesday is Rageneia or -Ralegh. “In hoc manerio fecit Suen suum castellum,” nor do any of the -old mottes, of which there are several, as Bures, Great Birch, Ongar, -Plessy, and Stansted, appear to have belonged to Eudo. His office of -Dapifer or Sewer he held under the Conqueror and his two successors, -and he so witnessed a charter by William at Honfleur in 1074, and -others by Rufus in 1093, and by Henry I. Though described as “Dapifer -Domini Regis totius Angliæ,” he seems to have belonged to the ducal -not the royal court, for the sewer of England, according to Spelman, -was the brother of Robert Fitz Hamon of Morganwg, who appears in the -Survey in Colchester and elsewhere as “Hamo Dapifer.” It is related -that in consequence of the high character borne by Eudo the burgesses -of Colchester moved William Rufus to place him in charge of their town. -That he was so placed appears from a document quoted by Dugdale, and -his connexion with the place is shown by the Pipe Roll of 31 Henry I., -in which, among other entries relating to Colchester, are items for -“the lordship of the king’s ploughlands of the land of Eudo Dapifer, -8s. 10d.,” and from “the farm of his land, paid into the treasury, -£91. 3s. 0d.” This was after Eudo’s death, when Hamo de Clare was in -charge. As the crown held the lion’s share of the town, Eudo’s position -there must have been supreme. His first step was probably to build a -castle, and upon his own land, for when in 1096 he founded St. John’s -Abbey, one of its endowments, specified in the foundation charter, was -“omnes proventus capellae, in castello de Colcestria,” which endowment -is described in a confirmation by Richard I. (1 R. I.) as “capellam -castelii Colcestre, cum decimis et obventionibus,” explained by Morant -to have consisted in tythes of certain lands in and about the town. - -Eudo’s rank, as an Essex and Colchester land owner and the king’s -representative in the town, might very well induce him to erect a -castle there. The position was a good one for a district destitute -of any very striking inequalities of surface. It was within the -Roman area, and covered on two sides by the Coln. The ancient wall, -originally Roman, had been repaired by Edward the Elder, and included -the town and the proposed site. A legendary document, quoted in the -_Monasticon_ [i. 724], states that Eudo built the castle on King Cole’s -foundation; “in fundo palatii Coelis quondam regis,” which may be taken -to show that there was an older building on the spot. If so it must -have been Roman. Most of the chief towns in England contained a castle -constructed long before the arrival of the Conqueror, though not a -building of stone, and of these strong places the king or some great -Norman baron usually availed himself, substituting, as occasion served, -Norman masonry for the earlier and less perfect defences. Sometimes the -castle was within the circuit of the town, as at Chichester, Chester, -Leicester, and Lincoln, Roman cities with English additions; sometimes -it was outside the town wall, but abutting upon it, as at Carlisle, -Warwick, and Winchester. In each case the castle had its own proper -defences, so that while, on the one hand, it could be held with the -town against a common foe, on the other it could be held against the -town, and used to overawe the citizens. Here the castle was placed -within the Roman area, in its north-eastern quarter, and stood, not -improbably, on the site of some considerable Roman building, to which -the existing, but not accessible, sewers are thought to have belonged. - -Eudo died in 1120 at his castle of Preaux in Normandy, and was buried -here at St. John’s. He lived, therefore, twenty-four years after his -religious foundation, and somewhat more than that time after the -construction of his castle. He was also the founder, some time in the -reign of Henry I., of the hospital of St. Mary Magdalen, in the suburbs -of Colchester. He married Rohaise, whom Dugdale in his _Baronage_, -citing Will. of Jumièges, calls the daughter of Walter Giffard, Earl of -Buckingham, and widow of Fitz Gilbert, an error which, admitted into -the earlier, is corrected in the later edition of the _Monasticon_, -whence it appears that Rohaise was the daughter of Fitz Gilbert and a -preceding Rohaise, and was married to Eudo in her nonage, “ante habiles -annos nupta est.” She laid the second stone of St. John’s, Eudo himself -laying the first. The issue of this marriage was Margaret, Eudo’s sole -heiress, who married William de Magnaville, and was mother of Geoffrey -Earl of Essex, and in her right seneschal or sewer of Normandy. -Geoffrey, who played his cards to great advantage between Stephen and -the Empress Maud, received from the latter the lands of Eudo Dapifer -in Normandy, with the office of Dapifer, and an option, under certain -circumstances, of the lands of which Eudo died seized in England. -These, however, he does not seem to have obtained; in the contemporary -Pipe Rolls they are accounted for as in the Crown, and they do not -appear in the Inquisitions on Geoffrey’s descendants. - -The castle, which from the endowment of its chapel must certainly -have belonged to Eudo, came into the possession of the Crown. Morant -cites a grant of it by Maud to Alberic de Vere, from an early edition -of the _Fœdera_ (xiii. 251), but there is no such deed in the later -or the latest edition. He also cites a deed in his own possession, of -the reign of Richard or John, showing that with other demesne manors -the castle of Colchester and the Hundred were in the king’s hands, and -in the custody of the sheriff of Essex. In Stowe’s _Annals_ mention -is made of a certain Hubert de St. Clare who warded off an arrow from -Henry I. at the siege of Bridgenorth in 1165 at the cost of his own -life, and whom Stowe calls Constable of Colchester, and adds that -the king gave his daughter to William de Lanvalai. William, who was -an Essex baron, certainly obtained the Constableship from King John -(2 John), by a payment of 200 marcs. He died 12 John, leaving William -his son, who was made Constable 17 John, but soon after joined the -rebels. His daughter Hawise was afterwards given in wardship to Hubert -de Burgh, who married her to his son John. King John visited the castle -six times, in 1203, 1205, 1209, 1212, 1214, and 1216, staying three -days during his two penultimate visits, and eleven days during his last -visit. In 1214 Stephen Harengot was in charge in succession to Matthew -Mantell; also Hugh de Albemunt, carpenter, had an order for 23 marcs -for work done, to which, in 1215, 20 marcs were added for repairs, -and the burgesses were informed that Harengot was responsible for the -king’s rents. In April of that year Harengot was to have timber from -a wood near the town, for its defence, “ad illam claudendam,” and -Hugh de Neville was to permit the same. In July, John’s suspicious -character led him to substitute for Harengot William de Lanvalai, who -had married, as already stated, the daughter of a previous Constable. -In this year the castle was besieged and taken by Saher de Quincy, who -also burned the town. Both were afterwards recovered by King John. - -In March, 1216, is recorded a list of one hundred and thirteen persons, -knights, squires, and attendants, cross-bowmen and foot-soldiers, from -their names probably French mercenaries, to whom the king gave a safe -conduct for a passage from the castle of Colchester to London. In April -Harengot was again in charge, and in August he had a credit for 100 -marcs out of a fine due of a thousand. This was for the payment of the -garrison of the castle. In November, 1217, Richard de Mont Fitchet was -ordered to give William, Bishop of London, seizin of Kingsworth wood -belonging to the castle of Colchester, and to remove thence his own -servants. In July, 1218, the king’s bailiffs of Colchester were to -respond for the farm of the town to the bishop, as they had used to do -when Harengot held the castle. The bishop was at that time negotiating -for the king with the French invaders, who for a time actually held -the castle. After John’s death the bishop (October, 2 Henry III.) had -a credit on the farm of Colchester for £20 expended “in waristura” -(munition) for the castle. In 1222 the sheriff of Essex, then in -charge, was to transport certain timber, cut by the Constable of Dover -Castle, to the port of Colchester. In January, 1223, the bailiffs of -the town had credit from the Exchequer for 100s. advanced by them to -the Constable of the castle. The Exchequer seems to have guarded the -revenue closely, for in 1224 the Bishop of London is called upon to -refund £20 paid to William, late Bishop of London, for the repairs -of the king’s castle of Colchester. In April, 1225, the Prud-hommes, -“probi homines,” of Colchester are to hand over the farm of the town to -the Constable for the repairs of the castle. The Bishop of London seems -occasionally to have had charge, for in 1227 he is ordered to send to -the king some person who may be trusted to deliver over the castle -from the bishop to the king. - -Hubert de Burgh seems at one time, with the wardship of Hawise de -Lanvalai, to have held the Constableship of the castle; so that though -not actually hereditary, some regard seems to have been had to descent. -De Burgh was dispossessed in 1232, and was succeeded by Stephen de -Segrave, and he by Thomas de Clare, who was Constable in 1265–6, when -12 June, 1256, Henry III. granted the castle and the fee-farm of the -town to Guy de Montfort for life, he maintaining the castle in repair. -He was one of Henry’s unpopular foreign favourites, and was deprived -in 1258. William de Wayland followed, who, 18 December, 1273, resigned -it to John de Burgh, the last who held the office with any shadow of -hereditary claim. In 1275 it was held by Richard de Holebrook, and -immediately afterwards the castle became the county prison, in charge -of the sheriff, and ceased to possess any military value. In 1347 some -of the prisoners taken in France were lodged at Colchester; no doubt in -the castle. - -The Constable of the castle was also steward of the hundred of -Tendring, and bailiff of the same, holding courts for the several -manors composing it. The castle was perfectly independent of the town, -and like most castles so situated was extra-parochial, and had a -separate jurisdiction. Seventeen manors were appendant to it, and paid -suit and service at its court. In matters spiritual it was connected -with St. John’s. It appears from an Exchequer judgment in 1290, that -the abbots of St. John, who received the tythes forming the endowment -of the castle chapel, were wont to provide a chaplain, who celebrated -the offices three days in each week, either in St. Helen’s Chapel or in -the King’s Chapel in the castle, as the Constable might direct. Long -afterwards the abbot was fined 12 marcs for having neglected this duty. -St. Helen’s Chapel stood, and indeed, though desecrated, still stands -about 100 yards north-east of the keep, and just outside the line of -the castle wall. - -As the castle ceased to possess any military value it was from time to -time granted away to various persons. Henry Duke of Lancaster, son of -Henry IV., had it in 1404. Henry VI. gave it to his queen, and Sir John -Howard had it for life from Edward IV. In those days about 160 acres -of land passed with the castle. In 1496–1509 it was held by John Earl -of Oxford. Its final alienation was by James I., who gave it in fee, -in 1629, to Hay, Earl of Carlisle. The immense thickness of its wall -and its central position led to its being held for Charles in the war -with the Parliament, when its commander was Sir Charles Lucas, a member -of a local royalist family, and the descendant of the grantee of St. -John’s Abbey lands. The siege and capture by Fairfax and the subsequent -military executions are well-known matters of history. The _enceinte_ -wall was probably then pulled down, and the castle rendered untenable. -Soon afterwards what remained was sold to a person named Wheeley, who -attempted to pull down the keep, with only partial success. Since then -it has been in the Gray and Round families, and has been properly cared -for, as indeed it still is. - - - DESCRIPTION. - -The keep, the only remaining portion of the castle, is a peculiar -and, in many respects, a very remarkable structure; remarkable for -the unusually large area which it covers; for its want, even in its -original state, of a proportionate height; for the arrangement and -design of its parts and details; for the materials of which it is -composed; and for the workmanship by which they are put together. -Not only is its origin disputed, but the purpose for which it was -constructed is still the subject of a controversy, the settlement of -which can only be effected by the internal evidence afforded by the -building itself, the minute details of which possess on that account -peculiar interest. - -It is in plan rectangular, and, at its interior ground-level, which is -also, very nearly, that of the top of its exterior spreading plinth, it -measures, exclusive of its six projections, 152 feet north and south, -by 111 feet east and west, and with its projections 171 feet by 146 -feet. The two northern angles are capped by two rectangular turrets, -of which the north-west is on the west face 29 feet broad with 8 feet -projection, and on the north face 30 feet with 8 feet projection. The -north-east turret is 29 feet on the east and 27 feet on the north face, -with projections of 8 feet. The south-west turret projects from the -south end of the west wall 14 feet, and has a breadth of 40 feet. The -south-east turret occupies a similar position on the east front, but -is in plan a half-circle with a diameter or breadth of 50 feet, and a -projection of 25 feet. The south wall has a buttress on its face at -each end. That at the east end is 20 feet broad by 8 feet projection, -and that at the west end 12 feet broad by 8 feet projection. This -latter protects the entrance. - -On the longer or east and west faces are two intermediate pilasters 8 -feet broad by a foot projection, and on the north face one pilaster 8 -feet broad by 18 inches projection. Against the semicircular turret are -placed four pilasters 4 feet 10 inches broad by a foot projection, and -at the springing two half pilasters 2 feet 5 inches broad. Turrets, -buttresses, and pilasters, with one exception, rise to the present -summit unbroken by set-off or string-course. The exception is the -north-west turret, which, at the first-floor level, is reduced on its -north face from 30 feet to 24 feet, the 6 feet forming a shelf or -landing for an entrance door. The plinth is carried round the building -and capped by a plain chamfer. Below this the walls spread laterally -inside and outside, until at a depth of some 30 feet they have a base -of about 30 feet. The part above ground was cased with ashlar which -has been stripped off. This excessive depth and breadth of foundation -is very unusual. The two northern turrets are solid to the first-floor -level, as are the two southern buttresses, one indeed being solid -throughout. The south-west turret contains a well-staircase which -ascends from the basement to the summit. The south-east turret contains -a crypt at its ground-level. - -The space within the walls, measuring 126 feet by 87 feet, was -unequally subdivided. A portion, in width from 36 to 40 feet broad, -was walled off at the south end and occupied as an entrance passage, -a well-chamber, a prison vault, and the crypt beneath the chapel. -The space northwards was again subdivided into an east, west, and -middle compartment by two walls running north and south. The eastern -compartment, 91 feet by 22 feet, was aired rather than lighted by three -loops in the east and one in the north wall. One of these loops was in -the last century converted into a door, but has since been walled up. -The central loop is now a door. In the south end a small doorway leads -into the crypt. This compartment was entered by a doorway in the cross -wall, 3 feet 9 inches broad, but having a rebate for a door. The wall -is 7 feet thick. The middle compartment was 80 feet long by 15 feet -broad, but its western wall, which was 7 feet thick, was removed, it is -said, in 1683. A trace of it remains at the south end, and at the north -end a projection in the wall shows that the door of communication was -at that end. This compartment has a single loop in its north end, and -in its south end a doorway leading into the prison vault. - -The western or larger compartment from which the others were entered -was 90 feet long by 36 feet broad. It had a loop in its north end, -and three in its west side. In its south wall was probably the inner -doorway corresponding to the main entrance. It is said that there -exists a pit or drain beneath the floor of this chamber, a sewer -from which, of Roman construction, passes westward through the wall -towards the river. The loops throughout this ground floor are of -one pattern. They are round-headed, 6 inches wide, in the end of a -splayed recess which opens by a set-off into a flat-sided recess 7 -feet wide and 3 feet 6 inches deep. These recesses are round-headed, -and rise from the floor-level about 12 feet. The recess and the arched -head are constructed mainly of tiles. The set-off or reveal is of -ashlar. All the arches throughout, of both doors and recesses, are -round-headed. The three compartments were covered in with whole timber -joists supporting the floor of the upper chamber. The ground floor was -about 15 feet high, and, save the vault and crypt, seems to have been -intended for stores. - -The main entrance is on this floor, at the west end of the south side. -A doorway of 7 feet 7 inches opening was flanked on each side by two -niched columns with plain bases and capitals, with stiff foliage of -Norman character. Above the capitals is a plain chamfered abacus. The -head is composed of three members, each a bold roll or bead. The two -inner members spring from above the capitals, the outer member, with a -dripstone worked in two bands of half-circles, springs from the abacus -alone. The abacus is stopped within the portal by a square groove for a -portcullis, probably of iron, behind which is a rebate for a door with -a hole for a stout wooden bar. Five or six steps, now concealed or -gone, led up to this doorway, nor are there any traces of a drawbridge. -Within the portal, in the wall, here 14 feet thick, on the left, is a -small round-headed niche, the flat sides and back of which are carved -with low bas-reliefs of certain bishops and saints, including St. -Christopher. They are fairly executed, and probably the work of some -ingenious porter. - -[Illustration: COLCHESTER CASTLE. - -FIRST FLOOR. - -GROUND FLOOR. - -Wyman & Sons, Gᵗ. Queen Sᵗ. London.] - -The door opens into a lobby or entrance passage 12 feet broad by 36 -feet long. The right-hand wall is an open arcade, modern, but probably -representing an older wall, shutting off the well-chamber. The south -end is now open, but was crossed by a wall 10 feet thick, which no -doubt contained the inner door leading into the great ground-floor -chamber. On the left is first the door of the great staircase, then a -niche 8 feet broad and 9 feet high and 7 feet deep, and semi-domed. A -short passage, vaulted and groined, leads into the great staircase, a -cylinder 16 feet diameter, with a newel of 2 feet. It has loops to the -south and west, and forty-seven steps lead to the present summit. At -the twenty-third step a passage with three steps branches off to the -first floor. - -The well-chamber, 15 feet by 26 feet, contains the well, now closed -by a pump. It is 5 feet diameter and 65 feet deep, and was lined -with ashlar, of which the upper part has been stripped off. The -well was discovered in the last century. It is said that in it was -observed a lateral culvert, intended as a waste-pipe to carry off -any overflow that might otherwise injure the foundations. In the -south wall was a recess 8 feet broad and 7 feet deep, round-headed -and semi-domed, now a window. Probably the buckets stood in it. Here -also a modern stair descends to the vaults. The well-chamber is not -vaulted. Next east, separated by a wall 9 feet thick, is the prison; -this is a barrel-vaulted chamber 15 feet by 30 feet, entered from the -middle compartment by a doorway of 3 feet opening; it supports the -ante-chapel. East again of this vault a wall, 13 feet thick, divides -it from the crypt. The western part of the crypt, the cross limb of -the =⟙=, is rectangular, 14 feet by 28 feet, vaulted and groined, and -entered from the eastern compartment; it has a loop in its south wall. -The stem of the =⟙= is the crypt proper, 31 feet long by 14 feet broad -and 14 feet high to the crown of its barrel vault. Its east end is -semicircular and semi-domed. A loop in the centre of the apse has been -converted into a window. In this crypt is said to be a drain falling -southwards towards the river. This completes the account of the ground -floor. - -From the staircase a door opens into the lobby above the entrance -passage, and which was probably of the same size. At present the east -and north walls are modern. The south end of this lobby is occupied -by a flat-sided and flat-backed recess, 10 feet broad, 10 feet deep, -and about 12 feet high, which has a chink or chase in its floor for -the passage of the portcullis. As the recess is wider than the grate -there are no lateral grooves. Above is a cavity where was inserted -the ring or hook whence the grate was suspended. On the left of the -staircase door is a smaller door, which opens into a garderobe which -shares the turret with the staircase. It is 15 feet 6 inches long by -10 feet 4 inches broad, barrel-vaulted, with loops to the west and -north, and beneath each a seat and a shoot in the wall. The loops have -been enlarged into windows, and the chamber is used as a record-room. -Outside, in the north wall of the turret, close to its junction with -the curtain, is a bold deep bracket, composed of seven stones and a -tile, at the top projecting about a foot, which may have supported the -shaft of a garderobe from the battlements, or may have been connected -with some sort of bretasche or timber erection. Its use is not clear. -The east wall of the lobby divides it from the modern library, which -stands over the ancient ante-chapel, and was probably the principal -private apartment in the keep. It had three recesses, no doubt with -loops, in its south walls. Two are now windows, and one a fireplace. -Outside this chamber, to the north, is a modern corridor, the space of -which was apparently a part of the ante-chapel. In its east wall is -a round-backed niche 10 feet broad, through which a passage has been -broken, most injudiciously, into the chapel. From the ante-chapel a -lofty round-headed doorway opened into the west end of the chapel. - -The chapel is composed of a nave and apse, and of four lateral recesses -or side chapels. It is in length 45 feet and in breadth 15 feet, and -17 feet 6 inches high to the crown of its barrel vault. The apse is -semicircular and semi-domed, of the same height with the nave. The -westernmost pair of recesses are 14 feet wide and 12 feet deep, with -semi-domed ends. The eastern pair are 11 feet wide and 11 feet and 14 -feet deep, and both semi-domed. In the east wall of the south recess is -a niche as for a side altar. The lateral vaults are accommodated to the -main vault. The groins or lines of intersection are plain. The apse has -a central recess, now a window, and two lateral smaller recesses with -loops, unaltered. As the walls are everywhere very thick and the five -original apertures could not have exceeded eight inches, the chapel -must have been more than usually dark. It contains no ornamentation -of any kind, not even an abacus or plinth. The masonry appears to be -rubble of a very ordinary character. It is thickly plastered. This is a -very curious and rare example of a castle chapel. - -The first floor, north of the chapel and the entrance lobby, is divided -into a larger west and a smaller east chamber. The eastern chamber -is 21 feet by 88 feet, the western 61 feet by 100 feet, the increase -of size over the lower area being due to a slight reduction in the -thickness of the walls. - -The eastern chamber is entered from the western by a doorway in the -dividing wall. In its north end is a loop, in its east wall two -fireplaces; north of the one are two loops and one south of the other; -between them is a fourth loop and a mural garderobe. This chamber, 3 -feet 6 inches by 9 feet 3 inches, has an eastern recess 3 feet wide, -and in it a small loop beneath which is the seat, and a shoot opening -in the wall. There are two doors opening from the main chamber 3 -feet 3 inches apart. It is probable that the chamber was divided by -a partition of wood, so that there was a fireplace in each room, and -the garderobe was common to the two, with a door opening from each. -The north-east turret here contains a vaulted chamber, 13 feet by 10 -feet and 16 feet high. It has one loop to the north and two to the -east, now broken into one. In the west wall is an indication either of -a fireplace never completed, or of one walled up. This was probably a -bedchamber. - -The western chamber may possibly have been subdivided, like the lower -floor, by a wall raised upon that now removed; and an unequal space -between the loops in its north wall favours this view. More probably, -however, the wall was not so raised, and the irregular space may be -caused by a wish to keep the loops clear of the external pilaster. -The chamber, supposing it to have been of the full breadth, had four -loops in the north wall, and in the west wall two fireplaces, having -two loops between and two beyond each, six in all. The fireplaces are -spacious, round-headed, with rounded backs set with tiles on edge -in herring-bone pattern. They stand in a broad pilaster of a foot -projection, and are quite plain. They are of tile, of one pattern -throughout, and at a height of about 14 feet the flue is stopped, and -divides into two branches which open in the face of the wall, one on -each side of the pilaster, in the hollow angle, as at Rochester and -in the Tower of London. These fireplaces do not seem to have had any -hood. Over one of them is a sort of weather moulding of tile, which -looks as though part of a hood, such as is still seen over the west -door of St. Botolph’s Church. There is, however, a second fragment on -the jamb of the fireplace, which could not be part of a hood. These are -probably the remains of the weather mouldings of the roofs of cottages -built within the area of the keep after the whole was gutted and laid -open. The loops of this floor, like those below, are of one pattern. -A recess, 7 feet wide, flat-sided and round-headed, commences at the -floor-level and rises about 14 feet. At a depth of 3 feet 6 inches is -a rebate or reveal, from which commences a splayed recess, ending in a -loop eight inches wide. - -In the north wall, at its west end, is a plain doorway, and a recess -corresponding to a doorway in the outside of the wall, which opened -upon the shelf already mentioned, as in the east face of the north-west -turret. This shoulder formed a landing, 6 feet by 8 feet, whence a -staircase descended by a face of the wall to the ground. The walls -show where the staircase was let into it by the discontinuance of the -regular coursing, but this also shows the staircase to have been an -afterthought. The original staircase was probably of wood. The door -has evidently been walled up from an early period. In the west side -of this doorway is a smaller lateral doorway opening into a groined -lobby, which leads into a staircase and a garderobe, which occupy the -north-west turret. The garderobe is 7 feet by 2 feet, with a loop to -the east and the seat and drain to the west, and in the north wall a -recess as for a lamp. A few feet south of the seat and its shoot a -second shoot is seen in the outer wall. This probably belonged to a -garderobe in the battlements, now gone. The staircase is a well, 6 feet -diameter, of which twenty-four steps remain. It evidently led from -the first-floor level to the summit. The fragment of the turret seems -to show that the original height of the wall was about 32 to 36 feet. -This and the main staircase are cut short by the removal of the upper 5 -feet or 6 feet of the wall. They open upon the present top of the wall, -which has been levelled, and a slight battlement and rear wall built to -make the walk safe. There does not seem to have been a second floor. - -Many years ago, about 1683, the then proprietor of the castle, -ignominiously known as having removed the upper part of the walls and -gutted the interior of the building, discovered that a part of the -ground floor rested upon vaults. These he opened and examined, and -they are still accessible. The vaults are two in number, built side by -side, each 22 feet wide and 96 feet long. They are crossed by a wall -6 feet thick, and thus formed into two vaults of 60 feet and two of -30 feet. The wall between them is 8 feet thick. When discovered they -were full of earth, so full that it was evident the contents of the -foundations had been heaped and used as a centring, the arch being -turned upon the earth or the stones laid upon it. Of one vault the roof -is flat, held up by the mere cohesion of the masonry. These vaults -had no original entrance, and were evidently works of construction -only, not intended to be used. Several breaches were made, so that one -vault can be entered from the other; and a breach was also made in the -north wall of the keep below the exterior ground-level, through which -a good deal of this soil was removed, and thus the cavities admit of -a partial examination. The masonry is wholly rude rubble, composed -of large pebbles and boulders and fragments of stone, uncoursed, and -with a very free use of mortar. The vaults are described as pointed, -but the excessive rudeness of the work and the nature of the centring -would account for any irregularity in the figure of the arches. To the -eye they appear rudely semicircular. That these vaults are of the date -of the keep is evident from their relations to the other walls, part -of which rest upon them. The present entrance is in the floor of the -well-chamber. - -For some reason, possibly from an apprehension of defective foundation -in a wet sandy soil, it seems to have been thought necessary to take -extraordinary precautions against an unequal settlement of the parts of -the keep. Hence probably the extensive area, the low altitude of the -walls, and the excessive breadth of their foundations. Hence, also, -probably, the decision to elevate the floor of the interior above the -exterior ground, by the use of vaulting. If such was the cause of these -unusual precautions, the result has been perfectly successful, for -there is no mark of subsidence anywhere to be seen. - -Although a main entrance at the ground-floor level is by no means -unknown in Norman keeps, and is found at Carlisle, Ludlow, and -Bamborough, it was not usual, and an examination of the present -entrance at Colchester leads to the conclusion that it was not -originally so here. It is evident not only that the present ornate -doorway is an insertion, but that the outer part of the wall above has -also been taken down for a considerable height, and clumsily rebuilt. -This was done to allow of the insertion of a portcullis. Without this -it would have been sufficient to remove the lower masonry only, but the -grate required head-room when raised, and to gain this a more extensive -alteration was necessary. Immediately above the dripstone are a few -courses of ashlar, derived, no doubt, from the old work; but above this -the wall is of very inferior uncoursed rubble, very different from the -regular courses of stone and tile seen in the wall on either side. When -the outer door case was inserted the wall within was also lined with -ashlar, and the ring stones of the inner arch and of the entrances to -the great staircase were also so cased. Above, the recess into which -the portcullis was lifted is of tile, and evidently original; but the -floor with the aperture or chase, and the flat back of the recess are -later. In all probability there was originally a recess with perhaps a -loop where the great doorway now is, and there was certainly a recess -above, with probably a loop also. When this door was opened, in the -latest Norman period, the original entrance on the first floor, in the -north front, was probably walled up, as it still remains. It has been -suggested that the great doorway replaced a postern, but posterns in -Norman keeps were very unusual indeed, especially at the ground-level, -and there seems no reason for supposing one here. Probably when the -keep was constructed there was no _enceinte_ wall, but when this was -built, the keep became far more secure, and as it was convenient to -have an entrance from the town side, the change was made. - -There is something to be said for the pertinacity with which this -keep has been asserted to be a Roman building. Not only is its design -peculiar, but this is also the case with the material employed, and -in some degree with the workmanship. The walls, though cased with -ashlar on the plinth, and though ashlar is largely employed in the -quoins up to the first floor, contain great quantities of the large, -square, thick tile so characteristic of Roman work. Moreover, these -tiles are mostly whole, as though they had not been employed in an -older building, and they are laid in bonding or chain courses, single, -double, triple, and even in four courses, with intervening bands of -cement stone in small rudely-squared blocks. Sometimes the tiles are -laid on edge, sometimes slightly inclined, with here and there a -tendency to herring-bone, and the greater part of the interior dividing -wall is regular herring-bone, and a very fine example of it. Most of -the recesses within the walls were not originally looped, and are -round-backed and semi-domed, which is unusual in Norman keeps. Outside -the building, high up in the walls, are traces of a number of apertures -or perhaps only sunken spaces, about 2 feet 6 inches square. One of -these is shown in an early drawing as containing a sun-dial, no doubt -an insertion. It has been supposed that these represent tablets with -an inscription, but there is no evidence for this. What they were for -it is difficult even to guess. - -All these features, and some others not actually present, have been -adduced to justify the opinions of General Roy, King, and others, in -favour of the Roman origin of the building, which is asserted to have -been constructed to contain and guard the shrine of a Pagan deity, and -afterwards to have been converted by the Normans into a fortress. Such -conversions of Roman buildings into mediæval fortresses were, no doubt, -common enough in Italy and France, and not unknown in England, as at -Pevensey and Porchester, but nevertheless there scarcely seems ground -for supposing this building to be Roman, or other than a Norman keep. - -The combination of the rectangular plan with angle turrets and -intermediate pilasters of slight projection is distinctly and -peculiarly Norman. As to the unusual dimensions of the building, in -size and height Norman keeps varied considerably, from Clitheroe and -Goderich up to Norwich or London. The projection of the turrets also -varies from mere pilasters as at Bowes and Scarborough to regular -turrets as at Dover and Kenilworth. The half-round projection and -the chapel within are indeed rare, being confined to Colchester and -London, but no one conversant with the smaller Norman churches could -hesitate to class these among them. The spreading plinth is also a -Norman feature, and is seen at Norham and Kenilworth. Thick and solid -walls at the ground floor are also common. One of the most usual Norman -arrangements was to place at one angle a well-staircase communicating -with each floor and with the roof, while at another angle was a similar -staircase commencing at the first floor. - -The Norman entrance, though sometimes on the ground floor, was more -usually, as originally here, on the first floor. Neither was it always -protected by a forebuilding. Neither Goderich, Clitheroe, nor Chester -were so protected. The well in Norman keeps, though often in the wall, -was also found in other situations. At Norwich and Castle Rising it -was within the area, and at Bamborough. Mural chambers, especially for -garderobes, are common in Norman keeps, especially at the first-floor -level. Here are three, and a larger chamber, besides the chapel and -ante-chapel. The shoots of Norman garderobes usually open on the face -of the wall, the lower stone projecting a little to keep the filth -clear of it, as at Ludlow and Carlisle. The opening of the flues of the -fireplaces upon the face of the wall, close to a pilaster, is a purely -Norman device. The use of loops on the first floor, though with large -splayed recesses, is also Norman, and a part of the jealous system that -pervaded those keeps. Usually it was only at the second floor that the -loops became windows. In Norman keeps the floors were almost always of -timber, the joists being supported, when necessary, by posts or props, -as seen at this day in the Tower of London. - -As to material the use of new and clear and unbroken tiles by no means -shows a work to be Roman. Those of St. Botolph’s Priory Church were -evidently never used before. The only conclusion is that they were -manufactured in imitation of those introduced by the Romans. Neither -is the mortar that usually described as of Roman composition. It is -decidedly white or light in colour, with a great preponderance of sand, -so much so as in some parts to have prevented its setting. Where the -mortar is in masses it may contain fragments of tile or stone, but -there is no trace of pounded brick in its composition. It is generally -ill-mixed, and contains large fragments of sea-shells. The putlog holes -in size and position are such as are usually observed in buildings of -the eleventh and twelfth centuries, though probably not confined to -them. The soffits of the vaulting of the staircase and mural chambers -everywhere are impressed deeply with the figure of the boards used as -centring, or what is called technically lagging. The carpenter’s work -in Norman keeps seems to have been very rudely performed, and the rough -boards were spread over thickly with mortar to bring them to a surface. -This is well seen at Colchester. - -Taking all these features into consideration there ought to be little -doubt that Colchester keep is a Norman structure, built probably about -the close of the eleventh century, by one of the sons of Hubert de Rie. - -The keep is the only part of Colchester Castle now standing. The wall -_enceinte_ has long been removed, probably about 1650, but its general -line to the east, north, and west is indicated by three earthbanks. -To the south the ground has been levelled. The entrance from the town -was on this side. This was the main gate, but there was also a second. -The area thus enclosed appears to have been rather above three acres. -Various Roman remains have been discovered within and about this area. - - - - - CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. - - -Conisborough, or, as it was anciently and more correctly called, -Coningsborough or Coningsburh Castle, is one of the most remarkable -of the strongholds in the North of England, standing high above the -bank of “the gentle Don,” about half-a-mile below its reception of the -Dearne, in the midst of a grand sylvan amphitheatre. Its name declares -it to have been a seat, and its position to have been a fitting seat, -of Saxon royalty; and the mighty earthworks which constitute its most -ancient defences, proclaim the value of the possession and the power -of the founder: moreover, the great enchanter of romance has thrown -a charm over the scene and invested it with an interest not the less -deep that it is wholly fictitious. Those, and they are many, who -ascend the guarded mount, care little for the great Norman Earl who -raised its tower; to them it is peopled with the creations of Scott. -The chamber remains, though roofless, in which he places the funeral -banquet of Athelstan, and the oratory is still unaltered within which -Rowena poured forth her very mingled devotions. The present view must -necessarily be of a more prosaic character. It must take notice of -the great earls whose tower stands almost unrivalled as an abiding -evidence of their feudal magnificence and constructive skill. Although -Conisborough may not be compared to Coucy in dimensions, and the power -even of the House of Warren pales before that of its more than royal -Sires, the lesser but older tower is not inferior to its great rival in -position, excellence of material, or delicacy of workmanship. - -[Illustration: CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.] - -He who selected the hill of Conisborough as the site of a stronghold, -if not, as King James said on visiting a similar position, a thief in -his heart, must have thought security of the first importance, and have -been prepared to expend a vast amount of human labour in obtaining it. -What he had to deal with was an isolated knoll of rock and gravel, -rising at about 400 yards from the bank of the river to a height of -about 175 feet, naturally steep on every side, though rather less so -to the south-west, where the exterior ground is somewhat higher. On -this side, distant about a furlong, stands the ancient church of St. -Peter, and about it the village of Conisborough. The top of the knoll -has been levelled and trimmed into a platform of a rounded outline, 90 -yards north-east and south-west, by 60 yards in the cross direction, -thus enclosing about three-quarters of an acre. From this summit the -slopes have been scarped steeply down to the bottom of an immense ditch -about 60 feet below the crest. The outer slope or counterscarp of the -ditch varies in height, or rather depth, according to the character of -the ground, and for about two-thirds of its circumference is crested -by a steep bank, which gives the ditch a depth of from 18 to 25 feet, -and the exterior slope of which dies away into the natural fall of -the hill-side. Towards the south-west, or town side, where the ground -occupied by the church is about 25 feet higher than the _terre-plein_ -of the castle, the intervening hollow is occupied by a large outwork, -resting upon the main ditch, a branch from which embraces and separates -it from the town, and thus is formed an outer ward, convenient either -for the lodgment of troops or the secure pasture of cattle. The -principal approach must always have been on this side and across this -earthwork. At no other point could so safe or so convenient an approach -have been contrived; scarcely, indeed, one practicable for a horse -with a rider on his back, still less for a litter or a vehicle on -wheels. Such, as regards the earthwork, was, and still is the original -fortress, the seat and stronghold of the king from whose office the -borough was named, and, supposing the walls and keep to be removed, and -the crest of the platform, the counterscarp of the ditch, and the outer -edge of the earthwork to be palisaded, the place would still be one of -great strength and equal to the accommodation of even a royal following. - -When Earl Warren, soon after the Norman Conquest, visited his -newly-acquired lordship, he must have been struck with the general -analogy of its chief seat to the strong places he had left behind him. -The mound or motte, here natural, the circular ditch around it, and -the entrenched outworks covering the weaker side, resting upon the -ditch and protected by a branch of it, were features as well known in -Normandy as in England. No doubt he intended to add to the fortress -those works in masonry that were just then become popular upon the -Seine and the Orne; but the internal evidence of the oldest remaining -work in stone, the encircling wall, shows it not to have been his -work. Probably he found the works required at Lewes, Ryegate, and -Castle-acre, quite enough to occupy his means, and was obliged to be -content with such defences as he found already to his hand, and to -his son or grandson is to be attributed the earliest extant masonry, -the older part of the curtain, and a part of the outer gatehouse at -the foot of the hill. There is no reason to suppose that there ever -was a Norman keep. Probably the whole inner ward, as at Exeter and -Restormel, was regarded as a shell keep. The present tower is certainly -a rather later addition. The view here given shows the ascent from the -gatehouse. On the left is seen the exterior of the curtain of the main -ward. - -[Illustration] - -The castle, as now seen, is composed of a keep, an inner and an outer -ward, and the steep slope between them. The _Outer Ward_ is the -earthwork on the western side. There are no traces of the gateway by -which this must have been entered, nor of any curtain wall surrounding -it, or buildings within it. Probably its defences were always of timber -placed upon the earthbank which crowns the scarp of the ditch and must -have been thrown up out of it. - -Crossing the centre of the earthwork, the way into the castle reaches -and traverses the main or inner ditch by a modern causeway of earth, -replacing the ancient drawbridge, and reaches the base of the hill -between two thick and lofty walls, parallel, and 10 feet apart, like -those at the entrance to Berkhampstead. The cross walls which connected -them at each end, and were perforated by the portal arches, are gone. -The gatehouse thus formed had probably a timber covering, and perhaps -an upper floor above the entrance passage, with an embattled platform -above all. The lateral walls are, or have been, continued up the hill. -That on the left on entering was carried straight up the slope till -it abutted upon, and was united to, the curtain of the inner ward. -The wall on the right hand springs from a small, solid, round turret -which flanks the inner end of the gatehouse. It is carried obliquely up -the slope, gradually approaching the upper entrance, which it reaches -at a right angle towards the middle of the southern front. This wall -protects the roadway from the lower to the upper gate; and is itself -commanded from the curtain wall above. It may be said to traverse the -_Middle Ward_, if that term be applied to the slope of the hill between -the ditch and outwork below and the containing wall of the inner ward -above. It is, in fact, the glacis of the inner line of defence. - -Of the _Inner Ward_ there is at this time no trace of an exterior -gatehouse. Probably the entrance was a mere archway in the curtain, -as at Bridgenorth and Kenilworth, or Cardiff, flanked in addition by -a projecting shoulder of the wall which still remains. An exterior -gatehouse, though not an unknown, was not an essential feature in a -Norman castle. Entering the inner court, the wall to the left shows -abundant traces of buildings attached to it. It is evident that here, -right and left, were the principal structures for domestic purposes, as -the hall, kitchen, and probably the chapel, attached to and with walls -bonded into the curtain. The rectangular space between these buildings, -14 feet by 24 feet, may have been, as it was at Tickhill, a gatehouse -with a portal opening into the inner ward. - -[Illustration: PILASTERS AS SEEN FROM OUTSIDE.] - -The inner ward is somewhat of an oval figure, but contained within a -wall of many straight lengths, in fact a very irregular polygon, fitted -to the natural outline of the ground. The older part of this curtain -is, in substance, of good coursed rubble, from 6 feet to 7 feet thick, -and from 30 feet to 35 feet high. The outer face was of ashlar, and -much of it remains, either perfect, or with marks showing where the -stones have been stripped off. The angles were quoined with ashlar -blocks inside and outside, and there are several exterior pilasters, -locally called “pillars,” broad, of slight projection, and with one -or two sets-off, being of a late Norman character. In the north-west -angle, high up in the wall, is a round-headed arch which probably -opened into a tower, capping the angle, but now gone. A part of the -west wall seems to have been rebuilt when a new hall and kitchen were -required, and in it are the remains of a large fireplace, and corbels -either for a lean-to roof, or for an upper floor. The battlements -are everywhere gone. The north and west walls are tolerably perfect, -and much remains of the east, but towards the south the wall is -broken down. This part seems the latest, and to have been rebuilt in -a slovenly manner. Upon the wall are five small half-round turrets, -solid, like those at Knaresborough. The curtain has no bond into the -keep, which has been built into its line, so as to form a part of it. -At this part, the north-east of the _enceinte_, in a salient of the -curtain, is a small staircase and passage in the wall much blocked -with rubbish. King calls it a postern, but it was very evidently a -garderobe. The area of this inner ward has been cleared out and the -buildings removed, all except the keep. The only traces of walls in the -court are along its north, west, and south sides, showing that there -were buildings against the curtain 310 feet in length by 22 feet in -breadth. - -[Illustration: DETAIL OF THE BASE OF ONE OF THE BUTTRESSES OF THE KEEP.] - -[Illustration: CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.—VIEW OF THE KEEP AS AT PRESENT.] - -_The Keep_ is the glory of Conisborough, and though inferior in size -to Cæsar’s or Beauchamp’s Tower at Warwick, is more than their equal -in its masonry, and more complete, inasmuch as it is a keep, and those -are subsidiary towers. It stands nearly at the north-east extremity, -and at the highest part of the inner ward, actually upon the line of -the curtain, of which two of its buttresses and the intermediate wall -form a part. It is constantly described as standing upon an artificial -mound, which is certainly not the case. Indeed, no artificial mound -could bear so concentrated a weight. It stands upon the natural -surface, here a rock. It has no special ditch, and the ground shows -that it never had any. There was, indeed, no need of the usual ditch, -which was represented by the natural steep, and the exterior ditch at -its base. - -[Illustration: KEEP, FROM OUTSIDE THE CURTAIN.] - -The tower is a cylinder, resting upon a bold spreading conical base. -Against it, at equal intervals, are six bold, massive buttresses, -having flat faces, but slightly tapering in plan so as to be -half-hexagons with two long sides and a short face. They rest upon -bases which expand outwards, but very little laterally. The tower -at the ground-level is 66 feet diameter, from which its buttresses -project 9 feet more, so that it covers an interrupted circle of 80 -feet. Where the buttresses spring from, or are united to, the tower, -they are 15 feet 6 inches broad. They taper in plan 6 feet 6 inches, so -that the face of each is 9 feet broad. At 20 feet from the ground the -battering base ceases, and the tower is there 52 feet diameter, and the -buttresses project 8 feet, while their taper is represented by a base -of 14 feet 6 inches, and a face of 9 feet. This is at the first-floor -level, and here the walls are 14 feet 11 inches thick. - -The exterior of the tower from this level is vertical, being in fact -a cylinder, and without any string moulding or set-off above the -chamfered top of the base. Inside, the walls are reduced in thickness -by three sets-off or ledges, corresponding to the four floors, each -floor resting upon a ledge. The wall is thus reduced to 12 feet 6 -inches in thickness at the summit. The tower is now at one point 90 -feet high, and was originally probably about 120 feet to its conical -top. The buttresses, when complete and battlemented, were about 94 feet -high. The whole structure is built of a fine-grained light-coloured -limestone, in blocks about 12 inches high by from 1 to 3 feet long, -laid in courses, not regularly sorted, though the largest stones are in -the base. Both inner and outer faces, staircases, and mural chambers, -are also of excellent ashlar. The joints generally are rather open, the -horizontal joints varying from half-an-inch to one-and-a-half inches, -the vertical joints rather closer. The vaulting is mostly sound rubble. -The mortar has fallen out of the joints of the ashlar, but the stone -is fresh and sharp, and there are no settlements. The courses are all -well defined, and may be counted both within and without. Outside, the -base is composed of eighteen courses, and the cylinder of sixty-one, -from which the buttresses rise seven courses more. Inside, the first -floor contains nineteen courses, the second twenty-five, and the third -nineteen, being sixty-three for the whole cylinder. The fourth floor is -gone, or nearly so. The exterior of the building is perfectly plain, -save the two small circular lights of the oratory, which have a sort -of ball moulding. There are several loops, but in the whole building -but one exterior doorway, and two main windows. All the arches are -full-centred; no trace of a pointed arch, and all is of one date. -Nothing can be more substantial, plainer, in better proportion, or -better suited to the purpose for which it was built. - -The interior is divided into a basement and four stages, of which -the uppermost was in the roof, and at the battlement level; all are -cylindrical. The basement is a domed vault, of which the floor is the -natural surface of the rock. It is 22 feet diameter. The walls to the -springing are 10 feet high, and both dome and walls are perfectly -plain. There are no loops, or even holes, or lateral recesses, or -openings of any kind: no seats, no vents, no sewer, so far as can be -seen. In the centre is the well, lined with ashlar, and rather above -2 feet diameter. It is said to be 105 feet deep, but is now partially -choked up. It must have been sunk as a larger shaft, and then lined -to its present diameter. Exactly above it is a ragged hole, which -represents the only entrance to the basement, and which must have been -provided with a ladder. It is evident that this vault was a cellar or -store, and by no means a prison. Space here, as indeed in most other -keeps, was too valuable to be employed, save in some manner likely to -be of use during a siege. - -[Illustration: CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.—THE KEEP.] - -The entrance to the tower is at the first-floor level, on the -south-east side, at the top of the base, and therefore 20 feet from -the ground. The doorway is 4 feet 9 inches wide, quite plain, and flat -topped, but the lintel is composed of five stones joggled together -as a platband, and above is an arch of relief, the tympanum of which -is formed of two large stones, divided vertically. There was no -portcullis, only a stout single door of one valve, stayed by two bars, -the holes for which, 7 inches square, are in the right or hinge-jamb 9 -inches deep, and in the lock-jamb 6 feet. In the joints near the cill -are two holes, evidently for the iron gudgeons of a small drawbridge, -so light as to be worked from within the doorway. The present exterior -stone staircase is modern, but the original stair was probably much of -the same character, only the support must have been separated from the -tower by the length of the bridge, probably about 7 feet, or a foot -longer than the height of the doorway. It is singular that there should -be no portcullis, since it could have been worked conveniently from -the window recess above, and its presence would have made the tower -absolutely impregnable. - -[Illustration: _FIRST FLOOR PLAN._ - - _A S Ellis - -Sept. 61._] - -From the doorway a vaulted passage, expanding from a breadth of 5 -feet 3 inches to 6 feet 3 inches, leads direct into the first-floor -chamber. Where this vault terminates in the inner wall it is worked in -a curve so as to coincide or be flush with the inner face. This was to -be expected, but this is the only arch so terminating. All the others, -whether of doorways or window recesses, end square, so that while the -central part coincides with the curved face of the inner wall, the -ends, or springings, are recessed from 3 to 4 inches, according to the -span of the arch, and the appearance is clumsy. This is not so where -the opening is square-headed, there the lintel is cut to a suitable -curve. It is remarkable that there is no rebate or provision for a door -where the entrance passages open into the first floor, and that floor, -though 22 feet diameter, and 16 feet 6 inches high, is entirely without -any air or light, save what it might receive when the outer door was -open. Possibly there was a central hole in the floor above, as in the -dome below. There is no drain or fireplace. This, therefore, also was a -store. - -[Illustration: _SECOND FLOOR PLAN._] - -In the right wall of the entrance passage, on entering the tower, is a -side doorway whence a staircase ascends, winding with the walls to the -second floor. The doorway of 4 feet 1 inch opening, has a rebate for a -door opening inwards into a small lobby 5 feet 11 inches deep by 4 feet -8 inches broad, whence rises the staircase of the same breadth. The -staircase, of twenty-five steps, winds with the wall, which is 4 feet -2 inches thick on its inner, and 6 feet 2 inches on its outer side. -In the latter is a loop. The vault is full-centred, broken by hanging -ribs, of a bold square section; it ends above in another lobby, 8 feet -deep by 4 feet 8 inches broad, whence a round-headed door-way opens -into the second floor. The lobby is lighted by a loop. - -The second, or state floor, is 25 feet diameter, having a set-off of -about a foot all round to carry the floor-boards, which were further -supported by joists resting upon plain corbels a little below the -ledge. This chamber is 20 feet 4 inches high. It is lighted by one -large window of two lights, each 4 feet 4 inches high by 1 foot 10 -inches broad, flat-headed, and having an intermediate mullion 2 feet 5 -inches broad, in which is a sort of stone staple, containing boltholes -for the shutter fastenings. There are also lateral barholes in the -walls. The window is placed in a broad and lofty full-centred recess, -ascended by two steps from the floor, and having side seats. The lines -of the steps are concentric with the wall of the chamber. Outside, -the window lintel is composed of stones joggled together, forming and -filling up the pediment of a round-headed arch. This window is placed -over the entrance door. - -[Illustration] - -Nearly opposite to the window is a large and handsome fireplace. Its -flat lintel, 12 feet long, is partially composed of nine stones, -joggled together in a skilful manner, and still in place. These stones -are flanked by six others which rest upon the supports. The bar of -stone thus composed extends each way to the wall, and is supported -near each end by a cluster of three coupled columns with foliated -capitals of delicate design and execution. These form the jambs of the -fireplace, the back of which is flat, sloping backwards, and, like the -rest of the work, of ashlar. The vent is square, and ascends vertically -in the wall to the summit. The stone hood, resting on the lintel, is -plain. The whole style of this fireplace is late Norman. - -On the left of the entrance door, between it and the window, is a -small square-headed doorway, 2 feet broad, and no doubt intended to be -concealed by tapestry, which opens into a lobby whence an ascent of -six steps leads by a passage 10 feet long into a triangular garderobe -chamber, in the substance of the wall. The vent discharges by a flush -opening in the face of the outer wall above the base. This chamber has -an exterior loop. - -At the opposite side of the great chamber to the entrance door from -below, a door similar to it opens upon a lobby 3 feet 10 inches by 7 -feet 6 inches, whence rises a second staircase of thirty-four steps, -leading to the third floor. The passage is vaulted like that below, but -is only 3 feet 6 inches broad. It also winds with the wall, crossing -over the great window, and terminates in a lobby 3 feet 11 inches -broad by 5 feet 5 inches deep, lighted by a loop. The outer wall of -the staircase is 5 feet 5 inches thick, the inner wall something less, -the whole thickness being 12 feet 6 inches. The lobby opens by a -full-centred doorway 3 feet 6 inches broad, into the third floor. - -The third or oratory floor, has a set-off of 12 inches for the floor, -and is therefore 27 feet diameter. It is 16 feet 6 inches high. To -the south-west is a window closely resembling that below, also with -steps and side seats. There is also a fireplace above the last, rather -smaller and more delicate in its details, but of the same pattern -and construction. The lintel is composed of seven stones, joggled; -it does not extend from wall to wall, but stops, as is more usual, -just clear of the jambs. The vent runs in front of the lower one, and -joins it above. Above the lower water drain is a second, in a small -sort of piscina recess, round-headed and trefoiled with cusps, but not -chamfered. - -[Illustration: _THIRD FLOOR PLAN._ - -_A·S·El_] - -The oratory is a very remarkable feature in this floor. It occupies the -south-eastern buttress, opposite to the fireplace. A doorway of 2 feet -6 inches opening, the only flat-topped one on this floor, very plain, -and therefore meant to be concealed, opens into a short, straight -passage leading direct into the oratory. This is in plan a hexagon, 6 -feet 4 inches broad at the west end or entrance, 6 feet at the east or -altar end, and having a length of 13 feet 6 inches contained between -four sides averaging 6 feet. Its centre or broadest part is 8 feet 8 -inches. In each of its four main angles, flanking the entrances and the -altar, is a detached or nook-shaft 6 inches diameter, with a foliated -capital. The two central angles are each occupied by a half-shaft, -from which springs a triple cross rib, of which the laterals are -plain rolls, and the central worked in a chevron pattern. The area is -thus divided into a western and an eastern half, of which the latter -is rather the smaller, and may be taken to represent the chancel. Each -division is crossed diagonally by two ribs, in section plain bold -rolls, at the intersections of which are bosses of which the stones -are big enough to form not only the boss, but about six inches of each -of its four ribs, and in one case the division between the ribs is -carved with flowers, with good effect. The bosses are carved, that to -the west with a sort of cross moline, shown in the drawing, that next -the altar with flowers. At the main angles the ribs spring from the -shafts, but the triple cross ribs spring from a sort of prolongation -of the capital and abacus of the half-shafts. The shafts flanking the -altar have capitals more ornate than the rest. The east window is a -mere loop 6 inches broad and 2 feet 6 inches high, round-headed, and -placed in a splayed recess of which the angles are replaced by a bold -roll with foliated bases. This, again, stands within a second and -shallower recess, flanked with small nook-shafts of which the capitals, -delicately carved, range with those in the flanking angles. The head -is cut in chevron pattern. Right and left are two small lights, -quatrefoiled, but splayed inwards into circular recesses, 2 feet 8 -inches diameter. Outside is a hollow moulding containing knobs or balls -scarcely seen from below. These windows have been called insertions, -but, though no doubt of a somewhat Decorated character, they have every -appearance of being original, and similar openings may be seen in the -west front, and near the summit of the very fine Early English tower -of Old Malton Church. Below each light is a trefoil-headed piscina of -1 foot 6 inches opening by 11 inches deep, of which that in the north -wall has a minute nailhead moulding. The height to the crown of the -vault is about 14 feet, gained by stilting the arch. The altar is gone. - -[Illustration: CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.—INTERIOR OF THE KEEP. - -(_From the Window Recess on Second Floor._)] - -[Illustration: CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.—INTERIOR OF THE ORATORY OR CHAPEL.] - -[Illustration: CAPITALS OF CENTRE ARCH, NORTH SIDE.] - -On the left, on entering the oratory, a small flat-topped doorway -leads into a mural vestry of irregular form, about 9 feet long by 5 -feet broad, with a splayed loop, and in the end wall a trefoil-headed -locker 2 feet broad by 1 foot 6 inches deep. The vestry is very plainly -vaulted, the arch being a lean-to against the wall of the oratory. - -[Illustration: _PLAN AT RAMPART LEVEL._] - -Between the oratory door and the fireplace, to the north, a doorway -of 3 feet 4 inches opening enters a lobby 3 feet 10 inches by 7 feet, -whence a staircase of twenty-four stairs ascends, winding with the -wall, to the battlements and the fourth story. The staircase is 4 feet -broad, and vaulted with hanging ribs. The two lower staircases ascend -from east to west by the north, this ascends from west to east, also by -the north, and passes over the vestry. In the lobby is a door 1 foot 9 -inches opening, whence a bent passage 3 feet 4 inches broad, leads to -a garderobe, the seat of which rests upon an oblique or squint arch, -which springs across the hollow angle between the tower wall and one -of the buttresses, and is placed, inconveniently enough, over the loop -at the head of the first flight of stairs. Over the seat is a loop. -Garderobes so placed, over a hollow angle, are common in the Decorated -period, but there is one on the outer wall at Kenilworth, probably late -Norman. - -The staircase from this stage ends under a sort of hood which stands in -and nearly blocks up the rampart walk, leaving a passage only 2 feet 3 -inches wide between it and the wall of the battlement. The tower wall -at the level of the rampart walk is 12 feet 6 inches thick, of which -the battlement wall occupies 2 feet, the rampart walk 8 feet, and -an inner wall 2 feet 6 inches, within which was the upper or fourth -floor. The rampart walk was thus a gallery open above, having the -battlement wall outside, and the wall of the upper floor in its rear. -The vents of the two fireplaces were connected with this inner wall, -and reached its summit by an opening 7 inches by 12 inches, divided -by a tile-stone 6 inches thick. This aperture is contained within the -base of a chimney-shaft 3 feet 9 inches by 3 feet. This shaft, like the -stair-hood, somewhat reduced the breadth of the rampart walk. The upper -part is gone. The dividing stones end about 2 feet below the rampart -level, above which the vents were combined. - -[Illustration] - -The six buttresses rose as turrets above the crest of the parapet. -That to the north-west, near the chimney-shaft, and its neighbour -westward, contain half-round recesses, round the curve of which are -short staircases, opening from the rampart walk, and which probably -ascended to small parapeted platforms, now gone. The buttress to -the south contains, as at Orford, an oven, circular, 7 feet across, -with a segmental arched door 2 feet wide. The two buttresses to the -north and north-east are occupied by two cavities, probably cisterns, -half-hexagons in plan, and 2 feet 6 inches deep below the rampart wall -level. Each would contain about 650 gallons. The remaining buttress, -that above the oratory, contains a half-hexagonal recess or alcove, the -floor of which is 9 inches above the rampart wall. It is 9 feet broad -at the opening, 5 feet broad at the end, and 8 feet 8 inches deep. It -is covered in with a round-headed vault tapering to fit the plan. The -height at the entrance is 7 feet 6 inches, and at the inner end 5 feet -7 inches. There are no loops, but the walls of this chamber and the -adjacent parts of the parapet are pierced by a number of holes, about 6 -inches high by 5 inches broad. These have been supposed to be intended -to carry the floor spars of a bretasche or wooden gallery, though they -are small for such a purpose, and there are no holes or corbels below -for struts. Moreover, these holes are confined to the buttress over -the oratory and the adjacent walls, and are not straight (_see_ plan). -They extend, it is true, over the main entrance, but had they been -intended for its defence they would probably have been placed with -the door beneath their centre instead of below one end of the line. -That is, they would have been placed in the two flanking buttresses -as well as in the bay between them. It has been suggested that these -are pigeon-holes, and no doubt, during a strict siege a good supply of -these birds might have been found useful. There are certain holes in -the keep at Rochester, that probably were so intended, and that are, or -recently were, so used. - -[Illustration: SUGGESTED ORIGINAL APPEARANCE.] - -The height of the parapet is 6 feet 6 inches, and the pattern of the -coping may be seen at the junction with the buttress turrets, and this -also shows that the roof was confined to the inner circle, and did -not project over the parapet. There are also traces showing that the -embrasures contained, as at Alnwick, a hanging shutter. - -The inner circle, or chamber within the inner walls, was 27 feet -diameter, and its flooring rested upon a range of nineteen plain -corbels. Only the lower part of the wall of this chamber remains, -but the jambs of a doorway show that it was entered from the rampart -walk. The wall, and consequently the chamber, was about 7 feet high, -and upon it was a conical covering, the eaves of which must have -projected somewhat over, and discharged their water into the rampart -walk. This mode of finishing off the summit of a tower, by placing the -uppermost floor within the circuit of the rampart walk and leaving the -battlements free from the roof, is seen in its greatest completeness -at Coucy, and what is there seen illustrates what must have been the -arrangement here, at Pembroke, at Martens Tower, Chepstow, and in the -smaller and later flanking towers of Holyrood House. It is obvious that -unless the roof sprung here from a wall within the parapets, or unless -there was a timber gallery carried round outside the wall, such a -tower as this could not be defended. Its loops were intended for light -and air, not for defence; this could only have been directed from the -battlements. Hence the absurdity of covering in towers intended for -defence, or at any rate to have the appearance of being defensible, -with conical roofs springing from the outer wall. - -Of course the accommodations of such a tower as this of Conisborough -were not such as to suit its lords, still less their ladies, save under -the pressure or in expectation of a siege, a remark which applies to -all, save the largest, keeps. The passive strength of Conisborough, -and its rocky base, secured it against attacks even if seconded by -engineering machinery. No catapult or battering-ram would be at all -likely to shake or break it. The peril to be guarded against was a -blockade, and with this view there was a well within the tower, and -the two lower floors, it is clear, were intended for the storage -of provisions. The first floor would be the ordinary room of the -constable, or lord, and of his family or guests; the men, probably, -also sleeping there. The room above would be the ladies’ room, with -the oratory close at hand. The kitchen was above all, and there, also, -at the battlement level, would be the lodging of the small garrison, -probably of not more than ten or a dozen picked men, with a ready -communication with the ramparts. - -The fashion of round keep towers, quite different from the shell keeps, -came in towards the close of the Norman and during the Early English -period of architecture, when frequent communication with the East had -affected men’s military ideas. A few, such as Brunless, Tretower, -Launceston, and Orford, are found in England of that time, but in -France there are many, widely spread, and very grand examples. Philip -Augustus was a great builder of such towers. That of the Louvre, of -which the circular foundations, with the well and the sewer, were -uncovered a few years ago, was his work, and to the same period, though -late in it, 1223–30, belongs the Tower of Coucy, probably the finest -military structure ever built. - -Taking a general view of the Castle of Conisborough, and giving -due weight to the value of the evidence afforded by its remains, it -is clear that the excavation of the ditch, both of the hill and the -outwork, and the scarping of the former, were the original and English -works, to which an early, though not the earliest, Norman lord added -the curtain wall of the _enceinte_, and much of the lower gatehouse. -He certainly also built a hall, kitchen, and lodgings within the inner -area. The next addition of importance, the keep, was certainly made a -century later. The curtain wall was taken down to make room for a part -of it, and not only was there no bond between the old wall and the new -tower, but the junction was carelessly and clumsily effected, as may be -seen from its present condition. Probably some later alterations were -made as regards the hall and lodgings. The wall near the entrance to -the inner ward seems to have been partially rebuilt, but subsequently -to this there does not seem to have been any addition of importance. -The castle was no doubt rendered untenable during the wars of Charles -I., and time and neglect have since completed the ruin. - -It is singular that so strong and so remarkable a fortress should -be but little noticed in the earlier records. Invention, indeed, in -the absence of evidence, has attempted to fasten upon it an early -history. “Conyng” has, by British antiquaries, been converted into a -Breton Conan, and Caer-Conan, thus constructed, has been mixed up with -Aurelius Ambrosius and the Kentish Hengist, who is asserted to have -here fought, been slain and buried. There is, however, no evidence -whatever connecting this place with either the Britons or Bretons, -or the Romans, or Hengist. Everything bearing upon its origin is -Saxon, but Saxon of a much later date than Hengist. Two tombstones -carved in what is generally regarded as a præconquistal style were -long seen in the churchyard, and are now placed for security in the -church—so securely placed, indeed, as to be scarcely visible. The -earliest mention of the place is probably in the testament of Wulfric -Spot, the minister of King Ethelred, and the founder, in 1004, of the -Abbey of Burton-on-Trent. By this document, printed by Dugdale in his -_Monasticon_ [I. 266], Wulfric bequeaths to Ælfred certain lands and -fisheries of Cunuzesbury, so that about A.D. 1000 it belonged to that -great Saxon. Mr. Hunter, whose history of Conisborough leaves nothing -to be desired, points out that this devise was really a very ample -one, for the fisheries were not those of the Don but of a part of the -Soke of Hatfield, which were of great value. In Domesday, the lord of -“Coningesboro” had twenty fisheries at Tudworth, yielding each 1,000 -eels, and long afterwards they were important enough to be specially -recorded. It seems therefore probable that, at least as early as the -year 1000, Conisborough was the head of a large estate or Soke. The -name of “Moothill field,” borne by an enclosure about three-quarters -of a mile south-east of the castle, indicates the place of the court -for the liberty or jurisdiction. The hill has been removed. There is a -Moot-hall near the church. - -While the castle has retained something of its ancient name, that of -the ferry over the Don at its foot has undergone translation, and is -known as Kingsferry. Who the king was who gave name to both has long -been unknown; probably he was of Northumbria. The old Soke, the growth -of centuries, received its final consolidation at the Conquest, when it -was granted by William the King to William Earl Warren. At that time -the fee was probably one extensive parish, for Conisborough seems to -have been the mother church of Barthwell, Hatfield, and Sandal, three -churches named in Domesday. Conisborough as a parish church, therefore, -thinks Mr. Hunter, can scarcely be later than Ælfred, and may be older -than even Doncaster itself. Such is the antiquity of the memories and -speculations with which this very remarkable place is associated. - -Immediately before the Conquest it belonged to Harold the Earl. Earl -Warren evidently took it as it stood, and seated himself in the English -“Aula” at Conisborough, having about him the twenty-eight vills which -either wholly or in part were appended to it, and which included much -of the Wapentakes of Strafordes and Siraches. These were the lands “quæ -pertinent ad Coningesberc,” and which formed the “Socæ pertinens.” - -The possessions of Earl Warren in England were extensive, but were -especially valuable in Sussex, Norfolk, and Yorkshire; and what -Lewes was to the former Conisborough was to the latter, and as the -Soke became an Honour the castle was its “caput.” In Earl Warren’s -foundation charter to Lewes Priory in 1078, it is provided that the -monks should find him lodgings as he went and returned from Yorkshire, -so that when he crossed from Normandy he took Lewes on his way. The -connexion between his two lordships he cemented by giving to Lewes the -church of Conisborough. Earl William was created Earl of Surrey about -1088, and died in 1089, and among his possessions stand enumerated the -Lordship and Soke of Conisborough, with twenty-eight vills and hamlets. - -II. William Earl of Surrey, son and heir, supported Robert Curthose -against Henry II., and with him retired to Normandy. On being pardoned, -and his earldom of Surrey restored, he changed sides and fought for -Henry at Tinchebrai. He gave to Roche Abbey the tythe of his Hatfield -fisheries. He died 1138. - -III. William Earl of Surrey, his son and heir, the third earl, joined -in the mixed French, German, and English Crusade in 1145, during which, -in 1148, he fell, leaving a daughter and heiress. - -IV. Isabel de Warren, who married, first, William de Blois, a natural -son of King Stephen; and, secondly, Hameline Plantagenet, natural son -of Geoffry Earl of Anjou, and half-brother to Henry II. - -William was Earl of Boulogne and Mortaigne, and, by his wife, possibly -of Surrey. He died childless 1160. - -King Henry seems to have taken and held the earldoms for a while in -his own hands, but, in 1163, Isabel married Hameline Plantagenet, who -enjoyed her honours and estates and, 12 Henry II., paid scutage on -sixty knights’ fees. Hameline bore the probably Norman title of Earl -Warren, and was an active soldier in his day, a faithful servant to -Richard I., and much employed in transactions both of peace and war. -Also, though engaged occasionally in Normandy, he appears to have -passed most of his time in England, and was by no means an unlikely man -to have added the keep to his castle of Conisborough. He died 3 John, -1201, Isabel having died in 1199. Their son succeeded. Earl Hameline -founded an endowment for a priest for the chapel of St. Philip and -James within the castle. This probably stood in the courtyard for the -use of the garrison, for, 11 Edward II., the Earl of Lancaster gave -timber from the wood of Conisborough to repair the roof of the chapel -within the castle, which therefore could not be the oratory in the -keep, which is vaulted. King John was here March 12, 1201, probably -taking advantage of the earl’s death to view the castle and possessions. - -V. William Plantagenet, or de Warren, son and heir of Hameline and -Isabel, who succeeded as fourth Earl of Surrey, was probably then of -age, as he had livery at the least of some of his lands, 4 John, 1202. -He held the earldom for an unusually long time, and much added to its -wealth and consequence. As a Magna Charta Baron, he behaved with great -moderation, and upon John’s death he swore allegiance to Henry. He -married, first, Maud, a daughter of the Earl of Arundel; and, secondly, -Maud, widow of Hugh Bigot, Earl of Norfolk and Earl Marshal, by a -daughter of the great William Marshal. He died 1240, 24–5 Henry III., -leaving a son, John. Maud, the earl’s widow, had livery, 30 Henry III., -of the rod and office of Earl Marshal, as elder co-heir of her brother. -She also held the custody of the castles of Conisborough and Chepstow -until her death in 1246, 32 Henry III. - -Their son and successor, VI. John, fifth Earl of Surrey, who succeeded -at five years old, married in 1247, being then very young, Alice le -Brun, who died 1290, half-sister of Henry III. In 1254 he paid an aid -upon sixty knights’ fees. He lacked much of the prudence of his father, -and his general character was scarcely in accord with his famous answer -to the “Quo Warranto” of Edward I., to whom, however, he was a better -subject than to his sire. He died 32 Edward I., 1304, having held the -earldom sixty-four years. He was summoned to Parliament as Earl of -Surrey and Sussex. - -William his son died 14 Edward I., 1286, and therefore before his -father. His son, and the successor to the earldom, was, VII. John de -Warren or Plantagenet, sixth Earl of Surrey, a posthumous child, born -1286. When nineteen years of age, he married Joan, daughter of the Earl -of Barr, but had by her no issue. 17 Edward II. Conisborough Castle was -in the king’s hands, and 18 Edward II. he appointed the Constable. 19 -Edward II. the earl recovered his estates, but had surrendered them to -the king and his heirs, taking a re-grant for his own life. He was also -both Earl of Sussex and Earl of Strathern in Scotland. Joan Countess -of Surrey was at her castles at Sandal and Conisborough in 1314. - -Earl John died 1347, and his will is dated from Conisburgh Castle, -and the title of Surrey seems to have gone to Edward Earl of Arundel, -son of Alice, Earl John’s sister. Besides natural daughters, he left -two sons by Maud de Nerford, John and Thomas de Warren, to whom and -their mother he left, with the king’s permission, a very considerable -property, including Conisborough. Thomas Earl of Lancaster seems -to have obtained from Earl John some sort of forced occupation of -Conisborough, which came to an end upon his attainder, so that Earl -John recovered and died seized of it. - -About its descent there is some uncertainty, for Henry, the brother -and heir of Earl Thomas of Lancaster, did homage for the castle, 1 -Edward III., to which John, Earl Warren, laid claim. Earl John held it -5 Edward III., and agreed to a grant of 65 acres of the waste lands of -the manor by the king to William de Skargill. Similar grants were made -in the five following years by the earl and confirmed by the king, with -a note that the earl’s tenure was for life only. - -Probably the children of Maud de Nerford found it to their interest -to allow the Crown to possess the castle, for at Earl John’s death it -was held by Edward III., who granted the castle to Edmund of Langley, -his fifth son, afterwards Duke of York, who died 1402, from whom it -descended to his son Edward, also Duke of York. He fell at Agincourt, -childless, 1415, and was succeeded by Richard, son to his brother -Richard Earl of Cambridge. He became Duke of York, and was called also -Richard of Conisborough, from his birth in the castle. Richard, who -was great-grandson of Edward III. and father of Edward IV., was slain -at Wakefield, 1460. His second wife and widow, Maud Clifford, held the -castle in dower, and lived here. She died 1464. The decay of the castle -probably dates from her death, for Edward Duke of York, who succeeded, -became Edward IV., and nothing has generally proved more fatal to an -independent historic estate than its absorption by the Crown. - -Conisborough remained in the Crown, and, though probably the buildings -were suffered to fall into decay, some of the offices attached to the -castle and domain were kept up. As late as 1522, Sir H. Wyatt and John -Melton were bailiffs and stewards of “the lordships of Conysborowe,” -keepers of the park, &c., and there were constables and door-wards of -the castle. Finally, James II. granted it to Carey, Earl of Dover, -from whose family it passed to that of its present owner. King, in -his “Munimenta,” has given elaborate plans, and a yet more elaborate -history of this castle, but neither can be depended upon. There is also -an excellent paper upon it in the fifth volume of the _Archæological -Journal_ by Mr. Milward, the plans attached to which seem, however, to -be taken from King. - -Conisborough Castle deserves a better fate than has of late years -attended it, or than seems likely to attend it. Its position upon one -of the most celebrated of the Yorkshire streams, its grand natural -mount, and the striking character of the earthworks by which it is -defended, are quite enough to attract public attention; but in addition -it has an undoubted though obscure Saxon history, and from the Norman -Conquest it was for three centuries or more the residence of a very -powerful race of barons, the evidences of whose power and wealth are -preserved in the ruins of their fortress. By whom, or precisely when, -the present works in masonry were executed, is a question not exactly -to be decided. William de Warren, the third and last earl of the old -stock, 1138–1148, was a very likely man to have built in masonry this -his most important northern castle, and it is probable that he built -the _enceinte_ wall of the inner court, and the hall and offices now -destroyed. The keep is certainly later, scarcely much earlier than -1200, and is, therefore, probably the work of Hameline Plantagenet, -who held the earldom and the castle from about 1163 to 1201. The tower -was, no doubt, added for security only, for, though it contains state -apartments and an oratory, these were dark and inconvenient, only fit -to be inhabited during a siege. The hall and ordinary lodgings were, of -course, more spacious and placed in the court, where are still traces -of their foundations. - -At a still later period, possibly under Earl John, who held the earldom -from 1240 to 1304, the Norman curtain seems to have been repaired -and strengthened with round bastion turrets, small and solid, along -the southern and western faces of the inner ward. Then also the -arrangements for crossing the ditch, and defending the lower entrance, -were made more elaborate. The work of this period is of inferior -quality, and much of it has fallen down. Since this no additions of any -importance seem to have been executed. - -It is probable that, during the civil war and after the death of King -Charles, the curtain wall, domestic buildings, and lower gate-house -were broken down, and the keep gutted and unroofed, but since that -time, now nearly two centuries and a half, the ruins seem to have -been left untouched save by the hand of time. Such is the excellence -of the workmanship of the keep that for very many years the walls -stood unshaken. During the last quarter of a century, however, the -rains of autumn and the frosts of winter have begun to tell upon the -structure, and the top of the tower is in a shaky condition. Still, it -is not so far gone but that a few pounds judiciously laid out upon it -would save it. The upper two or three feet should be removed, stone by -stone, and replaced with water-lime or cement. The cost of this would -be very trifling indeed; but what should also be done, and what would -not by any means involve a very serious expense, is the replacement of -the roof and floors. All Yorkshire, and indeed all the Archæological -Societies in England, from the Society of Antiquaries down to the most -recent local society, must feel an interest in this subject. Probably, -if it were brought before the owner of the castle in a proper manner, -the necessary repairs would be undertaken; if not, surely it would not -be difficult to provide the means by private subscription. In any case -something should be done at once, for the top of the keep is in that -condition that every winter tells severely upon it. - -The plans and illustrations appended to this notice of the castle -are from actual survey by Mr. A. S. Ellis, and by him presented to -the Yorkshire Archæological Society, by whose permission they are -here reprinted. They will be found as far superior in accuracy as in -completeness of detail to any plans as yet published, and it may be -said of them, and it is no slight praise, that they are worthy of the -important fortress they are intended to illustrate. - - - - - CONWAY CASTLE. - - -The castle and town of Conway form together the most complete and the -best preserved example of mediæval military architecture in Britain. -The works are all of one date and design, apparently by one engineer, -at the command of a monarch specially skilled in the art of war, and -whose intention here was to command a very formidable pass, and to put -a curb upon the boldest, most persistent, and most dangerous of the -foes who strove to resist the consolidation of his kingdom. At Conway -are displayed all the arts of defence as understood in the thirteenth -century. The position is naturally strong, the walls are of unusual -thickness, each part of the containing curtains is flanked by frequent -towers, and the castle predominates over the whole position, commanding -and protecting the town, and forming a citadel within which, as a last -resource, a secure shelter would be afforded. - -Conway, the Aber-Conwy of the Welsh, stands on the left or western bank -of the river whence it derives its name, and which is commemorated by -Drayton and Spenser as rich in “precious orient pearls,” and here is -widening into an estuary. The southern front of the town is further -protected by the marshy bed of the Gyffin, which here joins the Conwy. -Town and castle cover a triangular mass of rock, of which the castle -occupies the apex projecting into the water. The curtain wall which -encircles the town is strengthened by twenty-eight towers, all but two -or three of which are half-cylinders in figure, and open from top to -bottom in the rear. They rise one stage above the curtain, which also -is unusually high. Between two of them there project upon corbels from -the curtain at the battlement level a row of twelve garderobes, showing -that sanitary arrangements were by no means neglected even in the -thirteenth century. There are three gates, each flanked by a pair of -towers, defended by double doors, portcullis, grate, and drawbridge. -One of these, Porth Uchaf, opens landward; a second, Porth-isaf, upon -a quay along the water’s edge; and a third, Porth-y-felin, opens in a -shoulder of the wall upon the river below the castle, and gave a way to -the castle mill. There is, besides, a postern, also below the castle, -and opening upon the sea-shore. Besides these defences a thick spur -wall, defended above by a double battlement, extends from the sea-front -into the sea. Formerly this was carried to low-water mark, and ended in -a small round tower, and thus effectually prevented any attempt to turn -the flank of the defences and attack the town from the sea-front. The -town walls run up to, but their rampart walk does not communicate with, -the castle, which, however, forms a part of the _enceinte_, and has one -front with its main entrance within and towards the town. - -It is said that the rock occupied by the castle originally extended -some way eastward into the estuary, and was, therefore, a point of -danger on that side. To remove this, the rock was quarried away and -a passage opened, which is now the main channel of the river, and is -spanned by the road and railway-bridges of Telford and Stephenson. - -It will be observed that Conway is not, like Gloucester and Chester, -posted on the English side of the river, as if intended for defence -only; like Chepstow, it is placed beyond the stream, and intended as a -_tête-du-pont_ to cover the passage of troops across the water. - -In plan, the castle is somewhat of a parallelogram, 100 yards east -and west, and with a breadth ranging from 35 yards to 40 yards. -The northern front is straight, the southern zigzag, following the -irregularities of the rock. Its general level is several feet above -the nearer parts of the town. There are eight towers, one at each -of the four angles, and two, intermediate, upon each of the long -faces. There is no gatehouse, a very unusual omission in an Edwardian -castle, but one the cause of which is here very obvious. The towers -are cylindrical, about 40 feet in diameter, but somewhat flattened and -irregular on their interior faces, to enable the rampart walk or allure -to be carried on without traversing their interior chambers. To allow -of this, bold corbels, or sometimes a projecting shelf of masonry are -applied to the internal or rearward face of the tower at the proper -level. By this means there is secured an uninterrupted walk all round -the place, communicating with, but not traversing each tower. - -The area is divided by a very thick cross curtain into two wards. The -outer or western is 60 yards long, and contains the great hall, the -chapel, the kitchen, and the water-tank; the eastern or inner ward, -40 yards long, contains the smaller hall and the state apartments. At -each end the castle is covered by a small platform, at the level of -the courts within, and supported by retaining walls of considerable -height, crowned by two light parapets, each with three small half-round -bastions flanking the curtains. Each of these platforms protects and -covers an entrance. The main entrance is at the west end and from the -town, and is a very curious piece of engineering skill. A causeway -of masonry, a viaduct, about 14 feet broad and parapeted on each -side, ascended with a very steep slope to a point 13 feet from the -gate of the barbican, where it stopped abruptly, and is still seen -rising out of the ditch, and about 20 feet high. The barbican is a -narrow rectangular space, contained between two walls, ending below -in two small round turrets which flank the outer gate, and above is -another gate opening on the end of the platform under the north-western -main tower. A very ponderous drawbridge, working on trunnions 14 -inches in diameter, dropped from the outer gate upon the pier already -mentioned. The pier was 4 feet lower than the cill of the bridge, so -as to preserve the steepness of the approach. The bridge was balanced -by a short and heavy tailpiece or counterpoise which worked in a -quadrant-shaped pit below it. The gateway had a portcullis and doors, -and within it a staircase in the side wall led to the battlements over -the gate. The upper gateway was closed by a stout door only, but was -protected by the adjacent bastion of the platform, which has a loop -towards it. The entrance thus completed was broad enough to admit -two horsemen abreast, and the steepness gave the defenders a great -advantage over the enemy. The barbican of Conway may conveniently be -illustrated by a reference to that of Brampton Brian, which contains -the same arrangements, though on a larger scale. The woodcut shows the -tower flanking the drawbridge, the outer and inner gates, and between -them the mural staircase leading up to the ramparts. - -[Illustration] - -The platform, to one end of which the barbican gives entrance, is about -35 yards long by 10 yards broad, and looked down upon a formidable -ditch. In its centre, between two of the main towers, was a short lofty -curtain, and in it the main gateway. Above, a row of bold corbels, -projecting above 5 feet, included a line of machicolations, and gave -great breadth to the rampart of the curtain and great vantage to the -defenders. The gateway is acutely pointed, but quite plain, with flat -sides. Within, the portal is vaulted and portcullised, and has a broad -space in front of the grate, possibly for some kind of additional -frame. Above the portal was a portcullis chamber, also in the substance -of the wall, and the place where the grate was suspended is still seen. -This chamber was reached by a steep narrow stair from the rampart of -the curtain,—a very rare arrangement. Entering the gate on the right -is a staircase up to the ramparts, looking like a makeshift, and -possibly not original. Beyond, also on the right, is the great hall. -This, though a spacious, could never have been a handsome chamber, for -it is built on a curve, or rather on an irregular polygon, to suit -the southern curtain which forms one side of it. It is about 105 feet -long by 30 feet broad, and its floor is at the court level. Below was -a cellar of about half the breadth of the hall, the rock here cropping -up and blocking one side. To this the entrance was by a pit or trap, in -which was a doorway opening into a passage by a second doorway in the -cellar. This is lighted by loops in the curtain, and at its east end -is continued, through a partition, below the chapel. The hall is said -originally to have been of smaller size, and to have been enlarged. If -this be so, it must have been at the chapel end. - -The hall is lighted by four small square-headed windows towards the -field, and two larger ones towards the court. The latter are pointed -and were of two lights, with quatrefoiled heads, and a quatrefoil in -the head. The door is in the same side near its east end. There are -three fireplaces, all under hoods, with flanking piers and brackets -to receive the thrust of the flat arch. The hall was crossed by seven -large chamfered stone ribs of two members, placed very irregularly. Two -are standing, one having been lately rebuilt; the other is at the upper -end of the hall, and marks its division from the chapel. A plain corbel -below the springing of this rib shows the partition to have been of -timber, no doubt a carved brattice. The roof was open, and there were -timber principals between the stone ribs. It is difficult at first to -believe that this long irregular space, with its three unsymmetrical -fireplaces, could have been all one room, and at first it appears as -though the west end, to the second rib with one of the fireplaces -and three windows, might have been bratticed off as a withdrawing-room; -but it is evident this was not so. Such a room would have no separate -door and no garderobe. The dais of the hall was evidently at the other -end, and the withdrawing-room was the first floor of the dungeon tower, -which stands at the back of the great fireplace, and is entered by a -small door in the jamb of one of the hall windows. This and the floor -above were readily accessible from the dais. - -[Illustration: CONWAY CASTLE.] - -The chapel, bratticed off at the east end of the hall, had also an open -roof, with one stone rib. It has two windows to the south and one to -the field, and at its east end is a larger, three-light window, with -a round head, and a piscina in the south jamb. The tracery is broken -away. The great kitchen has been pulled down. It was built against -the north curtain, opposite to the hall door. There remains of it a -water-trough occupying the seat of a window, and lined with cement. -Near the kitchen was a large tank quarried in the rock, lined and -cemented, for the storage of water; a culvert brought into it water -from the roofs, and leaden pipes have been traced from an exterior -spring at some distance. It has been opened to a considerable depth, 14 -feet or 15 feet, but was certainly not a well, though possibly one was -intended. - -The cross wall separating the two wards is of the same height and -thickness as the exterior curtains. It is pierced near its centre by -a shoulder-headed doorway, closed with a door only, and opening into -the inner ward. This door is covered by a sort of lodge on its western -face, with a loop towards the main gate. - -The inner ward, nearly square in plan, has the state rooms on its south -and east sides. These have basement chambers, well lighted and with -fireplaces on the ground floor, level with the court; and above these, -on the first floor, are the state apartments, with open roofs. First -of these, on the right is the smaller hall, 30 feet by 28 feet. It has -a door at its west or lower end communicating with a sort of lobby, -and so with a main tower, which probably contained the kitchen. At the -other or east end is also a door, opening into the withdrawing-room. -Towards the court is a central fireplace, between two handsome windows. -These were flat-topped, of two lights, and the upper half was filled -with Decorated tracery, now broken away. In the remaining side, towards -the field, is at one end a small window, and at the other a door -opening into a mural chamber, a garderobe. The roof was strengthened by -two stone ribs, of which one is perfect, and is not quite so plain as -those of the great hall. The withdrawing-room has a fireplace on the -north side, and was crossed by two ribs, both broken down. This room -has a mural passage in its south wall communicating with a garderobe -and large vaulted chamber, also in the wall, and so opening into -the ground floor of the south-eastern or king’s tower. Another door -opens into the queen’s chamber. This is a large and handsome room, -also on the first floor, occupying the east side of the court. Its -roof contained two ribs, both removed. At its north end are passages -into garderobes, mural chambers, and an oratory, all contained in the -north-eastern, or queen’s tower. Eleanor, the queen of Edward I., is -said to have made use of this chamber. - -From the queen’s chamber, at the same level, a wooden passage, a sort -of balcony, affixed to the north wall of the lesser hall, led to the -kitchen lobby and the kitchen. Lines of corbels, and doors at either -end, show the position and length of this gallery. - -Below the queen’s apartment a passage leads to a doorway in the -curtain, which opens upon the east platform, and was the only postern -in the castle. It is shoulder-headed and closed with a door only. -But, as at the main gate, the curtain is furnished with a line of -bold corbels, forming machicolations for the defence of the wall and -gateway. Passages open right and left in the sides of the doorway, and -carry staircases in the wall up to the first floor of the king’s and -queen’s towers. - -The platform upon which this postern opens is called the queen’s -bower. It is larger than the western platform. Like it, it has three -half-round turrets and a parapet, and in its north end is a doorway -from which a steep and narrow and parapeted staircase formerly -descended to the water’s edge. This staircase was removed when the -suspension-bridge was built. - -The towers now remain to be described. They are all of one type, and -even their details are closely alike. Each has a basement, the floor -of which is considerably above the exterior ground level, though below -that of the court within. These chambers can only have been reached by -ladders from the floors above. They are ventilated by small air-holes -high up, but the probability is that they were put to no regular use, -though they may have served for prisons. - -The first floor of each tower is entered from the court, and from that -level a well-staircase ascends to the second or upper floor, and so on -to the roof. Here, in the four western towers, it stops. In the four -eastern towers it is carried on, forming a small round turret, 14 or 15 -feet high above the roof. None of these floors are vaulted, all have -fireplaces in the first and second floors, and all open at the second -floor level upon the rampart walk. All also are well provided with -garderobes. - -The battlements of the towers remain uninjured. The parapets are about -10 feet high, and divided into twelve merlons and as many flat-sided -plain embrasures. Each merlon is pierced by a loop, and at the base -of each, at the allure level, is a hole ending in a gurgoyle, for the -discharge of the rain water. - -Two of the towers are furnished with ovens, built in the old fashion, -with a flue outside and above the oven door. In the queen’s tower the -second floor has an oratory in the east wall. This is a deep and bold -recess, divided into nine bays or compartments, three on each side, -and three forming an apex. In each bay is a sedile, and above, in the -apse, are three lancet windows. The slender shafts between the bays -are vaulting shafts, and expand above in fan tracery of a Decorated -character. On each side of the oratory is a small mural chamber, one -a vestry; the other, it may be, a confessional; both have small loops -into the oratory. Possibly the whole circular chamber was used as a -chapel, to which the oratory was the choir. - -[Illustration: _Conway_] - -Conway, though as strong, is a far less elegant structure than -Caernarvon. The masonry, though excellent, is rough uncoursed rubble, -and ashlar is very sparingly used. The battlements especially, as -at Harlech and Caerphilly, are very bare. They are ill-coped and -ill-finished, as though they were intended to be concealed behind a -brattice; but, as there are no corbels or places for the struts, this -cannot have been intended. - -The putlog holes show that round instead of square poles were used in -the construction; and here, as at Coucy and in parts of Harlech, they -are so placed as to show that the scaffolding was laid as an inclined -plane, instead of horizontally, and with ladders. This is also the case -with the walls and towers of the town. - -Conway Castle is retained by the Crown, but has long been let on lease. -Lady Erskine, of Cambo, the last lessee, has lately waived her tenure, -and the ruins are now held by the Corporation, and seem sufficiently -well cared for. Mr. Jones, who has had charge of the place for nearly -half a century, is a very careful and intelligent guardian, and well -acquainted with the details and history of the castle. - -Conway was begun in 1285. Soon after its completion, Edward I. and -Queen Eleanor spent a Christmas here in great state, when, no doubt, -the state apartments were occupied. The town was stormed in 1646 by the -Parliamentary general, Mytton, who also secured the castle. - -Charles II. granted it to Edward, the first Earl of Conway, to grace -and give some foundation for his title; but the earl, it is said to -annoy the neighbouring gentry, dismantled the castle, and took away the -lead, timber and ironwork, broke down the well-stairs, and in other -ways injured the structure. - -The appended bird’s-eye view of the town is taken from the highest -and most western point, just above Porth-Uchaf, and in full view of -Porth-y-felin, below which is the bed of the Gyffin. The position of -the castle, on its rocky promontory, resting upon the sea, is well -shown. - -The other view is confined to the castle as seen from the south or the -valley of the Gyffin. The four towers on the right mark the angles of -the inner ward, the two on the extreme right are the king’s tower in -front, and behind it the queen’s tower. The central and front tower is -the dungeon tower, attached to the great hall. On the left are seen the -two lines of the town wall, abutting upon the castle, and between them -the western platform with its bastions, and in the rear the main gate -with the line of machicolations above it. One of the seaward towers -shows how the rampart walk is carried round it upon a corbelled or -bracketed projection. - - - - - CORFE CASTLE, DORSET. - - -Corfe Castle is one of the most noteworthy remains in Britain. - -The natural position is very striking, and not less so the manner in -which it has been fortified by art. It is of high antiquity, associated -from the times of the West Saxon princes to those of the Commonwealth -with marked historical events; was the palace and the prison of kings -and great nobles, and has been commanded by a long succession of -powerful Castellans. - -The castle crowns an isolated hill, a part of the steep chalk -ridge which, under the general name of the Purbeck Hills, with the -subordinate elevations of Knowl Hill, and Ninebarrow and Ballard Downs, -stretches twelve miles across the peninsula of Purbeck, from Warbarrow -Bay and Flowerbarrow Camp on the west, to the foreland between the bays -of Studland and Swanage on the east. - -To the south, or seaward, is the bold coast line marked by the -headlands of Peverel, Durlston, and St. Adhelm’s. Landward, or to the -north, is the depression occupied by Poole Harbour and its tributaries -the Frome and Trent, or Piddle—waters whose fords are commanded by -the grand earthworks at Wareham, which, placed astride upon the ridge -terminating in the junction of the two, form the frontier and key of -Purbeck, as does Corfe, its citadel. - -The castle ridge ranges with the Isle of Wight, and with it forms the -southern margin of the well-known chalk basin, of which Dorchester -and Beaminster mark the western limit, and Beer Regis, Salisbury, and -Winchester that on the north. - -The chalk at Corfe dips north at about 70°. It is hard, moderately -durable, and thickly charged with flints, which are extensively used in -the interior of the castle walls. Below the chalk, and underlying the -great gateway of the castle, is a narrow belt of the upper greensand, -below which, in succession, are the three Purbeck beds, the Portland -stone, and the Kimmeridge clay. The stone beds, here of a most durable -character, are used for the ashlar and face-work of the castle. - -To the north of and above the chalk are narrow and irregular beds of -plastic and London clay, succeeded by a broad expanse of the lower -Bagshot sands and clay, out of which the harbour of Poole has been -eroded, and the latter of which is worked for the purpose of commerce. - -A considerable fault runs along the chalk ridge close north of the -castle hill, one of a parallel series traversing that part of the -southern coast. - -The physical aspect of Purbeck betrays, to a practised eye, its -geological composition, and the wild rough moor and marshland about the -harbour contrast strongly with the steep but rounded outline and green -surface of the chalk, upon a summit of which stands the old Norman -keep, predominating far and wide over the landscape. - -The castle is naturally strong. It occupies the slope and summit of a -hill, the base of which covers about 15 acres, and which is placed in -a gap or cutting in the ridge already described, of which position its -name is said to be descriptive. - -South of the ridge, and close behind and covered by the castle, is the -town of Corfe, from which the castle hill rises steeply, to descend -almost vertically upon its east, west, and north sides. The northern, -or highest point, is occupied by the keep and principal buildings of -the castle. - -The stream called the Wicken, and its tributary, the Byle brook, each -turning a mill, flow from the south-west and south-east round either -side of the town, and, girdling the base of the castle hill, unite just -below St. Edward’s bridge to form the Corfe river, which flows into -Poole harbour. Between the town and the castle, where the two streams -approach within a furlong of each other, a deep and bold though dry -trench has been cut across the root of the peninsula, and thus forms -the great outer ditch which divides the castle from the town. - -The castle, in its present form, may be called concentric, but it has -been constructed, if not designed, at three principal periods, having -been originally a Saxon palace, then a Norman, and afterwards an -Edwardian fortress. - -It is composed of a keep standing in an inner ward, of a middle, and of -an outer ward. The survey by Ralph Treswell, in 1586, subdivides the -inner ward into two, and shows a wall across the outer ward, which has -disappeared, and was probably modern. - -In plan it is an irregular triangle, the walls following the crest of -the hill. The great gateway caps the southern or lowest angle; the -Buttavant Tower, the western; and the inner ward forms the obtuse, -highest, or eastern angle. The south-west, the longest front, is -concave. It extends 270 yards from the gatehouse to the Buttavant, -and its lower two-thirds is the part of the _enceinte_ most jealously -defended, and upon the overthrow of which the destroyers have expended -their greatest energies. The north, or upper front, too high for -attack, measures about 200 yards, and the eastern front about the same. - -The area within the walls is about 3¼ acres; but, from the excessive -steepness of the ground, much of the outer and part of the middle ward -could never have been turned to account. The lower part of the outer, -the western portion of the middle, and the eastern part of the inner -ward, are the only flat spaces. - -The outer, by much the largest ward, is contained within the great -gatehouse, the east curtain strengthened by the Horseshoe and Plukenet -Towers, and the west curtain, upon which are four mural towers. The -steep, upper part of the ward rises to the wall of the inner, and the -wall and gatehouse of the middle ward. It is traversed by a fosse, -attributed to King John, which extends from the Plukenet Tower to the -front of the middle gatehouse, and is thence continued outside the -works down the hill-side. - -A permanent stone bridge, about 100 feet long by 20 feet broad, crosses -the moat, and leads up to the great gateway. It is of four arches, -springing from three solid piers, and the roadway, which has now no -parapets, is about 30 feet above the bottom of the moat. The masonry -ceases about 18 feet from the portal, and the interval, now filled -with earth, was probably spanned by a drawbridge. The arches are about -one-third of a circle, and the voussoirs in two rings, without bond, 8 -inches thick, and from 1 foot to 3 feet in length. The piers may be of -Perpendicular date, but the arches are probably due to Sir Christopher -Hatton. - -The outer gatehouse is composed of two drums, flanking the portal, and -produced rearward into a rectangular building, now partially destroyed. -The drums, about 20 feet diameter, are solid to the base of the upper -story, now removed, but of which the lower ends of the loops remain. - -The portal, 13 feet wide, enters a vaulted passage, now 26 feet, and -which may have been 36 feet long. First is the portal, now without -jambs, and beneath a segmental arch, 4 feet 11 inches broad. Then -(as shown in the accompanying section, Fig. I.) a chase, or single -machicolation, 6 inches broad. Then a second arch, 3 feet 9 inches -broad. Then a chase, 5 inches broad, and a circular groove of 9 inches -diameter and 7 inches opening, at which the passage narrows by 20 -inches, being an opening of 11 feet 4 inches. Then follows an arch of 1 -foot 6 inches breadth, and a chase of 16 inches. - -Next comes the gateway proper, the jambs of which, 2 feet 4 inches in -thickness, project inwards with a double chamfer, so as to reduce the -actual entrance to 8 feet. - -The door, the space for which shows it to have been of wood, and not -above 4 inches thick, was of two valves, the arch behind being flat -segmental, with a high springing and 4 feet of breadth, to accommodate -them when open. Two stones on each side, which probably carried the -iron loops for the hinges, have been torn out. Between them, a central -hole, 9 inches by 12 inches, carried the wooden bar. Next is an arch, -of which about 5 feet only remain, but which probably completed the -passage to its opening into the ward, and perhaps carried a portcullis -groove. - -Half the doorways into the lodges remain. The lodges themselves were -barrel-vaulted, and the vault in the west lodge springs from the -ordinary Norman string, composed of a flat abacus and chamfer, as -though an older gatehouse had been cased. Instances of this string, -indeed, have been pointed out by Mr. Bond in other and certainly later -parts of the castle, and of course a plain string of this character may -be of any age. - -The several arches composing the entrance passage show, at their -springings, about a dozen small holes, evidently to carry the centring. -Their small size indicates this to have been of iron. These holes are -usual. - -[Illustration: CORFE CASTLE.] - -In the door-jambs are cut six mortises, three on a side, the lowest 6 -inches from the ground. They are each 8½ inches long, 2 inches broad, -and 3½ inches deep. They must have been intended to hold boards, though -the shallow depth would scarce allow of their insertion. These would, -indeed, have been better suited to keep pigs in than warriors out, and -perhaps were so used in times of peace. They can scarcely be original, -but are probably earlier than the dismantling. The entrance passage -falls gently from the interior, so as to give an advantage to the -defenders in a contest. - -It is difficult to understand the defences of this gateway in the -absence of the upper story, from which most of them were worked. There -is at present no trace of the drawbridge in the portal, unless, indeed, -the pivot-holes on which it turned be concealed by the soil. If the -cylindrical pipe, with the opening or slot in its side, contained -a sash-weight, of what was it the counterpoise? Scarcely of the -drawbridge, for which, even if of lead, unless of inconvenient length, -the weight would be too light; and portcullis groove there is none. -The 5-inch chase exactly in front of the pipe may have contained a -portcullis, or a frame; but, if so, the absence of lateral grooves -must have left it very unsteady, except when down upon and fixed in -the cill. No doubt, a portcullis with crooked sides or ears might have -worked in this tube, but that is scarcely probable. The other chases -were, no doubt, intended for the passage of projectiles. They are, -however, mere slits across the vault, unaccompanied by lateral grooves -as when used for a portcullis, and they do not appear to have been -divided by cross _septa_, as in regular machicolations; but this vault -has been riven by an explosion, and restored in part in recent times, -so that it is difficult to pronounce upon its details. - -From each side of the gatehouse springs a short curtain. That to the -east, from 10 feet to 12 feet thick, and about 20 feet high, now mostly -destroyed, terminates in the Horseshoe Tower, a mere shell, about 20 -feet diameter and 20 feet high, open at the ground floor and across the -gorge, and intended to be floored and bratticed with timber, as is not -infrequent with mural towers, to prevent their being used against the -garrison. It is pierced by three loops on the ground floor. These are -mere vertical slits, 7 feet long and 1½ inch broad, splayed deeply, -and opening from recesses in the wall. The tower caps the south-east -angle of the work, and the loops are directed upon the field, and along -the two curtains. The removal of the talus outside shows this tower -to stand upon a deep and solid foundation. At the junction of the -gatehouse curtain with this tower, the former contains a mural chamber, -6 feet broad, and roofed with five tiers of overhanging slabs. - -The east curtain is, for the most part, a mere wall, 8 feet to 10 feet -thick, and 10 feet to 15 feet high, exclusive of battlements, and -more or less ruined. Loops are to be seen on its exterior, directed -downwards so as to rake the scarp. Near the Horseshoe Tower was -formerly another mural chamber, called a stable, but more probably a -garderobe, and beyond this is a large arch, now walled up, which may -have been a postern, and commanded by the Plukenet Tower. - -This is a mere half-round mural tower, solid to the rampart height, and -of no projection within. - -Above the rampart it is hollowed into a chamber open behind, with three -loops, each 5 feet 6 inches long and 2 inches in the opening. In each -of the recesses, on the right, is a small cupboard for the grease or -tools needed by the archer. The tower and rampart were ascended by a -well-stair on the north or upper side. The arrangements for allowing -the archer to shoot downwards so as to rake the steep scarp are well -seen here. This tower is named from a bold and well-preserved shield -upon its outer face, charged with a bend fusilly, or five fusils -conjoined in bend, and held up by two hands which emerge from holes -in the stone. This is one of the well-known coats attributed to the -Mareschals, Earls of Pembroke; but, as this family was extinct half -a century before the date of this tower, and does not appear ever to -have been connected with the castle, Mr. Bond has shown it to be more -probable that the shield is intended to commemorate Alan Plukenet, -constable of the castle in the 54th of Henry III., and a baron in the -reign of Edward, his son, and whose arms were either a bend engrailed, -or fusilly, represented anciently much in the same way, upon a field -ermine, which fur (as Mr. Bond suggests) may have been regarded as a -tincture, the lines for expressing which were not then employed, and -the spots omitted by the carver. - -The curtain from this tower to the Gloriette angle of the inner ward -is constructed of much larger stones than those employed lower down. -They are as large as many of those in the Norman ashlar, but of ruder -workmanship. - -Returning to the gatehouse and following the west front, this commences -with a short curtain, still standing, and connected with the first -mural tower, a drum of rather above half-round projection, capping an -angle. It is solid to the rampart level, and above this open at the -gorge. Its single chamber has three loops, cruciform, and shorter, -wider, and of coarser construction than those of the Horseshoe -Tower, though still of excellent ashlar. This tower having been -riven by powder is seen to be 10 yards in solid thickness. Its base -is perforated by a rude rectangular drain, 18 inches by 12 inches, -joined by other drains of 9 inches by 9 inches, all in the solid, and -evidently descending from garderobes, one of which seems to have been -placed in the curtain close north of this tower. - -Next above this is the second or Well Tower, so called from a small -depression behind it, said to indicate a well. This tower resembles -the last, was, like it, solid in the base, and had one chamber on the -rampart, open at the gorge and pierced by three loops. - -Close south of it was a small doorway, leading either to a garderobe or -a rampart stair. Of this, one jamb is alone seen. - -Above the Well Tower is the third, and above the third, and also -connected with it by a short curtain, is the fourth of these mural -towers. This, however, though a tower, is of the nature of an -épaulement, or redan, and caps a projection or shoulder of the curtain. -It has but two loops, longitudinal only, one towards the field and one -raking the south wall. The former is divided into a short upper and -long lower part by a narrow plate of stone, which projects inwards like -a shelf. - -The curtain from this Redan Tower to the gateway of the middle ward -is probably earlier than either, and is very lofty. It traverses King -John’s fosse. It is constructed of large stones, and resembles, in some -respects, the curtain above the Plukenet Tower, at the other end of the -same fosse. Below it is solid, above it is pierced by four rude loops, -boldly splayed within, and which must have opened from a chamber, -of which the curtain was the outer wall, or possibly from a wooden -platform. - -The fosse, attributed to King John, which traverses the outer ward, is -about 20 feet deep, with a vertical counterscarp cut in the chalk rock. -The Plukenet Tower and adjacent curtain cross its east end, but these -stand upon a ridge of solid rock, showing that the ditch has never been -continued into the front in this direction. At its west end the case is -different. There it has been cut right into and down the slope, and the -curtain crossing and stopping it is built actually in the ditch. - -No doubt the present dressing of the counterscarp is due to whoever -placed artillery upon its crest. Outside it, by way of glacis, is -a level platform, 30 feet broad, known to have been defended by -artillery, and in front of which are three steps or benches. The whole -work forms a _fausse braie_ at the foot of the glacis of the keep, and -a strong defence in front of the gatehouse of the middle ward. A bridge -of two arches, of the same age and fashion with that already described, -traverses this fosse, here 50 feet broad, and leads up to the middle -gateway. A profile cut in one of the gate towers shows where the -parapet abutted, which, however, was clearly not original. As in the -lower bridge, a space of about 18 feet next the portal, now filled with -earth, was evidently intended to be spanned by the drawbridge. - -The middle ward is also triangular. Its longer and about equal north -and south sides are capped at the acute western angle by the Buttavant -Tower, and the base is formed by the middle gatehouse and curtain, and -by the revetment wall and gate (now destroyed) of the inner ward. - -The gatehouse of the middle ward is a very fine structure. Like the -lower gatehouse, which it resembles in general arrangements, it is -composed of two drums flanking the entrance passage, and terminating -square in the rear. - -One, the north tower, rises direct from the fosse, without basement -or set-off, and is connected with a short but very thick and lofty -curtain, which ascends the steep ground to abut upon the keep. The -tower is of bold projection, but flat towards the curtain. Within is -a lodge with one cruciform loop to the front, and in rear traces of a -stair which led to the curtain, and thus by continued steps along its -ramparts to the keep. - -The other tower rises from the crest of the outer slope, where it -appears as a mural defence, upon the west front. Within is a small -lodge with three loops, one to the front, one on the flank towards the -field, and one, now closed up, to the rear, into the middle ward. - -The portal has no jambs, but is entered under a segmental arch, double -chamfered, springing direct from the flanking towers. This recedes 4 -feet 1 inch, and is succeeded by a rounded portcullis groove, 9 inches -broad by 6 inches deep, but having, while within the arch, a flat -margin of 3 inches on either side. These margins cease above the arch, -and the chase is of the breadth of the groove only. - -Behind the portcullis is a second arch, 2 feet 9 inches broad, -succeeded by a machicolation, 14 inches broad, and divided by four -_septa_ into five square holes. These are placed immediately before the -jambs of the gate proper, where the passage is reduced by about 1 foot -8 inches. - -Behind the jambs an arch of high spring and flat segmental curve -accommodated the folding-doors, when open. These were of wood, and -the bar-hole behind them is about 11 inches square. The hinges -are gone. Behind this last arch the passage was roofed with wood, -and is now open. In the rear are parts of the groove of a second -portcullis—“altera securitas”—so that there was probably a stone face -to the back front of the gatehouse, all now destroyed. The arrangements -of this gateway as far back as the lodge are shown in the accompanying -section. See woodcut, Fig. II. - -In the wooden roofed space are the doors of the two lodges. The south -is square-headed, with shoulders. The north, of the same shape, is -protected by a semicircular relieving arch in the wall above. This -arch, in design and material, has a very Norman aspect, and may have -been preserved from an older work. There are no remains of battlements -on this gateway, but on its front are stone corbels, probably intended -to carry the hoarding, a feature of military architecture so well -described by M. Viollet-le-Duc.[4] - -In the exterior portal, near the floor, and a few inches in front of -the portcullis groove, is a round hole, 5 inches across and 3 inches -deep, which seems to have carried the iron axle of the drawbridge. -Above it is another similar hole, no doubt connected with the working -of the same defence. - -Entering the gateway the road rises rapidly. On the right is the -exceedingly steep scarp, at the top of which is the bastion of the -keep. On the left is the curtain of the west front. Higher up the way -turns to the right, to reach the inner ward, and skirts on the left -what seems to have been a formal garden, indicated by a level plot, -some foundations of walls, and two alcoves, attributed to Sir John -I’Anson, a rector of Corfe towards the end of the last century. - -Westward of this the ward seems to have been used for offices, and in -part covered over. In the north curtain is a half-round mural tower -with four loops, and of one story, open at the gorge. The water-table -of a double-gable roof is seen within, and the central gutter projects -as a spout outside. Further on is a blocked-up arch, probably an early -postern, and, still further, the seat and drain of a large garderobe, -beneath an arch in the wall, 8 feet broad. Above is a plain corbel, -hollowed to receive the wall-plate of a roof, and no doubt one of a -series. The country people call it the gallows. A part of the south -curtain of this ward is the most interesting feature of the whole -structure. - -First, ascending from the gate, upon the left, is the curtain. Then, -upon it, a half-round mural tower with three loops, but closed, since -its construction, at the gorge by a wall, in which is a small door, -which led into a contiguous building. From this tower, westward, the -curtain is constructed of flat stones laid in a rude but distinctly -herring-bone fashion. In it are three windows and the place of a -fourth. These are round-headed, 2 feet 4 inches diameter, and 3 feet -6 inches deep, splayed to 12 inches, when they terminate in a stone -plate, out of which is cut a loop of 6 inches opening, and a rebate for -a shutter. At present they are 3 feet 6 inches to the springing, but a -part may be buried. These apertures are closed by the exterior casing -of the wall. This wall at its west end seems to have been returned -inwards. Both this wall and these windows have been regarded as part of -the old Saxon palace, and this may well be so. They certainly appear -older than the Norman work of the keep. - -Westward of this old part is a walled-up doorway, with a pointed arch -springing from the usual Norman flat chamfered abacus. This looks like -transition Norman work. Outside it is masked by the facing. This door, -the base of which is buried, seems to have been a postern, although, it -must be confessed, in a most inconvenient position for such a means of -egress. - -The Buttavant Tower, which caps the western angle of the ward, and -is a marked object in the outline of the castle, seems to have been -an octagon of 7 feet in the side, internal measurement, and of -considerable thickness. The casing of the lower part is gone. It had -a sub-basement story, and two above this, all floored with wood. A -well-stair near the gorge leads to the summit. The curtain from hence -to the garderobe is destroyed. - -The inner ward occupies the summit of the hill. It also is rudely -triangular, the great bastion forming the apex to the west, the -Gloriette bastion capping the angle to the south-east, and the obtuse -angle to the north-east being formed by the curtain alone. Towards -the outer and middle wards the wall is a strong revetment of masonry, -crested by the curtain. Elsewhere the earth is only somewhat higher -within than without the curtain. - -This ward contained two gateways, the keep, the Queen’s tower and -offices, and a well. - -The gateway from the middle ward abutted on the northern curtain. It -was probably a mere aperture in a wall, without a regular gatehouse, -else it could scarcely have disappeared so completely, even under the -crushing weight of the fragments of the keep. - -This gate opened into a small court, on the east side of which rose the -keep. A second and higher gate seems to have led into the actual ward, -and to have been placed close to the foot of the exterior staircase of -the keep. This gate is also completely gone. The survey by Treswell in -1586 shows where it stood. - -The keep is a quadrangular tower, 60 feet square and 80 feet high, of -pure Norman work. The east and west faces were strengthened with five -flat pilaster strips, 5 feet 4 inches broad, 18 inches projection, and -8 feet 4 inches apart. On the north and south faces were four similar -strips, placed at wider intervals. All rose from a common plinth, and -died into the wall a short distance below the battlement, a small -portion of which is still visible, not passing into it as at Chepstow -and elsewhere, so as to panel the face. - -The door of the ground floor, apparently 4 feet wide, and with very -late dressings, is at present in the west wall, here 9 feet thick, -and may possibly have been always there, although certainly not in -its present form. It was covered by the exterior stair. It is placed -nearest to the south end, between the second and third pilasters. - -The stair, 9 feet broad, is built against the west face of the keep, -without bond, and perhaps a later addition. Beneath it is a large -open arch, round-headed, springing from flat pilaster jambs, which, -continued above the string or cap, panel the soffit of the vault. This -arch serves as a porch to the door of the basement of the keep. - -The stair terminates in the staircase tower, a rectangular lean-to, -or fore-building appended to the keep, forming a vestibule to the -main entrance, and said to have carried the stairs leading to the -upper floor. It is about 19 feet by 16 feet within, and has a stone -bench against its north wall. The door from the exterior stair in -the north wall is round-headed, 6 feet 6 inches wide, opening in a -wall 6 feet thick, the other two walls being 4 feet. The keep door, -between the first and second pilasters, and therefore near the angle -of the keep, has been 6 feet broad, now enlarged to 9 feet. It has a -flat top, with a semicircular arch of relief in the wall above, not -intended to be seen. There was probably a door in the south wall of the -vestibule opening upon the great bastion, and there are traces of a -covered passage from it into the garderobe tower. This vestibule seems -certainly to be of the age of the keep, and to have been occupied by a -staircase to the principal floor. - -The keep was divided into two great chambers by a wall 6 feet thick. -The basement was covered, and the first story floored by ten large -whole-timber joists, the cavities for which remain in the south wall. -The first floor probably contained a chamber, 42 feet long by 28 feet -broad, and 24 feet high, which, however, must have been very dark, -since the north wall was interior, and the south without windows. Two -small doors, probably of rather later construction, open through the -south wall into the exterior gallery. - -Above this room, forming the third story, was another, apparently of -the same size and much more cheerful, and which may have been the -hall. A well-stair led from this upwards, in the east wall, near its -south end. The water-tables within show a ridge and valley roof, as at -Porchester, and probably there was originally nothing above this floor. - -The battlements, with a slight exception, are gone, but in the east and -west wall, just below the battlement line, are coupled Norman windows, -of about 3 feet opening, a pair between each pair of pilasters, thus -forming a sort of arcade, not unlike the far later ones at Swansea and -Llanphey, but much of which seems always to have been closed. It is -remarkable that a building so massive, and the walls of which are so -thick, should have been without the usual galleries and mural chambers -found in Norman keeps. - -Mr. Bond, who is intimately acquainted with this castle, and has -brought much critical knowledge to bear upon its details, is of opinion -that the upper part of the wall of the keep shows evidence of having -been an addition to the original structure, though at no very long -interval of time. - -Built against the exterior of the keep, on the south side, and -projecting into the outer ward, is another lean-to, or appended tower, -of about 30 feet in breadth and 20 feet projection. Outside it has -three pilaster strips and one on each flank, rising from a common -base. At present it reaches only to the floor of the second story of -the keep, but it seems to have been higher, and is said to have been -lowered by Sir C. Hatton. It is a garderobe tower, and contains on -each of its two floors two chambers of about 7 feet by 9 feet. The -upper are not accessible; but it is clear that a portion of the eastern -lower chambers was bratticed off, to carry the refuse from the upper. -In the western chamber is a stone arch, which may be taken to indicate -the place of this brattice. The eastern is open on one side, and was -evidently closed by a timber partition. These chambers terminate below -in two square openings, on the face of the tower, and this supports the -notion that the western as well as the eastern chamber was intended for -a garderobe. - -Between these chambers and the keep wall runs a vaulted gallery, into -which they open, and from which two small doors, already mentioned, -enter the first floor of the keep. Although the garderobe tower covers -only half the face of the keep, this gallery is prolonged over the -whole, being protected by a wall, looped. A door at its lower or east -end led towards the kitchen, and one at the upper end opened on the -great bastion, with access on the right to the vestibule, and on the -left to the curtain leading from the keep to the middle gatehouse. Two -water-drains from the keep cross the gallery and discharge into the -garderobes. - -This tower, being built against and not bonded into the keep, is -evidently later, but resembles it in general style, and must have been -added within a very few years. The explosion which shattered the keep -has made evident the complete want of bond between the two buildings. - -East of the keep the ward is occupied by the remains of various -offices, and by the ruins of the Queen’s Hall or Tower. This, with -its contiguous buildings, was constructed upon crypts, some of which -remain. One is round-headed, with a pointed doorway; another, which -supported the Queen’s Hall, seems to have had a very slightly pointed -barrel-vault, divided by lateral narrower, but equally high, and -therefore pointed, arches, into four bays, two of which contain lancet -windows. - -Some of the hall windows remain. They are pointed, with drop arch -recesses, and stone side seats. The tracery is gone, but the exterior -labels remain, terminating in knobs of foliage, and the arris or angle -of each recess is occupied by a scroll-bead moulding. - -North of this hall and placed across it, east and west, are the remains -of what is regarded, with great probability, as the chapel. The west -door and that of the hall are placed side by side, in a vestibule or -porch, entered on the west side by a staircase. - -The doors are pointed, with half-round bead labels, and a scroll-bead -moulding running round the jambs and arch. Inside, the chapel door is -richer, and has in the arch a double scroll-bead, divided by a hollow, -and for the jambs the hollow has been occupied by a detached column of -Purbeck marble, which material, though much decayed, is still seen to -have formed the base and bell capital. The design, though not highly -ornate, is excellent, as is the execution. The whole of this group -appears to be early English, of the latter part of the reign of Henry -III. - -Close to the east of the hall, between it and the curtain, is a -depression, said to mark the well. This must have been of great -depth—probably to the level of the brook. - -The tower spoken of as “La Gloriette” is probably gone, but near it -is what may be called the Gloriette bastion, and what seems to be the -angular base of a tower capping the south-east angle of the ward, and -intended to cover the junction of the wall with the curtain which comes -up from the Plukenet Tower. Near to it, westward, is a mural chamber -in the curtain, which Treswell’s plan shows as a garderobe, and beyond -this an angular bastion, supposed to have been added by Lady Bankes, -who seems to have placed a gun there. - -The great bastion is a very peculiar work. It is of rounded outline, -formed by a very thick and high wall of revetment, which caps the -west end of the southern curtain, and projects into the middle ward. -At the siege it carried five guns, and was called the New Bulwark. -But, although it may then have been widened to carry a battery, it -was probably only an addition to the older Norman revetment wall -supporting the staircase tower. The exterior, and therefore perhaps -later, revetment has been injured at the base, and the heart of the -work is exposed. It shows very rough filling up. - -The south curtain of this ward is about 12 feet thick, but the north -and east, being less exposed and having no buildings to support, are -much lighter, and present nothing of the strength considered necessary -in the lower and more exposed portions of the fortress. - -The present condition of the building is completely to be accounted for -by the fact that Corfe Castle was “slighted” under a vote of the House -of Commons, dated 4th of March, 1645, a period at which the orders of -the Commons were not obeyed negligently. - -In the outer gateway the drums are blown forwards, the vault split, and -the rear of the lodges destroyed. All the upper story is removed. - -Eastward the curtain is broken down, but the Horseshoe Tower is not -materially injured. The rest of the curtain to the Plukenet Tower is -broken down in parts only. That tower and the curtain up to the keep -have not been dismantled, and but partially pulled down. - -In this outer ward the main force of the destroyers has been spent upon -the lower half of the west front, of which the curtains are lifted -forwards, and the mural towers rent and shaken, vast fragments of both -encumbering the slope. The Redan Tower has escaped, as has the curtain -which traverses King John’s fosse. - -The gateway of the middle ward presents a singular appearance. A mine -has been excavated beneath the outer tower, which has sunk about 10 -feet, and moved a little forward, splitting the entrance vault. This -can hardly be the effect of powder, but is more probably due to a mine -of the old sort, in which the earth was removed, and wooden props -introduced, which were afterwards pulled away or burnt. - -Of the Buttavant Tower about two-thirds are gone, with part of the -north curtain. The great curtain between the middle gatehouse and the -keep is unshaken, only its steps and battlements are gone. It is one of -the finest curtain walls in Britain, and almost equal to Cardiff. - -In the inner ward the devastation has been severe. Of the keep, all the -north and two-thirds of the adjacent west wall lie in enormous masses -on the sward, and in their fall have utterly crushed the gateways of -the ward and their adjacent curtain. The east wall is destroyed at -its two ends, but a strip of the central part remains unhurt to its -summit, a marvel of Norman masonry, and is completely shrouded in -ivy. The south wall and garderobe tower are but little injured. The -staircase tower is destroyed, all but a part of the north wall. The -broken-down walls of the keep are a sight to see, so vast is the mass -of the fragments and so firm the cohesion of the material. They lie in -the wildest confusion, and some considerable lumps have rolled down -the slope, and, bounding across road and brook, rest half buried in the -turf beyond. - -The Queen’s Tower and offices are destroyed, but, offering less -resistance, have been broken up more in detail, and have no doubt been -spoiled subsequently for the sake of the ashlar. - -The destruction probably exceeds anything known elsewhere in England. -The charges of powder, though skilfully disposed, seem to have been -larger than was actually necessary; and, certainly, the place might -have been rendered untenable with far less destruction of masonry. Even -with such mortars as were used in the days of the Commonwealth, the -castle could have been commanded from the loftier Challow Hill, close -to the east of it. - -A few remarks naturally arise out of the above description. - -The Saxon residence, of the existence of which there appears to be -evidence in the latter part of the tenth century, was no doubt also a -place of strength. It is certain that it must have occupied the highest -part of the hill, now the inner ward, and the wall remaining in the -middle ward will probably be accepted as evidence that it extended over -the area of this ward also. - -The Normans probably made a clear sweep of any existing buildings in -the inner ward, when they commenced the keep and its accessories, and, -a little later, the garderobe tower. These are all built of large -squared stones, with moderately open joints; thoroughly substantial, -sound work, and all the more workmanlike and effective for a certain -roughness and boldness in the finish. The ashlar, usually an indication -of late work, was here close at hand in the Purbeck quarries, and the -general absence of ornament in a royal residence, of vaulting, of -triforial galleries or mural chambers, and, with one partial exception, -of mural staircases, seem to indicate the work, if not of the -Conqueror, of his more immediate successors. The garderobe tower, not -particularly late Norman, but certainly subsequent to the keep, seems -to strengthen this conclusion. - -As the Norman buildings required to be included within an _enceinte_ -wall, which would naturally take the crest of this part of the hill, -this would necessarily include or supersede the Saxon wall, which, -for the same reason, would have followed the same limited outline. -Probably, therefore, the curtains of the upper and middle ward contain -traces of Saxon and a great deal of Norman masonry, and this applies -also to the cross revetment wall between the inner and middle wards, -which follows a natural division in the ground. The same natural cause -would decide the position of the gates, where we now see them. - -The original Norman castle has generally been supposed to have been -restricted to the two upper wards, to which, according to Mr. Bond, the -great authority for all matters connected with Corfe, King John added -the defence of a deep fosse. It is singular, however, that this fosse, -while cut right through to the western slope, should stop a little -short of the eastern face. The narrow ridge thus left could scarcely -have been intended for a passage, for the gateway of the upper ward -must necessarily, from the disposition of the ground, always have -been at the western or lower end of the fosse, and, had a ridge been -left as an approach, it would certainly not have been one of almost -inaccessible steepness, much exposed to view and to attack, and not -defensible by any special work. - -The wall, from the Gloriette angle along the ridge, nearly to the -Plukenet Tower, has been observed to be of regular Norman work, and, -according to Mr. Bond, to show evidence of having been returned -inwards, as though it extended along the line of the later ditch. Thus -it may be, that before King John’s time the fortress occupied the -present upper and middle wards, and a strip of the lower ward along the -foot of the glacis of the keep. This is, no doubt, more probable than -that it occupied the whole of the lower ward, covering the same area -with the present works. - -Mr. Bond has been able, by documentary evidence, to fix the date of the -great curtain, which connects the later middle gate with the earlier -keep tower, at 1236; as with such a curtain there must have been a -tolerably strong gate, and, as the present gate is some years later, -this was no doubt Norman, though probably very late—say of the age of -the curtain traversing King John’s fosse at the lower end. Perhaps -the pointed arch with Norman springing-course, in the wall next the -Buttavant Tower, may be of the same period—say the reign of Henry II., -though the wall itself may be shown, by the evidence of records, to be -later. - -The lower ward, in its present state, was certainly enclosed towards -the end of the reign of Henry III., and in that of Edward I. To this -age may be attributed the outer and middle gatehouse, and the four -mural towers of the outer ward, as well as the work of the Queen’s -Tower, with its hall and chapel. The Plukenet Tower may be assigned to -the constableship of that baron, 54 Hen. III., or a little later. - -To this period also is to be assigned the facing of the south wall -of the middle ward. The ashlar of this age, though it has not the -grand, effective boldness of the Norman work, cannot be surpassed -for closeness of jointing and general excellence of workmanship. The -stones, from 1 foot to 2 feet long, and 8 inches wide, are coursed and -well bonded, and their angles are as fresh as when newly cut. - -The excessive solidity of the mural towers upon the west front is very -remarkable. Possibly this unusual strength was intended to counteract -the danger of being mined, for which the soft chalk offered great -facilities. - - - - - THE CASTLE OF COUCY, NEAR LAON. - - -Coucy-le-Château, town and castle, are built upon and completely occupy -the somewhat irregularly-shaped but level summit of a promontory of -chalk, the eastern part or root of which is connected with the high -land of the upper forest of Coucy, while towards the north and west -the termination of the platform stands out boldly and abruptly, from -150 feet to 200 feet above the fertile valleys on either hand, whence -spring the tributary waters of the Lette, a stream which flows down -from the ancient city of Laon to reach the Oise at Manicamp. - -The valleys immediately below and commanded by the castle bear marks -of high and early cultivation, and no doubt contributed largely to its -support. More distant, chiefly on the eastern and northern sides, are -the immense woodland tracts of the high and low forests of Coucy, St. -Gobain, and Monceau, while to the south are those of Pinon and Mostier. -Occupying fertile spots amidst these forests were the abbeys of Nogent, -St. Nicholas, Barizy, and Prémontre, where was the burial-place of the -De Coucys, and the remains of which religious houses are interspersed -with those of the castles of St. Gobain, Folembray, Anizy, La Fère, -Pinon, and many others, showing the value attached to this tract of -country by the jealousy displayed in its defence. - -The etymology of Coucy has not been explained. The district in which -it stands was known as Le Mege in the sixth century, and Coucy was -probably included in that part of it granted by Clovis to St. Remi for -the archiepiscopal see of Reims, A.D. 500. In 909 it was in the hands -of Archbishop Hervé, who, moved by the rising power of the Norman, here -first built the castle known henceforward as Coucy. - -Whatever may have been the particulars of this fortress, its area -must have been identical with that of the latter work, governed by -the configuration of the ground; and, whatever may have been its -construction, its position could not but endow it with strength and -importance. It became at once a place of note. Here, Hervé, Count of -Vermandois, imprisoned Charles the Simple, whom he sold to his rival -king for the county of Laon. Nevertheless, in 930, Hervé was forced to -give up Coucy to Boson, brother to Raoul, king of France. Boson was -slain before St. Quentin in 931, and, after a century of vicissitudes, -the domain, held by a mere quit-rent of the Church, was in 1037 the -signory of Alberic, the founder of the baronial name of Coucy. It is -uncertain whether Alberic was of the family of Eudo de Chartres or -that of the Counts of Vermandois. By marriage he added Amiens and its -adjacent castle of Bôves to Coucy, and is thought to have founded the -abbey of Nogent-sous-Coucy. - -Alberic was succeeded by his son Enguerrand, Sieur de Coucy, Count of -Amiens, and Lord of Bôves. He married Ada, heiress of Letard de Roucy, -Lord of Marle, second son of Gilbert, Count of Reims, with whom he -acquired Marle and La Fère. He—or more probably his son—first assumed -the well-known armorial bearings, “Barry of 6, vaire and gules.” He -died 1116, leaving Thomas. - -Thomas de Marle, de Coucy, his son and successor, long in rebellion -against his father, bore a bad name for violence. He lost Amiens; but, -again by marriage, acquired Crécy-sur-Serre and Nogent. He died 1130. - -Enguerrand II., known as Le Sire de Coucy—this title, it is said, -denoting the lord of an allodial fief—held also Marle, Crécy, Vervins, -Pinon, and La Fère, in which latter castle he defended himself with -success against Louis le Gros and Raoul, Count of Vermandois, in 1132. -His reign was one of peace and justice. - -This Enguerrand is said to have slain in personal combat a ferocious -beast called a lion that infested the neighbourhood; and this tale is -no doubt the origin of the lions which were used by the family as crest -and supporters. Such tales were common in the twelfth century, only the -scene of the exploit was usually more safely laid in Palestine. This -combat was commemorated in a bas-relief over the door of the keep at -Coucy, and was probably the foundation of a singular ceremony which -only ceased at the Revolution. Thrice annually, at Easter, Pentecost, -and Christmas, the Abbot of Nogent, or his attorney, entered Coucy -by the lower gate, a whip in his hand and mounted upon a crop-eared -and docktailed bay. On his poitrel was suspended a seed-bag of white -linen filled with wheat, and in a basket certain crescent-shaped cakes -stuffed with minced veal, cooked in oil, and called rissoles, probably -the earliest mention of a dish which has descended to our own times. - -Behind the abbot came a red dog, also with cropped ears and tail, and -having a rissole suspended from his neck. This singular procession then -entered the castle, and at the base of the keep the abbot made the -circuit of a central and three lesser couchant lions there carved in -stone, and afterwards embraced the larger beast. This done, he offered -the cakes in homage to the lord, who distributed them to the people, -and then witnessed the record of the homage by affixing to it a special -seal, representing a mitred and crosiered abbot, having for feet the -hoofs of a buck. A representation of this ceremony in tapestry long -adorned the walls of the castle, and is thought to have been taken into -Lorraine after the marriage of a later Coucy with a daughter of that -house. - -Enguerrand II. died while on a crusade in Palestine about 1148; but his -body was laid in his abbey of Prémontre, near the castle, where his -effigy remained in 1682. - -Raoul de Coucy, son and successor, was under age at his father’s death. -He married, about 1169, Agnes of Hainault; and secondly, Alix, niece -of Louis-le-Jeune, and sister of Robert de Dreux. By this match he -connected himself with the blood royal. He accompanied Philip Augustus -to Palestine in 1188, and fell before the walls of Acre in 1191. He was -buried at Foigny, and his son by Alix was his successor. - -Enguerrand III., called the Great, Lord of Montmirail, Oisy, Crèvecour, -la Ferté-Ancoul, la Ferté-Gaucher, Vicomte de Meaux, and Châtelan of -Cambrai. He was the founder of the present castle, and at the same time -walled in the considerable town that had risen under the protection -of his ancestors. As he was a child at his accession, his mother -administered the signory, and conceded a charter of liberties to the -town in 1197, which he confirmed when of age. In 1200, _more majorum_, -he attacked the property of the Church of Reims. In 1210, he joined the -Count of Vermandois in the first crusade against the Albigenses, and -again in 1219 and 1226; then assisting at the siege of Toulouse and -the taking of Avignon. He distinguished himself also at the battle of -Bovines. - -Enguerrand, though not wanting in territorial power, exercised an -influence far beyond that due to wealth or breadth of possessions, and -which was in great measure personal. He appears to have submitted with -an ill grace to the government of Queen Blanche during the minority of -St. Louis, and is said to have even contemplated regal power. However -this may be, the consciousness of his influence, no doubt, led him to -erect the Castle of Coucy, it is thought, between 1225–1230; and it -maybe that in so doing he proposed to himself to cast into the shade -the grand tower of the Louvre, the work, a few years before, of Philip -Augustus. He is also said to have rebuilt his other castles of St. -Gobain, Assis, Marle, Folembrai, and St. Aubyn, and the Hôtel Coucy at -Paris. - -In 1244, he was in the confidence of St. Louis, and attended a -conference of nobles at Chinon, where he supported the plan of a -descent upon England; but while assembling his vassals for this purpose -he was flung from his horse and killed by his own sword. Of his -children by Marie de Montmirail, Raoul II., who fell in the crusade of -1250, and Enguerrand IV., became successively Sieurs de Coucy; but both -died childless, and with the last closed the male line of these great -barons. Alix, half-sister to the last lords, married Arnoul, Count de -Guines. Enguerrand the Great had also a daughter, Mary, who in 1239 -became the second wife of Alexander II. of Scotland, and the mother of -Alexander III. Mary was a very remarkable person, and exercised the -duties of guardian to her son in difficult times in a very efficient -manner, devising and executing a vigorous policy of her own. - -Arnold Comte de Guines sold Guines to Philip le Hardi in 1282. Alix de -Coucy, his wife, was daughter of Enguerrand III. by Marie Dame d’Oisy, -his third wife. They had Enguerrand V. de Guines, Sire de Coucy, -&c., who lived at the court of his cousin-german, Alexander III., in -Scotland, where he married, before 1285, Christine de Baliol. He died -1321. - -William, his son and heir, married Isabel, daughter of Guy de -Chatillon, Comte de St. Pol. He died 1335, and was succeeded by -Enguerrand VI., who married Catherine, daughter of Leopold, Duke of -Austria. This baron took part in the defence of his province against -Edward III., and fell at the battle of Crécy, in 1346, leaving his son -an infant. - -Enguerrand VII., better known in England as Ingelram de Coucy, was one -of the greatest and most powerful barons of his race and age, and, in a -warlike age, celebrated as a military leader. He commenced his public -life by a war of extermination against the insurgent Jacquerie. He was -then one of the hostages in England for King John, and there married -Isabel, daughter of Edward III., became a Knight of the Garter (39th on -the list), and in 1366 was created Earl of Bedford. The effect, perhaps -the price, of these honours was his neutrality in the war between -France and England. He claimed the duchy of Austria, and raised 60,000 -condottieri to support his rights, but in this he was unsuccessful. - -After the death of Edward III. he returned the insignia of the Garter -to his successor, and took part with France. Upon Du Guesclin’s death, -he was offered, and declined, the sword of Constable of France, but -became governor of Picardy. His advice to the king was to anticipate -the English attacks. - -His second wife was a daughter of the Duke of Lorraine. In 1382, he -composed, by fair words, the insurrection of the Maillotins, at Paris. -In Picardy he was scarcely less lenient. Doutard, one of their leaders, -he sentenced to death, but at the gallow’s foot he was pardoned, by -the custom of Picardy, because a woman from the crowd consented to -marry him,—a singular legal juxtaposition of hanging and matrimony. -Enguerrand took part in the campaign of Charles VI. against Ghent, -in which Van Artevelde was killed; and in the following year, after -putting down an insurrection at Paris, he joined the war in Flanders, -where he won the high approbation of Froissart. - -He then went to Italy, and fought at the battle of Arezzo, for which he -received the charge of Grand Butler of France. Shortly afterwards, he -was prominent in the military and naval preparations for a descent upon -England, and seems to have commanded a division of the fleet, and to -have been driven upon the coast of Scotland. - -In 1390 he took part in the African expedition, landing at Carthage. -The closing act of his life was the unsuccessful crusade against Sultan -Bajazet, upon his invasion of Hungary, and the battle of Nicopolis in -1396, when Enguerrand was defeated and made prisoner, and so died in -1397, aged 57, the last male of the second line of the Sires of Coucy. - -Upon his death, Louis Duke of Orleans obtained possession of the Coucy -estates, under cover of a purchase from the heir female. Upon the death -of Louis, in 1465, Duke Charles succeeded, and upon his accession -to the throne of France as Louis XII., in 1498, Coucy became Crown -property, and ceased to retain any individuality, or to be the seat of -an independent family. As an appanage of the Crown it was granted to -the successive families of Orleans, and was thus held by Égalité at -the Revolution. It is at present a part of the State domains, and in -consequence received a share of the consideration with which the late -Emperor regarded all public monuments, and has been most judiciously -preserved from further decay by M. Viollet-le-Duc, from whose survey -the annexed plan has been made. - -The castle occupies the north-western extremity of the platform, of -which the remainder is occupied by the town. Upon three sides the -natural defence is the steep hill-side, the upper 30 feet or 40 feet of -which are rendered vertical by art, and faced with masonry. The (wholly -artificial) defences of the town on the south front are a deep ditch, -extending from cliff to cliff, and dividing the town from the castle, -within which is a curtain wall, flanked at its ends by two round towers -containing vaulted chambers, and with a central gatehouse, also so -flanked. - -The castle is composed of a keep, an inner, and an outer ward. The -outer, about thrice the area of the inner ward, intervenes between the -inner ward and the town. Its narrow south front has been described. -Towards the north-east the hill is very steep, and the revetment wall -on this face is not reinforced by buttresses or flanking towers. On the -opposite face the ground is far less steep, and the platform projects -in a bold salient towards the south-west, the revetment of which is -strengthened by eight mural towers or bastions, some half-round and the -others rectangular. The south wall is lofty, the others were probably -mere parapets. The great gatehouse, or “Porte de Maître Odon,” is now -much broken down. The portal arch was pointed, as are two lateral -arches for the guard. The square groove of one portcullis remains. The -gatehouse seems to have been of the usual rectangular plan, having a -central portal arch and passage, and two exterior half-round flanking -towers. In this outward ward are to be traced very considerable -foundations, and here are found fragments of piers and arch stones, -and carved blocks, showing that the buildings erected as stables and -barracks for the castellan, and probably, in times of peace, for the -lord, were very considerable, and of a handsome character. Here also -are the foundations of a church, recently cleared out. They show a -single nave, with a semicircular apse, and a transept, the two arms -of which have, on their eastern sides, two smaller apses, the three -ranging nearly in a line. The building is about 100 feet long by 30 -feet broad; has a double west door, and five windows of a side, besides -three in the apse and three in each limb of the transept. From its plan -and proportions this church has been regarded as part of the original -castle, and the only part now remaining. Its actual date is, however, -probably of the eleventh century. - -The inner or north end of this ward abuts upon the inner ward. This -front is occupied by a broad and deep dry ditch, concave towards the -outer ward, having a walled scarp and counterscarp, and crossed at each -end by the exterior _enceinte_ wall of the place. - -The inner ward, or castle proper, is four-sided. The east face, of -130 yards, and north face, of 60 yards, are both straight, and set at -right angles. The east front, of 70 yards, is set at an obtuse angle -to the north, but is also straight. Thus breadth is given to the south -front, which is 130 yards. This front is also straight, but about -five-sevenths of its central part is occupied by the convexity of the -great tower and its chemise, which are placed upon the line of the -curtain. - -[Illustration: COUCY CASTLE, FRANCE.—_Plan._] - -The east, west, and north fronts are towards the field, and are formed -by facing the scarped rock with masonry, so that they stand 30 feet -to 40 feet high to the level of the terre-plein, above which rises -the curtain-wall. The south front is covered by the ditch already -described, which is segmental in plan, with vertical sides. Near -its east end this ditch is expanded from 60 feet to 90 feet, and -was there traversed by a long drawbridge, which rested upon three -detached rectangular piers, of which the inner one was the largest, and -contained two lateral places of arms, and no doubt carried a tower. -This bridge led up to the main gate. It is now replaced by a causeway. - -At the four angles of the ward are four equal drum towers, 60 feet in -diameter, and 105 feet high from the exterior base. They are remarkable -for their size and boldness, being engaged only by one-fifth of their -circumference. These towers rise from the rock, and contain two domed -stages below the terre-plein level. These are entered by a circular -hole or eye in the centre of each vault. The terre-plein level of each -is a hexagonal chamber, vaulted, having five recesses, of which four -are pierced as loops. The entrance is in the gorge, with two lateral -passages, one leading to a garderobe and one to a well-stair, ascending -to the summit. - -The chamber above is similar, but the loops are placed between instead -of over those below; and thus the towers have been preserved from those -vertical fissures so common when a series of loops or windows occur, as -they usually do, in one vertical line. By this arrangement, also, the -scope of the archers defending the tower is much increased, every point -within arrow range being exposed to fire. There are three floors above -the ground-level, or five in all. All are vaulted. A line of corbels -at the present summit shows that they were originally defended by a -bretasche. - -Nearly in the centre of the east face was a small half-round bastion -with flat sides, 30 feet in diameter and about 20 feet projection. - -Standing in the court, no part of the curtain is visible. Along the -central 180 feet of the east front is a range of buildings, called -offices, about 30 feet deep, and having three well-staircases, serving -the first and second floor, now destroyed. At the south end the space -between the curtain and the tower chemise, about 60 feet by 80 feet, is -occupied by three aisles of vaulting, each of three bays. The centre -of these is the main entrance, or continued portal arch. The lateral -bays are for warders and soldiery in charge of the gate. There were two -stories above this, now destroyed. - -Along the north front was originally a vaulted arcade, 45 feet broad, -composed of four bays. To this has been added, in front, an arcade -of three arches, open towards the court, and upon the platform thus -gained have been constructed a terrace and a range of state rooms, -of which the principal is the ladies’ hall, or _Salle des Preuses_, -so named from the medallions of nine celebrated women which adorned -the great chimney piece. In the exterior was a sort of oriel boudoir, -and large windows towards the field. Above this was another story, -to construct which the curtain was raised. These buildings were the -addition of the Duke of Orleans. A large well-stair, also an addition, -led from the court to these apartments. - -The west side also has a high curtain, against which is constructed a -magnificent chamber, 45 feet broad by 470 feet long, down the centre -of which stands a line of ten columns, dividing the space into eleven -vaulted and groined bays, of which the northern pair are cut off as a -private cellar. On the east side of this chamber are four doors, two -near the centre opening into the crypt of the chapel, one south of -this, probably the main entrance, and one near the south end, opening -into what appear to have been the kitchens, and which lie between this -splendid range of magazines and the great tower. Connected with the -kitchens are three courts, and a staircase descending to the cellars. - -Below the chamber is another of equal size excavated in the chalk, as a -cellar, probably about the finest and most spacious ever constructed. - -Above, on the first floor, or third stage, was the great hall of the -castle, called, from its nine effigies of heroes, _La Salle des Preux_. -It had a wooden roof, two large fireplaces, and a large window at the -south end, below which a small door opened upon a light wooden bridge, -which dropped upon the curtain of the outer ward, just above the -postern. - -The chapel was a rectangular building, 60 feet east and west, by 36 -feet north and south. It projected from the hall into the court. It -was composed of two parallel aisles, vaulted, each in four bays. Its -south-east angle was engaged with the chemise of the great tower. Its -south-west angle was free, and had two buttresses set on at right -angles. This chapel is now destroyed to its foundations. It opened from -the great hall. - -The keep, or great tower, is the boast of Coucy, and deservedly so, -being one of the finest towers in the world, and no doubt the largest -and most complete single military building. - -It is a plain tower, perfectly cylindrical, of excellent ashlar -workmanship, 100 feet diameter at base and summit, and 200 feet high. -It rises out of a paved moat, the base being about 12 feet below the -level of the terre-plein, and is entered by a drawbridge from the -level, all below being solid. - -Including the basement, the tower contains three stories. The ground -floor, on the level of the terre-plein, is entered by a drawbridge laid -across the ditch, and which, when raised, covered a small square-headed -portal, under a pointed arch, the entrance to a passage directly -piercing the wall. The passage has an interior machicolation and a -portcullis, both worked from a small chamber in the wall above, which -also received the chains of the bridge. Within the portcullis was a -stout door barred within, and, on the left and right, passages, one -to a mural garderobe with an exterior loop, the other leading to a -well-stair, which served the upper rooms and led to the ramparts. - -The entrance passage leads direct into a duodecagonal chamber of -about 60 feet diameter, having a recess in each floor for stores, one -occupied by the entrance, one by a large well, now about 90 feet deep -and formerly 200 feet, and one by a chimney. - -Each pier is faced by a column, from which springs a rib, the twelve -meeting in the centre at an eye, and supporting the vault. Each -vaulting cell has a pointed gable, of which two are pierced for light. - -The first floor is of the same figure and diameter, and vaulted in a -similar manner. One of its recesses is closed by a fireplace with an -oven behind it; one gives passage to a very narrow postern, the plank -bridge from which drops upon the rampart of the chemise wall, and three -are pierced by small windows. One of these window recesses is entered -laterally by a small passage from the adjacent recess. This is of -fifteenth-century work, made when the recess was walled up to serve as -a separate chamber. Another recess has also a lateral passage, entering -a small mural garderobe, looped from the outside. In one recess are two -windows, one above the other. - -The second floor, resembling the other in plan and diameter at its -floor level, has a different arrangement at a height of 12 feet. Here -the piers cease, and behind, between them and the outer shell of wall, -is a gallery, entered by the regular well-stair, but each of the eleven -other compartments of which forms a box like that of a theatre, looking -down upon the central pit or floor. Two of these boxes are occupied by -the detached flues of the two chimneys from below, and two are lighted -by windows, which, with the central eye, form the whole and very -insufficient light. In this chamber, the next below the battlements, -the commander could collect and address a very numerous garrison. - -The third floor, that of the ramparts, and open above, is contained -within a thick and lofty parapet wall about 10 feet high, and pierced -by twenty-four lancet arches and as many intermediate loops. Above -these the wall is surmounted by a grand coping, which overhangs both -ways about thrice the thickness of the wall, and then slopes upwards -into a ridge. It was upon this ridge that were laid the roofing rafters -of the bretasche gallery, which enclosed the wall inside and outside. -The former was merely as a counterpoise. The latter was of two stories, -and rested its main struts upon a line of forty-eight grand corbels, -which remain on the exterior face of the wall at the rampart level. The -flues appeared above the roof, and three large and highly-crocketed -pinnacles were placed astride on the crest of the wall. The stone vault -of the upper chamber was covered with lead, with occasional gutter -openings outwards. - -Nothing can be grander than the conception of this tower, nothing -more complete than the execution of its details. All is gigantesque, -as though for a race above the ordinary stature of man, and the walls -within were overlaid with a fine cement, and painted with care. The -design of the sculpture is bold and masculine, as becomes a military -building; but all is in excellent taste, and admirably executed. - -The walls of the keep are tied with chain-courses of timber, laid in -mortar, in the centre of the work, as was the custom in France in the -twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The timber is exposed below some of -the loops. In the upper floors were embedded radiating ties, also of -wood. - -Two lines of square putlog-holes are seen on the exterior of the -keep. They ascend in a spiral, or a right-handed screw, and indicate -the manner in which the building was constructed. Horizontal beams, -projecting from the upper row, carried the inclined plane or roadway up -which the materials were dragged, and these were supported by struts, -the feet of which rested in the lower row. - -There remains to be described only the chemise, or work designed to -cover the base of the keep from the operations of the miner. It has -been seen that the base of the keep was solid, and that it stood in a -paved fosse, about 20 feet broad, with vertical sides. The exterior -side, or counterscarp, of this fosse was a wall, about 8 feet thick, -which divided it from the main exterior ditch of the ward, and rose to -the level of the first floor of the keep, say 30 feet. The ordinary -ascent to its rampart walk was by a stair within the wall, commencing -on the right near the keep entrance. It was also reached from the -first floor of the keep by a slight bridge, such as was employed at -Rochester, and probably in one or two places in the Tower of London. -There was also an access from the other end of the wall, from the rooms -over the great gateway. - -Outside of and at the base of the salient half of this wall was built -against it, at the level of the bottom of the exterior ditch, a -covered way or gallery, intended to act as a countermine, and still -more completely to frustrate attempts against the keep. The gallery is -entered from either end, and in its centre rises a sort of buttress -against the wall, in which was contained a wooden stair, by which the -people on the rampart could communicate with those in the gallery. In -the gallery also was a well, for the use of the kitchens, and in the -substance of the wall a garderobe. - -From the bottom of the keep ditch issued a postern, defended by gate, -portcullis, and machicolation, the two latter connected with a small -chamber in the wall; from this a wooden bridge led, in the ditch, to a -postern in the west and outer wall of the outer ward. - -The castle and town, being of one date and from one design, may -be regarded as representing a thirteenth-century fortress of the -first class, and of the strongest character, in which the internal -arrangements, though palatial, were made completely subordinate to the -military character and security of the place. The great feature of the -castle is the keep, which commands the whole, in every part, and from -its size and strength could be held with confidence after all the other -defences had been taken. - -The additions of the fifteenth century, consisting of state-rooms, a -hall, and various upper stories, intended for the state and attendants -of a court, though not extending to the keep, in some degree injure the -military character of the place, and take off from the predominating -grandeur of that great central feature. These, however, have for the -most part fallen away, and what remains is chiefly original work, so -that the appearance of the keep and inner ward is in many respects as -they were designed by the great baron, who contemned any title less -than king, and was content with the severe simplicity of that of “Sire -de Coucy.” - -The castle in 1652 fell into the hands of Mazarin, who employed -Metezeau, son of him who threw up the famous dyke at Rochelle, to -render it indefensible. The engineer blew the chemise wall outwards -into the ditch, and exploded a heavy charge of powder in each of the -towers. The effect of this upon the keep was to clear out the vaulted -stages, and to leave the cylinder like the tube of a vast cannon. Thus, -with one or two vertical fissures, it stood till our day; but now these -have been closed with great care and judgment, and the cylinder has -been hooped with iron, in a manner that is scarcely to be observed, and -will preserve it indefinitely. - -Those who wish to understand the details of this most curious place, -and to acquire a complete and comprehensive view of it as a military -work, would do well to read the masterly exposition of M. Le Duc, sold -upon the spot, and given also in his “Dictionnaire,” under the articles -of “Château” and “Donjon.” - -The town is also worth a visit. It contains a good church, and its -southern gatehouse is a very massive structure. The portal is very -narrow, about 9 feet, acutely pointed, and it opens between two drum -towers of one-third projection, and of about 100 feet diameter and -60 feet high. The short curtain between them, occupied below by the -gateway, above is convex in plan, and supports two bold brackets, upon -which lies a stout beam, a part of the original bretasche, and a rare, -if not a solitary, instance of a part of such a structure remaining in -place. - -The drawbridge is replaced by a causeway, but at the base of the -gateway are two large square holes, nearly where the axle of the bridge -would rest, but closely resembling drains, which they can scarcely be. -There are no marks of external defences, save the bretasche. Probably -the bridge, when up, acted as a gate. Within the passage, on each -side, is a large lateral loop, then two portcullises, and between them -a large machicolation. Within the second grate is a gate, and within -this the passage is vaulted for about 16 feet. Then follows an open -space, of which the roof was of timber, and then a vault. The inner end -of the passage is injured, and repaired. Above, over the portal, is a -fireplace of enormous size. - -This gatehouse is placed in the middle of the curtain which covers -the very narrow south-east front of the town. On each side of the -gate-towers is a curtain of about 100 feet long, and beyond this a pair -of drum mural towers, of half projection. The loops of these towers, -like every detail in Coucy, are on a grand scale. Though mere slots, -they are 10 feet high, and in three tiers. In front of the wall is a -fosse of unusual breadth, wholly artificial, and which, like that of -the castle, is dug across the peninsula, from one lateral valley to the -other. - - - - - COYTY CASTLE, GLAMORGAN. - - -The lordship of Coyty is regarded by the Welsh as an Honour of high -antiquity, the estate and seat of a royal lineage, and the inheritance -of one of the sons of Jestyn, the last native lord of Morganwg. It -is divided into the lesser lordships of Coyty Anglia and Wallia, and -it formed one of the “members” of the county under the Norman lords. -Being a member, and not in the body of the shire, it is not included -in the thirty-six and three-fifths knights’ fees which paid military -service to Cardiff Castle; but it was, nevertheless, held under the -lord of Glamorgan, and the castle, manor, and members of Coyty appear -accordingly in inquisitions of the Earls of Gloucester and their -successors in the reigns of Edward I., II., and III. In the 24th Henry -VI., for some probably temporary reason, only the castle and a fourth -part of the manor are returned in the chief lord’s schedule. - -Coyty was granted by Fitzhamon to Sir Pagan, or Payne de Turberville, a -knight, who probably held Bere-Turberville and other lands in Dorset, -and the manor and castle of Crickhowel in Monmouthshire. Unlike most of -the sites of the Norman castles in Glamorgan, Coyty was evidently an -earlier place of strength, and its circular and raised area, and its -circumscribing moat, much resemble the earthworks so common in England -and upon the Welsh marches, and usually attributed to the English of -the eighth and ninth centuries. Of this position Sir Pagan judiciously -availed himself when he received from Fitzhamon Coyty as his share of -the spoil. Probably he found some sort of strong house existing, which -he and his immediate successors found it convenient to occupy; for, -though the extant masonry cannot be attributed to his age, it is of -a date too near to it to have allowed of the decay of a substantial -Norman structure. Sir Pagan is reputed to have married Sybil, heiress -of the old Welsh lords of Coyty, and thus to have added a title -respected by the natives to that acquired by his sword. Certain it is -that the Turbervilles much inclined to the Welsh side in the frequent -disputes between them and the over-lords. - -Sir Pagan died, and was followed by his son, Sir Simon, who died -childless; and he by his brother, Sir Gilbert, who was father of a -second Sir Pagan, who was father of a second Sir Gilbert, who married -Maud, daughter of Morgan Gam, lord of Avan, a descendant, and probably -the representative, of Jestyn. Gilbert, who was in possession in 1207, -may well have been the real constructor of the castle. This view is -supported by the evidence of the actual building, the oldest parts of -which may be early English, but certainly are not Norman. - -The castle is composed of a circular enclosure or inner ward, about 48 -yards in diameter; to the north-western side of which is appended a -rectangular court, 68 yards long by 43 yards broad, forming the outer -ward, and probably an addition. The whole castle is surrounded by a -ditch, which varies in breadth from 90 to 100 feet, and in depth from -20 feet to 60 feet. It is far deeper and broader where it protects the -circular than where it is continued round the outer ward. It shallows -towards the north-west, and at that end is scarcely perceptible. It is -probable that the original circular castle was surrounded completely by -the ditch, and that this was in part filled up when the outer ward was -added. This could be ascertained by probing the ground. - -The circular or inner ward is much higher, either naturally or -artificially, than the exterior ground. It is enclosed within a strong -and lofty curtain-wall, 8 feet thick, upon which are two gatehouses -and a drum-tower, and against it the hall, chapel, and other domestic -buildings. The interior is an open, irregular, but on the whole -four-sided court, about 60 yards in the side. - -The _principal gatehouse_ is to the east, and opens upon the -churchyard, which forms the counterscarp of the ditch. It is -quadrangular, 20 feet broad by 24 feet deep, of which 16 feet project -beyond the curtain. A passage cut through a low bank of earth thrown -up outside the ditch led from the churchyard towards the portal. A -causeway now occupies the place of the drawbridge, the chains for -lifting which passed through two holes seen in the spandrels of the -gateway. The entrance is 6 feet broad, beneath a pointed arch set in -a square-headed recess, intended to house the bridge when lifted. The -first defence was a portcullis, the groove of which is large, and -intended for a wooden grate, and behind it was a door. The passage was -covered in by a plain vault. On the right is a well-stair ascending to -the roof; on the left, a sort of lodge, the two windows of which look -into the court. The inner archway has fallen, as has the vault. - -The gatehouse had two upper floors, each 20 feet by 10 feet. The first, -the portcullis chamber, has a window at each end, and two in each side. -In the south wall is a fireplace. From this chamber a mural stair leads -to the rampart of the south curtain. That of the north curtain is -reached from the well-staircase. The second floor of the gatehouse -has a window in each face. The floor of this room and the roof were of -timber, and are gone. The gatehouse is probably of the reign of Richard -II. The windows are Tudor insertions. - -[Illustration: COYTY CASTLE.—GROUND PLAN. - -Wyman & Sons. Gᵗ Queen Sᵗ London.] - -The _northern gatehouse_, that between the outer and inner wards, -is destroyed; but the foundations show a passage 9 feet broad by 33 -feet deep, which seems to have traversed a mass of buildings 84 feet -broad by 30 feet to 40 feet deep. Of this, the part to the west of the -portal, was a nearly rectangular building, 30 feet by 22 feet, having -an entrance from the passage, and in its south wall a mural staircase. -East of the portal is a much larger building still in part standing, -and which seems to have been the keep. - -The _keep_ is nearly rectangular, 37 feet by 40 feet, having at its -eastern end a projection into the ditch, 18 feet by 24 feet. This -projection contained in its basement a plain vault, 15 feet by 9 feet, -with two loops; and a culvert, probably a garderobe, has its vent -below a recess in the north wall. This recess was probably a prison. -The basement of the keep is occupied by a chamber, 28 feet by 22 feet, -at the ground level, and vaulted in eight cells, the ribs forming -which spring to and from a central eight-sided pier. The arches are -pointed. There are two loops in this chamber, and three doors,—one from -the court, set in a square-headed recess; a second into the vaulted -accessory chamber; and a third to a postern opening into the ditch, and -by a mural stair to the chamber above. - -The first floor also is composed of two chambers, both vaulted, and the -ribs of the large chamber spring from an octagonal pier resting upon -that below. There was a second, and a third story roofed with timber. -The fireplaces were in the north wall, and the windows in the north and -east walls, and of moderate size and Tudor pattern. This tower seems of -early Decorated date. A part of it has recently fallen. - -The _round tower_ is altogether a very curious and a very unusual -structure. It is placed on the south-west front of the inner ward. -It is 18 feet diameter, but projects into the ditch 22 feet, being -connected with the curtain by a neck of wall 14 feet broad. It is -lofty, having a basement and three upper floors. The basement is a huge -vaulted receptacle for sewage, with an outlet to the south. The two -upper floors are alike in dimensions and use, being 9 feet by 7 feet, -and lighted by narrow loops, three on each floor. They are vaulted, and -contain garderobes, with shafts into the vault below. The third story -had a flat wooden roof, now gone. A well-stair led to the battlements. -Laterally, the upper part of this tower is widened by a pair of cheeks -resting on a row of corbels, so as to give greater space within. On the -east side of this tower, at its base and junction with the curtain, is -a postern of 3 feet opening, from which a vaulted staircase ascended -to the domestic buildings. This door is protected by a mass of masonry -filling up the hollow angles above it, and machicolated at its summit. -This part of the castle seems of the age of Henry III. - -The whole southern side of the court, from gatehouse to gatehouse, is -occupied by the remains of the domestic buildings. The hall seems to -have had a vaulted basement, 26 feet by 19 feet in plan, with plain -ribs springing from two piers, and to have been on the first floor, -with windows in the curtain. A long chamber east of the hall, with a -long east window, seems to represent the chapel, also on the first -floor. In this quarter some excavations made by the late Lord Dunraven -have shown the stairs leading to the postern, and some vaulted cellars, -and probably the kitchen. All these buildings are of an early Decorated -character, and have been much altered in the Tudor period. - -The curtain-wall, from the keep to the great gatehouse, is about 20 -feet high, and is of the age of the gatehouse, and later than the wall -elsewhere. Near the gatehouse it is 20 feet thick. Part of its parapet, -6 feet, and rear wall, 5 feet high, remain. The former is bracketed out -on corbels, most of which are removed newels from an older well-stair. -This part of the curtain is reached from the gatehouse, and has no -communication with the keep. Of the same date with this curtain is -the wall on the other side of the gatehouse, southwards for about 16 -yards, when there is a junction with the older wall. This part of the -curtain is polygonal outside, and curved within, and externally about -40 feet high. Beyond, or northward of the round tower, the height of -the curtain is 60 feet, and it is pierced with windows belonging to -the hall and other apartments. There remains also, on the wall, a -lofty chimney. Towards the junction of this curtain with the wall of -the outer ward it is connected with a sort of gallery, looped towards -the field, and intended for the defence of the hollow angle where the -three walls meet. The dividing wall between the inner and outer ward is -nearly destroyed, and does not seem to have been strong. - -The well is in the open court, 4 feet diameter, circular, and rudely -walled. - -The outer ward does not present any very noteworthy features. Its -south wall is low, and pierced with windows, as of lodgings. The north -wall is strongly buttressed outside. There was an outer gateway in the -western wall, now broken down. It seems to have been a mere opening in -the wall, without a gatehouse, but flanked by a pair of buttresses. The -walls of this ward are about 20 feet high. The northern front of the -outer ward, being naturally weak, has been protected by a double ditch, -the contents of which are thrown outwards, and form banks. The ditches -are dry. In a field to the north-east are some banks and ditches which -may have been thrown up when the castle was attacked. - -The castle has little to boast of either in material or workmanship. It -is mainly built of lias rubble, but the round tower is of sandstone. -The mortar generally is of inferior quality, and there is but -little ashlar. The roofs were covered with slabs of fissile sand or -tile-stone. The southern curtain is probably the oldest part of the -castle. It is composed of large boulder or popple-stones, necessarily -with very open joints. In it are two small trefoil-headed windows of -early English or early Decorated date, which appear to be original. -They open from the vaulted chamber beneath the hall. The angles of the -curtain are quoined with Sutton stone. The castle, built probably in -the early English and Decorated periods, seems to have been thoroughly -restored and repaired late in the Perpendicular period. It is fast -going to decay, and large portions of it have fallen since 1832. It -is the property of the Earl of Dunraven; but the ditch belongs to Mr. -Nicholl, of Merthyr Mawr, and was planted by his grandfather, the -eminent judge. - - END OF VOL. I. - - WYMAN AND SONS, PRINTERS, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C. - - - FOOTNOTES: - -[1] “By writ of May 30, 1225, the king orders Godescall de Maghelines -to enjoin all persons who have fortalices (_motas_) in the valley of -Montgomery, to strengthen the same with wooden turrets (_bretaschiis_) -for their own security and the defence of these parts.”—_Eyton’s -Antiquities of Shropshire_, xi., p. 134. - -[2] Dr. Simpson, whose opinion on such a subject carries great weight, -attributes this keep to the reign of Stephen, the end of the Norman -period. - -[3] The tower at Warwick is 105 feet high and 38 feet diameter; a -polygon of twelve sides, with five vaulted stories. - -[4] “Dictionnaire de l’Architecture,” tom. vi. “Hourd.” - - - Transcriber’s Notes: - - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by equals is in bold (=bold=). - - Blank pages have been removed. - - Redundant title and printer information pages have been removed. - - Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEDIÆVAL MILITARY ARCHITECTURE IN -ENGLAND *** - -***** This file should be named 64187-0.txt or 64187-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/1/8/64187/ - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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- margin-top: inherit; - line-height: inherit; - } - - /* === Transcriber's notes === */ - .transnote { - background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size: smaller; - padding: 0.5em; - margin-bottom: 5em; - font-family: sans-serif, serif; - } - - </style> -</head> - -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Mediæval Military Architecture in England, by George Thomas Clark</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Mediæval Military Architecture in England</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: George Thomas Clark</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 02, 2021 [eBook #64187]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: MWS, Robert Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEDIÆVAL MILITARY ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND ***</div> - - <div class="figcenter epub-hide"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <div class="titlepage"> - <div class="figcenter illow80"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_title.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <h1> - MEDIÆVAL MILITARY<br /> - ARCHITECTURE<br /> - <span class="small">IN</span><br /> - ENGLAND. - </h1> - - <div class="xlarge"><span class="smcap">By</span> <span class="gespertt2">GEO. T. CLARK.</span></div> - - <div class="mt5">VOL. I.</div> - - <div class="small mt5">WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.</div> - - <div class="center-container small mt5"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i2">. . . . . Time</div> - <div class="i0">Has moulder’d into beauty many a tower,</div> - <div class="i0">Which, when it frown’d with all its battlements,</div> - <div class="i0">Was only terrible. . . . . —<span class="smcap">Mason.</span></div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <div class="lh1 mt6 mb1">LONDON:<br /> - <span class="large">WYMAN & SONS, 74–76, GREAT QUEEN STREET,</span><br /> - <span class="small">LINCOLN’S-INN FIELDS, W.C.</span> - </div> - - <hr class="short" /> - <div class="mt1 mb2"> 1884.</div> - </div> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="center lh3"> - <span>TO</span><br /> - <span class="xlarge">E. A. FREEMAN, <span class="smcap">Esq.</span></span><br /> - <span>THE HISTORIAN OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST,</span><br /> - <span class="gespertt1 sansserif"><b>THESE PAPERS,</b></span><br /> - <span class="small">COLLECTED AND PUBLISHED AT HIS SUGGESTION,</span><br /> - <span class="small">IN THEIR PRESENT FORM,</span><br /> - <span class="small sansserif"><b>ARE APPROPRIATELY INSCRIBED.</b></span> - </div> - - <hr class="page" /> - - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE"><span class="gespertt2 xlarge">PREFACE</span>.</h2> - </div> - <div class="figcenter"> - <img class="p80" src="images/divider.png" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE articles comprehended in the present volumes were written at very - long intervals of time, some half a century ago, and printed in the - Transactions of various Societies in different and distant counties. - Many also appeared in the <cite>Builder</cite> newspaper. Each paper was - intended to be complete in itself, and was written with no expectation - that they would ever be collected and reprinted as one work. This - I mention to account for, and I hope in some degree to excuse, the - occasioned iteration of certain views concerning the connexion between - the banks and earthworks, the moated mounds of the ninth century, and - the buildings in masonry afterwards placed upon them,—which the Author - was the first to set forth, and which are explained at length in the - Introduction.</p> - - <p>The latter and greater part of the work is occupied by minute, and, - it is hoped, generally accurate accounts of most of the principal - castles of England, and of one or two of a typical character in France - and Scotland. The account of Caerphilly was drawn up in 1834. It was, - I believe, the first attempt to treat, in a scientific and accurate - manner, the plans and details of a great mediæval fortress.</p> - - <p>My cordial thanks are due to the editors of the various Archæological - Journals in which the original papers appeared, and especially to the - late editor of the <cite>Builder</cite>, Mr. Godwin. I have also especially - to thank an old friend and school-fellow, Mr. Murray, of Albemarle - Street, for leave to reprint the paper on the Tower of London, and for - the use of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">viii</span> woodcuts with which he so liberally embellished the - original in his “Old London.”</p> - - <p>To Mr. Freeman my obligations are of a different and less personal - character. Other historians have visited the scenes of events which - they were about to describe, but no one has shown himself so familiar - with the ancient divisions, civil, ecclesiastical, and military, - of English ground, and with the buildings connected with them. - His accomplishments as a topographer and as a master of mediæval - architecture are peculiar to himself among historians, and materials - which in their original form are dry and uninstructive give, in his - hands, weight and substance to some of his most brilliant sketches. As - a collector of some of these materials, I have often felt surprise and - delight at the use to which they have been applied; and, although my - work has been rather that of a quarryman or brickmaker, I am sometimes - led almost to regard myself as sharing in the glory of the architect.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">ix</span> - <h2 class="nobreak xlarge" id="CONTENTS_OF_VOL_I"><span class="gespertt2">CONTENTS OF VOL</span>.<span class="gespertt2"> I</span>.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="figcenter"> - <img class="p80" src="images/divider.png" alt="" /> - </div> - - <table class="mb5" summary="Contents"> - <thead> - <tr> - <th class="xsmall">CHAPTER.</th> - <th> </th> - </tr> - </thead> - <tbody> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>I.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>II.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">Earthworks of the Post-Roman and English Periods</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>III.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">Of the Castles of England at the Conquest and under the Conqueror</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>IV.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">Of the Political Value of Castles under the Successors of the Conqueror</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>V.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">The Political Influence of Castles in the Reign of Henry II.</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>VI.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">The Castles of England and Wales at the latter part of the Twelfth Century</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>VII.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">The same subject continued</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>VIII.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">The same subject concluded</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>IX.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">The Rectangular Keep of a Norman Castle</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>X.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">Of the Shell Keep</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>XI.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">Castles of the early English Period</span></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"> - <div>XII.</div> - </td> - <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">Of the Edwardian or Concentric Castles</span></a></td> - </tr> - </tbody> - </table> - - <hr class="h20" /> - - <ul class="index"> - <li class="indx"><a href="#ALNWICK"><span class="smcap">Alnwick Castle, Northumberland</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#ARQUES"><span class="smcap">Arques Castle, near Dieppe</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#ARUNDEL"><span class="smcap">Arundel Castle, Sussex</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BARNARD"><span class="smcap">Barnard Castle</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BEAUMARIS"><span class="smcap">Beaumaris Castle, Anglesey</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BEDFORD"><span class="smcap">Bedford Castle</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BERKHAMPSTEAD"><span class="smcap">Berkhampstead Castle, Herts</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BERKELEY"><span class="smcap">Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BODIHAM"><span class="smcap">Bodiham Castle, Sussex</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BORTHWICK"><span class="smcap">Borthwick Tower, Midlothian</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BOVES"><span class="smcap">Bôves Castle</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BOWES"><span class="smcap">Bowes Castle</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BRAMBER"><span class="smcap">Bramber Castle, Sussex</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">x</span><a href="#BRIDGENORTH"><span class="smcap">Bridgenorth, Oldbury, and Quatford, Shropshire</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BRONLLYS"><span class="smcap">Bronllys Tower, Brecknockshire</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BROUGH"><span class="smcap">Brough and Brougham Castles, Westmoreland</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#BUILTH"><span class="smcap">Builth Castle, Brecknockshire</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CAERNARVON"><span class="smcap">Caernarvon Castle</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CAERPHILLY"><span class="smcap">Caerphilly Castle, Glamorgan</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CARDIFF"><span class="smcap">Cardiff Castle, Glamorgan</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CARLISLE"><span class="smcap">Carlisle Castle</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#COCH"><span class="smcap">Castell Coch, Glamorgan</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#RISING"><span class="smcap">Castle Rising, Norfolk</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#GAILLARD"><span class="smcap">Château-Gaillard, Normandy</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CHRISTCHURCH"><span class="smcap">Christchurch Castle, Hants</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CLIFFORD"><span class="smcap">Clifford Castle, Herefordshire</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CLITHEROE"><span class="smcap">Clitheroe Keep, Lancashire</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CLUN"><span class="smcap">Clun Castle, Shropshire</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#COCKERMOUTH"><span class="smcap">Cockermouth Castle, Cumberland</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#COLCHESTER"><span class="smcap">Colchester Castle</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CONISBOROUGH"><span class="smcap">Conisborough Castle</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CONWAY"><span class="smcap">Conway Castle</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#CORFE"><span class="smcap">Corfe Castle, Dorset</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#COUCY"><span class="smcap">Coucy-le-Château</span></a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#COYTY"><span class="smcap">Coyty Castle, Glamorgan</span></a></li> - </ul> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">xi</span> - <h2 class="nobreak xlarge" id="ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOL_I"><span class="gespertt1">ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL</span>. <span class="gespertt1">I</span>.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="figcenter"> - <img class="p80" src="images/divider.png" alt="" /> - </div> - - <ul class="index"> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i185"><span class="smcap">Alnwick Castle</span>, Plan of</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i189"><span class="smcap">Arques</span>, Castle of, Plan of the</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i206"><span class="smcap">Barnard Castle</span>, Plan of</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i208">The Keep</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i213"><span class="smcap">Beaumaris Castle</span>, Ground Plan</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i214">Entrance</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i215">Bird’s-eye View</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i225"><span class="smcap">Berkhampstead Castle</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i229"><span class="smcap">Berkeley Castle</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i232">Keep</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i248"><span class="smcap">Borthwick Tower</span>: Section</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i249">Plan of First-floor and Basement</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i260"><span class="smcap">Bowes Castle</span>, Plan of First Floor and Ground Floor</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i268"><span class="smcap">Bramber Castle</span>, Plan and Section</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i274"><span class="smcap">Bridgenorth Castle</span>, Plan of Keep</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i287"><span class="smcap">Brough Castle</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i295"><span class="smcap">Brougham Castle</span>, Ground Plan</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i297">Ground Plan of Keep</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i301">Keep, Vertical Section</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i302">Keep, from the South-West</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i307"><span class="smcap">Builth Castle</span>, Ground Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i313"><span class="smcap">Caernarvon Castle</span>, Bird’s-eye View</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i314">Battlements, Eagle Tower</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i320"><span class="smcap">Caerphilly Castle</span></a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i320fp">Ground Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i341"><span class="smcap">Cardiff Castle</span>, Ground Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i352"><span class="smcap">Carlisle Castle</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i366"><span class="smcap">Castle Rising</span>, Plan of Keep</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i367">Plan of Upper Floor</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i382"><span class="smcap">Château-Gaillard</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i386"><span class="smcap">Christchurch Castle</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i398"><span class="smcap">Clitheroe Keep</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i399">Section</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i404"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">xii</span><span class="smcap">Clun Castle</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i410"><span class="smcap">Cockermouth Castle</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i424"><span class="smcap">Colchester Castle</span>, Plans of Ground Floor and First Floor</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i432"><span class="smcap">Conisborough Castle</span>, Plan of Castle and Earthworks</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i434">Ascent from the Gatehouse</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i435">Pilasters as seen from the Outside</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i436">Detail of the Base of one of the Buttresses of the Keep</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i437">Keep from outside the Curtain</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i437fp">View of the Keep as at Present</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i438">Keep</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i439">Plan, First Floor</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i440">Plan, Second Floor</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i441">Window in Second Floor</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i442fp">Interior of the Keep</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i442">Plan, Third Floor</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i443">Capitals of Centre Arch, North Side</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i443fp">Interior of the Oratory or Chapel</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i444">Plan at Rampart Level</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i446">Suggested Original Appearance</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i455"><span class="smcap">Conway Castle</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i456">Bird’s-eye View</a></li> - <li class="ditto">Ditto <a href="#i459">Bird’s-eye View of the Town</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i464"><span class="smcap">Corfe Castle</span>, Sections of Lodge Door</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i481"><span class="smcap">Coucy Castle</span>, Plan</a></li> - <li class="indx"><a href="#i488"><span class="smcap">Coyty Castle</span>, Ground Plan</a></li> - </ul> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">INTRODUCTION.</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE art of construction in Europe from the fall of the Roman empire to - the dawn of the Reformation, though of late years much and successfully - investigated, has been approached almost exclusively from its - ecclesiastical side. This was, for many reasons, to be expected. The - service of the altar justified, perhaps required, the highest degree - of taste in the design of the temple, and the utmost richness in its - ornamentation. Moreover, the greater number of our ecclesiastical - buildings are still in use, and even the remains of those that are - in decay, being chiefly monastic, are interesting from the intimate - connexion of their foundations and endowments with early piety and - learning, and from the evidence supplied by their records of the - descent of landed property and of the ancestry of the older historic - families of the country.</p> - - <p>The coëval military structures exhibit, generally, no such splendours - of design or excellence of execution, nor do they awaken such - sympathies in our breasts. The parish church is the common concern - of all who worship within its walls, or whose dead are laid within - its sacred precinct; but the castle, always a dangerous and unpopular - neighbour, and often associated with local tyranny or the disasters - of war, was in most instances ruined or swept away with the general - use of gunpowder, and even where preserved, its narrow dimensions and - inconvenient arrangements, particulars more or less essential to its - value as a place of defence, rendered it, except in a few instances, - unfit for a modern residence, and have thus tended to sever it still - more completely from the current sympathies and interests of humanity. - Nevertheless, there is in these structures, obsolete as they are, or - because they are obsolete,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span> much to attract those who care to know of - the life and customs of former generations. Many of these buildings - were the work and residence of persons who have left their mark - upon the history of our country. Some, as York, Lincoln, Norwich, - Dover, Rochester, Chester, Colchester, Wallingford, have been the - seats of Saxon thanes or Danish jarls, succeeding a Roman or perhaps - British occupant; others, as Bamborough, Taunton, Sarum, Tutbury, - and Hereford, are associated with the earliest, most celebrated, or - most patriotic of our purely English kings; others, as the Tower, - Windsor, Winchester, Berkeley, Pontefract, Newark, Carisbrook, were the - scene of the splendours of our greatest or the miseries of our most - unfortunate monarchs; some, as Oxford, Northampton, Lewes, Kenilworth, - are connected with great constitutional struggles between prince and - subject; some, as Exeter, Bedford, Rochester, Pembroke, Chepstow, and - Raglan, remind us of bloody combats and sieges from the times of the - Conqueror to those of Charles the First. Some castles, as Sherborne, - the Devizes, Malmesbury, Wolvesley, Newark, Farnham, Norham, and - Durham, were constructed by lordly ecclesiastics who brought the arm - of the soldier to support the brain of the priest and statesman; some - again, as Hedingham, Bungay, Axholm, Alnwick, Raby, Tonbridge, Warwick, - Wigmore, Powderham, Goderich, and Helmsley, are intimately bound up - with the great baronial names of De Vere, Bigot, Mowbray, Percy, - Neville, Clare, Beauchamp, Mortimer, Courtenay, Talbot, and De Ros, - those “ancient stocks that so long withstood the waves and weathers - of time.” Ludlow is identified with the fairest creation of Milton’s - genius; Caerleon and Tintadgel glitter bright in mediæval romance; - while Shrewsbury, Chester, the Welsh castles, Carlisle, Newcastle, - Prudhoe, Ford, Hermitage, Jedburgh, Berwick, and a host of subordinate - towers and peels, are celebrated in Marchman’s warfare or Border - Minstrelsy, and played a part in the politic but unjust aggressions of - our earlier Henrys and Edwards.</p> - - <p>The histories and remains of these fortresses are full of interest - to the antiquary, whether his branch of study be legal, social, - architectural, or military. Almost all the most important of our - English castles date, in some form or other, from remote antiquity, - and their associations were of slow growth, and deeply rooted in - many centuries of the national history. Most were the centres of - estates which had become great in the course of many generations, and - for the protection of which they were established; and the tenure - and services of the tenantry had grown up gradually, so that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span> - castle, or rather the fortified hall, was closely connected with the - institutions, laws, and customs of the estate, or it might be the - shire, wapentake, rape, or hundred, of which it was the defence. Such - castles as Belvoir, Clitheroe, Gloucester, Totnes, Dunster, Hastings, - Bramber, and Tickhill, were the “capita” or chief seats of ancient - sokes, honours, and baronies, having peculiar privileges within their - garths and demesnes, with manorial dependencies scattered through many - counties, and accumulated in some considerable degree even before - the Norman era. Many of the lands were held, even in Saxon times, by - the ancient tenure of military service, which, reduced into a system - under the Norman kings, often took the form of guarding and keeping in - repair some specified part of the lord’s castle, a tower, gate-house, - hall, or wall, to be paid either in person as castle-guard, or by the - commutation known as ward-silver. Something like castle-guard appears - indeed in the history of Norwich castle as early as the seventh - century, and it was common in the tenth. Like the castle of Chester, - that of Durham was the seat of an Earl-Palatine, the subject of the - grim humour of Cœur-de-Lion, who of an aged Bishop made a young Earl, - whose successors, more fortunate than those of their lay brother, - preserved their Earldom and its more than Vice-regal appendages almost - unshorn till the Reformation, and with a splendid remnant of judicial - and social power to our own day; and indeed, even now, though his mitre - no longer springs out of a coronet, nor is his crozier as formerly - combined with a sword, and though the baronial hall has been liberally - surrendered for the purposes of education, the lord of Durham is not - altogether wanting in pride of place, nor reduced, as yet, even to - episcopal poverty.</p> - - <p>The “Registrum Honoris de Richmond,” a very curious Custumary, - specifies the precise part in that castle that each tenant was to - defend. At Belvoir, Staunton tower, at Berkeley, Thorpe’s tower, are - so called because families of those names were responsible for them, - and at Dover, Magminot and a score of other towers still bear the names - of the chief tenants of that important lordship, and thus preserve the - memory of a tenure the substance of which has long been abolished. The - connexion between the military tenant and his lord was intimate, and - much imbued with the ancient Teutonic equality and independence. The - lord held his “aula” for his own safety and that of his tenants; their - mutual support gave power to the one and security to the others; no man - was degraded by such a tenure. The most powerful barons were almost - always also tenants holding fiefs under other lords, often far their - inferiors in rank and power.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span></p> - - <p>It is this ancient history, this connexion with the earliest works of - defence, that gives so great an interest to the older castles. When, in - later days, and under extraordinary circumstances, it suited the king - or some great baron to erect a castle in a new place, the fabric had no - root, no associations. The grand characteristic of an old castle, the - mighty earthwork, was wanting, and its place was ill supplied by masses - of masonry and a ditch of moderate dimensions. No tenants clustered - round the place, to it no manors were attached, no dependents held - lands by the tenure of its defence. Thus Bere, Beaumaris, Caernarvon, - Diganwy, Conway, Harlech, and Caerphilly, grand structures as were most - of them, were mere intrusions upon the soil, and when the need that - produced them ceased, as they represented no private estate, and were - the residence of no great baron, they were left to fall into decay. - Not the less are they of great architectural interest. They are mostly - of one date, laid out and constructed upon one plan. Though intended - for military purposes, within the palace shares with the fortress. The - accommodation afforded is ample, the main apartments are spacious, the - ornamentation rich. The inner court, gatehouses, and hall of Caerphilly - are grander than anything of the sort in Britain.</p> - - <p>The castles of a still later period, when built on new sites, were - scarcely Castles in the military sense of the term. They were not - posted for the defence of a March or a threatened district, but - for the residence, more or less secure, of the lord, usually of - a newly-acquired estate, very often purchased with the ransoms - of prisoners taken in the French wars. Even where the castle - most predominated, as at Bodiham, built, as Arundel was largely - repaired, with the spoils of war, or at Tattershal, they were rather - palace-castles than castle-palaces, and this was especially the case - with Bolton, Wressil, and Sheriff-Hutton, works of the latter part - of the fourteenth century. In such works the salient towers, loops, - embattled parapets, and bold machicolations, are introduced partly for - their appearance, partly from custom, but scarcely for any military - purpose.</p> - - <p>To the student of military architecture, or of the art of the defence - of strong places before the introduction of gunpowder, the ground-plans - of defensive works and the details of castellated architecture of - every period are interesting; sometimes they are to be admired for the - grandeur of their earthworks or the enormous strength of their walls; - sometimes for their happily-selected site and the skilful disposition - of their arrangements for a flanking defence; or, as at Arques, Dover,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span> - Sarum, and Windsor, for their subterranean outlets and countermines. - Some, as Clitheroe and Peak, were structures purely military, intended - to contain only a captain and a small garrison, and provided with - scanty accommodation, and quite destitute of ornament; in others, as - Ludlow, Caerphilly, and Beaumaris, the interior arrangements were on a - scale and of a character to accommodate a Royal Court. Even where the - walls are destroyed, there often remain, in the earthworks, traces of - a much earlier people than the Normans, a people who, as at Old Sarum, - Castle-acre, Marlborough, Clare, Tonbridge, and the Devizes, occupied - the ground with bank, ditch, and palisade, long before native skill - had attained to the construction of wall or tower. Finally, although - the stern necessities of war did not admit of the banded shafts, lofty - vault, or woven window-tracery of Tintern, or Fountains, or many a - less distinguished church, the ornamentation of the richer castles, as - Dover, Rochester, Hedingham, Newcastle, Knaresborough, Castle Rising, - and Coningsborough, is marked by a chastened fitness peculiar to such - works; and of the ruder and less ornate castles, the ruins of very - many present a savage grandeur which few who have visited Caerphilly, - Harlech, or Scarborough, can fail to appreciate; any more than that - union of strength with beauty so conspicuous in Chepstow, Raglan, and - Ludlow, which, enhanced by an illustrious history, attains its highest - perfection in Warwick.</p> - - <p>The history of such castles as are connected with public events - is seldom difficult to trace. They are mentioned by the ancient - chroniclers, and their repairs and various particulars concerning them - are often entered on the Pipe rolls, and in other of the records of the - realm. About a score, such as Arundel, Bamborough, Taunton, Wigmore, - and Hereford, are named in the Saxon annals, and in charters of the - eighth and following centuries; and others, though unnamed in these - authorities, may from their general similarity safely be attributed - to the same people and period. The castles on the Welsh Marches, as - Ludlow, Montgomery, Chester, Rhuddlan, Cardiff, Chepstow, and Pembroke, - had their special jurisdictions; their courts of law and of record; - their chancellor, chancery, and official seal; the lord’s “Vicecomes” - exercised powers of pit and gallows, and his court passed fines and - recoveries, and other early instruments for the conveyance of land. - In the northern Marches such castles as Norham, Prudhoe, Cockermouth, - Alnwick, Naworth, Caerlaverock, and Home, constructed for the defence - of an exposed frontier or a debatable district, the home of those - who lived by “snaffle, spur, and spear,” are commemorated in the - records of either<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span> country. Others were originally royal castles, as - Dover, Canterbury, Winchester, London, Nottingham, and York; or, as - Kenilworth, Bridgenorth, and Rochester, fell by escheat or forfeiture - into the hands of the crown, and so were maintained at the public - expense, and the cost of their repairs charged in the sheriffs’ - accounts of each county.</p> - - <p>However complete, and it is usually much the reverse, may be the - history of a castle, any knowledge we may desire as to its particulars - greatly depends upon what may remain of the structure, either in - masonry or earthworks, and to understand these the first thing - necessary is a plan, and this is just what is wanting in most guides - or handbooks of castles. With a good plan not only the age and much of - the details of any castle can be ascertained, but sometimes the work - recorded in the Pipe or Fabric rolls may be recognised. Original plans - indeed there are none; no doubt the military architects, like their - ecclesiastical brethren, drew and worked from designs and plans, but - these have not been preserved. No such thing is known to exist as an - original design or a working drawing of a Norman or even an Edwardian - castle. In ecclesiastical researches, from the known uniformity of the - arrangements, this want is scarcely felt, but the plan and details of - a castle vary with the disposition of the ground or the caprice of - the builder, and although a hall, a kitchen, a chapel, a well, and - a barrack are indispensable features in a castle, these parts have - nothing of the regularity of position of a nave or choir, a cloister, - a chapter-house, or a refectory. Nevertheless, great as is the variety - in both the plans and details of castles even of the same age, their - architects and engineers worked by certain rules, so that if these be - studied a clue will be obtained to the age of the work executed. The - dimensions, plan, and profile of the earthworks, the presence, absence, - or figure of the keep, the thickness of the walls, the plan, figure, - proportion and position of the mural towers, the character of the - entrance, the material employed, and the particulars of the masonry, - all, if carefully observed, afford a clue to the date of the building - or of some of its parts, so that as a general proposition, a Norman - castle may be known from one of the early English period, or from those - of the first or second Edward, and still more readily from those built - in the reign of Richard the Second. What these rules are, in what these - differences consist, will appear further on.</p> - - <p>Mediæval architecture has only been scientifically studied during - the last forty or fifty years, and military architecture for a still - shorter period. Rickman, who first taught us to read the date of - a building in its details, was induced to turn<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span> his attention to - architecture by the advice of Mr. Blore, who died but the other day.</p> - - <p>But Rickman, a member of the Society of Friends, scarcely notices - castles, and they have by no means shared in the flood of light - directed by Willis upon our cathedrals. Rickman’s rules, however, - apply as much to one class of buildings as to the other. What has been - done, and what has to be done, towards a history of the architecture - of castles, though aided by contemporary records and especially by - sheriffs’ accounts and Fabric rolls, has been mainly attained by - attention to the internal evidence afforded by the buildings themselves - and their earthworks. Even where the castle is a ruin, where the ashlar - casing has been stripped off, and little left but the rubble and - concrete of the interior of the walls, as at Bramber, Saffron-Walden, - and Thurnham, and the disintegrating effect of the weather has had full - play, it is not impossible, nor very often difficult, to detect the - general age of the several parts of the building by the thickness of - the walls and the character of the materials and workmanship, as well - as by the outline of the works. The absence of ornament and the general - removal of window-dressings and door-cases often, it is true, render - the absolute date difficult to discover, but even then, the general - figure of the openings, the rough contour of the arches, the position - and proportion of the buttresses may be detected, and a tolerably safe - conclusion formed. Perhaps, on the whole, the greatest difficulties the - military antiquary has to contend with are those where, as at Norwich, - Lancaster, York, Oxford, Caermarthen, or Haverfordwest, the building is - converted into a gaol, or where, as at Appleby and Chilham, it is part - of or attached to a modern residence. Warwick, so remarkable on many - accounts, is especially so for the skilful manner in which it has been - made suitable for modern habitation without materially obscuring its - ancient parts, and this merit may be claimed for Tamworth, and perhaps - for Raby.</p> - - <p>Our county historians are often diffuse upon the descent of a castelry, - and the particulars of its area and tenures, but their descriptions of - the buildings are seldom intelligible. Even Surtees, so distinguished - for the wealth and lucidity of his style, whose history of Durham - contains, entombed in folio, chapters that in a more accessible form - would have met with far more than antiquarian attention, never attempts - scientific description. Hunter, whose histories of Hallamshire and - of the Deanery of Doncaster are perfect as records of the descent of - families and property, is not at home in architectural detail; and even - Whitaker, who, with Hunter,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span> was quite aware of the interest which - attaches to earthworks, gives plans of but few of them, and says very - little about the details of the castles. To come down to the latest - period, even Raine, Hodgson, and Eyton, in their histories of Durham, - Northumberland, and Salop, so copious and so accurate in all matters - of record, pass by with but short notice the various earthworks and - castles in which those counties are so rich, and the details of which - would be so valuable. We look in vain in the pages of these writers for - any general conclusions as to the age, style, and points of resemblance - or difference between these works, points which certainly fall within - the province of the topographer.</p> - - <p>The great work of King, the “Munimenta Antiqua,” three-quarters of - a century or more older than most of the above, and full of absurd - theories, misplaced learning, and fanciful and incorrect descriptions, - recognises the importance of plans and details, and although those - given with great show of accuracy are often very incorrect, they are - worth a good deal, and with all its absurdities the book is on the - whole valuable.</p> - - <p>The “Vetusta Monumenta,” a work of the same school and period, - includes a few castles, and gives plans and sections of two, the Tower - and Hedingham, correctly, and in great detail. Unfortunately, these - large and needlessly expensive plates are accompanied by no proper - descriptions. The voluminous works of the industrious Britton include - very few castles, but what there are, as Rochester, Kenilworth, and - Castle Rising, are drawn and planned with extreme accuracy. The - drawings of Grose and the brothers Buck serve to show the condition of - many English castles a century ago, though the descriptions of Grose - are poor, and his drawings are by no means clear. Buck’s perspective - is very incorrect, but this allows of the bringing into view more of a - building than can really be seen at once, which has its advantages.</p> - - <p>Since the rise, during the last twenty years, of numerous county - archæological societies, castles have received more attention; but no - distinct work has appeared upon English castles, though many of the - most remarkable are noticed by Mr. Parker in his excellent works on - domestic architecture. More recently has appeared the book of the late - Mr. Wykeham Martin upon his ancestral castle of Ledes, a work not only - well illustrated and furnished with an excellent ground-plan, but in - which the architecture and arrangements of the fortress are treated in - a scientific manner, and his conclusions supported, in many instances, - by original documents.</p> - - <p>England contains many curious and some grand examples of military - architecture; but that insular position and those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span> industrious habits - which have given her internal peace have not been favourable to the - erection of fortresses of the larger class: for these we must pass to - the Continent, and especially to France. In France not only were the - works of imperial Rome of a grand and substantial character, but they - were adopted and employed by the people after the fall of the empire, - and both Franks and Visigoths, unlike our English Saxons, practised - the arts of attack and defence upon Roman principles, and remodelled - the older works to meet the later circumstances of the period. In the - southern provinces, especially, are still to be found castles and - fortified towns such as Tholouse, Narbonne, Beziers, and Carcassonne, - where the old Roman circumvallation has been preserved, and may still - be recognised amidst the additions and alterations of succeeding ages.</p> - - <p>Like the Romans, their successors made use of earthworks and of timber - both for attack and defence, and for permanent works employed masonry - of a very Roman character. Such accounts as have descended to us of - the great sieges of the Middle Ages show that the machines and methods - in use were those handed down by tradition from Rome, many of them - being such as Cæsar employed, while others were the same as those - sculptured on the column of Trajan or described by Vegetius. Mines and - countermines, battering-rams, balistæ, catapults, the cat, the mouse, - the sow, and a large family of devices for reaching under cover the - wall to be undermined, were all derived from Roman warfare, and were - employed, if not with the skill and discipline of Rome, with a degree - of vigour and boldness that was scarcely less effective.</p> - - <p>Moreover, the political circumstances of France were eminently - favourable to the construction of great military works. The great - duchies and scarcely subordinate kingdoms which afterwards composed - the French monarchy were, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, - independent states, each with an open frontier needing defences, and - with a brave and wealthy baronage very able and very willing to supply - them. Hence France contains within its present borders not only cities - of Roman origin and celebrated under the immediate successors of the - Romans, but the remains of the castle-palaces of the dukes and barons - of Normandy and Brittany; of Burgundy, Provence, Navarre, Flanders, - Anjou, and many a lesser province; and he is but little qualified to - judge of castles or of fortified mediæval cities who is unacquainted - with Arques, or Falaise, or Loches; Coucy or Château-Gaillard, or - Etampes; Carcassonne, Avignon, Villeneuve, or Beaucaire, or the - splendid restoration of Pierrefonds.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span></p> - - <p>The possession of these great works has drawn forth, though tardily, - a few writers capable of comprehending and describing them. Those in - Normandy are the subject of the well-known lectures of M. de Caumont, - delivered at Caen in 1830 and published in 1835. They contain a very - interesting section on military works, with plans and elevations - which, though roughly executed and on a small scale, are valuable; his - descriptions are clear, and his conclusions generally sound. Others, - before M. de Caumont, have described particular structures, but he - seems to have been the first to attempt a general classification based - upon a critical examination of the examples in his own province.</p> - - <p>Of detached writings, monographs, may be mentioned those of M. Deville - upon Château-Gaillard, Tancarville, and Arques, published in 1828, - 1834, and 1839. The first is particularly strong in its history of the - castle and of its famous siege, and the last excellent both in history - and description; and all three are accompanied by clear ground-plans.</p> - - <p>The great work of Viollet-le-Duc, though not confined to military - architecture, contains by much the most comprehensive, as well as the - most detailed, account of French castles yet given to the world; and - as, besides the general resemblance between all European castles, - those of the eleventh and twelfth centuries in Normandy are almost - counterparts of those of the same period, and often built by the same - nobles or their sons, in England, it has deservedly become our chief - authority. Also the castles of France, being on a larger scale and - often more perfect than our own, M. Le-Duc has been able to explain - more satisfactorily than could have been done here, certain details, - such, for example, as those of the gateway, drawbridge, and portcullis, - and especially of the timber superstructures for vertical defence, - known as “<i>hourdes</i>” and “<i>bretasches</i>,” terms represented - with us by the “hoard” of a London builder, and the “brattice” of - the mining engineer. M. Le-Duc’s work has given occasion and matter - for a small volume from the press of Mr. Parker. There is besides a - work in German, “<i>Geschichte der Militär-Architectur des fruhern - Mittelalters</i>,” by M. G. H. Krieg von Hochfelden, which contains - much of great interest concerning German castles, as well as a general - notice of those in France and England.</p> - - <p>Although military architecture in England, setting aside the works of - the Romans, begins with the age, and probably with the actual period, - of the Norman Conquest, the country contains numerous examples of - military works of an earlier, and in many instances no doubt of a - very remote, time. These works, executed in earth, or at least of - which no parts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span> but banks, mounds, and ditches remain, are sometimes - of great size, but usually of extreme simplicity of plan. Of most of - them, the Roman again excepted, the relative age is all that we can - hope to ascertain, but even from this knowledge we are at present - very far; and although it is probable that the simple encampments, of - irregular outline, and on high ground, are the work of the earliest - inhabitants of Britain, and those of circular or more regular outline, - having higher banks, and placed in more accessible positions, are the - works of the post-Roman period, yet the outlines are often so mixed, - and the arrangement of the mounds and banks so alike, that it cannot - always certainly be said what is sepulchral, what merely commemorative - or monumental, and what military; what the works of the earlier or - later Celts, what of the Saxons, what of their Danish conquerors, and - sometimes even, though not often, what is Roman.</p> - - <p>The particulars of these various earthworks, so different in plan - and extending over so many centuries, deserve a separate notice, and - therefore, though originally intended to have been here treated of, it - seemed more prudent to lay this branch of the subject aside for the - present, in the hope that it may be taken up when the completion of - the larger scale Ordnance Maps shall afford more accurate and copious - data than now can conveniently be procured. The subject, in fact, - should have entered into the instructions given to the officers of the - Survey, by which means we should at least have avoided the obscure and - sometimes contradictory system of nomenclature by which these works - have been designated at different periods of this great, and in most - respects admirable, national undertaking.</p> - - <p>But, although it be expedient here to pass by in silence those - earthworks, irregular, rectangular, or concentric, which have no direct - connexion with the subsequent castles of masonry, and therefore with - military architecture, there remain, nevertheless, certain earthworks - which are so connected, and which must therefore here be noticed, and - are of importance sufficient to require a separate chapter for their - consideration.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">EARTHWORKS OF THE POST-ROMAN AND ENGLISH PERIODS.</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">BUT little is recorded of the internal condition of Britain between - the departure of the Legions, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 411, and the arrival of - the Northmen in force thirty or forty years later; but whatever may - have been the effect of Roman dominion, or of the infusion of Roman - blood, upon the social or commercial character of the Britons, it is at - least certain that they had made little progress in the construction - of places of defence. The Romans dealt rather with the country than - with the people. The foreign trade under the Roman sway was no doubt - considerable, and much land was under cultivation, but the Britons - seem to have acquired but few of the Roman arts, and nothing of the - Roman discipline. Neither have their descendants, the Welsh, many - customs which can be traced distinctly to a Roman origin; and although - there are many words in their language which show its origin to be - cognate with the Latin, there are comparatively few which can, with - any probability, be shown to be derived from the Latin. How far - against the Scots and Picts they made use of Roman tactics or employed - Roman weapons is but little known. In defending themselves against - the Northmen they, no doubt, took advantage of the Roman walls at - Richborough and Lymne, and afterwards of Pevensey, but on the whole - with only temporary success; and from these they were driven back upon - the earthworks of their probably remote predecessors. There is not a - shadow of evidence that they constructed any new defensive works in - masonry upon the Roman models, or even repaired those that were left to - them in the same material.</p> - - <p>There do, however, remain certain earthworks which seem to be laid - out according to Roman rules, but which contain no traces of Roman - habitations, are not connected with great Roman roads, and the banks - and ditches of which are of greater height and depth than those - generally in use among the Romans in Britain, and which therefore - there seems reason to attribute to the post-Roman Britons. Such are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span> - Tamworth, Wareham, Wallingford, possibly Cardiff, though upon a - Roman road, and the additions to the Roman works at York. The name - Wallingford, “the ford of the Welsh,” may be quoted in support of - this view. It is difficult to understand how it is that there are no - remains in masonry which may be attributed to this period, for it is - impossible that with the example of the Romans before their eyes, and - a certain admixture of Roman blood in the veins of many of them, the - Britons should not have possessed something of the art of construction. - This difficulty does not occur in Gaul, whence the Romans were never - formally withdrawn. On the Continent indeed, generally, buildings are - found of all ages, from the Roman period downwards. Gregory of Tours, - in his “Historia Francorum,” written towards the end of the sixth - century, describes the fortified place of Merliar as of great extent - and strength, in which there were included a sweet-water lake, gardens, - and orchards; and M. de Caumont cites a description of an episcopal - castle on the Moselle in the same century, which was defended by thirty - towers, one of which contained a chapel, and was armed with a balista, - and within the place were cultivated lands and a water-mill; and there - were many such, like the defences of Carcassonne, of mixed Roman and - post-Roman work, that is, of work executed before and about the fifth - century.</p> - - <p>In Britain, the course of events was different. The Northmen, men of - the sea, and accustomed to life in the open air, had no sympathies with - the Celts, and utterly disdained what remained of Roman civilisation; - slaying or driving out the people, and burning and destroying the - Roman buildings, which, in consequence, are in England fragmentary, - and in most cases only preserved by having been covered up with earth - or incorporated into later structures. The Roman works were mostly - on too large a scale for the wants of new settlers, and even where - these occupied the Roman towns they cared not to restore or complete - the walls, but buried what remained of them in high earthen banks, - upon which they pitched their palisades, and within which they threw - up their moated citadels. The Northmen respected nothing, adopted - nothing. Their earliest mission was one of violence and destruction. - They appear, in the south and east at least, in a large measure to have - slain and driven out the people of the land, and to have abolished such - institutions as they possessed. But not the less did they carry with - them the seeds of other institutions of a far more vigorous and very - healthful character. Whether Saxons, Angles, or Jutes, though landing - on the shores of Britain in quite independent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span> parties, they had the - substance of their speech, their customs, and their gods in common. - They had the same familiarity with the sea, the same indisposition - to occupy Roman buildings, the same absence of all sympathy with the - native Britons. If they still held most of their lands in common, the - house and the homestead were already private property. Their family - ties were strong, as is shown in the nomenclature of their villages. As - they conquered, they settled, and practised agriculture, and as they - embraced Christianity they gradually established those divisions, civil - and ecclesiastical, sokes and rapes, tythings, hundreds, wapentakes, - and parishes, which still remain to attest the respect to which they - had attained for law and order, for the rights of private property, and - their capacity for self-government.</p> - - <p>Much akin to, and before long to be incorporated into the English - nation, were the Norsemen from the seaboard country north of the Elbe, - the Danes of English history and of local tradition, who in the eighth - century played the part of the Saxons in the fifth. They scoured the - same seas, and harassed the Saxons as the Saxons had harassed the - Britons, only the invaders and the invaded being, generally, of the - same blood, finally coalesced, and the distinctions between them became - well-nigh effaced; still, for three centuries, the ninth, tenth, and - eleventh, the Danish name was the terror of the British Isles. They - infested every strand, anchored in every bay, ascended every river, - penetrated and laid waste the interior of the country.</p> - - <p>Orkney is full of their traces, their language is the key to the - topographical nomenclature of Caithness, the gigantic works at - Flamborough Head are attributed to them; the great cutting, by which - they carried a branch of the Thames across Southwark, is on record. In - the year <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1000, Ethelred found them forming much of the - population of Cumberland. Such terminations as <i>eye</i>, <i>ness</i>, - <i>holm</i>, and <i>by</i>, so common along the shores of England, - or over the lands watered by the Trent and the Humber, the Tees and - the Tyne, and not unknown on the western coast, show the extent and - permanence of their settlements. It does not, however, appear that the - Danish earthworks differed materially from those thrown up by the other - northern nations in England. Camps tending to the circular form and - headlands fortified by segmental lines of bank and ditch belong to all, - and all when they settled and acquired property underwent very similar - changes in their habits and modes of life. - </p> - - <p>No doubt, among the earlier works of the Northmen, those thrown up to - cover their landing and protect their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span> ships, were the semicircular - lines of ditch and bank found on capes and headlands and projecting - cliffs on various parts of the sea-coast. Usually they are of limited - area, as the invaders came commonly in very small bodies, but the - Flamborough entrenchment has a line of bank and ditch three and a half - miles long, of a most formidable character, and including a very large - area.</p> - - <p>Along the coast of South Wales are many small camps, probably of - Danish origin, such as Sully, Porthkerry, Colhugh, Dunraven, Pennard, - Penmaen, five others on the headland of Gower, and five or six along - the southern shore of Pembrokeshire. Besides these material traces - of the invaders, are a long list of such names as Haverford (fiord), - Stackpole, Hubberton, Angle, Hubberston, Herbrandston, Gateholm, - Stockholm, Skomer, Musselwick, Haroldston, Ramsey, Strumble, Swansea, - savouring intensely of the Baltic. The Dinas’ Head between Newport - and Fishguard bays, though bearing a Welsh name, is fortified by an - entrenchment due without doubt to the Northmen.</p> - - <p>These and similar works evidently belong to the earlier period of - the northern invasions, when the long black galleys of the vikings - visited at not infrequent intervals the British and Irish shores, - before they settled in either land. In the fifth and sixth centuries - settlements began to be formed in Britain, and speedily assumed - dimensions very formidable to the natives. The south-eastern coast of - Britain, infested even in Roman times by the sea-rovers, and thence - known as the Saxon shore, had been fortified by the Romans, but the - works, intrinsically strong, were too weak in British hands to stem - the progress of the foe. In <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 530, Cerdic and Cynric took - the Isle of Wight, and slew many Britons at a place where Wightgar was - afterwards buried, and where he probably threw up the work which bore - his name, and afterwards, as now, was known as Carisbroke. In 547, - Ida, the “flame-bearer” of the Welsh bards, founded Bebbanburgh, now - Bamborough, and enclosed it first by a hedge [hegge], and afterwards - by a wall; and in 552 Cynric engaged the Britons at Sorbiodunum, - afterwards Searo-burh, and now Old Sarum; as did in 571 Cuthwulf or - Cutha at Bedcanford or Bedford, in each of these two latter places, - as at Carisbroke and probably at Twynham or Christchurch, throwing - up the works which yet remain. The conquest of the Romano-British - cities of Cirencester, Bath, and Gloucester, and the whole left bank - of the Severn, from the Avon of Bristol to that of Worcester, was - the immediate consequence of the victory of Deorham in 571, and was - followed by the possession<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> of Pengwern, afterwards Shrewsbury, a most - important post, and one by means of which the Mercians, and after them - the Normans, held the Middle March of Wales. All along the line from - Christchurch and Carisbroke, by Berkeley and Gloucester, Worcester, - Warwick and Shrewsbury, earthworks were then thrown up, most of which - are still to be seen.</p> - - <p>With the social changes among the invaders changed also the character - of their military, or rather of their mixed military and domestic, - works. The British encampments, intended for the residence of a tribe - having all things in common, were, both in position and arrangements, - utterly unsuited to the new inhabitants. The Roman stations, intended - for garrisons, save where they formed part of an existing city, were - scarcely less so, nor were the earlier works of the Northmen suited - to their later wants. These were mostly of a hasty character, thrown - up to cover a landing or to hold at bay a superior force. No sooner - had the strangers gained a permanent footing in a district than their - operations assumed a different character. Their ideas were not, like - those of the Romans, of an imperial character; they laid out no great - lines of road, took at first no precautions for the general defence or - administration of the country. Self-government prevailed. Each family - held and gave name to its special allotment. This is the key to the - plan of the later and great majority of purely English earthworks. They - were not intended for the defence of a tribe or territory, nor for the - accommodation of fighting men, but for the centre and defence of a - private estate, for the accommodation of the lord and his household, - for the protection of his tenants generally, should they be attacked, - and for the safe housing, in time of war, of their flocks and herds.</p> - - <p>These works, thrown up in England in the ninth and tenth centuries, - are seldom, if ever, rectangular, nor are they governed to any great - extent by the character of the ground. First was cast up a truncated - cone of earth, standing at its natural slope, from twelve to even - fifty or sixty feet in height. This “mound,” “motte,” or “burh,” the - “Mota” of our records, was formed from the contents of a broad and - deep circumscribing ditch. This ditch, proper to the mound, is now - sometimes wholly or partially filled up, but it seems always to have - been present, being in fact the parent of the mound. Berkhampstead is - a fine example of such a mound, with the original ditch. At Caerleon, - Tickhill, and Lincoln it has been in part filled up; at Cardiff it was - wholly so, but has recently been most carefully cleared out, and its - original<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span> depth and breadth are seen to have been very formidable. - Though usually artificial, these mounds are not always so. Durham, - Launceston, Montacute, Dunster, Restormel, Nant cribba, are natural - hills; Windsor, Tickhill, Lewes, Norwich, Ely, and the Devizes, are - partly so; at Sherborne and Hedingham the mound is a natural platform, - scarped by art; at Tutbury, Pontefract and Bramber, where the natural - platform was also large, it has been scarped, and a mound thrown up - upon it.</p> - - <p>Connected with the mound is usually a base court or enclosure, - sometimes circular, more commonly oval or horseshoe-shaped, but if - of the age of the mound always more or less rounded. This enclosure - had also its bank and ditch on its outward faces, its rear resting on - the ditch of the mound, and the area was often further strengthened - by a bank along the crest of the scarp of the ditch. Now and then, - as at Old Sarum, there is an additional but slighter bank placed - outside the outer ditch, that is, upon the crest of the counterscarp. - This was evidently intended to carry a palisade, and to fulfil the - conditions of the covered-way along the crest of one of Vauban’s - counterscarps. Where the enclosure is circular, the mound is either - central, as at Pickering, or Mileham, or at Old Sarum, where it is - possibly an addition to an older work, such as Badbury, or it stands on - one side, as at Tutbury. Where the area is oblong or oval, the mound - may be placed near one end, as at Bramber. At Windsor and Arundel it - is on one side of an oblong enclosure, producing a sort of hourglass - constriction, and where this is the case a part of its ditch coincides - with the ditch of the place. Where the court is only part of a circle - it rests upon a part of the ditch of the mound. At Sarum there are - two ditches concentrically arranged. At Berkhampstead the mound is - outside the court. On the whole, as at Tickhill, Castle Acre, and - Lincoln, it is most usual to see the mound on the edge of the court, - so that it forms a part of the general “enceinte” of the place. Where - the base court is of moderate area, as at Builth and Kilpeck, its - platform is often slightly elevated by the addition of a part of the - contents of the ditch, which is rarely the case in British camps. At - Wigmore and Builth, where the mound stands on the edge of a natural - steep, the ditch is there discontinued. The base court is usually two - or three times the area of the mound, and sometimes, as at Wallingford - or Warwick, much more. No doubt the reason for placing the mound on - one side rather than in the centre of the court was to allow of the - concentration of the lodgings, stables, &c., on one spot, and to make<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> - the mound form a part of the exterior defences of the place.</p> - - <p>The mound and base court, though the principal parts, were not always - the whole work. Often there was on the outside of the court and applied - to it, as at Brinklow and Rockingham, a second enclosure, also with - its bank and ditch, frequently of larger area than the main court, - though not so strongly defended. It was intended to shelter the - flocks and herds of the tenants in case of an attack. At Norham, the - castle ditch was used for this purpose as late as the reign of Henry - VIII. There are several cases in which the mound is placed within a - rectangular enclosure, which has given rise to a notion that the whole - was Roman. Tamworth is such a case, and there, fortunately, the mound - is known historically to have been the work of Æthelflaed, as is that - of Leicester, similarly placed. From this and from the evidence of - the earthworks themselves a like conclusion may be drawn as to the - superadded mounds at Wareham, Wallingford, and Cardiff. At Helmsley, as - at Castle Acre, Brougham, and Brough, the earthworks stand upon part of - a Roman camp, and at Kilpeck and Moat Lane, near Llanidloes, part of - the area may possibly be British.</p> - - <p>East Anglia contains some fine examples of these moated mounds, - combined with rectangular encampments. Castle Acre is an excellent - example, as are, in a less degree, Mileham and Buckenham.</p> - - <p>When the English lord took up his abode within a Roman camp or station, - he often turned the Roman works, whether of earth or masonry, to - account, and threw up his bank in one corner, altering the contiguous - banks and ditches to suit his new arrangements. Thus at Pevensey, - Leicester, Cambridge, Lincoln, Southampton, Winchester, Chichester, - Caerleon, Chester, English mounds and base courts are placed within - Roman enclosures which either are or were walled. At Auldchester, near - Bicester, the Roman Alauna, is a mound of later date than the camp. - At Plessy, Tamworth, Wallingford, Wareham, Cardiff, are found mounds - decidedly of later date than the enclosing works. There are also cases - where the mound is placed within an earthwork with something of a - tendency to the rectangular, though scarcely to be pronounced either - Roman or Romano-British. Such are Clare, Hereford, Eaton-Socon, where - the mound is very small indeed; and Lilbourne. Tempsford is very - peculiar: it is a small rectangular enclosure close to the Ouse, and in - one corner, upon the bank, is a small mound.</p> - - <p>The group of works, of which the mound was the principal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> feature, - constituted a Burh. The burh was always fortified, and each inhabitant - of the surrounding township was bound to aid in the repair of the - works, almost always of timber, a material which the Saxons, like other - German nations, appear usually to have preferred for building purposes - to stone, though some of their towns were walled, as Colchester and - Exeter, and Domesday records the custom of repairing the walls of - Oxford, Cambridge, and Chester.</p> - - <p>In these English, as before them in the British works, the ditches were - sometimes used to contain and protect the approaches. This is well seen - at Clun and Kilpeck. At Tutbury the main approach enters between two - exterior platforms, and skirts the outer edge of the ditch, until it - reaches the inner entrance. The object was to place the approach under - the eyes and command of the garrison.</p> - - <p>As there are still some archæologists whose experience entitles their - opinions to respect, who attribute these moated mounds to the Britons, - it will be necessary to point out that the attribution of them to the - English, though materially strengthened by the evidence of the works - themselves, does not wholly, or even mainly, rest upon it. While the - British camps are either præhistoric or unnoticed even in the earliest - histories, and the age of the Roman works is only deducible from their - plan and style, and from the known and limited period of the Roman stay - in Britain, English works are continually mentioned in the chronicles, - and the names of their founders and date of the construction of many - of them are on record. Thus Taunton was founded by Ine a little before - 721–2, when Queen Æthelburh destroyed it. The original earthworks - still remaining are considerable, and formed part of the defences - of a fortress erected long afterwards. In the ninth century, as the - Danish incursions became more frequent, works of defence became more - general, and are largely mentioned directly, or by implication, in the - Anglo-Saxon chronicle. In 868–9, the Danish army was at Nottingham, a - strong natural position, in which it was besieged by the West-Saxons. - In 870, the Danes were a whole year at York and wintered at Thetford, - where large earthworks remain. In 875 they were at Cambridge, and in - 876 at Wareham, a West-Saxon fortress, whence they attacked Exeter, - and at all these places are earthworks. In 878, we read that Ælfred - “wrought” a fortress at Æthelney, and in 885 the Danes laid siege to - Rochester and “wrought” another fortress about their position, no doubt - the great mound that still remains outside the castle and the Roman - area. In 893, the Danes ascended four miles along the Limen or “Lymne” - river in Kent, and there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> stormed a work, “geweorc,” which was but half - constructed. In the same year Hæsten entered the Thames and “wrought” - him a work at Milton, and other Danes landed at Appledore, at the mouth - of the Limen. In 894 Ælfred fought with the Danes at Farnham, where - the episcopal keep still stands upon a burh. Hæsten or Hastings had - already constructed a burh at Benfleet, which was stormed by Ælfred, - who in the same year blocked him up at Buttington, on the Severn. In - 896, the Danes threw up a work on the Lea, twenty miles from London, - whereupon Ælfred threw up another work on each bank of that river lower - down, and diverted the waters through a number of shallow courses, thus - effectually shutting in the Danish ships. The Danes, in consequence, - marched inland, and crossed the country to Quatbridge, on the Severn, - and there “wrought a work” and passed the winter. Some of these works - remain, and are good examples of moated mounds.</p> - - <p>In the tenth century the number of English fortresses was prodigiously - increased, chiefly by the energy of Æthelflaed. Ælfred died in 901, - and was succeeded by Eadward, his son, who attacked, in the fortress - of Badbury, his cousin Æthelwald, who held Christchurch and Wimborne. - In 907, Chester, the Roman walls of which had long lain in ruin, - was strengthened, probably by the earthworks still to be seen in - its south-western corner, though the mound has been almost entirely - removed. In 910, Æthelflaed, sister to Eadward and Lady of the - Mercians, comes upon the scene as the greatest founder of fortresses in - that century. In that year she built a burh at Bramsbury, and in 913 - one at Scergeat or Sarrat, and at Bridgenorth (Oldbury). In 913, about - the 14th of April, Eadward built the north burh at Hertford, between - the rivers Memera or Maran, the Benefica or Bean, and the Lygea or - Lea, upon which long after stood the shell keep of the Norman castle; - and after May and before midsummer he encamped at Maldon while Witham - burh was being built. Then also the second burh of Hertford, south of - the Lea, was built. In the same year, 913, Æthelflaed and her Mercians - built the burh of Tamworth in the early summer, and in August that - of Stafford; and in the next year, 914, also in the summer, that of - Eddesbury, and towards the end of autumn, that of Warwick, on which are - still traces of a later keep.</p> - - <p>In 915, Æthelflaed constructed a burh at Chirbury, probably in the - field still known as the King’s Orchard, and at Wardbury, and before - mid-winter that of Runcorn, where was afterwards a Norman castle. - In that year the Danes ascended the Bristol Channel and entered - Irchenfield, west of Hereford,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> remarkable, amongst many others, for - its burhs of Kilpeck and Ewias-Harold, whence they were driven back by - the men of Hereford and Gloucester, and of the surrounding burhs. In - 916, Æthelflaed stormed the mound of Brecknock, and took thence the - Welsh king’s wife and thirty-four persons. Late in the year Eadward - was some weeks at Buckingham, and there constructed two burhs, one on - each bank of the river, on one of which afterwards stood Earl Giffard’s - keep. In 917, Æthelflaed took Derby, the gates of which town are - mentioned, and in 918 the burh of Leicester, soon after which she died - in her palace in Tamworth. In 919, Eadward went to Bedford, took its - burh, the site of Lord Beauchamp’s keep, and there remained for four - weeks, during which time he threw up a second burh on the opposite - or south bank of the river Ouse. In 920 he constructed the burh at - Maldon, and in 921, in April, that at Towcester, which in the autumn - he girdled with a wall of stone. In the following May he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> directed - the burh at Wigmore to be built, and in August the whole Danish army - spent a day before Towcester, but failed to take it by storm. In that - year the Danes abandoned their work at Huntingdon and wrought one at - Tempsford, and thence moved to Bedford, whence they were repulsed. - They also attacked the burh at Wigmore for a day, but without success. - This was a busy year. In it the English stormed Tempsford burh, and - beset Colchester burh, and slew there all but one man who escaped - over the wall. Maldon burh also was attacked by the Danish army, but - without success. In November, Eadward repaired the burhs at Huntingdon - and Colchester and raised that at Cledemutha. In 922, the same great - English leader, between May and midsummer, “wrought” a burh at Stamford - on the south bank of the Welland, opposite to that already existing. - He reduced the burh at Nottingham, repaired it, and garrisoned it with - Englishmen and Danes. In 923, Eadward erected a burh at Thelwall, and - in 924 one at Bakewell, and a second at Nottingham, opposite to the - existing one, the Trent flowing between them. In 943, Olaf the Dane - took Tamworth by storm. In 952, mention is made of the fastness of - Jedburgh, and of the town of Thetford. In 993, Bamborough was stormed.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow74" id="i021"> - <div class="caption sansserif">TOWCESTER BURGH BURY MOUNT</div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_021.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>Of the fifty burhs named in the chronicle, about forty-one have been - identified, and of these about twenty-nine still exist. Of this number, - twenty-two are moated mounds, mostly with base courts also moated. At - Taunton, as at Chirbury, there is reason to suppose that there was a - mound, and the works at Exeter, Rochester, Colchester, and Pevensey, - which are Roman, possibly succeeding earlier British works, have been - taken possession of and altered by the English, as is the case also - at Chester, where was, and at Pevensey, where still is, a mound. At - Rochester is a large mound, though outside the fortress. Rougemont in - Exeter is itself a natural mound, and Bamborough, from its great height - and steepness, needed neither mound nor earthwork of any kind. Of - double burhs, commanding the passage of a river, the chronicle mentions - Nottingham and those on the Lea, and others at Hertford, Bedford, - Stamford, and Buckingham. Unfortunately, none of these are perfect. - At Nottingham and on the Lea both mounds have long been removed; one - is remembered at Stamford and Buckingham, and one may still be seen - at Hertford. But the only double mounds remaining to show how, in the - tenth century, the English defended the passage of a river, are those - at York, which are not mentioned in the chronicle.</p> - - <p>It appears then, that setting aside works that have not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> been - identified, or which have been destroyed before note was taken of them, - there are above a score of burhs, the date of the erection of which, - and the name of the founder, are entered in a trustworthy record, and - which are still to be seen. What then is a burh? A burh is a moated - mound with a table top, and a base court, also moated, either appended - to one side of it, or within which it stands. But the burhs, the dates - of which are on record, and which are thus described, are but a very - few of those found all over England, in the lowlands of Scotland, and - on the marches bordering on Wales, which from their precise similarity - in character to those actually identified must be assumed to be of like - date and origin, and may therefore safely be attributed to the ninth - and tenth and possibly to the eighth centuries, and to the English - people, that is to the Northern settlers generally, as distinguished - from the Britons and the Romans.</p> - - <p>It happens also that, in very many cases where these burhs are found, - they can be shown to have been the “caput” or centre of an estate. - It is probable that this was always the case, but as a rule it is - only with respect to the very large estates that this can be proved - from records. Thus the mound of Wallingford was the seat of Wigod, - whose heiress married Robert D’Oyley; Bourne or Brum was held by Earl - Morcar in 870; Edwin, Earl of Mercia, Lord of Strafford Wapentake, in - Yorkshire, had an “aula” at Laughton-en-le-Morthen, and Conyngsborough - was the centre of a royal fee. The English Lord of Richmondshire had - a seat at Gilling, the mound of which has not long been levelled. The - mound at Halton was the seat of Earl Tosti. At Berry Banks, near Stone, - dwelt Wulfer, Lord of Mercia. The chief seats of the English lords - of Hallamshire are not known, but in that district the latter thanes - were Waltheof, Tosti, Sweyn Lord of Sheffield, and Harold, whose seats - must be sought for in the mounds and banks of Castle Hill and Castle - Bailey, near Bradford; Castle Hill, at the meeting of the Sheaf and - Don; Tickhill, Wincobank, and Mexborough, all moated mounds; also in - Lancashire and Yorkshire are Melling and Hornby in Lonsdale, Castle - Hills at Black Bourton, Robin Hood’s butt at Clapham, and Sedbury - or Sedda’s burh, a well-known mound with oval courts, Castle-dykes - at Ledescal and Langwith, Maiden Castle at Grinton, and Kirkby - Malessant. The great mound at Clare in Suffolk was the fortified seat - of Earl Aluric, who held an enormous estate in that district. Eye, - in the same county of Suffolk, the seat of Earl Edric, has a fine - mound, as have Thetford and Haughley. The hill of Hedingham and that - of Norwich are natural, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span> the latter was raised artificially and - fortified with a ditch and horseshoe appendages, probably in the ninth - or tenth centuries. Dudley also was a great English residence, as was - Bennington mound in Hertfordshire. Hereford was fortified by the great - Harold, Ewyas by another Harold; Kilpeck and Richard’s Castle were also - early seats, as were the mounds of Clun, Oswestry, and Whittington, in - Shropshire. In Scotland upon the mound called the “Butte of Dunsinane,” - tradition places the residence of Macbeth early in the eleventh - century. The butte stands within an oval area defended, says Pennant, - by banks and ditches. Opposite Kingussie on the Spey is a very curious - natural mound, rising on three sides out of the marshes of the river, - and which is known to have been the residence of the celebrated Wolf - of Badenoch. There is also a moated mound with appended courts on the - banks of the Clyde.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i024"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_024.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption sansserif">LAUGHTON-EN-LE-MORTHEN</div> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span></p> - - <p>The burhs are mentioned in the early laws of England, but by this time - the signification of the word had become extended, so that it was - frequently applied not only to a moated mound but to the town that had - sprung up around it. By the laws of Æthelstan, every burh was to be - repaired within fourteen days after the Rogation days, and money was - allowed to be coined at royal burhs. By the laws of Edmund the king’s - burh was a place of refuge, and under those of Æthelred, he who fought - in a king’s burh was liable to death. Burh-bryce was the violation - of a castle or dwelling. Burh-bote, a payment for keeping burhs or - fortresses in a state of defence, was a branch of the well-known - <span lang="la">“trinoda necessitas.”</span> Originally, the English burh was a fortified - house, the <span lang="la">“Domus defensabilis”</span> of Domesday, the “Aula,” the German - “Saal,” of the owner of the surrounding estate or manor, which the - tenants were bound to defend; of which the designation may sometimes be - Norman, but the thing designated is undoubtedly of far earlier origin. - The term burh<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> naturally became extended to the cluster of surrounding - huts, and a hedge with a ditch was their primary enclosure, the repair - of which is provided for in very early Saxon laws. A good stout hedge, - even of quickset, is not to be despised, and the cactus and bamboo - hedges of India will turn a band of soldiers. The word “Haia” is not - infrequent in Domesday, and it there means an enclosure into which - wild beasts were driven, <span lang="la">“Haia in qua capiebantur feratæ.”</span> It was also - used for the enclosure of a park, as the Haye Park, at Knaresborough, - and the Hawe Park attached to Skipton Castle. King Ida’s hedge at - Bamborough was for the defence of annexed pasture lands, for the castle - scarce needed any such addition to its surpassing strength. The word - was also extensively used in Normandy, both for a defence and for an - enclosure. One of the old Herefordshire castles bears the name of Hay. - </p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i025"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_025.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption sansserif">CASTLE HILL MEXBOROUGH</div> - </div> - - <p>The Edictum Pistense of Charles the Bald, in 864 (cap. i.), expressly - orders all “Castella et firmitates et haias,” made without his license, - to be destroyed, “disfactas,” because they were injurious to the - district. <span lang="la">“Vicini et circummanentes exinde multas deprædationes et - impedimenta sustinent”</span> (“Rerum Gallicarum Scriptores,” vii., 677). - Hedges therefore were not always mere enclosures, but sometimes a - military defence.</p> - - <p>These mounds, where they have descended to us, and have undergone no - change at the hands of the Norman architect, are mere green hillocks, - clear indeed in their simplicity, though having lost by time the - sharpness of their profile, and more or less of their height and of - the depth of their ditches. No masonry has ever been observed upon - them which could by any possibility be attributed to their founders, - or which could be supposed to be part of their original design. It - is evident, however, that the earthwork was only the support of some - additional defence. On the mound was certainly a residence, and both - its crest and base, as well as the appended courts, must have been - encircled by some sort of barrier besides the earth-bank. We read that - Towcester was defended by a wall, which however was built very quickly, - and probably was like a field wall, without mortar. But with or without - mortar, no wall could have been placed upon a fresh heap of earth, and - that spoken of must have stood upon the natural ground at or around - the base of the mound. No doubt Exeter was walled by Æthelstan, and - Colchester had walls, partly, as we see, Roman, but partly no doubt, - English; and Derby had gates, though of what material is not stated. - At Corfe is some masonry, certainly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> older than the Conquest, and part - of its outer defences; but Corfe is a natural hill. It is well known - that the English were from a remote period conversant with masonry, - and constructed churches of stone or timber as suited them best; and - nothing is more natural than that they should have employed the former - where the object was to resist an attack. But upon a burh, or upon an - artificial earthwork of any height, masonry of any kind was obviously - out of the question. Timber, and timber alone, would have been the - proper material. Timber was always at hand, and it was a material of - which, possibly from their early maritime habits, the English were - very fond. Also the rapidity with which these burhs were constructed - shows that timber must have been largely employed. They were thrown up, - completed, attacked, burnt, and restored, all within a few months.</p> - - <p>There are not wanting descriptions of these timber-defended works. M. - de Caumont cites a curious passage from Ernaldus Nigellus, an author of - the ninth century, who relates an expedition under Louis le Debonnaire - against the Breton king, Marman, whose strongholds were protected by - ditches and palisades.</p> - - <div class="center"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i0">“Est locus hinc silvis, hinc flumine cinctus amoeno.</div> - <div class="i5">Sepibus et sulcis atque palude situs.”</div> - <div class="i3">Intus opima domus....</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <p>This however was a Breton work, and there is no mention of a mound. Two - centuries later the mound was in general use, and another quotation, - taken also from M. de Caumont, from the life of John, a canonised - prelate of the church of Terouane, by Archdeacon Colmier, gives an - account of the fortress of Merchen, near Dixmude, in which the material - employed and the mode of construction are clearly set forth. The - original, taken from the “Acta Sanctorum,” is appended to this paper, - and is in truth a description of a moated mound, with its fence and - turrets of timber, its central dwelling, and the bridge across the - ditch rising to the top of the mound. The description is illustrated - by the representation of the taking of Dinan, in the Bayeux tapestry. - There is seen the conical mound surmounted by a timber building, which - two men with torches are attempting to set on fire, while others are - ascending by a steep bridge which spans the moat, and rises to a - gateway on the crest of the mound.</p> - - <p>Many of these mounds under the name of motes (motæ) retained their - timber defences to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and that too - on the Shropshire and Welsh border, crowded with castles of masonry.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span></p> - - <p>Ducange defines mota as “Collis, seu tumulus, cui inædificatum - est castellum. Olim castella numquam nisi in eminentissimis locis - extruebantur. In Flandria vero, humili ac planissima regione, congestis - undequaque terrarum molibus, fieri solebant motæ, quibus arces - imponerentur”; and adds that mota is the same work known in Dauphigny - as “poypia,” and in Auvergne as “mote seigneuriale.” From Lambertus - Ardensis he quotes: “Motam altissimam, sive dunjonem eminentem in - munitionis signum firmavit, et in aggerem coacervavit.” And Orderic - tells that, in 1098, Pain de Mont-Doubleau delivered up to William - Rufus, “Fortissimam, quam apud Balaonem possidebat, motam, per quam - totum oppidum adversariis subactum paruit.” And in 1119, Fulk of Anjou, - with 500 knights laid siege, “ad motam Galterii,” which the king had - fortified. Also near Ponte-Corvo was “Motam magnam, quam faciebat - facere Dominus Canis cum mulfossis et tajatis ad claudendum Paduanos,” - like the great mound at Rochester, just outside the city wall. In the - Roman de Rou:—</p> - - <div class="center"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza" lang="fr"> - <div class="i0">“Hubert de Rie est à sa porte</div> - <div class="i1">Entre le mostier et sa mote.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <p class="noindent">“Mostier” being the church. Also in “La Bataille des Sept Arts”:—</p> - - <div class="center"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza" lang="fr"> - <div class="i0">“Qui fu fier cum chastel sur mote.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <p class="noindent">Also the <cite>Consuetudines Trecensis</cite> speak of <span lang="fr">“Le principal - chastel ou maison-fort, mote, ou place de maison seigneuriale”</span>: and - in <cite>Colletus</cite>, <span lang="fr">“Il y a des masures qui ont des droits très - considérables; nous avons des simple poypes [ce sont des terres élevées - et fossoyées] qui ont les plus beaux droits.”</span> The <cite>History of - Dauphigny</cite> has, in 1290, <span lang="la">“Item castrum seu Poypiam de Montlyopart; - item castrum seu fortalicium de Pusigniano.”</span> Ducange is copious on this subject.</p> - - <p>The use of the mound as the site of the “maison seigneuriale” - was general in England, and several such—as Barwick-in-Elmet and - Laughton-en-le-Morthen—are still pointed out as the seats of early - English nobles and kings; and of others thrown up primarily for - defence, as Tamworth and Leicester, and afterwards occupied as royal - and other residences, the date is on record.</p> - - <p>After the Conquest, the English term “burh” seems to have given place - to the Latin “mota,” at least in public records. It is true that in - a charter by the Conqueror, given by Rymer, occurs <span lang="la">“Et in burgis, et - muro-vallatis, et in castellis,”</span> but “burgis” may be held to mean - borough towns. In the charter of Matilda, 1141, bestowing the earldom - of Hereford<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span> on Milo de Gloucester, she grants <span lang="la">“Motam Hereford et - cum toto castello,”</span> words which evidently refer to the mound, now - destroyed, and not, as has been supposed, to the right to hold a - moot there. Also, in the convention between Stephen and Henry of - Anjou the distinction is drawn between <span lang="la">“Turris Londinensis et ‘Mota - de Windesora,’”</span> London having a square keep or tower, and Windsor a - shell keep upon a mound. Probably when, as at Durham, keeps of masonry - superseded the <span lang="la">“ligna tabulata firmissime compacta,”</span> the fortress - ceased to be called a mote, and became a castle; but in very many - instances this change was a long time in coming about, and in many of - the less important and private residences it never occurred at all. - Thus, the moated mounds on the Upper Severn show no trace whatever - of masonry, and as late as the reign of Henry III., 159 years after - the Conquest, and years too of incessant battling with a warlike and - sleepless foe, timber was still the material of their defences. The - Close Roll of 9 Henry III., 30 May, 1225, thus addresses the Custos of - Montgomery:—</p> - - <p><span lang="la">“Rex etc. dilecto et fideli suo Godescallo de Maghelins salutem. - Precipimus tibi quod ex parte nostra firmiter precipias omnibus illis - qui motas habent in valle de Muntgumery quod sine dilatione motas suas - bonis bretaschiis firmari faciant ad securitatem et defensionem suam - et parcium illarum.”</span><a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> - And not only in the defences of these lesser - motes and fortified private houses did timber play an important part. - Turrets of timber were prepared for the castle of Montgomery, and even - Shrewsbury itself, the seat successively of three most powerful earls - and the chief place in their earldom, was by no means wholly a work in - masonry. In the reign of Edward I. the jurors appointed to report upon - the condition of the castle, state: <span lang="la">“Quod unus magnus turris ligneus - qui edificatur in castro Salop corruit in terram tempore domini Uriani - de St. Petro tunc vice comitis et meremium ejusdem turris tempore suo - et temporibus aliorum vice comitum preterea existencium ita consummatur - et destruitur quod nichil de illo remansit in magnum dampnum domini - Regis et deterioracionem ejusdem castri.”</span> In a French charter of 1329 - occurs, <span lang="fr">“Premierement le motte et les fossez d’entour le motte de - Maiex,”</span> and in 1331, <span lang="fr">“Le motte de mon Manoir de Caieux et les fossez - entour.”</span> <span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> It appears, then, that from an early period, certainly from - the ninth century, it was a common practice in constructing a strong - place, whether a private dwelling or a military post, to place it upon - the summit of a mound, and to surround both the mound and an appended - enclosure with defences of earth, and that in many, probably for some - time in all, cases the building within and the defences around such - places were of timber, and indeed, so far as they stood on made ground, - necessarily so. Sometimes probably, when the front was more extended, - as when a small pasture ground attached to the main fortress was to - be protected from sudden assaults, recourse was had to a “haia” or - “clausura.”</p> - - <p>In viewing one of these moated mounds we have only to imagine a central - timber house on the top of the mound, built of half trunks of trees - set upright between two waling pieces at the top and bottom, like the - old church at Greensted, with a close paling around it along the edge - of the table top, perhaps a second line at its base, and a third along - the outer edge of the ditch, and others not so strong upon the edges of - the outer courts, with bridges of planks across the ditches, and huts - of “wattle and dab” or of timber within the enclosures, and we shall - have a very fair idea of a fortified dwelling of a thane or franklin in - England, or of the corresponding classes in Normandy from the eighth or - ninth centuries down to the date of the Norman Conquest.</p> - - <p>The existence of these mounds in distinct Welsh territory is very - curious and requires explanation. That this form of dwelling was in - common use among the Welsh is certainly not the case. Where moated - mounds occur in Wales it is usually on the border, or near the - sea-coast, or in or near the open valleys accessible to the English, - which the English or Northmen are known to have invaded in the eighth - and ninth centuries. The mound near Llanidloes is an exception, being - distinctly within the hills. But that of Tafolwern, from which the - Welsh princes dated several charters, is near the open valley. That - of Talybont, whence Llewelyn dated a letter to the Archbishop of - Canterbury in 1275, and which was afterwards visited by Edward the - First, is on a plain within easy reach of the sea. Hên Domen and Rhos - Diarbed on the Upper Severn are also good examples. Still, as the Welsh - princes intermarried and had frequent communication with the English, - they must have been familiar with a form of fortification very simple - and easy to construct, and yet very capable of being held against a - sudden attack. It must be observed, also, that the English hold upon - the Welsh border<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span> was of a very fluctuating description, and the - Welshmen must not only have been perfectly familiar with the English - method of construction, but from time to time have been actually - in possession of their strongholds. That the Welsh used timber for - defensive purposes appears from their law by which the vassals were to - attend at the lord’s castle for its repairs or for rebuilding, each - with his axe in his hand. In some cases in these Border works there - is scarcely any mound, at others the mound is low and hollow in the - centre. Caer Aeron and another small earthwork near Builth seem to have - been the earthen bases of a mere circular wigwam. Caer Aeron cannot - have been a mere temporary structure, as the circumscribing ditch has - been cut with considerable labour in the rock.</p> - - <p>It is very evident, both from the existence of Offa’s dyke, and from - the immense number of these moated mounds thrown up along its course, - that the English had early and long possession of large tracts of the - border territory. Offa ruled over Mercia from <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 757 to 796, - and his dyke extends from the mouth of the Wye to that of the Dee. At - its northern part, for about forty miles, is a second work, known as - Wat’s Dyke, a little in its rear, and thought to be a somewhat earlier - work, also by Offa. Before the actual line of a work so galling to the - spirit of a turbulent people could have been decided upon there must - have been many years of contest along the border, and the English must - have had something like permanent possession of the land on either - side, and have held estates of which the mounds still existing were the - “capita” or chief seats. The dyke, it should be remembered, was rather - a civil boundary than a military defence.</p> - - <p>It is further to be remarked that moated mounds corresponding precisely - in pattern to those in England, are very numerous in Normandy. In - size they vary within much the same limits. All have or had a proper - ditch, some, as Briquessart and Des Olivets, stand in the centre of - the court, some at one end, others on the edge. The court is sometimes - circular, most commonly oblong, very rarely indeed rectangular. The - outer enclosures have their ditches, which communicate with those of - the inner defences. M. de Caumont gives a list of fifty-four of these - mounds, within a radius of sixty miles from Caen, and since he wrote - many more have been observed. These also were, from an early period, - the seats of great landowners, and from very many of them came the - knights and barons who accompanied William to England, and there - settled in posts very similar. Sir F. Palgrave gives a list of 131 of - these fortified residences in the Cotentin, the Avranchin, and the - Bessin, which includes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span> only six of those mentioned by de Caumont. A - large number of those earthworks seem never to have had, at any time, - defences of masonry. Others, upon the mounds, had Norman shell keeps.</p> - - <p>Besides the British theory, these mounds have been claimed as - sepulchral. It is of course possible that such mounds as Arundel - or Marlborough may have been originally sepulchral, and therefore - older than their defensive additions. To few if any has the crucial - experiment of opening them been applied; but this is not a very - probable explanation, and could certainly not be applied to those - mounds as a class. Among many other reasons for taking this view, it - may be observed that sepulchral mounds are always artificial, whereas - moated mounds are often natural, and still more frequently partly - so. No one could suppose Hawarden, or Dunster, or Montacute, to be - sepulchres, and yet these are as much moated mounds as Arundel and - Tonbridge. Moreover, sepulchral mounds are not often placed where - a defensive work is obviously needed, and most rude nations are - superstitious, and would object to dwell upon or around a grave. The - Tynewald in Man, Cwichelmsley Knowe in Berkshire, and a work upon - the Clyde in Lanarkshire, are the only known sepulchral mounds which - have been employed for other purposes, and of these the two former - are judicial, not residential. The barrows round York, though smaller - than most burhs, are big enough to have carried residences, but do not - appear to have been so employed. Moreover, the common testimony of the - country has generally given to the moated mounds some name, such as - Castle Hill or Burh, indicative of their military origin.</p> - - <p>It has been observed that moated mounds are usually near the parish - church. This might be expected, since the parish, like the manor, was - usually a private estate, and the church was originally provided by the - lord for the accommodation of his tenants and himself.</p> - - <p>There is a class of mounds due probably to the same people with those - above described, but very seldom moated, and not usually accompanied by - base courts and enclosures. These are the moot-hills, used for civil - purposes, as the holding of courts-leet, of which the mound at Barton, - in Northamptonshire, is a fine example. They are not uncommon. There - is one near Kenilworth, close to Stoneleigh Church, one at Hawick, - one called the Mote Hill, in Hamilton Park; there is also one on the - right bank of the Neckar, below Heidelberg. Sometimes they are called - toot-hills; hence Tothill Fields, though the mound is gone.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span></p> - - <p class="mb2">In claiming for these moated mounds a northern and in Britain an - English origin it would be too much to assert that in no other class - of works is the mound employed, or by no other people than the - Northmen; but it may be safely laid down that in no other class of - early fortification does the mound occur as the leading and typical - feature. In Roman and Norman, and possibly in purely British works, - the mound may be occasionally seen, like the cavalier in the works of - Vauban, as at Kenilworth, or as an outwork, as at Caerphilly, or it - may be employed to cover or divide an entrance; but such mounds are of - irregular shape, mere detached and elevated parts of the general bank, - and not likely to be confounded with the moated mound described above.</p> - - <hr class="short" /> - <h3><span class="smcap">Appendix.</span></h3> - - <div class="center" lang="la">Vita Sti Johannis Epis: Morinorum. Ob: 1130.</div> - - <div class="right" lang="la">[<cite>Acta Sanctorum</cite>, Januarii 27.]</div> - - <blockquote lang="la"> - <p>Contigit ut in villa, cui Morchem vocabulum est, hospitii mansionem - haberet [Johannes]. Erat autem secus atrium ecclesiae munitio quaedam - quam castrum vel municipium dicere possumus valde excelsa, juxta morem - terrae illius, a domino villae ipsius multis retro annis extructa. - Mos namque est ditioribus quibuscunque regionis hujus hominibus et - nobilioribus, eo quod maxime inimicitiis vacare soleant exercendis et - caedibus, ut ab hostibus eo modo maneant tutiores, et potentia majore - vel vincant pares, vel premant inferiores, terrae aggerem quantae - praevalent celsitudinis congerere eique fossam quam late patentem, - multamque profunditatis altitudinem habentem circumfodere, et supremam - ejusdem aggeris crepidinem vallo ex lignis tabulatis firmissime - confacto undique vice muri circummunire, turribusque, secundum quod - possibile fuerit, per gyrum dispositis, intra vallum, domum vel, - quae omnia despiciat, arcem in medio aedificare, ita videlicet ut - porta introitus ipsius villae non nisi per pontem valeat adiri, qui - ab exteriori labro fossae primum exoriens est in processu paulatim - elevatus, columnisque binis et binis, vel etiam trinis altrinsecus - per congrua spatia suffixis innixus, eo ascendendi moderamine per - transversum fossae consurgit, ut supremam aggeris superficiem - coaequando oram extremi marginis ejus, et in ea parte limen prima - fronte contingat.</p> - - <p>In hujus-modi ergo asylo Pontifex, cum suo frequenti et reverendo - comitatu hospitali, quum ingentem populi turbam tam in ecclesia, - quam in atrio ejus, manus impositione, et sacri Chrismatis unctione - confirmasset, ut vestimenta mutaret, eo quod coemiterium humandis - fidelium corporibus benedicere statuisset ad hospitium regressus est, - unde illo, ut propositum perficeret opus, iterum descendente, et circa - medium pontis, triginta quinque vel eo amplius pedum, altitudinem - habentis, certa de causa subsistente, populique non modica caterva ante - et retro, dextra lævaque circumstipante, continuo antiqui machinante - hostis invidia, pons ponderi cessit, et dissipatus corruit, magnamque - illorum hominum turbam cum episcopo suo ad ima dejicit; fragore autem - ingenti e vestigio consecuto, transtris, trabibusque tabulatis, et - ruderibus magno cum impetu pariter et strepitu concidentibus: nebula - quaedam tenebrosa ita omnem<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> illam ruinam repente circumfudit, ut quid - ageretur vix quisquam discernere potuerit.</p> - </blockquote> - - <div class="center smcap">Translation.</div> - - <blockquote> - <p>It chanced that in a town called Merchem, Bishop John had a - guest-house. There was also close to the court of the church a strong - place, which might be regarded as a castle or a municipium, very lofty, - built after the fashion of the country by the lord of the town many - years ago. For it was customary for the rich men and nobles of those - parts, because their chief occupation is the carrying on of feuds and - slaughters, in order that they may in this way be safe from enemies, - and may have the greater power for either conquering their equals or - keeping down their inferiors, to heap up a mound of earth as high as - they were able, and to dig round it a broad, open, and deep ditch, and - to girdle the whole upper edge of the mound, instead of a wall, with a - barrier of wooden planks, stoutly fixed together with numerous turrets - set round. Within was constructed a house or rather citadel, commanding - the whole, so that the gate of entry could only be approached by a - bridge, which first springing from the counterscarp of the ditch, was - gradually raised as it advanced, supported by sets of piers, two, or - even three, trussed on each side over convenient spans, crossing the - ditch with a managed ascent so as to reach the upper level of the - mound, landing at its edge on a level at the threshold of the gate.</p> - - <p>In this retreat the bishop with his numerous and reverend retinue, - after having confirmed a vast crowd of people both in the church and - its court, by laying on of hands and the unction of the sacred chrism, - returned to his lodging that he might change his vestments, because - he had resolved to consecrate a cemetery for the burial of the bodies - of believers. When, in again descending from his lodging, in order to - effect the proposed work, he halted for some reason about the middle of - the bridge, which had there a height of thirty-five feet or more, the - people pressing behind and before, and on each side, straightway, the - malice of the old enemy so contriving, the bridge yielded to the weight - and fell shattered; and the crowd with the bishop fell to the bottom - with a great crash of joists, beams, and planks, with great force and - noise, while a thick dust at once enveloped the ruin so that scarce any - one could see what had happened.</p> - - <p>The following is also curious:—</p> - - <p>(Ludovicus Grossus, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1109.) “Puteolum regreditur - antiquam antecessorum suorum destitutam <i>Motam</i> castro jactu - lapidis propinquam, occupat. Castrum fundibalariorum, balistariorum, - saggitariorum, emissa pericula sustinentes; etc.”</p> - </blockquote> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">OF THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AT THE CONQUEST AND UNDER THE CONQUEROR.</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">IT has usually been assumed that the rapidity of William’s conquest - was due to the absence of strong places in England. There is, however, - ground for believing that England, in this respect, was exceedingly - well provided,—quite as well provided as Normandy; and that, with the - possible exception of a very few recently-constructed strongholds, - the works in the two countries were very similar in character. The - older sites of the castles of the barons in Normandy are nearly all - ascertained, and are for the most part distinguished by a moated mound - with an appended court or courts also moated. This simple and very - effective form of defence has been shown to have been in use among - the Northern nations, invaders both of England and the Continent, and - in the ninth and tenth centuries was as common on the banks of the - Thames, the Humber, and the Severn, as on those of the Seine and the - Orne. It was in the eleventh century, and chiefly during the troubles - attendant upon the accession and minority of Duke William, that the - Normans seem to have adopted a new and more permanent description - of fortress, and the old-fashioned structure of timber began to be - replaced by walls and towers in masonry, and especially by keeps of - that material. Of these the best-known, because the most durable, form - was the rectangular, of which not above half a dozen examples can be - shown with certainty to have been constructed in Normandy before the - latter part of the eleventh century, and but very few, if any, before - the English conquest; nor is there known to be in Normandy any specimen - of the polygonal or circular form of keep as early as that event. De - Caumont, indeed, attributes the rectangular keep of Langeais, in which - brick is largely used, to the year 992; but there is great reason to - doubt this conclusion, and Du Pin and St. Laurent are probably among - the oldest of this form, and do not seem to be earlier than the reign - of Duke William; and this is true also of Arques and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span> Nogent-le-Rotrou. - In Normandy, as in England, the polygonal or shell keep, though on - the older site, seems usually to be in masonry, which is the later - construction; that of Gisors was built by Robert de Belesme in 1097, - and that of Carentan at about the same time. Many even of the most - considerable mounds, as Briquessart and Vieux-Conches, show no trace of - masonry. The shell keep of Plessis-Grimoult was held by De Caumont to - have been constructed before 1047; but if this be so, it is certainly a - singular exception. Castle-building in Normandy seems to have preceded - the English conquest, if at all, by but a very few years.</p> - - <p>The Romans left behind them in Britain many walled towns; but it is not - known to what extent these defences were preserved by the Northmen, or - in what condition they found them. At the conquest, Chester, Lincoln, - Exeter, Hereford, Leicester, Oxford, Stafford, and Colchester, seem to - have been already walled, and the walls of Exeter had been repaired or - rebuilt by Æthelstan. Canterbury, Nottingham, and York were defended - by a ditch. There were also probably some others, and possibly a - few military towers in masonry of English workmanship; but there is - no evidence of there having been anything like a rectangular keep, - notwithstanding the special mention in 1052 of Richard’s Castle, the - work of Richard, the son of Scrob. There is no reason to suppose that - it possessed a tower of that character, which would have been quite out - of keeping with the moated mound which even now marks the spot, and - upon which the remains of the shell keep are still to be seen. Still - less had the English any shell keeps constructed in masonry. What there - really was in the way of military masonry and what was its character - are not so clear. It was said of Dover, by William of Poictiers, that - it was by Harold “studio atque sumptu suo communitum,” and that there - were “item per diversa loca illius terræ alia castra ubi voluntas Ducis - ea firmari jubet”; also in the account of the advance of William from - Canterbury it is added, “Veniens ... ad fractam turrim castra metatus - est,” pointing to a work in masonry, though no doubt it might, as at - York, be Roman. Arundel, named in “Domesday” as having been a castle in - the reign of the Confessor, was probably, from the size of its mound - and the depth of its ditches, as strong as any castle of its type in - Normandy; but no masonry has been observed there, either upon or about - the mound, of a date earlier than the Conquest, if as early.</p> - - <p>That there existed in England, at the Conquest, no castles in masonry - of English work it may be too much to assert;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span> but it may safely be - said that, save a fragment of wall at Corfe, no military masonry - decidedly older than that event has as yet been discovered. In 1052, - when the Confessor and Earl Godwin came to terms, and the attack on - London was set aside, it is stated that Archbishop Robert and his - Frenchmen fled, some westward to Pentecost Castle and some northwards - to Robert’s Castle; so that these places probably, like Richard’s - Castle, were in Norman hands, though it does not follow that they were - constructed of the material or in the fashion then coming into use in - Normandy.</p> - - <p>“Domesday” mentions directly forty-nine castles as existing at the date - of the survey, and of these at least thirty-three were on sites far - older than the Conquest; and of them at least twenty-eight possessed - artificial mounds similar to Arundel and the castles in Normandy. - “Domesday,” however, is notoriously capricious both in its entries - and omissions on such matters as were not included in its proper - view, and its list of castles is nearly as incomplete as its list - of churches. Neither were required to be noted. “Of the forty-nine - castles recorded,” says Sir H. Ellis, “eight are known, either on - the authority of ‘Domesday’ or of our old historians, to have been - built by the Conqueror himself; ten are entered as erected by greater - barons, and one by an under-tenant of Earl Roger; eleven more, of - whose builders we have no particular account, are noticed in the - ‘Survey,’ either expressly or by inference, as new.” The fact is, - however, that although the number of castles actually mentioned may - be only forty-nine, of castles and castelries (which imply a castle) - there are named in “Domesday” fifty-two. The castles reputed to have - been built by the Conqueror himself are Lincoln, Rockingham, Wareham, - two castles at York, Dover, Durham, London, and Nottingham, of which - the last four are not mentioned in “Domesday.” Exeter, also omitted, - is generally reputed to be one of William’s castles, as was Stafford; - which, however, was constructed and destroyed before the date of the - survey. “Terra de Stadford in qua rex percepit fieri castellum, quod - modo est destructum,” a very short period for the construction and - destruction of a work in masonry. Mr. Pearson, who has given great - attention to the subject of Norman castles in England, tabulates the - result of his researches in the atlas attached to his “History.” He - there enumerates, as standing in the reign of the Conqueror, forty-nine - castles belonging to the King and fifty to his subjects. Of these, at - least thirty-eight have mounds. He gives also a list of fifty-three - belonging to private persons in the reign of William Rufus, of which at - least five have mounds. Probably there were of each class<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span> many more - than these. Colchester, for example, is not included, nor Farnham, nor - Berkhampstede.</p> - - <p>Of the ninety-nine castles enumerated by Mr. Pearson as belonging to - the reign of the Conqueror, at least fifty are on old sites. These are - Arundel, Berkeley, Bramber, Cambridge, Carisbrook, Chester, Clare, - Clifford, Caerleon, Coningsburgh, Dover, Durham, Dunster, Dudley, Eye, - Ewias, Guildford, Hastings, Huntingdon, Launceston, Leicester, Lincoln, - Lewes, L’wre, Marlborough, Montacute, Norwich, Oxford, Pevensey, - Pontefract, Quatford, Raleigh, Richard’s Castle, Rochester, Rockingham, - Shrewsbury, Striguil, Stafford, Stamford, Tickhill, Tonbridge, - Trematon, Tutbury, Wigmore, Windsor, Wallingford, Wareham, Warwick, - Worcester, and York. Almost as many are doubtful, and probably not more - than two or three, such as Richmond, London, and possibly Malling, - were altogether new. The fact is, that all these lists, however - valuable they may be as showing what castles were taken possession of - or re-edified or strengthened by the Normans, give no adequate idea - of the fortresses already existing in England, and omit scores of - earthworks as large and as strong as those occupied by the Normans in - England or left behind them in Normandy, of a date long before the - reign of William,—probably before the end of the tenth century. If, as - said by William of Newbury, the castles were the bones of the kingdom, - it must be admitted that the English skeleton was a very perfect - one. Every part of England, much of Scotland, and the accessible - parts of the Welsh border, were covered with strong places, which - were, no doubt, defended, and well defended, with palisades, as more - suitable to made ground than work in masonry such as was more or less - in use for ecclesiastical purposes. If, at the Conquest, no English - stronghold held out, it was not that such places were less capable of - defence than those in Normandy, but that England was broken up into - parties. Harold’s seat was too insecure and the few months of his - reign far too brief to allow his great administrative talents to come - into play; and his early death left the English without a leader. The - power of the other earls was local. There was no organised opposition. - Notwithstanding the assertion of Orderic that the English were mere - tillers of the soil, a convivial and drinking race, they by no means - submitted quietly to the Norman rule; but their efforts for freedom, - boldly devised and gallantly executed, were ill-timed and ill-combined, - and were in consequence put down in detail. Under such circumstances, - the strongholds of the country availed little. Dover, Lewes, Arundel, - Bramber, Tonbridge, Rochester, Guildford, Farn<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span>ham, Wallingford, and - Berkhampstede, had their strong earthworks been held in force, would - have rendered William’s advance too imprudent to have been attempted; - and that these and other not far distant positions were well chosen - is shown by the fact that they were all adopted by the Conqueror. The - conquest of England was made possible, not by the absence of strong - places, but by the want of organisation for their defence.</p> - - <p>But whatever may have been the character of the defences in use in - England before the arrival of the Normans, it is certain that from - that period they underwent a considerable and probably a rapid change, - though scarcely so rapid as has been supposed. The Normans, who had - so long, in common with the English (probably by reason of their - common ancestry), employed the moated and palisaded mound, proceeded - to carry out in England the important improvements they had already - commenced in Normandy. William’s chief object, having conquered, was - to secure his conquest; and his first care, on obtaining possession - of each division of the kingdom or each capital city or town, was to - regard it from a military point of view, and to order the construction - of such strong places as might be necessary for the holding of it. - How completely, in so doing, he trod in the footsteps of those who - had gone before, is shown by what he found and what he did towards - the covering of London and the maintaining of his communication - with the sea. Thus he found and reinforced castles at Chichester, - Arundel, Bramber, Lewes, Hastings, and Dover. On his road he found and - strengthened Canterbury, Tonbridge, Rochester, and Ryegate. In London - he founded the Tower, an entirely new work; but for the defence of the - basin of the Thames he trusted to the ancient sites of Guildford and - Farnham, possibly Reading, and certainly Wallingford and Berkhampstede. - And so all over the kingdom, such strongholds as were central, in - good military positions, or of unusual strength, or were placed in - the ancient demesne lands of the Crown, were taken possession of or - reconstructed for the sovereign; but every baron or great tenant in - chief was permitted,—and, indeed, at first expected, and was no doubt - sufficiently ready,—to construct castles for the security of the lands - allotted to him, which in the vast majority of instances meant to - remodel the defences of his English predecessors. This was under the - pressure of circumstances; for William seems always to have been awake - to the danger of uniting extensive hereditary jurisdictions, and even - from the first to have contemplated governing the counties through the - intervention of <i>vice-comites</i>,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> or sheriffs, who were appointed - and could be displaced at pleasure. But this policy was at first, in - certain districts, necessarily postponed; though even then William made - it to be understood that the chief castles of the realm, by whomsoever - built, were royal castles; and their actual acquisition was always an - important part of the policy of both him and his successors so long as - castles were of consequence. Thus Windsor, Cambridge, Exeter, Corfe, - Wareham, Winchester, Porchester, Southampton, Carisbrooke, Canterbury, - Dover, Lincoln, Rockingham, Nottingham, Stafford, Guildford, Warwick, - Marlborough, and York were royal castles from the commencement. - Wallingford, Gloucester, Bristol, Oxford, Tutbury, Worcester, though - built by subjects, were not the less claimed and officered by the - Crown. Even Durham, though held by the bishops, and Leicester, Lincoln, - and Huntingdon, by the lords of those earldoms, were from time to time - in the hands of the Crown, whose rights over them were of a far more - direct character than those it claimed to exercise over the lands and - other feudal possessions of the same lords.</p> - - <p>Arundel, Shrewsbury, Montgomery, Bridgenorth, and some less important - fortresses, fell to the Crown on the overthrow of the house of Talvas; - and with this event a number of castles on the Welsh border, built - by tenants of Earl Roger, became fiefs <i>in capite</i>, dependent - directly upon the Crown. Besides these, there are on record in England - about forty or fifty castles built by local barons, which, when it - suited the Crown, were taken in hand and repaired and garrisoned at its - charge.</p> - - <p>Of nearly all the castles on record, as existing in the reigns of the - Conqueror and his sons, the sites are well known; and of very many, - fragments of the masonry remain. What is very remarkable is, that of - this masonry there is but little which can be referred to the reign - of either the Conqueror or William Rufus,—that is, to the eleventh - century. Of that period are certainly London and Malling, Guildford, - Bramber, Carlisle, the gate-house of Exeter, the lower story of - Chepstow, the keeps of Chester, Goderich, Walden, Wolvesey, Colchester, - and Newcastle, though this last looks later than its recorded date. - Newcastle was probably on the site of an earlier castle; at least, the - entry in the Hundred Rolls (ii., 119),—“Juratores dicunt quod Vicecomes - ... fecit quandam inquisitionem ... super motam castri predictæ - villæ,”—looks like it. There is some reason to regard the keep at - Malling as the earliest Norman military building now extant in England, - and as the work of Gundulf, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> architect of the Tower keep. The North - or Gundulf’s tower at Rochester Cathedral is by the same great builder, - and possibly was intended as a military building: if so, it may rank - with Malling. Probably there is more of this early masonry; but not - much. Dover, Rochester, Porchester, and Hedingham, among our finest - examples, are certainly later. Part of Durham Castle is, no doubt, of - the age of the Conqueror; but the shell keep has been rebuilt, and - it is doubtful whether the original work was of the age of the early - Norman chapel and hall attached to it. Speaking generally, those - castles in England which belong to what is called the Norman period are - too late to be the work of the Conqueror or his personal followers, and - too early to allow of any preceding work in Norman masonry (usually - sound and solid), having been constructed and swept away. What is the - solution of this difficulty? Of what character and material were the - great majority of the castles which William ordered to be constructed? - Of what character were those mentioned in “Domesday”?</p> - - <p>That William ordered many castles to be constructed is certain; and - among the orders left with Bishop Odo and William Fitz Osborn, when - acting as joint regents of the kingdom, was one specially charging - them to see to the building of castles; and no doubt these orders were - obeyed. But it has been hastily assumed that the castles constructed - were of masonry. The keeps of Dover and Rochester, for example (if - such were erected under the Conqueror), were certainly not those now - standing, which belong to the reign of Henry II.; and so of Norwich, - and probably of Nottingham, now destroyed. And yet the masonry of - William’s reign was of a very durable character, as is seen in the - Tower of London, and in not a few still standing churches. Also it is - stated that William “custodes in castellis strenuos viros collocavit, - ex Gallis traductos, quorum fidei pariter ac virtuti credebat.” This - looks very much as though the castellans were at first, at any rate, - put in charge of existing castles; which must mean that in most - cases some temporary arrangement was made, and the existing works - strengthened until it was convenient to replace them by others more in - accordance with the new ideas of strength and security.</p> - - <p>William and his barons evidently employed two classes of castles,—one - always in masonry, and one very often in timber. Where a castle was - built in a new position, as in London, or where there was no mound, - natural or artificial they employed masonry and chose as a rule for the - keep<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span> the rectangular form,—a type said to have been introduced from - Maine, and seen at Arques, at Caen, and at Falaise; but where the site - was old, and there was a mound, as at Lincoln, Huntingdon, Rockingham, - Wallingford, or York, they seem to have been content to repair the - existing works, usually of timber only, and to have postponed the - replacing them with a regular shell till a more convenient season, - which in many cases did not occur for a century.</p> - - <p>Nor was the postponement very serious, for the native fortresses, if - well manned, were strong, at least for a limited time. The attacks of - the Danes upon Towcester, Bedford, and Wigmore are on record; and yet - these, of all of which the earthworks remain, were not burhs of the - first class, and certainly would not contain a hundred men,—or, even - if the base-court were occupied, more than thrice that number,—and the - Danish army could scarcely be less than ten times as numerous. The fact - is, however, that such a mound as Arundel or Tonbridge, palisaded, - could be held for a short time by three or four score of resolute men - against a sharp attack from any number, armed as men were armed in the - tenth and eleventh centuries. No doubt, towers of masonry were more - secure, because less dependent upon the vigilance of the garrison, less - obnoxious to fire, and less liable to be taken by surprise. But the - Normans were stout soldiers, well disciplined, and could from the first - expect no quarter from the insurgent English.</p> - - <p>Among the castles ordered by William to be built, one of the most - important was York. The order was given in the summer of 1068; and it - is known that the new castle was to be upon the old English site, which - contained a moated mound of the first class, commanding and protected - on one side by the Roman city, and on the others by the swamps and - waters of the Ouse and Foss. William’s castle was to be garrisoned by - three leaders and five hundred knights, which implied a considerable - following. Its area, therefore, must have been spacious, and no doubt - included with the mound its ample base-court as seen at the present - day. In 1069, the castle was attacked by the citizens in revolt, and - was even then capable of being held, and was held, till William came - to its assistance. He then ordered a second castle to be constructed - upon the Bayle Hill, the mound still to be seen on the opposite or - right bank of the river; and this was completed in eight days, before - he left the city. A few months later, before September, 1069, the - citizens, aided by the Danes, again attacked and burned the castles, - which in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span> 1069–70 were again renewed. Now, York was the metropolis of - the most disaffected half of the kingdom. There, if anywhere, a castle - of stone would be desirable, and stone could readily have been brought - by water; and yet York Castle was constructed and made capable of - being defended in a few months, and its subsidiary fortress in eight - days; and both soon after were taken and burned, and at once ordered - to be reconstructed. It is clear, from the time occupied by the whole - sequence of events, that these castles were not of masonry. Moreover, - the masonry of the present York keep contains nothing that can be - attributed to the eleventh century; but much that is far too early to - have replaced a really substantial keep or curtain of Norman date had - such been built. Upon the great and artificial mound of Bayle Hill, the - site of the second castle, there is neither trace nor tradition of any - masonry at all.</p> - - <p>The building of a Norman castle required both time and money. The - architects, overlookers, and probably the masons, had to be imported - from Normandy, and in many cases the stone for the exterior; and as - most of the existing square keeps, and very nearly all the shell keeps, - are of the twelfth century, it seems probable that the Conqueror was - to some extent content with such defences as he found in England; - strengthened, no doubt, very materially by the superior skill and - resources of his engineers. This is quite consistent with the fact that - the art of castle-building did, from the building of the White Tower, - undergo a great and somewhat rapid change. It is true of William, both - in Normandy and in England, as Matthew Paris observes, “ad castra - quoque construenda, rex antecessores suos omnes superabat”; and he, - no doubt, as we are told by William of Jumieges, “tutissima castella - per opportuna loca stabilavit.” Lanfranc, writing to Roger, Earl of - Hereford, before his rebellion, assuring him of William’s confidence, - adds, “et mandat ut quantum possumus curam habeamus de castellis suis, - ne, quod Deus avertat, inimicis suis tradantur”; and in the subsequent - rebellion, it was when Ralph Guader found the men of castles against - him, that he left his wife and children to make terms from Norwich - Castle, while he himself fled. Lanfranc’s despatch informs William, - “Castrum Noruuich redditum est, et Britones qui in eo erant et terras - in Anglia terra habebant, concessis eis vita et membris.” Besides the - Bishop and Earl Warrene, the castle contained three hundred “loricati,” - with cross-bowmen and many artificers of military machines. Also the - same prelate charges Bishop Walcher, of Durham, “Castrum itaque<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> - vestrum, et hominibus, et armis, et alimentis vigilanti cura muniri - facite.”</p> - - <p>Castles, no doubt, there were at William’s command, many and strong. - All that is here contended for is, that whatever he may have desired, - William was able to construct but few castles such as London or Durham; - and that the greater number of those that remain and exhibit the Norman - style of architecture belong, some to the close of the eleventh, and a - greater number to the twelfth century. But if William did not actually - build so many castles as is supposed, he and his followers certainly - restored and occupied an immense number, upon which those who came - immediately after him built structures, the ruins of which we now see.</p> - - <p>There is much to be learned from the consideration of the positions - of these fortresses. William’s first care, on obtaining possession of - each district, was to order the preparation of such strong places as - might be necessary for the holding of it. But it is evident that he was - influenced also by another consideration: he desired to be regarded - as the legitimate heir of the Confessor, rather than as the conqueror - of the kingdom; and so far as was consistent with his own security, - he strove to administer the ancient laws, and to leave the ancient - tenures and private estates, and even English owners, undisturbed. This - indeed, owing to the strong national discontent, shown by repeated - insurrections and by a general current of ill-will of which these were - the indications, he speedily found to be out of the question. But even - while driving out the native magnates, he was careful to associate the - new men, as far as possible, with the past, in the hope (well founded) - that before long the “successores et antecessores,” as they are called - in “Domesday,” would be looked upon as part of a continued line,—Earl - Roger, for example, as the representative of Edwin of Shrewsbury, Hugh - Lupus of Morcar, and William Fitz Osbern of Ralph the Earl of Hereford - under the Confessor.</p> - - <p>And this policy is particularly evident in the sites of the castles. - Where circumstances absolutely required it, an entirely new position - was selected; but this was extremely rare, and probably did not occur - in half a dozen instances, if indeed in more than London and Richmond. - Usually it was found that the English lord had attached to his estate - an earthwork upon which he and his ancestors had lived for centuries, - which was identified with the estate or district, and regarded with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span> - respect and confidence by the surrounding tenantry. It is surprising to - find how completely the leading positions in the country had thus been - occupied. The upland passes; the margins of the rivers; the summits, - where readily accessible, of the detached hills; the spots rendered - strong by cliffs or ravines, or extended or impracticable marshes. - Each had its <i>aula</i>, where a succession of lords had identified - themselves with their people, afforded them protection, and received in - return their support. Such were Guildford, Farnham, and Berkhampstede, - in the clefts of the belt of chalk by which London is girdled; - Hertford, Bedford, Wallingford, Tamworth, Worcester, Shrewsbury, - Durham, and York, upon the banks of deep or rapid streams; Windsor, - Belvoir, Lincoln, Corfe, and Montacute, placed on the summit of more - or less detached hills, commanding a broad sweep of country; Dover, - Scarborough, and Bamborough, upon rugged and lofty sea-cliffs, isolated - by deep and formidable ravines; Huntingdon, Cambridge, Ely, and Oxford, - more or less covered by marshy fens at that time almost impassable; - while attached to and so placed as to overawe their adjacent cities or - towns were such fortresses as Exeter, Leicester, Winchester, Chester, - Chichester, Taunton, York, Norwich, and Nottingham. Each, including - many that belonged to the Crown, represented an English estate. To many - of them military service had long been paid; and now into them the - knights and barons from Normandy and the lieutenants and governors for - the Crown were inserted.</p> - - <p>So far, the policy was sound and promised to be successful; but when - the new lords began to build castles of stone they became obnoxious to - both sovereign and people. The possessor of a strong castle was ever - ready for rebellion, and was not uncommonly a tyrant even to his own - people, of whom this made him independent: hence, castles properly so - called,—buildings in masonry,—were hated by both king and people. The - old-fashioned residence, half mansion, half fortress, formed of earth - and timber or at best of a rude kind of masonry, such as Scott more - by intuition than inquiry attributes to the Saxon Cedric, was strong - when held by brave men in sufficient numbers for a short time; but - under ordinary circumstances it could easily be attacked, and set on - fire. These fortified residences were out of fashion with the Normans, - and fell into disuse. The English lords were of the same immediate - lineage with their tenants; and if they occasionally squeezed them, - they did it as a man squeezes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span> his own milch cow, tenderly. But the - castle of stone was held by a stranger whose language, arms, and armour - were strange to the people, and by them feared and hated. The Norman - castle was a purely military building. It was not only strong when - well garrisoned, but its passive strength was also great; and when the - bridge was up and the gates closed it was at all times safe against an - enemy unprovided with military engines. Fire, the ordinary and ready - weapon of the populace, against such a wall, for example, as Cardiff - (40 feet high and 11 feet thick), or against such a Tower as London, - could do nothing. The garrison also, composed in the English times - of the tenants of the lord, under the Normans were not unfrequently - mercenaries,—men without ruth or conscience, distrusted even by their - employers, whose trade was war and whose gain was plunder, and of - whom Maurice de Bracy was a very favourable specimen. “Quot domini - castellorum,” it was said “tot tyranni.” No wonder, then, that the - Norman castles came to be regarded as the symbol of rebellion on the - one hand, and of tyranny on the other.</p> - - <p>Although the personal attention of the Conqueror was necessarily - confined to the chief cities and central towns of England, to Exeter, - Gloucester, Nottingham, Lincoln, York, or Durham, his western frontier - was not neglected, although he was obliged to depute its ordinary - defence to others. The Welsh, hardened by centuries of constant - warfare, held with tenacity their strip of mountain land between Offa’s - Dyke and the sea, and were ever on the watch to spoil that other more - fertile tract which lay between the Dyke and the Severn and the Dee, - known as the March. Foremost among the barons of the March were Roger - of Montgomery and Hugh D’Avranches, Earl of Chester, to whom later - generations gave the surname of the “Wolf.” The <i>caput</i> of this - latter earldom, protected by the deep and rapid Dee, was posted at - one angle of the old Roman enclosure; and the castle of Earl Roger, - girdled by the convolutions of the Severn, was an almost impregnable - citadel. From these fortresses these great earls exercised more than - regal power over the counties of Salop and Hereford, composing the - Middle March. The border barons, their feudatories, succeeded to no - peaceful heritage; but by degrees they possessed themselves of the - older English possessions upon the border, and along with them of - the fortresses by which in Mercian times the Welsh had been held so - long at bay. That these were numerous is evident from the remains of - their earthworks; and that they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> were strong and well held against - the Welsh is evident from the English names along and beyond the - frontier. “Domesday,” however, though compiled after Earl Roger had - held the Earldom of Shrewsbury about twelve years, only mentions four - castles upon his border,—Oswestry, Montgomery, Shrewsbury, and Stanton - or Castle Holgate, and the Earl’s house at Quatford. Bridgenorth and - Carreghova were built a few years later, in the reign of Rufus; but - Bridgenorth represented the burgh of Æthelflæda, the remains of which - are possibly seen at Oldbury, as are earthworks of still stronger - type, actually employed by Earl Roger at Quatford. Besides these, - Wattlesborough and Clun exhibit rectangular Norman keeps; and eleven - or twelve more castles in those districts are mentioned in records as - early as the reign of Henry I. Altogether, by the close of the twelfth - century there were from fifty to sixty castles in the county of Salop - alone. Now, although the masonry of these castles, or of such of them - as remain, can very rarely indeed be attributed to the Norman period, - the earthworks show that they existed as fortresses long before that - time; and it seems, therefore, certain that here, as in other parts of - England, Earl Roger and his barons made the most of such works as they - found ready to their hands; and this applies equally to the Palatinate - of Chester and to the southern Marches, where also Norman castles took - the place, with more or less of interval, of strongholds of the English - type.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">OF THE POLITICAL VALUE OF CASTLES UNDER THE SUCCESSORS OF THE CONQUEROR.</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">IT is rather remarkable that castles should not occupy, even - incidentally, a more prominent place in the “Domesday Survey,” as - they formed a very important feature in the country; were closely, - for the most part, attached to landed property; and were of great - political importance. No great baron was without a castle upon each - of his principal estates, nor was any bishop secure of his personal - safety unless so provided. At the death of the Conqueror, it was the - possession of Winchester Castle that gave to William Rufus the royal - treasure, and enabled his adherents to acquire the castles of Dover - and Hastings, and thus, at the commencement of his reign, to secure a - safe communication with Normandy. The king, it is true, had the people - on his side and owed his eventual success to their support, but the - barons of his party depended largely upon their fortresses. Archbishop - Lanfranc held Saltwood, which the earthworks show even then to have - been strong; Willam de Warren held Lewes and Ryegate and the strong - hill of Coningsburgh in Yorkshire; Chester belonged to Earl Hugh, who - was supported by his fifteen barons, each of whom had his castle; and - in North Wales the Earl held Diganwy, which, covered in front by the - Conwy water, closed the seaward pass from that aggressive district. - With the Earl and on the side of Rufus were Robert de Tilliol, who - held Flint and Rhuddlan, and Scaleby and other castles on the Scottish - border; while Bishop Wolstan, representing the English feeling, held - his episcopal castle of Worcester against Urso d’Abitot and a swarm of - Marcher barons who crossed the Severn to assail him.</p> - - <p>Nevertheless, the lords of the castles were mostly on the side of Duke - Robert. Such were Alan the Black and Ribald his brother, the lords of - Richmond and Middleham; Stephen of Holderness, strong in his sea-girt - rock of Scarborough; the Mowbrays, Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutance, - Justiciary to the Conqueror, and a great soldier; and Robert Mowbray,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> - his brother’s son, who held the impregnable rock of Bamburgh and the - great castle of Axholm in the fens of Lincolnshire; both strong, though - in a different kind of strength. With them was the powerful Earl Roger - of Shrewsbury with his border following; and at a later period Robert - de Belesme, his successor, builder of Bridgenorth and Carreghova, and - superior lord of many border castles. In the west, Duke Robert was - supported by Bernard Newmarch, who held the castles of Brecknock and - Builth, and a large and fortified tract of Monmouthshire; with whom - were William of Breteuil, son of William Fitz-Osborn, and lord of - Hereford; Roger de Lacy of Ewias; and William Earl of Eu, the owner - of the strong rock of Hastings, who at that time held the castle and - walled city of Gloucester. Besides these great leaders were, on the - same side, Ralph Mortimer of Wigmore; Walter Giffard, whose castle - on one bank of the Buckinghamshire Ouse, combined with a similar - moated mound on the other, commanded that town and its river; Ralph - Guader, who held Norwich; and Hugh Bigot, his successor there, lord of - Framlingham, after Norwich the strongest place, both in earthworks and - masonry, in East Anglia. Between Bristol and Bath the Mowbrays ravaged - the country up to the tower of Berkeleyness, the present castle being - then but an earthwork; and with them were Hugh de Graintmaisnel, who - held Hinckley and Leicester castles; and William de Carileph, at first - one of William’s prime councillors; but who afterwards changed sides, - and was enabled to do so with safety from his possession of the keep - of Durham. Bishop Odo, who held Rochester Castle (even then a place of - great strength), and with it the passage of the Medway, placed there - Eustace of Boulogne; and himself, with his brother Earl Robert and five - hundred knights, held the Roman Pevensey, strengthened by a mound and - some other English additions in earth.</p> - - <p>Rufus, however, with far more energy than his brother Robert, had also - the popular feeling on his side, which enabled him to make head even - against this powerful combination. He laid siege to Pevensey, and took - it after a seven weeks’ siege. He then assailed and took Rochester, - and finally Tonbridge, held by Gilbert Fitz-Richard, the consequence - of which success was the banishment of Bishop Odo. Robert Mowbray was - beaten back from before the walls of Ilchester Castle, now utterly - destroyed; and Bishop William was forced to surrender Durham. Carlisle, - wasted by the Danes in 877, received from Rufus a castle and a keep, - now standing; and Newcastle, similarly provided in 1080, also retains - its keep, and a gatehouse with some traces of the exterior wall. In - 1098<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span> Malcolm of Scotland, the husband of St. Margaret, was slain - before Alnwick, then better known as Murielden; and Mowbray was driven - from Tynewald Castle back upon Bamburgh, which seems to have been - finally taken by means of a “malvoisin,” which in this instance was - evidently an entrenched camp thrown up to the west of the castle, and - employed probably as the headquarters of a blockade. In this reign also - the conquest of South Wales was completed, and the foundations laid of - a chain of castles from Gloucester and Hereford to Pembroke, the main - links of which were Chepstow and Abergavenny, Caerleon and Cardiff, - Builth and Brecknock, Caerkennen, Caermarthen, Cardigan, Tenby, and - Carew. How far these Welsh castles were at once constructed of masonry - is uncertain. Besides Chepstow, two only, or at most three, and those - subordinate, Ogmore, Penlline, and Newcastle, exhibit decided Norman - features; but however this may be, neither Fitz-Hamon, Newmarch, nor - Arnulph of Montgomery were likely, in the face of foes so formidable, - to be satisfied with defences in any way inferior to the strongest of - that day.</p> - - <p>The reign of Henry I. was prolific in castles. It is probable that to - him is due the greater number of our extant rectangular keeps, by the - construction of which he carried to completion the plans sketched out - by his father, which his brother had been too busy and too much pressed - to take in hand. In this reign, especially between 1114 and 1121, most - of the Welsh castles were completed. Bristol and Cardiff castles were - the work of Robert Earl of Gloucester. Bishop Roger of Salisbury built - Sherborne, Salisbury, the Devizes, and Malmesbury; and his brother, - Alexander of Lincoln, Sleaford and Newark. “Castella erant crebra per - totam Angliam.” Most of these were great and strong, very different - from the hasty and unlicensed structures of the succeeding reign.</p> - - <p>Henry, like Rufus, commenced his reign with the taking of Winchester - with its treasures. Flambard, who had been entrusted with the great - episcopal castles of Durham and Norham, was imprisoned in the keep - of London. The outlawry of Robert Malet and Robert de Lacy, in 1101, - gave Henry their castles in Yorkshire and Suffolk; and in 1102 Ivo - de Graintmaisnel was driven from his mound at Hinckley, and forced - to flee the country. Also the King obtained, by forfeiture, the - castles of William de Warenne, though these were afterwards restored. - Henry, in 1103, laid his hands upon Arnulph de Montgomery’s castle of - Pembroke, and on those of Robert of Poitou, his brother, between the - Ribble and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span> Mersey. The death of William Earl of Moretaine brought - in the almost impregnable hill-castle of Montacute, with Trematon, - Launceston, Tintagel, Boscastle, and Restormel, and other Cornish - fortresses. The fall of Robert de Belesme gave the crown the castles - of Arundel,—a lesser Windsor in its plan, and scarcely inferior in - its position; of Shrewsbury, the mound of which still towers over the - Severn, and dwarfs even the extensive and incongruous railway-station - at its foot; of Bridgenorth, where a fragment of the keep shows what it - must once have been; and of Carreghova, of which the very traces are - well-nigh effaced. Belesme retired to Normandy, where he is said to - have been lord of thirty-four castles; but the fragments of his power - only betrayed him into further rebellion, so that he ended his life a - prisoner and an exile on the castled mound of Wareham.</p> - - <p>There still remained, indeed, in private hands a considerable number - of castles, the owners of which found it convenient to give way, and - thus to retain a portion of their influence. Such were Bourne in - Lincolnshire; Malton, held by Fitz-John, in Yorkshire; Beaudesert in - Warwickshire; the episcopal castles of Newark and Sleaford, and that of - Oakham. There were also Warblington in Hampshire; and in Cumberland, - Egremont and Cockermouth.</p> - - <p>The rebellion of 1118 gave to Henry the castles of Hugh de Gournay - in the west, of Stephen of Albemarle at Scarborough, of Eustace of - Breteuil, of Richard de l’Aigle, and of Henry Earl of Eu; together - with the Mowbray castles of Thirsk, Malzeard, and Burton in Lonsdale. - Nearly the whole of the strongholds thus acquired were retained by - Henry in his own hands, and Suger states that in Normandy the principal - castles were by him either destroyed or held: “Fere omnes turres et - quæcunque fortissima castra Normanniæ ... aut eversum iri fecit ... - aut si dirutæ essent propriæ voluntati subjugavit.” In either country - he laid hands on the castles; but where the delinquents held in both, - it was upon those in England that the forfeiture was most rigidly - enforced. Among the exceptions were William de Roumare, who was allowed - to hold Lincoln; and similar protection was shown to Ralph de Conches, - William de Tancarville, William de Warenne, Walter Giffard, and William - d’Albini. Among their castles were Ryegate, Lewes, Coningsburgh, and - Castle Rising, Buckingham and Arundel.</p> - - <p>It has been said that Henry did not himself construct any new castles. - This is probable enough, as all the sites of importance had been - occupied by his father; but it is not improbable, judging from the - internal evidence afforded by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span> their remains, that he completed such of - his father’s castles as were left unfinished. Of baronial castles, the - grand fortress of Kenilworth, by far the most important strong place - in the midland counties, was constructed in this reign, though very - probably upon an English site, by the founder of the house of Clinton. - In this reign also were probably constructed the masonry of Northampton - Castle, by Simon de St. Liz, and that of Old Sarum and Odiham by Bishop - Roger. The keep of St. Briavel’s, now destroyed, was reconstructed, or - built of masonry; and Ralph Flambard laid the foundations of and seems - to have completed the keep of Norham.</p> - - <p>The issue of the contest between Matilda and Stephen turned very much - upon the castles over which each had control. It was again by the - seizure of Winchester Castle and its treasure that Stephen was able - to celebrate his coronation in the adjacent cathedral. It was under - the walls of Reading Castle, strongly placed between the meeting of - the Kennet and the Thames, that he trusted himself to meet Matilda’s - adherents, and with them to lay the corpse of her father before the - altar of the great Abbey that he had founded, and the ruins of which - have long survived those of its secular neighbour. From Oxford, strong - in its walled city and partially water-girdled keep, Stephen issued - his first charter, so full of promises to his new subjects; and thence - he went to Durham, one of the strongest castles of the North, to - meet David of Scotland, who had wasted the border from Carlisle to - Newcastle, and taken Alnwick and Norham, though foiled before Wark - and Bamborough. One of David’s principal concessions was the castle - of Newcastle. On the other hand, he obtained the confirmation to him - of that of Carlisle, long the gate of Scotland. The two, posted one - at each end of the lines of Severus and Hadrian, are still tolerably - perfect, as is the impregnable Bamburgh, the Norman keep of which, in - Stephen’s time, was new.</p> - - <p>From Oxford, still his central stronghold, on his return to the - South, Stephen conceded his second charter, less distinct in its - promises as the danger of his position seemed less pressing. On the - report of his death in 1136, it was trust in their strong castles of - Exeter, Plympton, Okehampton, Norwich, Framlingham, and Bungay, that - encouraged Baldwin de Redvers and Hugh Bigot to rise in arms. Bath had - then a castle and was a walled town. Stephen laid siege to and took - the castle, and thence, with two hundred horse, rode to Exeter, where - Rougemont, its citadel, was strong and well garrisoned. The siege - was a remarkable one, and the warlike machines employed both within - and without were of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span> formidable character. The citizens were with - Stephen, so the attack was on the city front. The bridge from the city, - still standing, was one point of attack. A “malvoisin” was constructed, - whence stones were poured in upon the garrison; the walls were ruined, - and the towers much injured. Finally the well ran dry, and the garrison - surrendered upon terms. Plympton also capitulated, and Norwich was - taken.</p> - - <p>On Stephen’s arrival from Normandy, in 1137, he secured the castles - of Bourne, Wareham, and Corfe, the two latter held by Fitz-Alured and - Redvers. A second rising, in 1138, timed with an invasion by the Scots, - turned in some degree upon the strength of the castle of Bedford, then - including a pair of moated mounds on the opposite banks of the Ouse, of - which one is entirely removed, and the other remains deprived of its - masonry, and shorn of its fair dimensions. This castle was held by the - sons of Milo de Beauchamp, its owner, and only surrendered after a long - and severe siege conducted by Stephen in person, which terminated in a - blockade. The defence was very able, and the surrender upon fair terms.</p> - - <p>Meantime David, linking the interests of Matilda with his own claims to - the great earldom of Huntingdon, twice crossed the border in the spring - of 1128, retiring as Stephen approached, but a third time returning - in August. He took Norham, and much injured its superb keep, built - by Bishop Flambard in 1121, a noble ruin which still frowns over the - Tweed, and is rich in historical recollections. Bamburgh, Alnwick, - and Malton were held for Stephen by Eustace Fitz-John. Parts of the - wall and inner gate of Alnwick are of about this date; but Malton has - disappeared, though the earlier Roman camp may still be traced. David’s - progress was also checked by Clitheroe, a very strong castle, of which - the Norman keep, one of the very smallest extant, crowns the top of an - almost impregnable rock.</p> - - <p>At this period Stephen’s position was most critical. Against him, on - the Welsh Marches, Talbot held Goderich and Hereford, while Ludlow - and Dudley, Shrewsbury and Whittington, were in the hands of Paganel, - Fitz-Alan, and William Peverel. Further south, the barons of Somerset - were encouraged against him by William de Mohun from his hold at - Dunster, strong naturally and by art; and by Fitz-John at Harptree, - a castle in the defiles of the Mendips; while Maminot both held and - strongly augmented Dover. Stephen, however, was active and he was - brave. Leaving Archbishop Thurstan to muster and encourage his northern - supporters, he himself marched south, strengthened the garrison of - Bath, and threatened Bristol. Thence he entered Somerset, and took by - siege the Lovel<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span> seat of Castle Cary, of which the earthworks cover a - hillside; secured Harptree by surprise, and thence doubled back upon - Hereford, which won, he next recovered the old British and English - fortress of Pengwern or Shrewsbury. Bristol alone held out, strong in - its newly-built keep, and in the presence of Robert Earl of Gloucester, - its builder.</p> - - <p>The “battle of the Standard,” <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1138, was fought in the - open field, under the leadership of D’Aumâle; but it was also named - from North Allerton, where, intersected by the railway, are still - seen formidable earthworks far older than Bishop Puiset’s castle - which surmounted them, and which was afterwards entirely razed by - Henry II. The victory of North Allerton was enhanced by the capture - of Dover by Stephen’s Queen. The castle of Carlisle still remained - in the possession of King David, and thence he renewed the war, - and in the following year obtained for his son Henry the earldom - of Northumberland; with the exception, however, of the castles of - Newcastle and Bamburgh.</p> - - <p>When, in 1139, Stephen’s change of policy lost him the support of - the clergy, led by his ambitious brother the Bishop of Winchester, - his first blow was struck at the episcopal castles. Of these, the - Devizes, Sherborne, and Malmesbury belonged to Bishop Roger of Sarum. - Malmesbury, an episcopal encroachment upon the adjacent Abbey, was - wholly the Bishop’s work, and is now utterly destroyed. Sherborne, - a very ancient episcopal seat, still retains its early earthworks, - and a keep and gatehouse, the work of Bishop Roger; and although of - the Devizes there remain but a few fragments of its circular keep, - the earthworks (the grandest in England) show that it may well have - deserved its great reputation. These Stephen seized upon, and he also - took Newark-upon-Trent, still admired for its lofty and extended front, - and for its magnificent Norman entrance. With Newark fell Sleaford, - both built by Bishop Alexander of Lincoln, nephew of Bishop Roger, and - also a great builder of castles. Sleaford is utterly demolished, and - being entirely post-conquestal, had scarcely any earthworks to preserve - its memory.</p> - - <p>Among the events of this important year were the taking of Nottingham - and Marlborough Castles by Stephen; his attack on Ludlow; the - appearance on the scene of his rival, the Empress Matilda; and his - siege of Arundel, in which castle she took refuge with D’Albini and - Queen Adeliza his wife. Nottingham is gone. Of Marlborough only a fine - mound remains, upon which stood its circular keep. Much of Ludlow, - especially its rectangular keep, played a part in Stephen’s siege, as - did a part of the existing exterior wall,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span> whence the grappling-hook - was thrown by which the King was hooked, and was being dragged up to - its battlements, when he was rescued by the Scottish Prince Henry. - Arundel preserves its earthworks pretty much as they must have appeared - in the reign of the Confessor; and with its shell-keep on its mound, - and the original gatehouse at its foot, gives to the modern visitor - a fair notion of the appearance of the defences before which Stephen - pitched his camp. It was also in 1139 that De Redvers, returning to - England, landed under the Conqueror’s castle of Wareham, on the margin - of the Poole water. From Wareham he proceeded to Corfe, a seat of the - Kings of Mercia, where he was besieged by Stephen.</p> - - <p>It was during this period of the war between Stephen, Matilda, and - the Church party, that were constructed the multitude of unlicensed - castles (“castra adulterina”) employed not merely for the security - of the builders, but to enable them to prey upon their neighbours - with impunity. Nothing could well be worse than the circumstances - under which these castles were built, and the purposes for which they - were employed. “Stephen,” says John of Tynemouth, quoted by Dugdale, - “concessit ut quilibet procerum suorum munitionem, seu castrum, in - proprio fundo facere posset.” William of Jumieges and Malmesbury - compare the times to those of Normandy during the minority of Duke - William; and other writers declare the state of England to have - resembled that of Jerusalem during the Roman siege. There was no rule - and no responsibility. The unhappy peasants were forced to labour in - the construction of the strongholds of tyranny. It would seem that - these castles were built with great rapidity, and with but little - expenditure of labour upon earthworks, for in the next reign they - were destroyed without difficulty, and scarcely any of their sites - are now to be recognised. They were the work of the lesser barons, - probably with the connivance of their chief lords, or even of Stephen - and Matilda, who were little scrupulous as to the terms on which they - accepted assistance. This multiplication of castles without the licence - of the sovereign was no novelty, and was forbidden on the Continent by - the celebrated “Edictum Pistense” of Charles the Bald in 864, already - cited.</p> - - <p>Another irregularity was the admission to the title of earl of several - persons unfitted to receive so great an honour, and whose only claim - to distinction was that they were leaders of mercenaries. Stephen was - not in a condition to endow all of them with the third penny of the - revenues of a county, the usual appanage of an earl. Many of the earls - created by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> Stephen stood, however, in a very different position. Such - were Geoffrey de Mandeville, Lord of Plessy and Walden, who accepted - the Earldom of Essex from both parties; Alberic de Vere, who built the - noble keep of Hedingham, and was the first of the long line of the - Earls of Oxford; Hugh Bigot, who held the Earldom of Norfolk; Richard - de Clare, who held that of Hertford; D’Aumâle, of Yorkshire; Gilbert de - Clare, of Pembroke; Robert de Ferrers, of Derby; and probably William - de Ypres, the Earldom of Kent. Stephen seems to have created, in all, - eight; and the Empress six,—Cambridge, Cornwall, Essex, Hereford, - Salisbury, and Somerset.</p> - - <p>From Arundel, Matilda, it is said by Stephen’s courtesy, moved to - Bristol, where her brother, Robert Earl of Gloucester, held his castle - on the marshy confluence of the Frome with the Avon. Robert also at - that time held the royal castle of Gloucester, long since destroyed, - and a prison built on its site; and he was probably builder also of - the shell-keep still standing upon the mound of Cardiff. At that time - Matilda’s friends held Dover, with the square keep of Canterbury, - placed just within the <i>enceinte</i> of the yet older city ditch, and - almost within bowshot of the still more venerable mound of Dane John. - Mention is also made of the castles of Trowbridge and Cerne as recently - erected. The latter was taken by Stephen by storm, before the attack on - Malmesbury. Trowbridge held out with success.</p> - - <p>The great event of 1141 was the siege, or rather the battle, of - Lincoln. The castle had been surprised, and was held by Ranulph Earl of - Chester and his half-brother William de Roumare. As Stephen approached, - Earl Ranulph left the place secretly to procure assistance from the - Earl of Gloucester. This was afforded, and the two earls, with 10,000 - men, some of them Earl Robert’s Welsh followers, crossed the Trent, and - found Stephen drawn up to receive them. The result of the battle was - the capture of Stephen, and the confirmation of Earl Ranulph in Lincoln - Castle. On this Matilda went to her royal castle at Winchester, a part - of the defences of the old Venta Belgarum, and characterised by a large - mound, now removed. Here Bishop Henry, safe in his rectangular keep of - Wolvesey, still standing near the Cathedral, in the opposite angle of - the city, treated with her almost as equal with equal, but acknowledged - her as Lady of England. Their accord, however, was neither cordial nor - of long duration. Upon the Queen’s return, in some discredit, from - London, an open quarrel broke out. She attacked Wolvesey, and the - Bishop retaliated upon the royal castle with better success.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span></p> - - <p>Under the escort of Brian Fitz-Count and Milo, to whom Matilda had - given the Earldom of Hereford and the “Castle and Mote” of that ancient - city, she fled from Winchester, Earl Robert guarding her rear. They - were pursued. Matilda reached Ludgershall Castle in safety, and then - went to the Devizes; but Earl Robert was taken on the way by William - of Ypres, and imprisoned in Rochester Castle. Stephen was then a - prisoner in Bristol Castle; and in November, 1141, the Earl and King - were exchanged. A month later, at the Synod of Westminster, the pains - of excommunication were denounced against all who built new castles, or - offered violence to the poor,—a significant conjunction.</p> - - <p>Stephen’s illness and Earl Robert’s absence in Normandy checked for - a short time active hostilities, and meantime Stephen held the Tower - of London, and Matilda the castle of Oxford. Late in 1142, Stephen - attacked and took Oxford, and blockaded the castle until the winter set - in, and the stock of provisions fell short. The Thames was frozen, and - the ground covered with snow, by the aid of which Matilda, robed in - white, escaped across the river, and fled to Fitz-Count at Wallingford. - The castle was then surrendered. Its grand mound is yet untouched; - and below it, upon the river, is a large square tower of the eleventh - century. Part of the city wall also remains.</p> - - <p>Before Reading, Stephen had taken several strong but less important - fortresses, such as Bow and Arrow Castle on the Cliff of Portland, - which still remains, and Carisbroke, the strength of the Isle of - Wight. He took also Lulworth, in Purbeck, represented by a far later - residence. Cirencester, which he burned, seems never to have been - restored; and Farringdon, built in haste by the Earl of Gloucester, - was also swept away. Stephen’s strength, however, lay in London and - the east; and that of Matilda about Gloucester and Bristol, and in the - west. Stephen also held Pevensey. The great midland barons stood aloof, - biding their time. Thus Roger de Bellomont and his brother Waleran, of - Meulan, held Leicester with its Roman walls and English earthworks, - protected by the meads of the Soar; along the edge of which, and at - the foot of the mound, is still seen the Norman Hall, and hard by the - stately church of St. Mary de Castro, also in large part Norman. They - also held Mount Sorrell, at that time a strong castle built upon a rock - of syenite, but now quarried away, both rock and castle, to macadamise - the highways of the metropolis. Saher de Quincy was strong about - Hinckley, where the early mound, stripped of its masonry (if, indeed, - it ever received any), still guards the eastern entrance to the town. - The Earl of Chester held<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> Lincoln as his own; and the hill of Belvoir, - the cynosure of the Midland, was guarded by the grand shell-keep of - Trusbut and De Ros, burned down and rebuilt after a tasteless fashion - in our own days.</p> - - <p>In 1146, death deprived Matilda of the Earls of Gloucester and - Hereford. She retired to Normandy; but her place was taken by the - younger Plantagenet, her son. In this year also Stephen availed himself - of the presence of the Earls of Chester and Essex at his court to seize - their persons, and to force them to render up, the one the castles of - Lincoln and Northampton, the other that of Plessy, of which the moated - mound and contained church are still seen, and Stansted Montfitchet, - now almost merged in a railway station, and which then vied with the - old castle of the Bishop of London at Stortford. Walden, also thus - gained, is still famous for its earthworks, and for the fragment of - its Norman keep, composed, like Bramber and Arques, of flint rubble - deprived of its ashlar casing.</p> - - <p>Earl Geoffrey having thus purchased his liberty, employed it in burning - the castle of Cambridge, the mound of which, sadly reduced in size, - still, from the interior of the Roman camp, overlooks the river. While - in pursuit of the Earl, Stephen is said to have built certain new and - probably temporary castles. More probably he refortified with timber - some of the moated mounds, such as Clare, Eye, and Bures, of which - there are many in Essex and Suffolk. Works in masonry he certainly had - neither time nor means then to construct. Soon afterwards the Bishop - of Winchester ceased to be papal legate, and found it convenient to - support his brother’s party, and persuaded him to refuse permission - to Archbishop Theobald to attend the new Pope at Rheims. Theobald, - however, defied the King, and on his return took shelter within the - unusually lofty walls and strong earthworks of Framlingham, a Bigot - castle in Suffolk. About this time mention is made of castles at - Cricklade in Wilts, at Tetbury and at Winchcombe in Gloucestershire. At - Coventry also there was a castle, and another at Downton in Wiltshire, - still celebrated for its moot-hill.</p> - - <p>In 1149, York opened its gates to young Henry of Anjou, who assembled - a considerable force, with which he met the royal army at Malmesbury, - though without an actual collision. Of 1151 is on record a curious - convention in which the Earls of Leicester and Chester were concerned, - under which no new castles were to be built between Hinckley and - Coventry, Coventry and Donnington, Donnington and Leicester; nor at - Gateham, nor at Kinoulton, nor between Kinoulton and Belvoir, Belvoir - and Oakham, Oakham and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> Rockingham. In 1152 occurred the celebrated - siege of Wallingford, held for Matilda by Brian Fitz-Count. Enough of - Wallingford remains to show how strong it must formerly have been; and - the temporal was fully equalled by the spiritual power, for the town, - always small, contained just twice as many churches as apostolic Asia. - Stephen, unable to approach the Castle from its landward side, threw up - a work still to be traced at Crowmarsh, on the left bank of the river, - and there posted his engines. Young Henry, holding Malmesbury, Warwick, - and about thirty other not very distant castles, marched to the relief - of Wallingford, and invested the lines of Crowmarsh, besieging the - besiegers. Stephen advanced to their aid from London, and Henry seems - to have moved into the town, holding the passage of the river at the - bridge by a special work. Wallingford was thus saved, and Henry, early - in 1153, laid siege to Stamford, where, as at York, Hertford, and - Buckingham, two mounds commanded the river; and stormed Nottingham, - where were similar works upon the Trent. Stephen, falling back into the - eastern counties, took Ipswich, a castle of which even the site is lost.</p> - - <p>The death of Eustace, Stephen’s son, in August, 1153, paved the way - to an arrangement between the rivals. Stephen was to remain King, and - Henry became his acknowledged successor. William, Stephen’s surviving - son, was to retain the Warenne castles and estates, which included - Ryegate, of which traces remain; Castle-Acre, with its mound and other - earthworks, placed within a Roman encampment; Castle-Rising, one of - the least injured and most remarkable Norman keeps in England; Lewes, - with its double mound and strong natural position; and Coningsburgh, an - English site of excessive strength, though not then as yet celebrated - for its noble tower. He also had the castles of Wirmegay and Bungay, - Norwich, and the castle and honour of Pevensey. It was also agreed that - the garrisons of the royal castles generally should swear allegiance to - Henry and to Stephen; and the castellans of Lincoln, London, Oxford, - Southampton, and Windsor gave hostages that on Stephen’s death they - would give them over to Henry. It was also agreed at a conference at - Dunstable in 1154, that all castles built since the death of Henry - I. should be destroyed (a clause which may be taken to show that no - absolutely new castles of very great importance had been built by - Matilda or Stephen); and that all mercenary troops should be sent back - to their own countries. The office of sheriff, as representing the - crown in the counties, was to be strengthened.</p> - - <p>Stephen died in October, 1154, and his rival ascended the throne as - Henry II. without opposition.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF CASTLES IN THE REIGN OF HENRY II.</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">HENRY II. was a great builder, and especially of military works. “In - muris, in propugnaculis, in munitionibus, in fossatis, ... nullus - subtilior, nullus magnificentior, invenitur.” This, however, does not - so much refer to new castles, of which he built but few, as to the - completion or addition of new keeps to the old ones, such, for example, - as Dover.</p> - - <p>A few days after his arrival in England he received the fealty of - the magnates of the realm at Winchester Castle, and was crowned at - Westminster, 19th December, immediately after which he granted to - William, Earl of Arundel, the castle and honour of Arundel and the - third penny of the county of Sussex. This was probably for life, for - upon the Earl’s death in 1176 the castle and county reverted to the - Crown, and were re-granted. Notwithstanding this beginning, Henry was - fully determined to carry out the policy agreed upon at Wallingford - in the face of the nation. A few days later he attended a council at - Bermondsey, at which it was decided to order all foreign mercenaries - to quit the kingdom on pain of death, and to raze all castles erected - in the reign of Stephen. This decision was felt on all sides to be - absolutely required; and it was, to a great extent, at once acted upon. - Of these “castra adulterina” he destroyed, by some accounts, 375; by - others, 1,115. Unfortunately, their names and sites have rarely been - preserved, and can only be inferred where a castle played a part in the - wars of Stephen and Matilda, and is not afterwards mentioned. These - castles were, no doubt, built usually by men of limited means, and in - haste; but even a small and badly-built castle of masonry would require - some labour and outlay of money for its destruction. Possibly many of - these buildings were of timber, upon the existing mounds. Also there - are found slight earthworks of no great height or area, the plan of - which seems that of a Norman castle, and which not improbably belong - to this period. At Eaton-Socon, in Bedford<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span>shire, and Lilbourne, in - Northamptonshire, are such earthworks. Farringdon and Mount Sorrel - Castles, and those of Stansted and Hinckley, Coventry, Cricklade,and - Winchcombe, are thought to have been dismantled at this time. Drax - Castle, in Yorkshire, stood out, and was destroyed, as, though far - less completely, were Bungay and Tutbury, Thirsk, Malzeard, and Groby. - Under the pressure of the times even ecclesiastical buildings had - been occupied as castles. Ramsey and Coventry Abbeys were so used - by Geoffrey Glanville and Robert Marmion, and the fine church of - Bridlington by D’Aumâle.</p> - - <p>Henry strove to carry out the new policy without respect for rank or - party; but when he threatened the strongholds of the great nobles - his difficulties began. Hugh Mortimer and Roger, son of Milo Earl of - Hereford and High Constable, old supporters of Matilda, refused to - surrender Wigmore, Cleobury, Bridgenorth, Hereford, and Gloucester. - Henry at once took action. Leaving Wallingford Castle in the spring - of 1155, he laid siege to Bridgenorth, whence one of his letters is - dated “apud Brugiam in obsidione.” He also took by siege Cleobury and - Wigmore. This success caused the Earl of Hereford to surrender Hereford - and Gloucester, where Henry had received much of his education; and - on his protestation of submission, the Earl was allowed to retain - Hereford. Henry, Bishop of Winchester, Stephen’s brother, was forced - to flee the country, and his castles were ordered to be destroyed; - and that this order was executed appears from the charge for the work - entered in the Pipe Roll for 1155–6. In like manner D’Aumâle, a baron - of the house of Champagne, whose power lay in Holderness, and who had - commanded at Northallerton, was forced, in January, 1155, after a short - resistance, to give up Scarborough, the strongest castle in Holderness, - and Skipsea, not far its inferior. Henry also visited Northampton, - Nottingham, Lincoln, and York, and some of the western castles and - counties. At Windsor the “fermor” of the castle expended £4. 15s. - 5d. in his reception “in corredio regis.” According to Mr. Eyton, - 140 castles were destroyed in the course of 1155. William of Ypres, - a turbulent leader of Flemish mercenaries, who had been created Earl - of Kent by Stephen in 1141, was banished. He was one of the “pseudo - Comites.”</p> - - <p>A part of the new policy, though not at once enforced, was the - introduction, to a certain extent, of a money commutation for personal - military service. The new payment, under the name of “scutage,” became - an important branch of the revenue of the Crown. A rule was also - established, which,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span> if not always acted upon, was well understood, - that no man should build a castle, or convert his dwelling into a - “domus defensabilis,” without a licence from the King.</p> - - <p>In 1156 Henry went, by way of Dover, to the Continent, where he took - Mirabeau and Chinon, one of his charters being dated “Mirabel in - obsidione,” and another, “apud Chinon in exercitu”; nor did he return - to England till 1157, when he was at Southampton Castle, and went - thence to Ongar, Richard de Lacy’s Essex castle, and received from - William Count of Mortaine, King Stephen’s son, Pevensey and the Warenne - castles, which had fallen to him with the name and estates of that - family. Hugh Bigot also gave up Norwich, and made a general submission. - Henry then visited Colchester and other Essex castles, and thence - proceeded to Northampton. Malcolm of Scotland was fain to follow the - example of his English friends, and gave up Carlisle, Bamborough, and - Newcastle, together with the three northern counties. His personal - submission was made to Henry at Peveril’s Castle in the Peak, on which - occasion the sheriff’s expenses on his behalf were considerable. - Malcolm was allowed to retain his grandmother’s honour and castle of - Huntingdon.</p> - - <p>The destruction of so many smaller and later castles restored to their - former prominence those of greater strength and older date, which, - being for the most part necessary for the defence of the kingdom, were - preserved and strengthened, and entrusted to castellans of approved - fidelity. Becket, before his ecclesiastical promotion, thus received - the castles of the Tower and of Berkhampstead, and the castle and - honour of Eye.</p> - - <p>One of Henry’s chief difficulties arose out of the position of the - marcher-lords, such as the De Clares and the Mareschals, whose almost - regal powers, granted originally to enable them to hold the frontier - against the Welsh, were more frequently used, in conjunction with the - Welsh, to coerce the sovereign.</p> - - <p>In 1157 Henry invaded North Wales, and while traversing Counsyth, a - Flintshire pass, was for a moment in great personal peril. It was on - this occasion that Henry de Essex threw down the standard and fled, - and thus forfeited his castle of Raleigh. On his way back Henry - repaired the castles of Basingwerk and Rhuddlan, and probably directed - the construction of Bere Castle, a very curious fortress with some - ornamental details in the Early English style, built upon a detached - rock in a valley west of Cader Idris.</p> - - <p>In 1158 Henry visited various parts of England. At Carlisle, in - January, he knighted Earl Warenne, but refused<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> that honour to Malcolm - King of Scotland. While there he fortified Wark Castle, the sheriff’s - charge for which was £21. 8s. 11d. At Nottingham he gave to Richard - de Haia the custody “castelli <i>mei</i> de Lincoln,” showing that - he claimed it for the Crown. In August he embarked at Portsmouth or - Southampton for Normandy; and while abroad took the castles of Thouars, - Amboise, Fretevel, Moulins, and Bon-Moulins. In 1159 he was occupied - three months at the siege of Thoulouse, which he failed to take. Other - castles in Normandy he took and repaired; others, again, he destroyed; - and he built a few altogether new.</p> - - <p>In January, 1163, Becket came to England with the King, and gave great - offence to the baronage by claiming Tonbridge Castle for his see. - Towards the close of the year Henry deprived him of the charge of the - castles of Eye and Berkhampstead; and in December admitted him to a - personal interview at Oxford Castle. In this year Henry was again at - Peak Castle, and in March, 1164, at Porchester. Soon afterwards the - strong castle of Tickhill fell to the Crown by escheat; and Henry spent - Christmas at Marlborough, a royal castle.</p> - - <p>In 1165, after a short visit to Normandy, during which the Queen - visited Sherborne Castle, Henry was at Rhuddlan, and caused Basingwerk - and the Flintshire castles to be again put in order. This was - fortunate, for the campaign was unsuccessful. Expenses on that occasion - were allowed at Oswestry (then called Blancmont), Shrawardine, and - Chirk Castles. This was an assertion of ownership on the part of the - Crown, although Oswestry was part of the private estate of William - Fitz-Alan, then a minor. Henry retired to Shrewsbury, and soldiers were - brought up from Worcester and Abergavenny, some of whom were quartered - in the Corbet Castle at Caus. Grosmont, Llantilio or White Castle, and - Scenfrith, the Monmouthshire trilateral, also contributed soldiers. - From Shrewsbury, Henry, reinforced, advanced into Powis-land, and - encamped on the Berwyn Mountain, where he was near being cut off by the - Welsh, and had to take refuge at Shotwick Castle, a small fortress on - the root of the peninsula of Wirrall, whence he retired to Chester, and - returned to London.</p> - - <p>In February or March, 1166, was compiled the return of military fiefs - and tenants in chief, known as the <cite>Liber Niger</cite>, and which - professes to represent the feudal military force of the kingdom, - though so far only as the division of the land into military fees was - then completed. The <cite>Liber Ruber</cite> states the fees, in the reign - of Richard I., to have been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span> 32,000. Orderic gives them at nearly - double this, or 60,000. But there are no data for estimating, with any - approach to correctness, the force that the King could bring into the - field. Under Henry I. and Stephen, mercenaries were largely employed, - drawn mainly from Flanders. The <cite>Liber Niger</cite> has received very - valuable attention at the hands of Mr. Eyton and Professor Stubbs.</p> - - <p>Early in Lent in this year Henry embarked at Southampton for Normandy, - where he reduced the castles of Alençon and La Roche Mabile, and - received a visit from the King of Scotland. Late in the year Geoffrey - de Mandeville and Richard de Lacy engaged in an unsuccessful expedition - into North Wales, and again strengthened Basingwerk Castle, during - which they were attacked by the Welsh. Henry remained absent in - Normandy, Gascony, and Brittany about four years, landing at Portsmouth - in March, 1170; but he returned to Normandy in June. In October he - wrote to Prince Henry, directing him to restore the honour of Saltwood - to the Archbishop. On the 29th of December, Becket was murdered, the - assassins having rested at Saltwood the preceding night. After the - murder they went to Knaresborough Castle, then held by Hugh de Morville - as castellan.</p> - - <p>In August, 1171, Henry landed at Portsmouth, and early in September was - in South Wales, where he took Caerleon from Iorwerth ap Owen, and went - on to Pembroke Castle to meet Prince Rhys, to whom he made over a large - part of Cardigan. From Pembroke, or rather from Milford, he went, in - October, to Ireland, whence he returned, by St. David’s and by Cardiff, - to England in April, 1172, and thence embarked from Portsmouth for the - Continent in May.</p> - - <p>In April, 1173, the confederacy between the King of France and Prince - Henry, who carried with him the discontented party among the English - barons, broke out into open war in both countries. Henry the elder - remained at Rouen, and with the doubtful exception of a short visit - to England was content to leave the conduct of the war there to the - faithful and able Richard de Lacy.</p> - - <p>The English rebellion was of a very grave character. Among the rebels - were the Earls of Chester and Leicester, Ferrars Earl of Derby, - Mowbray, and Paganel. Ferrars held Groby, Tutbury, Burton, and some - other castles; Mowbray held Kinnard’s Ferry Castle in Axholm, Thirsk, - and Malzeard, which seem again to have been repaired or rebuilt; David - of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, held that castle; as did Bishop Puiset - Norham and Durham. These northern castles were strong, and supported - by the Scottish<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> levies; but the great body of the baronage was with - the king, and even in the North his party preponderated. It included - Umfraville of Prudhoe, De Vesci of Alnwick, Ros of Hamlake, Bruce of - Whorlton and Skelton; and in the south almost all the great barons. - Lacy laid siege to and burned Leicester town; but the castle seems to - have held out. He also, accompanied by Bohun, marched into the North - and wasted the border country and the Lothians. The royal castles - generally were ordered to be victualled and garrisoned.</p> - - <p>In September, Robert, Earl of Leicester, landed at Walton in Suffolk - with a body of Flemish mercenaries. Suffolk was, no doubt, selected for - the landing as being opposite to the Flemish ports, and under the local - influence of the house of Bigot, who held the castles of Framlingham - and Bungay, and were hereditary Constables of Norwich, an office often - forfeited, but which gave them great influence in the city. Leicester - and his Flemings were at once received at Framlingham, and thence - besieged Haganet Castle, governed for the king by Ranulph de Broc. This - they took; but failed before the walls of Dunwich, and thence marched - towards Leicester. Meantime Lacy and Humphrey de Bohun had hurried - back from the Scottish border, were reinforced near Bury by the earls - of Arundel, Cornwall, and Gloucester, and in October came up with the - Flemish army at Fornham St. Geneviève. The invaders were routed, and - Leicester and his countess taken and sent prisoners to Normandy. Lacy’s - work was, however, but half completed. Mowbray still held Axholm, - and Earl David, or probably for him, Anketil Mallori, held Leicester - Castle. The King of Scots laid siege to Carlisle, while his brother - took the castles of Knaresborough, Brough, and Appleby. In May, 1174, - Leicester Castle was still untaken, and the Scots had reduced Warkworth - and laid siege to Prudhoe and Alnwick. Lacy was engaged in the siege - of Huntingdon, aided by St. Liz, who claimed it. But a second body of - Flemings had landed, had attacked Norwich, and much injured Nottingham - and Northampton. The Bishop of Lincoln had, however, taken Axholm.</p> - - <p>In the midst of this critical state of affairs, Henry landed at - Southampton in July, 1174, with his prisoners, whom he sent to Devizes. - His arrival coincided with a sudden and material improvement in the - state of his affairs. While Henry was engaged in an act of penance at - Becket’s tomb, William, King of Scots, was taken before Alnwick. After - a short illness in London, Henry went to Huntingdon in time<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> to receive - the surrender of the castle, and thence to Framlingham, which, with - Bungay, was surrendered to him by Hugh Bigot. Prince Rhys, then in - alliance with Henry, besieged and took Tutbury, and the Mowbray castle - of Malzeard was also taken. At Northampton, in July, Henry received the - submission of the Bishop of Durham, with the castles of Durham, Norham, - and Northallerton. Thirsk Castle was given up by Roger de Mowbray; - Tutbury and Driffield by Earl Ferrars, with Leicester, Mount Sorrell, - and Groby.</p> - - <p>Henry’s success was complete; but the rebellion showed how dangerous - were the great castles to public order, and how necessary it was to - dismantle a large number of them, and to keep the rest, as far as - possible, in the hands of the Crown. This policy he continued to act - upon to the end of his reign, treating all conquered rebels with great - clemency as regarded their persons and their estates, but retaining - their castles in his own hands. Even Richard de Lacy, to whom the - hundred of Ongar was granted in 1174, was not allowed to retain the - castle.</p> - - <p>In May, 1175, Henry was in England, and in June received the surrender - of Bristol Castle from William, Earl of Gloucester. In January, 1176, - was held the council at Northampton, at which the kingdom was divided - into six circuits, with three justiciaries for each circuit. Among the - edicts which they were to enforce were those relating to castles. A - strict inquisition was to be made into the tenure by castle-guard, and - how far its duties were discharged.</p> - - <p>It does not appear to what extent the new regulations were carried out; - but the general effect of the new system was to check marauders, and to - render insurrections more difficult and less frequent. Northallerton, - more than once dismantled, was at last (1177) entirely destroyed; and - the Bishop of Durham, its owner, had to pay a fine of a thousand marcs - for his share in the last rebellion. Such castles as Durham, Norham, - and Scarborough, which it was expedient to preserve, were attached to - the Crown, and placed in the hands of faithful castellans. Bamburgh - was entrusted to William de Stuteville, and Norham to William de - Neville, Scarborough to the Archbishop of York, Berwick to Geoffrey de - Neville, and Durham to Roger de Coniers. The assize of arms, by which, - in 1180, it became the duty of each freeholder to provide himself with - arms and armour according to his means and condition, rendered the - commonalty more capable of resisting tyranny, and on the whole tended - to strengthen the hands of any not very unpopular sovereign against the - barons.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span></p> - - <p>The general result of Henry’s domestic policy was undoubtedly - successful, and his latter years were untroubled by any serious - outbreak. In 1177, he returned to Normandy; but both there, and during - his subsequent visits to England, he paid great attention to the - castles of each country, visiting many of them, appointing and changing - the castellans, and causing the defences to be kept in proper order. - In February, 1187, he visited the very singular castle of Chilham by - Canterbury. He died in the castle of Chinon, July, 1189.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AND WALES AT THE LATTER PART OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY.</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">HOWEVER numerous may have been the castles destroyed under the - Convention of Wallingford, or during the subsequent reign of Henry II., - they seem to have been almost entirely fortresses of recent date, in - private hands, and of little importance as regarded the general defence - or the orderly administration of the kingdom. Among those that played - at all an important part in the internal wars of the sons or grandsons - of Henry, there are missing but very few known to have been built or - restored by his predecessors or by himself; and the names that occur - in the chronicles of the period, or are entered from time to time in - the records of the realm, show that the country continued to be amply - provided with castles, and that almost all of the first class were - occasionally repaired at the cost of the Crown, and were governed by - castellans holding office during the king’s pleasure, whom moreover - it was the custom frequently to change. It is here proposed, at some - length, to enumerate the fortresses of England and in the Marches of - Wales, as they stood at the close of the reign of Henry II., so far - at least as their names and positions or any account of them can be - recovered.</p> - - <p>Taking London as the centre, military and political, of the kingdom, - we have, upon the Thames, the Tower, the first and chief fortress - founded by the Conqueror, and which he considered sufficient to - protect and overawe the city. In the city itself, also upon the banks - of the Thames, near the outlet of the Flete, was Baynard’s Castle, - the stronghold of the Barons Fitz-Walter, standard-bearers to the - City of London, and an important branch of the House of Clare. At - various distances from this centre, according to the disposition of - the ground, were posted within the northern and southern passes of the - chalk ridge, Berkhampstead, an appanage of the earldom of Cornwall, and - Guildford, the early keep of which stands in part upon an artificial - mound. Also, to the immediate south of London, were the episcopal - castle, still<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span> inhabited, of Farnham, and Earl Warenne’s castle on - the hill at Reigate, of which some traces remain. Higher up the - Thames were Windsor, Reading, Wallingford, and Oxford, all fortresses - of high antiquity and of the first rank. Between the Thames and the - sea-coast the country was well guarded, and the communications with - Dover, Portsmouth, and Southampton, so important to sovereigns with - possessions on the Continent, rendered secure. Dover, called by William - the Conqueror, according to Matthew Paris, “Clavis et repagulum,” - the key and bolt of the kingdom, was one of its oldest, largest, - and strongest fortresses, and covered a nearly impregnable area of - thirty-five acres. It crowned the crest of a chalk rock which seemed to - rise out of the sea, and steep by nature was rendered still more so by - art, and bore traces of Norman, English, Roman, and probably British - occupation. Its well of water is particularly specified, according to - M. Paris, in Harold’s celebrated covenant with Duke William. Indeed, - there seem to have been two wells in the keep, besides another, no - doubt that of Harold, in the outer ward, probably a Roman work. The - town also was walled. In the rear of Dover lay the city of Canterbury, - mentioned in “Domesday” as fortified. It was strong to the landward, - with a formidable bank and ditch, revetted by a Norman wall, and - towards the water was covered by the marshes of the Stour, at one time - navigable up to the quays of the ancient city. At one angle and just - within the area, was a strong rectangular keep, a Norman addition, and - near it was the Danejohn, a far older moated mound, older even than - the bank and ditch of the city, which were laid out at an angle to - include it. Near to Canterbury was Chilham, a Norman tower of peculiar - form, on the site of a work burned by the Danes in 838–51; and at no - great distance was Saltwood, given to the see of Canterbury in 1036, - and said to owe the formidable banks and ditches which still surround - it to a son of Hengist. West of Dover William d’Abrincis had built the - castle of Folkestone, now, with the cliff it stood upon, swallowed - up by the sea. It was preceded by an earlier work in earth a little - further inland; Sandwich, one of the cinque ports, was also embanked - and walled. Between Dover and London, upon the marshy windings of the - upper Medway, stood the mound of Tonbridge, with its Norman walls and - shell keep, a place of immense strength, and the subject of a long - contest between the archbishops and the earls of the race of De Clare. - Again, in the rear and upon the same road was the castle of Rochester - sharing its defensive strength with the oldest tower of the contiguous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> - cathedral and the walled city standing within or on the lines of a - Roman enclosure, and commanding the lowest bridge upon the deep and - rapid Medway. Many of the castles of Kent, especially those in private - hands, were founded in the thirteenth century, or later; but Horton, - Eynsford, and Lullingston, on the Darent, and that of Sheppy, on the - Swale, are far more ancient. Besides these Otford, an archiepiscopal - castle, was the “caput” of an Honour. Cowling is mentioned in Mercian - charters in 808. The manor belonged to Leofwin, brother of Harold, and - was held by Bishop Odo. Allington Castle was demolished by the Danes - and afterwards held by Earl Godwin, and later on by Odo. The Norman - additions were probably the work of Earl Warenne. Near to Maidstone is - Malling, thought to be as early a Norman keep as any in England, and - tolerably perfect though small; Thurnam or Godard’s Castle also has a - square Norman keep and some early earthworks, and near to it were the - very perfect moated mounds of Binbury and Stockbury. Ledes Castle, - still inhabited, has a detached and water-girdled keep and a very - complete barbican. The keep of Sutton, afterwards Sutton-Valence, seems - to be Norman. Tong Castle, in Bapchild manor on the Swale, attributed - to Hengist, was built as a castle by the St. Johns. Bayford Castle - occurs in Sittingbourne; and Queenborough, in Sheppey, though called - from the queen of Edward III., is probably of much older date. At - Alfrington Alfred is said to have had a strong place, called afterwards - Burlow. At Verdley, and Castlefield in Hartfield, are vestiges said to - represent castles.</p> - - <p>In Sussex each rape had its castle, founded probably by the Jutish - settlers. Of these under the Norman rule Hastings, almost equal to - Dover in its natural strength, though of smaller size, was the head - of the barony of the earls of Eu. It is first mentioned in the Bayeux - tapestry, where in one of the compartments is written, “Iste [comes - Moretaine] jussit ut foderentur castellum ad Hasteng.” This probably - relates to the double line of ditches by which the castle is cut off - from the body of the hill. The town also was walled. Pevensey, strong - in its Roman wall and added English earthworks, was the castle of De - Aquila, the seat of the Honour called by the English of “The Eagle.” - Here, in 1118, the Custos of Windsor expended £118. 4s. in repairing - the palisades (“palicii”) of the castle. Lewes, with its mounds - crowning each end of an isolated hill, was the favourite strength of - the Warennes, Earls of Surrey. The natural platform, added ditches - and mound,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span> and square keep of Bramber, on the Adur, rendered almost - impregnable this seat of the turbulent and powerful Barons Braose of - Gower, who also owned Knepp Castle, nearer the head of the river, - where a mound and some Norman masonry may still be seen. Knepp was - afterwards held by King John on the attainder of William de Braose, and - in 1216 was ordered to be destroyed. Arundel, the only castle named - in “Domesday” as existing in the reign of the Confessor, and the seat - successively of Earl Roger of Montgomery, of d’Albini, and the race - of Fitz-Alan, still overlooks the dell of the Arun, and wears many of - its older features; and finally Chichester, also a Montgomery castle, - long since destroyed, or reduced to its primal mound, stood within the - fortified area of the Roman Regnum. Besides these there seem to have - been Norman castles at Eastbourne and Firle, all traces of which have, - however, disappeared. Mention is also made of Sedgewick Castle, near - Horsham.</p> - - <p>More to the west in Hampshire, upon the Havant water, was Boseham, - a very famous castle long since swept away; and upon the inlet of - Portsmouth, Porchester, a noble combination of Roman and Norman - masonry. Within its area is contained a parish church and churchyard, - and here was the favourite muster-place for troops destined for - Havre. On the opposite side of the Solent, in the centre of the Isle - of Wight, is Carisbroke, celebrated for its keep and mound, and its - wells of unusual depth, and on the opposite mainland, at the marshy - junction of the Stour and the Wiltshire Avon, stands the ancient - keep of Christchurch, placed exceptionally upon the mound of the - earlier Twynham. Here also is preserved the Castle Hall, a late - Norman building, almost a duplicate of a corresponding structure - in Fitzgerald’s castle at Adare, near Limerick. Upon the verge of - Southampton Water, between the Anton and the sea, occupying a strong - peninsula, is the town of that name, still preserving the remains of - its Norman walls, and of the keep of a very formidable castle once - included within its area.</p> - - <p>Inland of this line of castles from the sea northwards to the Thames, - the counties of Wilts and Berks showed with Hampshire an abundance of - strong places. There, though actually in Hampshire, was Winchester, - the British Caerwent and the Roman Venta Belgarum, which in its - English days contested with London the supremacy of the South. - Strongly fortified with broad and high earthworks and deep ditches, it - contained, attached to one angle, the royal castle, and within another, - its diagonal, the episcopal keep of Wolvesey, of which the one is now - represented by its noble hall, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> other by its rectangular Norman - keep. The Hall at Winchester, though of very early English date, is - after the Norman type, having three aisles. The castle was the prison - of Archbishop Stigand in 1066. Before its gates, in 1075, Earl Waltheof - was beheaded. Here, in 1102, was tried the memorable dispute for - precedence between York and Canterbury. In 1141 it was defended by the - Empress Maud, and here Henry II. held several Parliaments, and Cœur de - Lion paused when in the adjacent cathedral he was a second time crowned - on his return from captivity in 1189.</p> - - <p>Scarcely second to Winchester in strength, and its equal in undefined - antiquity, is Old Sarum, a hold of mixed but uncertain origin, where - the concentric lines of masonry, girdling and crowning the central - mound, included the cathedral of the diocese, and to which, according - to the historians of Wiltshire, King Alfred caused an exterior bank - and palisade to be added. In Wilts was also the Devizes, reputed the - finest castle on this side the Alps. “Divisæ quod erat Salesberiensis - Episcopi castellum, mirando artificio, sed et munimine inexpugnabili - firmatum,” but of which there now remains little besides the gigantic - mound and profound ditches. Of Marlborough the burh alone remains, - while of Malmesbury, an encroachment of the secular upon the lands - of the regular clergy, all traces are removed. Over the Hampshire - border is Old Basing, where the Saxons were worsted by the Danes in - a pitched battle in 871, which became the “caput” of the fifty-five - lordships held by Hugh de Port in “Domesday,” and afterwards of the - St. John’s oldest barony. Even in the time of Henry II. it was called - the old castle, and in a rather later reign Robert, Lord St. John, - had a licence to fix a pale along the base of his mote at Basing, and - to maintain it so fortified during the king’s pleasure. The original - circle of earthwork is nearly all that now remains. At no great - distance is Odiham, once a possession of the see of Winchester, where - is an early tower, stripped of its ashlar, and surrounded by marshy - ground once famous for its forest sport. Castle Coombe was a famous - and very early Wiltshire castle, now reduced nearly to an earthwork, - and Warblington, a stronghold of the Montacutes, and the castle of - Cirencester are both gone, the latter destroyed by Henry III.</p> - - <p>Still further to the west are the castles of Dorset and Somerset, - Devon and Cornwall. Wareham, the ancient Frome-mouth, placed between - the Frome and the Piddle, once marked the limits of Poole harbour, and - was a place of great strength and fame. As early as 876 its west side, - the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span> root of the twixt-waters peninsula, was criticised as weak. In one - corner of its rectangular and pseudo-Roman area, a moated mound has - been thrown up, as at Tamworth, by the river-side, and its earthworks - and position justify its reputation as the key of Purbeck, of which - Corfe was the citadel. Corfe, perched upon the summit and slope of a - chalk hill between two clefts whence it derives its name, is now a - magnificent ruin. Half its noble rectangular keep still stands, and - incorporated into the wall of its middle ward is a fragment of the - palace of the old West Saxon kings, probably the only material evidence - extant that they ever employed masonry in their military works. Of - Sherborne, an ancient episcopal seat, the spacious earthwork still - contains much of a late Norman keep, and is still entered through a - Norman gatehouse. Ilchester and Shaftesbury Castles are gone, and only - a part of the earthworks of that of Dorchester remain. West of Purbeck, - in Portland, is Bow-and-Arrow Castle, upon the sea-cliff, a curious and - somewhat peculiar structure of early date, built or occupied by the De - Clares. From Portland to the mouth of the Exe there do not appear to - have been any strong places of importance.</p> - - <p>Just within the mouth of the Exe is Powderham, the work of an Earl of - Eu and of De Redvers, and their Courtenay successors, and higher up - and opposite, Rougemont, the citadel of Exeter, which still exhibits - the high banks, deep ditches, and ancient gatehouse, fragments of the - defences behind which the citizens braved the fury of the Conqueror. - Inland from the Exe is Okehampton, the earliest of the English - possessions of the great family of Courtenay, and the work of Baldwin - of Exeter, of the lineage but not bearing the name of De Clare. He was - the builder also of Tiverton Castle which is now destroyed, as also is - Bridgewater. Among the early castles of the district was Stoke Courcy, - now a ruin; Stowey, “pulchrum et inexpugnabile in pelagi littore - locatum”; and Dunster, the strongest place in the west, the “Domesday” - castle of the Mohuns, and after them, as now, of the Luttrells. In the - west of Devon there remains the mound of Plympton, a Redvers castle, - and the shell keep of Totnes, the work of Joel of that place, and - afterwards inherited by the Barons Braose. Barnstaple town was probably - walled, and certainly had four gates. At Taunton a Norman keep and part - of a Norman hall still stand on the banks of the Tone, and rise out of - earthworks attributed to King Ine. At Montacute, the high ground marked - by an immense Romano-British camp, ends in the sharp-pointed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> hill - which William Earl of Moretaine selected for his castle, of which the - name, appropriately transported from his Norman castle, alone remains, - and but little more of Castle-Carey, the Lovell seat, besieged and - taken by Stephen, or of the Norman keep of Harptree, in a pass in the - Mendip range.</p> - - <p>Of importance beyond all these more or less local castles was that of - Bristol, founded by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, but found too valuable - to be intrusted to his successors in the earldom. Its square Norman - keep stood between the Frome and the Avon, and was strong both in works - and in position. After centuries of contest for its possession between - the earls of Gloucester and the Crown, it ceased to be of military - value and was taken down. Upon and beyond the Tamar, as at Montacute, - Wallingford, and Berkhampstead, may be traced the footsteps of the - powerful noble who held the great earldom of Cornwall. Their principal - Cornish castles,—Trematon, Launceston, where the town also was walled, - and Restormel,—were the work originally of Robert, half-brother of - the Conqueror. Their remains are considerable, and their strength and - position were such as to give them immense influence in that wild and - almost impenetrable district. St. Michael’s Mount remains strongly - fortified; Carnbrea, the work of Ralph de Pomeroy, still marks the - rocky ridge whence it derives its name, and there are traces of - Boscastle, the hold of the Barons Botreaux, and of the Arthurian castle - of Tintagel. There are besides in Cornwall a few fortified houses, and - a multitude of strong places,—camps rather than castles, very peculiar - in character, and probably the work of the native Cornish before the - arrival of the stranger.</p> - - <p>It appears, then, that south of and upon the Thames and Bristol Avon - there stood, at the close of the twelfth century, at least eighty-nine - more or less considerable castles, a very large number of which - were kept in repair by the sheriffs of the counties and governed by - castellans appointed by the king and holding office during pleasure. Of - these, at least thirty contained shell keeps placed on moated mounds, - and were in some form or other far older than the Conquest; and about - seventeen were characterised by rectangular keeps, of which two only, - Guildford and Christchurch, were associated with mounds, and of these - very few indeed were of pure Norman foundation. Of the remaining - forty-two the particulars are doubtful, so they cannot be counted - with one class or the other, but most of them are also older than the - Conquest.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span></p> - - <p>Passing into the middle belt of country extending from the Thames - and Avon to the Tees and the Lune, and from the German Ocean to the - Severn, the provision for defence is found to be fully equal to that - in the South. In the East Anglian province, in the counties of Essex, - Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridge, the chief strongholds were Colchester, - Hedingham, Bungay, Framlingham, Castle Acre, Castle Rising, Norwich, - and Cambridge. Colchester, the work of Hubert de Rye or his son, acting - in some measure for the Crown, is built of Roman, or quasi-Roman, - material upon a Roman site and within the area of a town mentioned in - “Domesday” as fortified. It commanded the inlet of Harwich and the - Blackwater, and in its rear, higher up the Coln, was the De Vere keep - of Hedingham, still a very perfect structure, and unusually though - severely ornate. This keep stands upon a natural mound, protected by - a formidable ditch, and appended to it is an outer enclosure, older - evidently than the keep. In the same county is Rayleigh, celebrated - for the extent of its earthworks, and, with Clavering, attributed to - Swegen or Suenus, sheriff of Essex under the Confessor, and ancestor of - Henry de Essex, Henry I.’s disgraced standard-bearer. The earthworks of - both places are, however, probably much earlier than the masonry. There - also is Plessy, a Mandeville restoration in masonry, with the parish - church within its enclosure; Ongar, for the time the castle of Richard - de Lucy; and Stansted Montfichet, the remaining earthworks of which - indicate its site. Bishops Stortford, or Weytemore, was an early manor - of the Bishop of London, who there had a castle. These four last-named - castles all had moated mounds. At Bures also was a moated mound eighty - feet high, hence its name of Mount Bures; also at Birch Castle, near - Colchester, and at Benyngton were castles. Canewdon was either a castle - or a very old fortified house, dating from the time of Henry de Essex, - and at Canfield, called from its castle, “Canefield ad Castrum,” the De - Veres had a fortress of which the mound is still seen.</p> - - <p>Framlingham is the chief castle of Suffolk. It is attributed originally - to Redwald, king of East Anglia, at the close of the sixth century. - Here there is at present no keep, but the Norman walls, of unusual - height, forty to fifty feet, and eight feet thick, still enclose the - court, and are protected by enormous earthworks, deep and high and of - great extent. This was the chief of the Bigot castles, said to have - been built by Hugh Bigot in 1176, and to the same powerful family - belonged Bungay, “hard by the river Waveney,” with grand earthworks, - a mound, and the remains of a square keep. Walton,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span> another Bigot - castle, was destroyed by Henry II. Clare, the manor whence the earls of - Gloucester and Hertford derived their family name, retains its mound - with part of a polygonal keep, and outworks in earth and masonry on a - scale commensurate with the power of their lords. The area is occupied - in part by a railway station. Eye, the mound of which remains, was a - castle at Domesday, the seat of Robert Malet, and afterwards was given - by Henry II. to Ranulph, Earl of Chester. Dunwich, though not a walled - town, was protected by a deep ditch and high bank, upon which as late - as the reign of Henry III. was a palisade.</p> - - <p>The chief castle of Norfolk was Norwich, a place of immense strength - and high antiquity. Its rectangular keep of great size and more ornate - than usual, though much injured by injudicious repairs, and closed - against the antiquary by its conversion to the base uses of a prison, - still predominates grandly over the fine old city, of which it was long - the glory and the dread. Its deep, single ditch, far older than its - works in masonry, is now for the most part filled up and built over. - The city also was strongly walled. Haganet, a Norfolk castle taken by - the Earl of Leicester and his invading Flemings, is utterly destroyed. - Mileham, of which the moated mound, though low, and a fragment of a - square keep remain, was the work of Alan, son of Flaald, who held the - manor from the Conqueror. To him also is attributed the adjacent castle - of Burghwood, of which large earthworks remain. Orford, an almost - solitary example of a Norman polygonal keep, is tolerably perfect. - The keep of Castle Rising, though smaller in dimensions than Norwich, - resembles it in type. It is the most highly-ornamented keep in England, - and, though a ruin, is well preserved and cared for. Here also is - that great rarity, a tolerably perfect and unaltered fore-building - and entrance. This keep stands within a lofty bank, beyond which, - on one side, is a spacious outwork, also heavily embanked. Castle - Acre, best known for its Norman priory, contains also the mound and - other earthworks and part of the shell keep of a large castle, and - near to these is the town of Lynn, once strongly fortified, and still - possessing an early gatehouse. At Thetford, girt by a double ditch, is - the great mound thrown up by the Danes in 865–6 to command the then - adjacent city, but this post, so important before the Conquest, does - not seem to have been occupied afterwards. Other Norfolk castles were - Buckenham and Tateshall, of which the date is doubtful, and Marnham, of - which it was reported in the reign of Edward I.—“Quod erectio castri de - Marnham est in præjudicium<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span> domini Regis.” Wirmegay, a Warenne castle, - strong in its marshy approaches, was certainly earlier. At Weting, near - the church, was a castle with a mound, on which a few years ago was a - fragment of the keep. It was the seat of De Plaiz, who represented Mont - Fitchet, and whose heiress married the ancestor of the house of Howard. - There was also a castle at Kenningdale, near Diss.</p> - - <p>Cambridgeshire contained but a few castles, the fens presenting little - to attract the spoiler, and being in themselves a secure defence. At - Cambridge, upon the banks of the sluggish and winding Cam, a prison - has taken the place of the castle ordered by the Conqueror; but a part - of the mound and a fragment of its subsidiary banks remain, and are - not to be confounded with the still earlier Roman enclosure. At Ely a - large mound with appended earth banks is thought to have been the site - of the ancient castle of the bishop of that see. All traces of masonry - are gone, as at Wisbeach. The camp at Castle Camps, the seat of the - Saxon Wolfwin, once held a Norman castle, the work of the De Veres. Of - Chevely, an episcopal castle, a fragment remains. Burwell, the masonry - of which belonged to one of Stephen’s improvised castles, is remembered - as that before which Geoffrey de Mandeville received his fatal wound. A - fragment of its wall and the mound remain. Swavesey and Bassingbourne - were early castles.</p> - - <p>Hertford, Bedford, and Buckingham, the inland positions of which - were insufficient to secure them from invasions from a foe beyond - the sea, were not unprovided with castles. Hertford, visited by the - Danes in 894, was fortified by Edward the Elder in 914, who there - threw up a burh between the rivers Lea, Mineran, and Bean, and in - the year following a second burh on the opposite bank of the Lea. - Hertford, says Smith in 1588, has two castles, one on each bank of the - Lea. These corresponded to the two banks already mentioned. Upon the - still existing mound Peter de Valoines placed the keep ordered by the - Conqueror. The Magnavilles next held it, and Henry of Huntingdon calls - it, “castrum non immensum sed pulcherrimum.” Berkhampstead, as old, and - a far more considerable fortress, and the head of a great Honour, has - been mentioned as one of the northern defences of the metropolis. Its - mound, wholly artificial, still supports the foundations of a Norman - shell keep, and appended to it is a large oval platform, the walls and - entrances to which remain. The whole is partially encircled by several - concentric lines of bank and ditch, the character of which shows that - they were protected by stockades instead of walls of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> masonry. Here the - Black Prince spent his latter days, and here he died.</p> - - <p>The chief castle of Bedfordshire, the head of the Beauchamp barony, - was at Bedford, where the Ouse, menaced by the Danish galleys, was - protected early in the tenth century by a mound upon each bank, one - of which is now removed and the other was crowned by the keep of the - Norman castle. Bedford Castle is famous for two memorable sieges in - the reigns of Stephen and Henry III. Of its works, once extensive, the - masonry has been removed, the fosse has also been filled up, and the - mound somewhat reduced in size. Risinghoe, The Giants hill, on the - Ouse below Bedford, seems to have had a shell keep, and at Tempsford - is to be seen a curious but small earthwork thrown up by the Danes in - 921, and taken by Edward the Elder late in the year. Whether this was - the site of the subsequent Norman castle is very doubtful. There was - also a castle at Odell or Wahull, the seat of the barons of that name. - It is uncertain when was founded Bletsoe, a castle and the head of a - Beauchamp barony. Below Bedford, on the Ouse, are the earthworks of - Eaton-Socon, also a Beauchamp castle, but dismantled at an early period.</p> - - <p>The remains of the castle of Huntingdon, though reduced to banks, - ditches, and a mound, nevertheless show how spacious and how strong - must have been this chief seat of the broad earldom of Countess Judith - and her descendants the kings of Scotland, earls also of Huntingdon. - The Danes were encamped here in 921, and the burh which had been ruined - was restored by Eadward in the same year. The ditches were fed from the - Ouse, which expanded before the castle as a broad marsh, now a fertile - meadow. Of the early military history of the castles of Connington, - Kimbolton, and Bruck, but little is recorded.</p> - - <p>The castle of the Giffards, earls of Buckingham, included one of the - two burhs which were thrown up on opposite sides of the Ouse, in 915, - to command the river and protect the town. The castle was probably - destroyed in the reign of Stephen, and the further mound levelled. The - Paganels had a castle at Newport; the Hanslapes at Castlethorpe; the - Barons Bolbec at Bolbec, now Bullbanks, in Medmenham; and there seem to - have been castles at Winslow, Lavendon, and Whitchurch.</p> - - <p>West of this district came Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and Gloucestershire. - Windsor, Wallingford and Reading have been mentioned. The keep of - Windsor has a late Norman base, and the foundation of a gateway is of - that date, as is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span> the entrance to a very curious gallery in the chalk, - which ran from the interior of the place beneath the buildings and - the wall and opened as a postern upon the scarp of the main ditch. - The mound upon which the round tower is placed is artificial and was - surrounded by banks and ditches much on the plan of Arundel. Reading - was an early castle and strongly posted between the Thames and the - Kennet, upon an earthwork long before contested between the Danes - and the Saxons. The castle is supposed to have been demolished by - Henry III., in pursuance of the treaty of Wallingford: no trace of it - remains. Wallingford has had better fortune: its mound and enclosure, - the seat of the English Wigod, occupy one corner of the rectangular - earthworks of the town, and rest upon the river. It was attached to the - earldom of Cornwall, and was a place of great strength and splendour. - A few fragments of masonry still remain, and some traces of Stephen’s - camp on the opposite bank at Crowmarsh. There were also castles, - though of small consequence and doubtful age, at Newbury, Brightwell, - Farringdon, and Aldworth, the latter the seat of the Barons de la Beche.</p> - - <p>Oxford Castle was a place of great antiquity and very strong, and - formed a part of the defences of the city. The mound remains and a - crypt within it, but the keep is gone. There is seen, however, above - the river bank a rude and early square tower of Norman work, now a - prison. At Banbury, Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, built a castle in - 1125, which was held by the Crown under Edward II. At Middleton was a - strong castle, held by Richard de Camville in the reign of John, and - there were others, smaller buildings, at Bampton, Bedington, Dedington, - and Watlington, possibly demolished by Henry II. Broughton, the castle - of the Lords Say, is in this county. Woodstock, though a royal manor, - does not seem to have been fortified. The castles at Ardley and - Chipping-Norton were destroyed by Stephen. The latter had a moated - mound.</p> - - <p>In Gloucestershire, besides Bristol, which was more connected with - Somerset, is Berkeley Castle, mentioned in the survey, but in its - present form built for its lord by Henry II. in acknowledgment of - services rendered to the Duke of Anjou, which remains marvellously - little altered to the present day. Gloucester, a royal castle, stood - on the Severn bank at one angle of the Roman city. It had a mound and - a shell keep, now utterly levelled, and the site partially built over. - It was the muster-place and starting-point for expeditions against - South Wales, and the not infrequent residence of the Norman sovereigns. - Sudeley and Winchcombe were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span> early castles; the latter stood near St. - Peter’s Church, and was the seat of Kenulph, a Mercian king. There were - also castles at Dursley and at Brimpsfield, built by Osbert Giffard. - The only Gloucestershire castle of any consequence beyond the Severn - was St. Briavels, built by Milo, Earl of Hereford, probably about 1130, - upon or near the site of an earlier work, represented by an artificial - mound. In the reign of Henry I. it was in the hands of the Crown. It is - the special head of Dene Forest, of which the constable of the castle - was warden. Here were held the miners’ courts, the usages of which - were very peculiar. St. Briavels formed the connecting link between - Gloucester and such of the Monmouthshire castles as were in the hands - of the Crown. Of smaller castles in this district may be mentioned one - at Aylesmore near Dymock, one near Huntley, and others at Ruardean and - Penyard.</p> - - <p>North of Gloucestershire came the castles of the more purely midland - shires of Worcester, Warwick, Stafford, Northampton, Leicester, and - towards the eastern seaboard, Lincoln. The castle of Worcester stood - on the bank of the Severn, hard by the cathedral. The mound, now - removed, was occupied with masonry by Urso d’Abitot, who, however, - did not always get the best of it in his conflicts with the bishop. - Also on the Severn was Hanley, long since destroyed, and Emly, also a - Beauchamp seat. Hartlebury, the episcopal castle, is further inland, as - is Dudley, the seat of the Barons Somery, a place of high antiquity and - great natural strength.</p> - - <p>Warwick was one of the greatest, and by far the most famous of the - midland castles, famous not merely for its early strength and later - magnificence but for the long line of powerful earls, culminating in - the king-maker, who possessed it and bore its name. It was founded as a - burh early in the tenth century, and the keep, said to have resembled - Clifford’s Tower at York, stood upon the mound: both are now removed. - The castle as usual formed a part of the <i>enceinte</i> of the town, - and the wall from the west gate to the castle stood upon an early earth - bank. Near to Warwick is Kenilworth, the chief fortress of the midland, - including a large area, and strongly though artificially fortified. - Of the English Kenelm nothing is recorded, but the founder of its - Norman work was the first of the house of Clinton, one of Henry I.’s - new earls, probably the only extant family descended in a direct male - line from the builder of a Norman keep of the first class. The square - keep and much of the existing wall are original, but the broad lake, - which added so much to its strength and is now drained and converted - into meadow, was probably a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span> rather later addition, of the age of the - gatehouse on the dam, and of the curious earthwork covering its head. - The central earthworks are probably very early. Of Maxtoke, also a - Clinton castle, there are remains. Of the castle at Fillongley, the - chief seat of the Lords Hastings till they married the heiress of - Cantelupe, and removed to Abergavenny, only a few fragments remain. - Ralph Gernon had a castle at Coventry. Brownsover, Sekington, and - Fullbrook castles were probably adulterine, and are known only by vague - tradition, and it is doubtful whether the castle of the De Castellos - included the burh at Castle Bromwich or was on the site of the later - manor house. The burh at Sekington is very perfect. The Limesis had - a castle at Solihull, of which the moat long remained, as had the - Coleshills at that place. The Birminghams had a castle in the manor of - that name, near the church; there were early castles at Erdington, at - Studley on the Arrow, and at Oversley, long the seat of the Butlers, - whose ancestor was “Pincerna” to the Earls of Leicester. Beldesert, - built by Thurstan de Montfort soon after the Conquest, received a - market from the Empress Maud, and Dugdale mentions Simili Castle, - probably the seat of a family of that name. Ragley was a later castle. - Coventry was strongly walled.</p> - - <p>The line of the Trent on its passage through Staffordshire was amply - fortified. Stafford, otherwise Chebsey castle, constructed by the - Conqueror, probably upon the burh thrown up by Eathelflaeda in 913, was - destroyed before the date of the Survey, and was, therefore, probably - not a work in masonry. The town was fortified. The castle of the - Barons Stafford was near the town, but outside it. Its foundations are - original. Of the Ferrers castles Chartley is only indicated by a mound. - Beaudesert and Burton are destroyed. Tamworth, their chief seat, as - that of the Marmions before them, still retains its shell keep and part - of the curtain wall, remarkable for its herringbone masonry. It was a - royal Saxon residence in the eighth century, and the mound on which - stands the keep was thrown up in 931. As at Wareham and Wallingford, it - is placed near the river in one corner of a rectangular earthwork open - on that side. Tutbury, also a Ferrers castle, occupied a natural knoll - above the Trent, raised on one side by an artificial burh, and covered - on the other by extensive works in earth of early date, probably - original. The present masonry is chiefly the work of John of Gaunt, but - the fine old Priory church, founded by the early lords, still stands - just outside the ditch. Lichfield is reputed to have had a castle - at the south end of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span> the town. At the north end is the cathedral, - “Lichfield’s moated pile,” defended by a broad and deep ditch, and on - one side by a lake or pool. It is not improbable that these works, - which are rectangular in plan, were executed by the Romanised Britons, - and that their existence caused the selection of this spot as the seat - of the bishopric. The Bishop’s castle of Eccleshall has lately been - alienated. There was a castle at Heley, and at Alton, now Alton Towers, - and at Stourton. Of the castle of Newcastle-under-Lyne, held by the - Earl of Chester for John, all trace is lost.</p> - - <p>The Northamptonshire castles stood mostly upon the lines of the Nene - and the Welland. Northampton, built by Simon de St. Liz, certainly - upon an earlier site, was a strongly walled and celebrated place, - the scene of important events in English history. Its castle has - long been reduced to a few earthworks and a fragment of masonry, and - very recently these also have been destroyed. Of Fotheringay, a very - ancient fortress, the scene of a siege by Henry III., there remains - little in masonry, although the bank and mound are perfect. It was - dismantled by James as the scene of his mother’s execution. Barnwell - Castle is probably late, as is the fine fortified gatehouse of the - Sapcote family, at Elton. At Castle Ashby, all trace of the castle is - lost in the grand old house which has succeeded to it. Of Lilbourne, a - moderate mound and a rectangular earthwork are the sole remains of the - castle. Near Towcester at Moor End in Potterspury, and at Alderton, - were castles, probably built and destroyed in the reigns of Stephen - and Henry II. Towcester itself does not appear to have been fortified - by the Normans, nor the curious burh at Earls Barton, the moot hill - for the earldom of Countess Judith. But of all the Northamptonshire - castles the most interesting, both from its history and its remains, - is undoubtedly Rockingham, founded by the Conqueror upon an old site, - standing in its old shire and forest, and which has been always - inhabited and cared for. Near to Rockingham, but in Rutland, is Oakham, - built by Walkelin de Ferrars in 1180, where the keep is gone, but the - original late Norman hall is quite perfect and still in use. Of the - defences of this remarkable fortress there remain ditches and banks, - with a part of the curtain wall and a large outwork of earth. Belvoir, - well deserving of the name, the only other Rutland castle, was the seat - of the Todenis, ancestors of the D’Albini and Ros families, and of its - present lords. Like Windsor, its circular keep, rebuilt nearly from its - foundations, crowns a detached hill, and from its terrace is one of the - richest views in England.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span></p> - - <p>In Leicestershire, Leicester Castle, the seat of its powerful and - turbulent Norman earls, stood, and in part still stands, between the - Soar and the Roman Ratæ, the walls of which are said to have been - destroyed in 1173. Of Hinckley, the seat of the Grantmaisnils, and - the “caput” of their Honour, the mound alone remains by the side - of the Roman way. The castle was probably dismantled by Henry II. - Groby, a Ferrers castle, has long been reduced to a small mound, and - Mount Sorrel, once so strong, is utterly destroyed. By a convention - at Mount Sorrel in the reign of Stephen, between Robert, Earl of - Leicester, and Ralph, Earl of Chester, already cited, it was agreed - that Ralph Gernon’s castle of Raunston should be destroyed and Whitwick - strengthened, but that no new castle should be built between Hinckley, - Donnington, Leicester, Belvoir, Okeham, and Rockingham. Should any be - so built, the two earls agreed to demolish the works. Sauvey Castle was - an early work. Of Castle Donnington, the house of the Zouches of Ashby, - the early history is obscure.</p> - - <p>The main castles of Lincolnshire were Lincoln and Axholme. Axholme, - built in the fens of that name, was a place of immense strength, and - the head of a barony of the Mowbrays, a race always on the side of - disorder. The castle has long been destroyed, and the fen, to which it - owed much of its strength, is drained. Lincoln Castle has been more - fortunate. The hill of Lincoln has been thought to retain traces of - British occupation, and its Roman buildings and English earthworks are - very remarkable. Soon after the Conquest 166 houses were destroyed to - make room for the castle itself, and 74 more to give space around it. - Its enormous banks occupy an angle of the Roman station, and contain - parts of the ruined wall and gate, both Roman. The great mound, the - larger of two, is occupied by the original shell keep, which, placed at - the foot of the cathedral, towers high above the city, and overlooks - the broad plain beyond. Often visited by the Norman kings, Lincoln - Castle is specially famous for the great battle fought beneath its - walls in 1141, in which Stephen was taken prisoner by Robert, Earl of - Gloucester, and his men from Glamorgan.</p> - - <p>There was a Mowbray Castle at Epworth, now destroyed, and one at - Kenefar, laid level by Henry, Bishop of Lincoln, in the reign of Henry - II. Bourne or Brun was in 870 the seat of a Saxon Thane, whose mound, - after the Conquest, was occupied by the Lords Wake. It was at one - time an important place, and the remaining earthworks show its area - to have been considerable. Bolingbroke Castle, once the “caput” of an - Honour, is now destroyed. Stamford-on-the-Welland<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> was guarded by two - mounds, thrown up in 922, of which one has disappeared, but the other, - as at Bedford and Buckingham, was saved by its incorporation into a - Norman castle, to be seen no longer. Sleaford, an episcopal castle, - occasionally mentioned in the twelfth century, is now gone, as is - the castle of Horncastle, restored to Adelais de Condie in 1151, but - at the same time ordered to be demolished, and which probably stood - within the walls of the Roman station, of which large fragments remain. - Bitham also is gone, taken by siege and levelled by Henry III. in 1218. - Folkingham, the “Mansio capitalis” of Ulf the constable, was held by - Gilbert de Garod, and long afterwards fell to the Lords Beaumont. - Boothby was a fortified house of the Paynells or Paganels, and is of - late Norman date. Topclyve Castle was built by Geoffrey, bishop-elect - of Lincoln, in 1174.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AND WALES AT THE LATTER PART OF THE TWELFTH - CENTURY (<i>continued</i>).</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE castles of the shires of Nottingham and Derby, of Yorkshire, - Lancashire, and Cheshire, complete the tale of the fortresses south of - the Tees and Lune. Nottingham, one of the castles ordered and possibly - built by the Conqueror, on a rock high above the Trent, contained - one of the grandest of the rectangular keeps. It was removed in the - seventeenth century, and replaced by a building of about the same - dimensions, but of very different character. At the foot of the rock - were the two mounds thrown up in the tenth century to command the - passage of the Trent, but these also have been removed. Another castle - upon the Trent was that of Newark, the work of Alexander, Bishop of - Lincoln, in the twelfth century. The very considerable remains include - the front towards the river, an imposing mass of masonry, the effect - of which is heightened by the great gatehouse upon its flank, a Norman - work of very unusual size and splendour. The ground plan of this castle - is nearly square, and may represent a Roman encampment. There was a - castle at Worksop.</p> - - <p>The oldest and most remarkable of the Derbyshire castles is that of - Castleton or Peveril in the Peak, with its small but strong rectangular - keep, built on the edge of the precipice, at the base of which is the - celebrated cavern, one of the marvels of the Peak. Bolsover, now nearly - all rebuilt, was also a Peveril castle. Of Sheffield, the castle of - the Furnivals and Talbots, placed upon the junction of the Sheaf and - the Don, nothing now remains. There seem to have been early castles, - or perhaps fortified houses, at Codnor, a Zouch seat, Melbourne, and - Gresley. Also Bogis and Hareston were Derbyshire castles in the reign - of Henry II.</p> - - <p>The wide expanse of Yorkshire contained much worthy of defence, and was - inhabited by a race of men not indisposed to provide it. The mounds of - York, both of the first class in bulk and elevation, were posted on - either bank of the Ouse, here a deep and broad stream. Of these mounds, - one stands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span> on the junction of the Foss with the Ouse, above a tract - of marshy ground, between it and the wall of the Roman Eboracum. Here - the Conqueror placed his first castle, and in the keep and within the - spacious area below he posted William Malet and his 500 knights and - their followers. Amidst much of modern work the old walls may still - be traced, and a very fine shell, though of Early English date, still - stands on the summit of the mound. The other mound, the Bayle Hill, - south of the river, and connected with the earthworks of the later - city, was also fortified by William, but in haste and with timber only, - which does not appear ever to have been replaced with masonry. The - city is strongly fortified with walls and a ditch, and the celebrated - gateways or bars contain each a nucleus or core of Norman masonry. Next - to York in importance is Scarborough, the stronghold of William le - Gros, Earl of Aumarle, and the citadel of Holderness. The castle may - be said to contain the whole table top of a rocky promontory, defended - on three sides by a precipitous cliff, at the foot of which is the - German Ocean, while towards the land is a deep natural depression. The - approach was over a narrow causeway, raised upon arches, broken in - the centre by a drawbridge and bridge tower, covered at the outer end - by a strong barbican, and terminating below a lofty rectangular keep, - much of which still remains, and by the side of which was the final - entrance, and probably another drawbridge. In the words of Robert de - Brunne—</p> - - <div class="center-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i0">“Was there none entree</div> - <div class="i1">That to the castle gan ligge</div> - <div class="i1">But a straight causee</div> - <div class="i1">At the end a drawbrigge.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <p>Scarborough is not only a strong castle by nature and by art, but is - capable of containing several thousand men,—in fact, a small army. - South of Scarborough, also upon the coast, but where the natural - advantages of the cliff had to be supplied by enormous earthworks, was - Skipsea, held and strengthened by Drogo, William’s Flemish lieutenant - in that country. Aldbrough was also a Holderness castle, built by Odo - of Aumarle, of which there remain only the mound and the wall.</p> - - <p>Between Scarborough and York stood Malton, a seat of Earl Siward, and - held by David of Scotland against King Stephen. The masonry is now - gone, but the site is still marked by the Roman camp within or upon the - edge of which the castle stood. North of Malton is Pickering, once<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> - the burh of the English Morcar, where are the remains of a shell keep - upon the mound. Here the mound is central between and common to both - wards. The general enclosing curtain is tolerably perfect, and the - whole affords an excellent example of the manner in which the Norman - architects dealt with an earthwork when the mound stood in the centre - of an enclosure, instead of as usual upon one side of it. On the edge - of the Honour of Pickering is Hamlake or Helmsley, the seat of the - Barons de Ros before they inherited Belvoir, and where the remains - of a very late rectangular keep stand on one side of a rectangular - court, having two regular gatehouses, walls built against lofty banks, - and beyond them strong and extensive outworks in earth and masonry. - It is difficult to form an opinion upon the age of these earthworks. - They impinge upon and are certainly later than a small Roman camp. At - Mulgrave and Normanby were castles; at the latter are still parts of a - rectangular Norman keep. Mulgrave stands on the sea cliff. It was the - seat of the Saxon Wada and afterwards the Castle of Nigel Fossard and - the Mowbrays. At Gilling some early vaults and walls are worked into - the later castle of the Fairfaxes. Thirsk, Black Bourton in Lonsdale, - and Malzeard, the “capita” of three Mowbray Baronies, all contained - castles of some importance in the twelfth century. Of Malzeard and - Bourton the earthworks are considerable. Tadcaster, a place of strength - both in Roman and Danish times, possessed also a Norman castle, of - which, however, only the mounds remain; and there is even less of Hugh - Puisèt’s work of Northallerton, surrendered to Henry II. in 1174, and - ordered to be destroyed in 1177. Its earthworks are intersected by a - railway. Of Tanfield, a Fitz-Hugh and Marmion castle, there are still - some small remains.</p> - - <p>The great castle of North Yorkshire is Richmond, so called by Earl - Alan, who obtained in 1070 the possessions of the English Edwin, and - removed the seat from the adjacent Gilling, where the earthworks long - remained, to a stronger position on the Swale. The Norman Castle was - built in 1071: it includes a large area, most part of which is defended - by a natural cliff. The containing wall is mostly original, and within - its substance is a curious small Norman chapel. The rectangular keep - is placed at the weakest part of the circuit next to the town, and in - front of it are the remains of a barbican. The well-known “Registrum - Honoris de Richmond” specifies to which part of the castle the castle - guard of each great tenant was due, and the Hall which the family of - Scolland were bound to maintain and guard to this day bears<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> their - name. The town was also walled. Near Richmond are the scanty and late - remains of Ravenswath, a Fitz-Hugh castle, and lower down the Swale - was Bedale, the castle of “Le beau Bryan de Fitz-Aleyne,” now entirely - gone, though the site is still pointed out. The warlike habits of the - Lords are, however, represented by a curious portcullis closing the - door of the belfry in the parish church. Middleham Castle, on the edge - of its celebrated moor, was founded by Ribald, brother to Earl Alan, - and ancestor in the female line of the great family of Neville, under - whom the Norman keep received its handsome addition and gained its - fame. Masham, a castle of the Scropes, is now a mere ruin. Drax seems - to have been held by Ralph Paganel as early as the reign of Stephen. - Merhall, in Weston, a castle of the Barons Lancaster, is reputed to - have been demolished by King John. Killarby, Albruck-on-Tees, and - Cawdwell were early castles, as were Armanthwaite, Bowes, Hatlesey, - Sigston, and Whorlton. Of Gleaston, the moot-hill remains, which is - thought to have been surmounted by a keep; and Hornby was also a - Lonsdale castle. The passes of the Lune were, however, more celebrated - for their defensive earthworks, due to the Danes or the English, than - for Norman castles.</p> - - <p>Coningsborough, on the Don, is no less from its position than its - architecture one of the most remarkable of Yorkshire castles. Its grand - cylindrical tower, supported by buttresses of great depth and height, - is superior in design and workmanship to that of Pembroke, and almost - rivals Coucy. It stands on the summit of a steep rocky knoll, and has - been inserted into an earlier Norman wall, which is built upon the - steep edge of the rock and encloses a court of moderate area. Upon the - slope are the remains of the entrance and fortified approach, and at - the base of the hill is a ditch, or rather a ravine, and on one side - beyond it an outwork in earth. Probably the hill has been occupied as - a place of strength from a very early time, but the masonry is the - work of the Warrens Earls of Surrey, and is worthy of their greatness. - Knaresborough Castle, on the Nidd, visited by Henry II. in 1181, - occupies the top of a rocky promontory. Here the keep, though of Norman - form and dimensions, is of Decorated date, and remarkable for the - excellence of its details. The adjacent town has also been fortified, - though apparently by a ditch and bank only. Pontefract, another - celebrated Yorkshire castle, is also peculiar. Here the castle encloses - a large and elevated platform of rock, scarped and revetted all round, - and at one end of which, enclosing an earthen mound, is the circular - keep. Much of its masonry is of the eleventh or the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span> early part of the - twelfth century. Its subterranean passages and chambers, of Norman - date, are curious. Besides these, Yorkshire contains many other castles - connected for the most part with great baronial families, and playing - their part in the defence of the country against the Scots. Harewood, - reputed a Danish seat, was the castle of Robert de Romeli; Skipton, - also built by that family, contains some early parts, and has always - been inhabited. Kilton was a castle of Cleveland, as was Castleton, - where the Bruces fortified a moated mound. Burton was granted by the - Conqueror to the same family, having been a seat of Earl Morcar; Danby - was also a Bruce castle, and Skelton Castle, built in 1140, was the - head of their barony. There was also the Archbishop’s castle of Cawood, - and Crake, a castle of the Bishops of Durham, said to be mentioned - in the seventh century. Baynard was a castle of the Lords Wake of - Cottingham; Leeds Castle was besieged by Stephen in 1139; Wilton was an - early castle of the Bulmers; Guisborough was founded in 1120; Sandal - Castle, under the walls of which was fought the battle of Wakefield, - was a late Warren castle, but the mound and earthworks are on a large - scale and old. Yorkshire contained also a considerable number of - fortified houses, some of which bore the names of castles, though - whether of early date is uncertain; such were Ryther and Slingsby. - There is said to have been a castle at Upsal, and one at Hilderskelf, - in the grounds of Castle-Howard. Wressill and Sheriff Hutton in their - present forms are very late, but the latter has an early history, and - near the parish church are some remarkable earthworks, which it is - thought mark the site of an early castle.</p> - - <p>Yorkshire is rich in earthworks, and especially in moated mounds. Many - have already been mentioned as having been incorporated into later - castles; there are others of at least equal age and strength which do - not seem ever to have been connected with masonry: such are Mexbrough, - Castleton, Wakefield, Levington on the Leven, and others on the Lune. - Some of these are known to have been the seats of English Earls and - Thanes, and after the Conquest fell into disuse and decay, though at - that period they were probably formidable.</p> - - <p>Lancashire, in the castle-building age, was not recognised as a county, - but was divided between the part then included in Yorkshire and the - tract between the Mersey and the Ribble. This latter formed the great - Barony of Roger of Poitou, a younger son of Earl Roger of Shrewsbury. - His castle of Penverdant or Penwortham is named in “Domesday,” and its - colossal mound is still called the Castle Hill, but the “caput” of - the barony was the Castle of Clitheroe, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span> small but strong square - keep of which stands on the point of a steep promontory of rock, and - must have been nearly inaccessible to assault. Upon Earl Roger’s fall, - Clitheroe came to the Lacys. The great castle of Lancashire is at - Lancaster, well placed high above the broad water of the Lune, and - within the area of a Roman castrum, whence it derives its name. Here, - as at Carlisle, the railway is so laid out as to show the castle to - great advantage. The castle is attributed to Roger of Poitou, but the - Norman keep, a grand structure, ninety feet high, appears somewhat - later, as is the Edwardian gateway, also a superb specimen of military - architecture. Unfortunately, being a prison, the whole is closed - against antiquarian visitors. There was a castle at Liverpool said - to have been built by the same Roger in 1076. Merhull and Kirkby are - Lancashire castles attributed to Gilbert Fitz-Reinfrid. There seems to - have been a castle at Manchester, on the Irwell, just outside the old - town, in Leland’s time, and one at Greenhalgh, and one near Rochdale, - probably at Castleton, where was the burh of the English lord. At - Halton is also a lofty burh, as usual near the church, indicating the - site of the “aula” of the English lord, and of the keep of his Norman - successor. Castlehead in Atterpole, near Cartmel, is also reputed - an early castle. The castles of Holland, Hornby, Peel, Thurland, - Ulverston, and Glaiston are probably of later date.</p> - - <p>Cheshire, the palatine earldom of Hugh, named, probably by his - posterity, “the Wolf,” standing upon the Welsh border, demanded and - was supplied by many strong places. Chester, the seat of the earldom, - represents the Roman Deva, the Castra Legionum; and the Norman castle, - with a small and early rectangular keep occupying one corner of the - area, stands on the verge of the river Dee. Near to Chester in Wirrall - was Shotwick, of which the earthworks remain, and higher up upon the - Dee was Holt. Beeston is almost the only remarkable fortress in the - county. It stands on the platform of an inaccessible rock. The masonry - is probably late, but the deep well may be a part of the Norman castle. - All the fifteen barons of the palatinate, feudatories of Earl Hugh, - had castles, but these, representing private estates, mostly continued - to be occupied and became fortified houses. The sites and more or less - of the remains are to be seen of Halton and Kinderton, the castles of - William Fitz-Hugh and Venables; Shipbrook of the Vernons; Nantwich - of Piers Malbanke; Malpas of Robert Fitz-Hugh; and Dunham of Hamo de - Massy. There were also castles at Frodsham, Oldcastle, Uttersford, - Pulford, Dodleston, Shockleach, Nantwich, Stockport, Burton, - Uller<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span>wood, Runcorn, West Derby, Northwick, Castle Cob, and probably - some others. A large number of these sites are marked by moated mounds, - and there are besides many similar mounds in the county to which - masonry does not appear to have been added.</p> - - <p>Thus, between the Thames and the Tees, the Bristol Avon and the Lune, - the central parts of England contained at the close of the reign of - Henry II. at the least 214 castles, of which about 17 had rectangular - and 44 shell keeps. As to the remaining 153, nothing is accurately - known, or they are found not to have belonged to either of the great - types. Of these castles probably at least 180 stood on old English - sites, and very few indeed can be said with certainty to have stood - upon altogether new foundations.</p> - - <p>There remain to be considered the castles of the northern counties, - Westmoreland and Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland, for centuries - exposed to invasions from beyond the Tweed, and fortified accordingly. - In this tract were at least four castles of the first class,—Durham, - Bamburgh, Norham, and the strongly-posted town and castle of Berwick; - and of the second class Brough, Appleby and Brougham, Cockermouth, - Carlisle, Prudhoe and Newcastle, Ford and Alnwick, and Warkworth. - Besides these were others, some perhaps at times almost their equals - in importance, but the continued incursions of the Scots were fatal to - the English fortresses, as were those of the English to the Scotch, - and thus many on both sides the border were again and again burned and - levelled, until they were either not rebuilt or only represented by - peel towers and castellets, which again were destroyed, so that of very - many castles the names only are preserved.</p> - - <p>The lake country of Westmoreland was strong and contained little to - attract plunderers; but on its edge on the winding Eamont is Brougham - Castle, with a pure Norman keep, bearing testimony to the power of - the Barons Vipont, its early lords. It stands upon the side of a - well-preserved Roman camp, as does Brough, another Norman castle, also - with a rectangular keep. A similar keep at Appleby is still inhabited. - Kendal Castle is probably an early fortress, though nothing remains - of it but an encircling and not very early wall. Westmoreland is - peculiarly rich in fortified manor-houses, some of which may be on old - sites, though the greater number, like the castle of Penrith, belong - to a later period. There were peels or castellets at Bewly, Hartley, - Howgill, and Pendragon.</p> - - <p>Carlisle is the citadel of Cumberland, and was for cen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span>turies the - most important fortress in the North, playing a considerable part in - every Scottish war. The name proclaims it to be of British origin, and - its position led to its adoption by the Romans; and, indeed, it is - said that the ditch of the southern of the two great lines of defence - thrown up by that people divides the castle from the town. Cumberland - bears many marks of Danish invasions, and in one of these in the - ninth century Carlisle was laid waste, and so remained, until in 1093 - William Rufus founded the castle and added the town to his kingdom. His - successor raised the town into an episcopal city and completed what - was needed in the castle. Patched and neglected as is the keep, still - the principal features of the castle and the encircling walls are for - the most part original. Rose Castle, the episcopal seat, higher up the - river, is on an old site and in part old. Cockermouth, a castle of - William de Meschines and the Lords Lucy, remains, and near it, towards - St. Bees, is a fragment of Egremont, also built by De Meschines. - Scaleby, on the most exposed frontier, a De Tilliol castle—though - not of the eleventh century—is perfect; which cannot be said of - Bewcastle, built by the Lords de Vaux. Naworth, still inhabited, was - inherited by the Howards from the Dacres, who also probably gave name - to Dacre, rather a strong house than a castle. Besides these there - are or were strong places at St. Andrews, Askerton, Blencraik, St. - Bees, Castle-Corrock, Corby, Cannonby, Dalby, Dilston, Down Hall, - Dunvalloght, Drawdykes, Greystock, Horton, Harington, Hay-Castle, - Heton, Highgate, Irton, St. John’s, Featherstone, Kirk-Oswald, Kyloe - tower, Liddell Strength, Linstock, Lorton, Millom, Ousby, Rowcliffe, - Shank, Triermain, and Wolsty. Many of these are dotted about the more - exposed parts of the county; others are in the rear of the Roman wall.</p> - - <p>The castle of Durham, taken alone, is rivalled both in position and - grandeur by Bamburgh, but taken in conjunction with the cathedral and - attendant buildings,</p> - - <div class="center-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i0">“Half church of God, half fortress ’gainst the Scot,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <p class="noindent">the group is without an equal. The main feature of the castle is the - circular keep, a rebuilding of probably the oldest and most complete - of that type in Britain. The lower ward also is spacious, and includes - many buildings, some of them of early Norman date. The castle is posted - upon the root of the rocky peninsula included by a fold of the Tees, - and stands between the city and the grand old shrine and final resting - place of St. Cuthbert. The older parts were probably built in the reign - of the Conqueror, about 1088, when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span> William, having banished Carileph, - held the temporalities of the see; other authorities attribute the work - to Bishop Comyn in 1072. The two chief castles of the Bishopric are - Raby and Barnard Castle, for Norham is virtually in Northumberland. - Raby, the celebrated seat of the Nevilles, is of Norman origin, as is - Barnard Castle, though its fine round tower is later. In plan this - castle much resembles Ludlow, to which its position is not inferior. It - is named from Barnard de Baliol. Branspeth, also a Neville castle, is a - noble structure, but of later date than Raby. Bowes has a late Norman - keep. Besides these may be mentioned Lumley, Staindrop, Streatlam, - Witton, Stockton, and Bishop Auckland. In the local quarrels the names - also occur of Evenwood Castle, near Auckland, Hilton, Holy Island, and, - better known from its later possessors, Ravensworth. The Bishopric was - well fortified, and was besides intersected by the deep ravines of the - Tees, and possessed the Tyne for a frontier.</p> - - <p>“Foremost,”—the quotation is drawn from the writings of an author who, - beyond any other of the present day, makes his own mark upon what he - writes,—“in interest among the monuments of Northumberland, in the - narrower sense of the earldom beyond the Tyne, stand the castles; - the castles of every size and shape, from Bamburgh, where the castle - occupies the whole site of a royal city, to the smallest pele-tower, - where the pettiest squire or parson sought shelter for himself in the - upper stage, and for his cows in the lower. For the pele-towers of - the Border-land, like the endless small square towers of Ireland, are - essentially castles. They show the type of the Norman keep continued - on a small scale to a very late time. Perhaps many of the adulterine - castles which arose in every time of anarchy, and were overthrown at - every return of order, many of the eleven hundred and odd castles - which overspread the land during the anarchy of Stephen, may not have - been of much greater pretensions. At any rate, from the great keep of - Newcastle,—were we not in Northumberland we should speak of the far - greater keep of Colchester,—to the smallest pele-tower which survives - as a small part of a modern house, the idea which runs through all is - exactly the same. The castles and towers then, great and small, are - the most marked feature of the county. They distinguish it from those - shires where castles of any kind are rare; and the employment of the - type of the great keeps on a very small scale distinguishes it from - the other land of castles. In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> Wales the Norman keep is not usual; - the castles are, for the most part, later in date and more complex in - plan; and the small square private tower, the distinctive feature of - the North, is there hardly to be found. Northumberland has much to show - the traveller in many ways, from the Roman wall onward, but the feature - which is especially characteristic is that it is the land of castles.”</p> - - <p>Northumberland is said to have contained sixty castles, but this must - include many fortified houses and castles of the private gentry. - Alnwick, better known as the seat of the earls of Northumberland than - from its builder and early lords, is a very fine example of a baronial - castle. The keep or central ward includes an open court, entered by a - Norman gateway encrusted by a Decorated gatehouse, and round which, - incorporated with the curtain, were the hall, kitchen, chapel, and - the lord’s lodgings. Most of the court has been rebuilt, but the old - lines and much of the old foundations have been preserved, and the - effect is probably not unlike that of the original Norman court. The - concentric defences, walls, towers, and barbican are old, though not - original. The castle stands between the town and the Alne, beyond which - is the park. The builder seems to have been Eustace de Vesci in the - late Norman period, before 1157. Three miles to the north is the tower - of Highfarland. Warkworth, built by one of the Fitz-Richard family in - the reign of Henry II., was much injured by William the Lion, who laid - siege to it in 1176, but still retains large remains of the original - work. Tynemouth, an island fortress, seems to have been a seat of Earl - Waltheof; it was long afterwards a Percy castle. Prudhoe, a castle of - the Umfravilles, built in the middle of the eleventh century, has a - small Norman keep, and most of the original curtain wall. The additions - include a barbican and a curious chapel over the gateway. The original - castle was attacked without success by William of Scotland in 1174. - The castle of Newcastle, high upon the bank of the Tyne and included - within the walls of the town, was built by Robert Curthose in 1080, - and is a very perfect example of a rectangular Norman keep, with a - curious oratory within the fore-building and a great number of mural - passages and chambers, so that in many respects it has the appearance - of being half a century later than its recorded date. It is also well - preserved, saving some injudicious alterations made many years since, - and it is accessible to every visitor, being in the hands of the local - antiquarian society, and under the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span> safe and skilful protection of the - historian of the Roman wall.</p> - - <p>Bamburgh is probably the oldest, and in all respects the noblest and - most historical of the Northumbrian fortresses. It was founded by the - flame-bearing Ida in the sixth century, when it was enclosed by a - hedge and afterwards by a wall, but most of its circuit was already - fortified by a natural cliff of great height. The castle occupies the - whole of this elevated platform of basalt, one side of which is upon - the sea beach. The wall is built along the edge of the precipice, and - rising above all is a magnificent square Norman keep of rather late - date, somewhat altered indeed within and still inhabited, but retaining - most of its original features, and altogether presenting a very grand - appearance. Bamburgh, like Alnwick, has come under the wand of the - enchanter, and any reference to it would indeed be incomplete which - took no notice of the following passage drawn from the <cite>Saturday - Review</cite>:—“At Bamburgh, above all, we feel that we are pilgrims come - to do our service at one of the great cradles of our national life. - It is the one spot in northern England around which the same interest - gathers which belongs to the landing-places of Hengest, of Ælle, and of - Cerdic, in the southern lands. It is to the Angle what these spots are - to the Jute and the Saxon. The beginnings of the Anglian kingdoms are - less rich in romantic and personal lore than are those of their Jutish - and Saxon neighbours. Unless we chose to accept the tale about Octa and - Ebussa, we have no record of the actual leaders of the first Teutonic - settlements in the Anglian parts of Britain. The earliest kingdoms seem - not to have been founded by new comers from beyond the sea, but to have - been formed by the fusing together of smaller independent settlements. - Yet around Bamburgh and its founder, Ida, all Northumbrian history - gathers. Though its keep is more than five hundred years later than - Ida’s time,—though it is only here and there that we see fragments of - masonry which we even guess may be older than the keep,—it is still a - perfectly allowable figure when the poet of northern Britain speaks - of Bamburgh as ‘King Ida’s fortress.’ The founder of the Northumbrian - kingdom, the first who bore the kingly name in Bamburgh, the warrior - whom the trembling Briton spoke of as the ‘flame-bearer,’ appears, in - the one slight authentic notice of him, not as the leader of a new - colony from the older England, but rather as the man who gathered - together a number of scattered inde<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span>pendent settlements into a nation - and a kingdom. The chronicler records of him that in 547 ‘he took - to the kingdom’; but nothing is said of his coming, like Hengest or - Cerdic, from beyond sea. And all the other accounts fall in with the - same notion. Henry of Huntingdon, though he has no story to tell, no - ballad to translate, was doubtless following some old tradition when - he described the Anglian chiefs, after a series of victories over the - Welsh, joining together to set a king over them. And all agree in - speaking of Bamburgh, called, so the story ran, from the Queen Bebbe, - as a special work of Ida. Whatever may be the origin of the name, it - suggests the kindred name of the East Frankish Babenberg, which has - been cut short into Bamberg by the same process which has cut short - Bebbanburh into Bamburgh. Yet Bamburgh was a fortress by nature, even - before Ida had fenced it in, first with a hedge and then with a wall. - Here we see the succession of the early stages of fortification, the - palisade first and then the earthen wall, the <i>vallum</i>, not the - <i>murus</i>, of the Roman art of defence. But, whether hedge or - wall, the site of Bamburgh was already a castle before it had been - fenced in by the simplest forms of art. That mass of isolated basaltic - rock frowning over the sea on one side, over the land on the other, - was indeed a spot marked out by nature for dominion. Here was the - dwelling-place of successive Bernician kings, ealdormen, and earls; - here they took shelter as in an impregnable refuge from the inroads of - Scot and Dane. Here the elder Waltheof shut himself up in terror, while - his valiant son Uhtred sent forth and rescued the newly-founded church - and city of Durham from the invader. Here Gospatric the Earl held his - head-quarters, while he and Malcolm of Scotland were ravaging each - other’s lands in turn. In earlier days a banished Northumbrian king, - flying from his own people to seek shelter with the Picts, defended - himself for a while at Bamburgh, and gave the native chronicler of - Northumberland an opportunity of giving us our earliest picture of the - spot. Baeda, without mentioning the name, had spoken of Bamburgh as - a royal city, and it is not only as a fortress, but as a city, that - Bamburgh appears in the Northumbrian chronicler. He speaks of ‘Bebba - civitas’ as ‘Urbs munitissima non admodum magna.’ It did not take in - more than the space of two or three fields; still it was a city, though - a city approached by lofty steps, and with a single entrance hollowed - in the rock. Its highest point was crowned, not as yet by the keep of - the Norman, but by a church, which, according to the standard of the - eighth century, was a goodly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span> one. This church contained a precious - chest, which sheltered a yet more precious relic, the wonder-working - right hand of the martyred King Oswald. We read, too, how the city, - perched on its ocean rock, was yet, unlike the inland hill of the elder - Salisbury, well furnished with water, clear to the eye and sweet to - the taste. We see, then, what the royal city of the Bernician realm - really was. It simply took in the present circuit of the castle. The - present village, with its stately church, is, even in its origin, of - later date. But by the time that we reach the event in the history of - Bamburgh which is told us in the most striking detail, the keep had - already arisen; the English city had become the Norman castle. In the - days of Rufus, when the fierce Robert of Mowbray had risen a second - time in rebellion, the keep of Bamburgh, safe on its rock and guarded - by surrounding waves and marshes, was deemed beyond the power even - of the Red King to subdue by force of arms. The building of another - fortress to hold it in check, the ἐπιτειχισμὁς, as a Greek would - have called it, which bore the mocking name of <i>Malvoisin</i>, was - all that could be done while the rebel earl kept himself within the - impregnable walls. It was only when he risked himself without those - walls, when he was led up to them as a captive, with his eyes to be - seared out if his valiant wife refused to surrender, that Bamburgh came - into the royal hands.” - </p> - - <p>At Mitford is a very peculiar Norman keep still held by the descendants - of its early lords. Bothal, the Ogle Castle, may be old, but its - present remains are scarcely so, and this is also the case with - Morpeth, a castle of the De Maulays.</p> - - <p>Of Berwick Castle the remains are inconsiderable and are encroached - upon by the railway station, but the adjacent town has a bank and ditch - and a low tower or two or bastion, of its ancient defences, and within - these is a citadel of the age of Vauban. Higher up and on the opposite - or English bank of the Tweed is the grand episcopal castle of Norham, - the special care of the bishops of Durham. Its rectangular keep is of - unusual size, and though entirely Norman, of two periods. Parts of its - containing wall are also original, as is the gatehouse, and about it - are various earthworks, remains apparently of some of the sieges which - it has undergone, and beyond these are the lines of a large Roman camp.</p> - - <p>Norham, attributed to Bishop Flambard in 1121, was surrendered to - Henry II. by Bishop Puisèt in 1174, and was entrusted to William de - Neville in 1177. Beneath the walls and within the adjacent parish - church Edward entertained and decided upon the claims to the Scottish - throne. Among<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> the more considerable of Northumbrian castles were Ford, - Chillingham, Wark, and the Umfraville castle of Harbottle. There should - also be mentioned as occurring in border story, Aydon, Bavington, - Belsay, Bellister, Birtley, Blenkinsop, Bywell tower, Burraden tower, - Capheaton, Carlington, Chipchase, Cornhill, Cockle Park tower, - Coupland, Dale, Duddon tower, Edlingham, Errington, Elsdon, Etal, - Eskott, Farne, Fenwick tower, Horton, Houghton, Heaton, Hirst, Hemmell, - Kyloe, Langley, Littleharle and Lilburn towers, Lemington, Newton - tower, Ogle, Pontland, Simonsburn, Spylaw, Swinbourne, Shortflatt - tower, Tarot, Tynemouth, Thirlwall, Wallington, Widdrington, Witton, - Williesmotewick, and a few more peels and castellets and early moats, - showing where strong houses formerly stood. The fact was, that for many - centuries no owner of land near the Scottish border could live without - some kind of defence, and a careful survey, while it might fail to - discover traces of some of the above, would probably establish those of - many as yet unrecorded.</p> - - <p>It appears, then, that in the four northern counties there are at least - 103 strong places, of which ten boast rectangular Norman, and one or - perhaps two, shell, keeps, while of ninety-one little is known.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">THE CASTLES OF ENGLAND AND WALES AT THE LATTER PART OF THE TWELFTH - CENTURY (<i>concluded</i>).</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THERE remain to be enumerated the castles west of the Severn and the - Dee up to the Dyke of Offa. To this tract must be added on the one - hand the half of Shropshire, which was on the English side of the - Severn; on the other, one or two valleys like those of the upper - Severn and the Wye, penetrating into the heart of Wales; and to the - north and south a tract of seaboard, reaching in the one case to the - Conwy, and in the other to Pembroke and including Aberystwith. Of this - border-land, divided between the northern, middle, and western Marches, - the first was given in charge by the Conqueror to Hugh Earl of Chester; - the second to Roger Earl of Shrewsbury, Arundel, and Montgomery; - and opposite to the last, most of which was as yet unconquered, was - placed William FitzOsbern, Earl of Hereford. In the north and middle - Marches the opposing parts of Wales were mountainous and strong, - exceedingly dangerous to invade, and of little value to a conqueror; - but in the south the country was far more open and more fertile, far - less dangerous to the invader, and offering far greater attraction to - the cupidity of the settler. The general policy was to penetrate the - country by the open valleys and the seaboard, and at certain frequent - points to erect castles strong enough to resist a sudden attack, and - occasionally capacious enough to contain men and stores sufficient - to reinforce troops in the field, or to receive and rally them when - worsted.</p> - - <p>The three principal fortresses which, placed upon English territory, - formed in a military point of view the base for operations in Wales, - were Chester on the Dee, Shrewsbury upon the Severn, and Gloucester at - the mouth of the same river, the last being under the Mercian kings a - place of great strength and importance. Chester and Gloucester were of - Roman, Shrewsbury of British origin. In advance of Chester, and beyond - the estuary of the Dee, were the castles of Hawarden, Ewloe, Halkin, - Flint, Diserth, Rhuddlan, and Diganwy, extending upon or at no great - distance from the sea coast as far as the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span> Conwy river. More inland and - south of these are Caergwrle, Mold, Ruthyn, Denbigh, and Basingwerk, - the last nearly upon Watt’s Dyke. Hope Castle is mentioned, but is - probably the same with Caergwrle, and Overton, which, though on the - Cheshire side of the Dee, was held by the Princes of Powis. It seems to - have been founded by William Peverel, and was by him defended against - Stephen in 1138. Most of these castles are mere ruins; of others the - extant buildings are Edwardian additions. Hawarden, however, has a - tolerably perfect circular keep, with a small mural oratory, and an - exceedingly complex but later arrangement for defending the approach.</p> - - <p>Considerably south of these castles, where the Dee has ceased to be - the dividing stream of England and Wales, is the hill castle of Dinas - Brân, an early and strong place, by whom built is uncertain, but which - was held for long periods by the Welsh Princes. Again, south, upon the - Ceiriog river, and a few yards east of Offa’s Dyke, is Chirk Castle, - inhabited and much altered, but of early date.</p> - - <p>The western side of Shropshire and the adjacent part of Montgomery - formed nearly the whole of the Middle March. Earl Roger, its custos - under the Conqueror with powers which William only delegated from - absolute necessity, and which it took his successors centuries to - resume, was the only Norman lord who gave name to a county in the - conquered land. Under him and his lieutenants, Roger Corbet and Roger - Mortimer, the March was feued out to a number of knights and lesser - barons, all of whom built castles, and thus defended the common - territory, while protecting their own private estates. The task of - construction probably was not so onerous as at first sight might - appear. Shropshire and Herefordshire, and especially their most exposed - parts, were already studded over thickly with strong places constructed - after their own fashion by the Mercian invaders and settlers, and of - these it is evident that the new lords availed themselves until they - were able to make additions to them in masonry.</p> - - <p>Of Shrewsbury Castle, the citadel of the Middle March, and the “caput” - of Earl Roger’s earldom, enough remains to show that, though small in - area, it was a place of excessive strength. The mound upon which the - Earl placed his keep in 1080 still rises to a great height direct from - the river, and of the works to make room for which 51 English burgages - were swept away there still remain parts of the wall, a gatehouse, and - the foundations of a later hall. In the Hundred roll, in the reign of - Edward I., occurs the following very curious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span> entry:—“Quod unus magnus - turris ligneus qui edificatur in castro Salop corruit in terram tempore - domini Uriani de St. Petro tum vicecomitis et meremium ejusdem turris - tempore suo et temporibus aliorum vicecomitum preterea existencium - ita consummatur et destruitur quod nichil de illo remansit in magnum - dampnum domini Regis et deteracionem ejusdem castri.” Was this a wooden - keep upon the mound? “Quoddam Barbican” is also mentioned, and we are - told the “dampnum mote” amounted to 60 marcs, which damage the jurors - do not attribute altogether to the Abbot’s Mill, for thirty years - earlier the mote of the castle was injured. This can scarcely mean the - ditch, for which “fossa” is the word used. It is evidently the mound. - The castle formed part of the town wall, and occupied an angle of its - area. Both castle and town were included within the foldings of the - deep and broad Severn, and indeed often needed its protection.</p> - - <p>In advance of Shrewsbury and placed along the most exposed border of - the county, and sometimes a little beyond it, were seventeen castles, - all strong and of early foundation, though not all of equal importance. - Of these, to the south, the principal were Cleobury, Ludlow, Richard’s - Castle, Wigmore, Knighton, and Knucklas or Heyhope, some within and - others a little to the outside of the dyke. To the west were Clun, - Bishop’s Castle, Montgomery, Cause, Abberbury, and Knockyn, and to the - north Oswestry, Whittington, Ellesmere, and Whitchurch.</p> - - <p>Of these castles Ludlow stood next to Shrewsbury in importance, and - was fully its equal in strength, and far its superior in dimensions - and architectural display. It was, indeed, a superb Norman castle, the - work of Roger de Lacy, in the reign of Rufus, and before it Stephen was - foiled and very nearly captured in 1139. The rectangular keep, some of - the mural towers, and most of the lower part of the containing wall are - original. The curious circular chapel, though Norman, is rather later, - and the magnificent hall, kitchen, and lodgings are later still. The - castle is built on the eastern bank of the Lug, which here flows down - a deep rocky ravine; the town also was strongly walled. Cleobury, to - the east of Ludlow, attributed to Roger de Mortimer in 1074, is more - probably the work of a later lord in the reign of Stephen. It was taken - by Henry II. in 1155. Wigmore, of which the castelry is mentioned in - “Domesday,” the chief seat of the great border family of Mortimer, is - actually in Herefordshire, but belongs to the Shropshire fortresses. It - occupies a rocky ridge, defended by a natural ravine and steep slopes. - The small mound that bore its keep remains, and below is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span> a Norman - tower, and more or less of ancient masonry. The outworks seem to have - been strong. Richard’s Castle, the Auretone of “Domesday,” founded - by Richard Fitz Scrob in the reign of the Confessor, though also in - Hereford, lies between Wigmore and Ludlow, and was closely associated - with Shropshire. It retains its ancient mound near the church, and a - part of its shell keep, and is still defended by a very formidable - ditch. There is, however, no masonry of the age of the Confessor, - nor is it probable that the keep was constructed before the reign of - Stephen, if so early. Wigmore and Richard’s Castle were the advanced - posts of Ludlow. Cleobury Mortimer was held by Ralph Mortimer at the - Survey, and probably came to him from the forfeiture of Earl Roger de - Britolio. Knighton and Knucklas are on the right bank of the Teme, - just outside the Shropshire border. Their exposed position made them - very important posts. In 1180 Randulf Puher, Sheriff of Herefordshire, - accounted for the expenses of works at the castles of Knighton and - Camerino, and a little later, while employed in building a border - castle, he was slain by the Welsh. Of Knighton only the mound remains. - The masonry, now removed, has been attributed to one of the Lords of - Clun. Of Knucklas or Cnoclâs Castle there are scarcely any vestiges. - It was probably built by Roger Mortimer soon after the Conquest, - its mound, known as Castle Hill, being of course older. Clun Castle - is three miles within the dyke, but the intervening country is very - rugged, and exceedingly favourable to the operations of undisciplined - troops such as the Welsh. Clun was held under Earl Roger by Picot de - Say, and became afterwards the castle of Alan the son of Flaald, and - the cradle of the House of Stewart. There remains a rough but grand - square keep, a mound, strong circumscribing earthworks, and beyond - the church an advanced bank and ditch of formidable dimensions. It is - evident that those who laid out these earthworks were well aware of the - peril of the position. Bishop’s Castle or Lydbury is well within the - frontier. It was the residence of the bishops of Hereford from 1085 - to 1154, and was taken by storm in 1235. By their possession of this - castle the bishops became Lords Marchers. Montgomery was the centre and - one of the most exposed castles of the frontier. It occupied the summit - of a steep rock, and was almost impregnable. It has, however, been - taken, destroyed, and re-built at least twice, so that little, if any, - of its masonry is of the time of Earl Roger. It stands just within the - dyke.</p> - - <p>North of Montgomery, and protected by the well-known<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span> Long Mountain, is - Cause Castle or Alreton, the earliest seat of the Corbets, who named - it from the Pays de Caux, whence they came. It was built towards the - close of the reign of the Conqueror, and is remarkable for its massive - keep and capacious well, and for the rare example of the substitution - of a Norman for a native name. North of Cause is Abberbury, the seat - of the Fitz Warines before they held Whittington. It was held under - Cause. Knockin Castle, the head of the Barony of Strange, was probably - built by Guido le Strange in the reign of Henry II. Far more exposed, - and having the mountainous ground of Denbigh in its front, is Oswestry, - supposed by Mr. Eyton to be the Castel Luare (L’Ouvre) of “Domesday,” - the work of Rainald de Ballieul, and long celebrated as a seat of the - Earls of Arundel. It is now reduced to a mound and the foundations - of a keep. The outworks have been levelled and built over by the - encroaching town, and the ditches filled up. The town walls are also - removed. Very near to Oswestry is Whittington, founded as a Norman - work by William Peverel in 1138, but better known from its later lords - the Fitz Warines. This is the castle that defied the Welsh in 1223, - and the strength of which lay not only in its shell keep, towers, and - gatehouse, parts of all which remain, but in a curious arrangement - of outworks in earth, with several broad and deep ditches connected - with a morass, the limits of which may still be traced. The original - mound, scarped and enclosed like Bungay in a revetment wall by the - Norman engineer, is a good example of the manner in which those early - fortifications were adapted to the masonry of later times. Ellesmere - is a Peveril castle, but was held by the Welsh Princes as late as - the reign of Henry III. Whitchurch was founded probably by William - de Warren, whose wife was stepdaughter to the Conqueror. It was the - Weston of “Domesday,” and by a singular inversion became widely known - afterwards as Blackmere. These complete the outer line of defence of - the Middle March.</p> - - <p>Connected with these were a large number of other castles, mostly, - though not always, held by men of lesser rank and power. Wem, now - entirely destroyed, was founded by William Pantulf, holding under Earl - Roger. Middle Castle was held of the Fitz Alans by the Lords Strange, - as was Ruyton. At High Ercal is a moated mound, but whether masonry was - ever added to it is doubtful. Srawrthin or Sharwardine had a castle, - probably before 1165. There seem also to have been castles at Charlton, - Howgate, Braincroft, Corshall, Shipton, Ryton, and Le Botwood. - Pulverbach was the castle of Robert Venator in the eleventh century. - Tonge was Earl<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span> Roger’s private demesne, but the castle achieved its - fame under the Pembrugge family. Church Stretton or Brockhurst Castle - was held direct by the Crown, but was demolished at an early period. - At Broymeron, near Tugford, there seems to have been a castle. Corfham - was held by Fitz Ponce, the ancestor of the Cliffords. Wattlesborough, - an early Corbet castle, still preserves a small but tolerably perfect - rectangular keep. Stone has some traces of a castle, and at Hopton is - a square keep of Decorated date, on a slightly raised knoll, with some - extensive and marshy outworks. Besides these may be mentioned Castle - Holgate, thought by Mr. Eyton to be one of the four earliest castles - built under Earl Roger, the others being Shrewsbury, Montgomery, and - Oswestry, all in some shape of earlier date than the great Survey. - Holgate was built by Helgot de Stanton, and used by Henry II. in 1109. - Bryn Castle was an early seat of the Gerards; Bromfield and Cainham - are destroyed; of Shiffnall little is known; Stottesden was granted in - 1159 by Henry II. to Godfrey de Gamaches or Gamage; Stokesay is said - originally to have been built by Picot le Say; Tirley, near Market - Drayton, was the work of Roger de Corcelle, but taken by Ralph le - Botiler of Wem, who left it unfinished in 1281. The Fitz Alans seem to - have had a castle at Wroxeter, the Lords Strange at Cheswardine, and - at Morton Soret, now Corbet, the Sorets built a castle. West of Ludlow - was a castle at Stapleton-en-le-Harness, built probably by the lords of - Richard’s Castle. Kinnerley Castle, taken by Llewelyn in 1223, has long - since disappeared. Alveton was held by Theobald de Verdon in 1389.</p> - - <p>Robert de Belesme, the son of Roger and the third Earl of Shrewsbury, - built two castles which played a part in the struggles of the time, - and are mentioned by historians. One, Carregchova, was in advance of - the frontier, and in Montgomery. It is said to have been built about - 1101–2 in great haste. In 1160 it was held and garrisoned by Henry II. - It has long been utterly destroyed. The other, Bruges or Bridgenorth - Castle, was upon the Severn below and inland of Shrewsbury. Earl Roger - had built a castle not far off upon the ancient earthworks of Quatford, - opposite to Oldbury, one of the burhs thrown up by Queen Æthelflæda. - This castle, of which there remain a mound and a deep well, Earl Robert - removed in 1102 to the top of a steep rocky platform above the Severn. - It was strong and spacious, and had the church of St. Mary Magdalen for - its chapel, and within its area accommodation for some thousands of - men. Of all this there remains now little save a fragment of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span> keep - and parts of the containing wall. It was besieged by Henry II. in 1155, - and was surrendered for political rather than for military reasons.</p> - - <p>In advance of the borders of Shropshire are two or three castles of - doubtful origin, and which were frequently held by the Welsh. Such - were Powis or Pool Castle, attributed to Bleddyn ap Cynfin about 1109; - Mathraval, on the Vyrnwy, the residence of the Welsh Princes, but - fortified by Robert de Vipont. This was one of the few local castles - that resisted the Welsh outbreak of 1212, soon after which it was - destroyed. Dolforwin is a small hill-castle on the left bank of the - Upper Severn, much resembling Dinas Brân, and far to the west. Deep - in the defiles upon the western flank of Cader Idris is the castle of - Bere, the remains of which fell into the friendly hands of the late - Mr. Wynn of Peniarth, who has shown that the building was of the Early - English period of architecture, and unusually ornate in its details. - How an early castle came to be placed so far from the border, and in - a position by no means abounding in the means of subsistence, is a - mystery.</p> - - <p>The plain of the Upper Severn, open and fertile, outside the Shropshire - border, was contested from a very remote period between the Mercians - and the Welsh, and was at times completely and permanently occupied - by the former. The Mercian fortresses of this very perilous district - were moated mounds similar to those thrown up in England in the - ninth and tenth centuries. Of these there are very many along the - course of the river or in its tributary valleys, of which the chief - are Keri, Hên-domen near Montgomery, Nantcribba a fortified natural - knoll, Guilsfield, a burh at Chirbury thrown up by Æthelflæda and - now removed, Welsh Pool designated in 1299 as Mota de Pola, a mound - on the Luggy, Winsbury, Dudston, Brynderwen, several mounds about - Llanidloes and Moat-lane, Tafolwern, a fine mound upon the junction of - two streams with the Afon Lwymyn, and whence some of the charters of - the Welsh Princes are dated, and a remarkable mound at Talybont near - Towyn, whence Llewelyn dated a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, - and which was visited by Edward I. Very few of these “Mottes” were - surmounted by works in masonry, and the accompanying extract from the - Close Roll shows that even as late as the reign of Henry III. timber - was the recognised material for their defences:—</p> - - <p>“Rex etc dilecto et fideli suo Godescallo de Maghelins salutem. - Recipimus tibi quod ex parte nostra firmiter precipias omnibus illis - qui motas habent in valle de Munt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span>gumery quod sine dilatione motas suas - bonis bretaschiis firmari faciant ad securitatem et defensionem suam et - parcium illarum. Teste Rege apud Weston xxx die maii, 9 H iii, 1225.” - (Close Roll.) The Brut y Tysogion says that the castles of Llandwnyl, - Trevuverw, and Cynfig were begun in 1092 to be built stronger than - before; for before that time castles were of wood, and before long the - Frenchmen had built their castles over the whole country. Although - it is evident that the moated mound was an English and not a Welsh - fortification, yet many of these mounds are found in situations where - no English household could have lived, and others, like Tafolwern and - Talybont, are known to have been Welsh residences, so that it would - seem that the Welsh, finding this form of fortification both simple - and strong, easily thrown up, and when burned easy to repair, had - recourse to it in imitation of their foes. Almost all the castles in - Shropshire on the border were held of Earl Roger, or some Lord Marcher - by the tenure of castle guard, and many of the lesser castles had - lands attached to them held by the same honourable service. The usual - condition was attendance upon the lord in time of war, armed, for a - period of forty days, or an engagement to defend and sometimes to - repair a particular part of the lord’s castle. Lord Coke indeed speaks - of tenure by castle guard as always attached to some specific part of - a castle. The manor of Hodnet was held by the service of seneschal, - and in war by attendance in the outer bailey of Shrewsbury Castle. The - inquest on William de Bollers in 1299 shows that he held a tenement - in Mariton by the tenure of providing one soldier in war time at the - Mote of Poole with a bow and arrow and a bolt for a night and a day. - Mr. Eyton takes the Mote of Pool to be Powis Castle, but may it not - more probably be the mote which is seen, or was recently to be seen, - near the Welshpool railway station? In an old map in 1610 this mound - is lettered, “Domine Castell,” and a mill near it the Domen (Tomen, - Tumulus, Tump) Mill.</p> - - <p>The Southern, commonly called the Western March, from its extension - in that direction, included the counties of Radnor, Hereford, and - Monmouth, the eastern part of Brecknock, much of Caermarthen and - Cardigan, Pembroke and the whole of Glamorgan; that is to say, the - country from the Teme to the Bristol Channel, and the whole seaboard - of South Wales from Chepstow to Aberystwith, all which territory was - thickly set with castles, the footprints of the Norman, and before him - to some extent of the Englishman.</p> - - <p>Included in South Wales, but in a military point of view<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span> more - connected with Shropshire and the Middle March, was the county of - Radnor. This was a mountainous tract, very Welsh, and but a small - strip of which was on the English side of the dyke, but the imminence - of the danger seems to have led to great encroachments upon the Welsh - territory, and to the establishment of a considerable number of castles - along the lines specially exposed to attack.</p> - - <p>Knighton, the chief castle of Radnor, and Knucklas, both upon the Teme - and bordering Shropshire, have been mentioned. South of Knighton was - Norton, and again south Old Radnor, Cruker or Pen-y-Craig destroyed by - Rhys ap Griffith in the reign of King John, and New Radnor, of which - there remains a large mound with concentric entrenchments, and parts of - the walls of the town are still to be seen. The castle is said to have - been founded by Harold in 1064. Pains Castle or Llanbedr, in Elvet, - near the southern border of the county, was so called from Pagan or - Payne de Cadurces, Cahors, or Chaworth, Lord of Kidwelly, who built - it about 1130, possibly to secure his passage into Caermarthenshire. - A few fragments of masonry still remain. Pains Castle was taken by - Rhys in 1196, and subsequently besieged by Gwenwynwyn, Prince of - Powis, in 1198. Near to Pains Castle, on the left bank of the Wye, - was Boughrood Castle, said to have been held by Eineon Clydd in 1140. - Fragments of its masonry long remained visible. The passage of the Wye - is commanded in this district by the strong castle of Builth. Just - outside the county and higher up the river, which here divides Radnor - from Brecknock, was Aberedw Castle, built by Ralph de Baskerville, one - of the Norman invaders, but speedily taken and held by the Welsh. Still - higher up is Rhyader-Gwy, founded it is said by Prince Rhys in the - twelfth century, but better known as a castle of the Mortimers. It was - taken by assault by the Welsh in the reign of Henry III. The outline of - the works may still be traced. Nearer the centre of the county, upon - the Ython and the Aran, were other castles. Moelynaidd and Castell - Colwyn or Mauds Castle, fortified by the Earl of Chester in 1143, were - on the former river, and near them was Cefn-Lys or Castell-glyn-Ython, - a rather celebrated Norman castle, but often taken by the Welsh. It was - held latterly by the Mortimers, and rebuilt by them in 1142. Dwybod - Timpath or Tilloedd, also on the Ython, was a place of great strength - of which many fragments of masonry remain. The name has been said to be - a corruption of Talbot. This castle was levelled by Llewellyn in 1260. - Cwm Aron, on the Aron river, was an early Norman castle,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span> destroyed by - the Welsh and restored by Hugh Earl of Chester in 1143. This also came - to the Mortimers. There are considerable remains of the earthworks. - Near to Presteign were Warden and Stapleton Castles, the latter built - by Chandos the founder of Goldcliff Priory. There was also a castle at - Clyro, and one upon the Lug at Castell Haled or Vallet; and at Clâs Cwm - on the Arrow is some masonry said to represent Brynllys Castle.</p> - - <p>The remaining parts of South and West Wales containing much open and - tolerably fertile land, and having a long and exposed frontier towards - the purely Welsh districts of Brecknock, Caermarthen and Cardigan, - were the scene of perpetual inbreaks from the Welsh, and required more - than usual strength in the defences. The castle of Gloucester, already - mentioned, was the base of all extended operations in South Wales. Here - the kings of England often held their court, and here their troops were - mustered. Brichtric had a castle at Gloucester, but his mound has long - been removed, and with it all traces of the Norman building.</p> - - <p>Next to Gloucester in strength and importance and far more exposed - came Hereford, strongly posted on the Wye, and surrounded by a very - fertile territory. Unlike most other cities Hereford is of purely - English foundation, though by whom founded is not precisely clear. It - was fortified by Harold, and probably received the Norman additions - to its castle from Osborne soon after the Conquest. The castle was - attacked by Edric the Wild in 1067. Part of the defences of the city - remain, and of those of the castle an immense bank and deep wet ditch, - now in part being filled up, and formerly communicating with the river - Wye. The keep stood upon a large mound now levelled. Herefordshire - contained many castles, mostly, however, intended for the protection - of private estates, and placed accordingly. Goderich on the Wye is one - of the chief. It is large, well built, protected by the river, and has - a small but early rectangular keep. It was long held by the Talbots. - Ewias Harold and Kilpeck commanded from either side the valley of - Irchenfield. Both were strong and had shell keeps built upon mounds of - large size. Of Kilpeck parts of the wall remain, and a small Norman - church. In 1134 Hugh, son of William Norman, gave to Gloucester Abbey - the church of St. David at Kilpeck and the chapel of St. Mary in the - castle. Ewias was a stronger place, but nearly all the masonry is now - gone. The Harold from whom it derives its distinctive name was an - English proprietor before the Conquest. Of the lesser castles were - Croft, for centuries the seat of a still<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span> extant family of that name; - Lingen, an early castle built by Turstine de Wigmore; Lyonshall, an - early D’Evereux castle; Kingston, of which no trace remains; Almley, - reduced to its original mound; Kingsland, reputed a Saxon seat; - Weobley, a De Lacy castle in the reign of Stephen; Castle Frome, also - built by the Lacys, and now a mound only. Asperton, a Grandison castle - built on the edge of the Roman way, is now destroyed, as are Ellington - and Mortimer’s Castle at Much Marcle. Of Huntingdon, on the Radnor - border, a De Braose castle, the mound remains, as of Eardisley, called - in “Domesday” a “domus defensabilis.” Cubbington was a castle of the De - la Fields, and Bredwardine of a family of that name who gave place to - the Baskervilles. Whitney Castle stood on the Wye, as a little higher - up did Clifford, of which the masonry was the work of Ralph de Todeni - and his successor Fitz Pons, ancestor of the great house of Clifford, - who hence derived their name. The Castelry of Clifford was held at - “Domesday” by Roger de Lacy. Wilton Castle on the Wye, the seat of a - well-known barony, was built by Longchamp in the reign of Henry I., - and of that age were Pembridge and probably Tretire, a Fitz Warine - castle now destroyed. Besides these there are others of which less - is known; Longtown or Ewias Lacy, built in part of Roman material; - Snodhill, probably Norman; Twyford, and Urishay in Peterchurch, a De - la Hay work; Eccleswall and Castle Comfort reduced to their mounds; - the bank and ditches of the latter seen on a hill-side half a mile - from Leominster, are the reputed remains of the palace of Werewald, - King of Mercia, late in the seventh century. Mention is also made of - Mouse Castle, near Hay; Dorston, a Soler’s castle; Cusop, a mere tower; - Bransil, on the Worcestershire border, now a ruin; Kinnersley; Eaton - Tregoz, a Baskerville seat in 1251; Moccas, of which the moat remains; - and Penyard, probably Norman. It is to be remembered that most of the - castles in masonry in Hereford and Radnor were built upon earthworks of - far earlier date.</p> - - <p>Brecknock, though a wild and mountainous and therefore strongly Welsh - county, is penetrated both by the Usk and in some measure by the - Wye, of which Bernard Newmarch and his invading followers well knew - how to take advantage. The castles on the Wye being common to Radnor - and Brecknock, have duly been enumerated. The strongest of them all, - Builth, which played an important part in the local wars, was held by - the Barons de Braose, the successors of Newmarch. Of masonry there - remains but little, but the mound and annexed ditches and platforms - are of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> very formidable character, and justify the reputation of the - fortress for strength.</p> - - <p>Builth was placed near the junction of the Yrfon with the Wye, and thus - commanded the entrance of an important pass leading into Caermarthen. - It was, however, by the Usk that Bernard Newmarch marched in 1096 - against Bleddyn ap Maenarch, and it was at Brecknock, not far from - the Roman Bannium, that he established the strong and spacious castle - of which the earlier mound and much of the masonry can still be seen. - The possession of Brecknock, Builth, and Abergavenny castles secured - the district, which Newmarch parcelled out among about fifteen of his - chief followers, some of whom built castles which they continued to - hold under his son-in-law, Milo Earl of Hereford, and their successors - the Barons de Braose and Cantelupe. Next above Abergavenny was - Crickhowell, of which the mound, ditches, and a tower remain. This - was the castle of the Turbervilles. Near it is Tretower, an early and - very curious structure, where a rectangular keep has been gutted and - an early English round tower erected in its centre. Tretower stands in - the marshes of the Rhiangol, higher up which stream is Dinas, a hill - castle now in ruins, in form much resembling Morlais in Glamorgan, and - commanding the pass from Abergavenny to Talgarth and the Wye. Higher up - the Wye, upon a pass by which the road cuts off an inaccessible bend of - the river, was Blaenllyfni, a large and strong castle usually held by - the chief lord himself. Near it towards Brecknock was Pencelli Castle. - At Devynock was the tower of Rhyd-yr-Briew, and some miles above - Brecknock, near the head of the Usk, a tower at Trecastle, of which the - mound remains, was placed at the summit of the regular road between - Brecknock and Caermarthen. On the Honddu above Brecknock was Castell - Madoc, probably a Welsh fortress, and on the Llyfni between Brecknock - and Hereford the Peel of Talgarth and the very remarkable cylindrical - tower of Bronllys. The remains of the castle of Hay stand upon the Wye - at the north-eastern angle of the county. It was built by Sir Philip - Walwyn, destroyed by Henry III. in 1231, and probably rebuilt soon - afterwards. A part of it is still standing. The town was walled and had - three gates.</p> - - <p>Besides these were Scethrog, the tower of Sir Miles Pichard; Burghill, - built by Sir Humphrey of that name; Langoed and some others, fortified - houses rather than castles, and of which in most cases nothing remains - but the moated mounds, only a few of which have been occupied by the - Normans.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span></p> - - <p>Monmouthshire, though exposed to occasional inbreaks, was, in the - eleventh century, and especially after Harold’s Welsh war of 1063, - as completely a part of England as Hereford or the contiguous parts - of Gloucester. Its western border was the Rhymny, but by much its - more important part lay between two very deep and rapid rivers, the - Wye and the Usk, and upon each were posted formidable castles; those - of Monmouth and Chepstow upon the one river, and those of Newport, - Usk, and Abergavenny upon the other. Chepstow is placed upon a cliff - on the western or right bank of the river, evidently, like Newport, - intended as a “tête du pont” to cover the passage of troops, the river - not being there fordable. As the name imports, the settlement is of - English origin, though its Domesday designation, Estrighoil, corrupted - into Striguil, is Welsh. The castle is divided from the town by a - deep ravine, and is altogether outside the wall, which was unusual. - The keep, of Norman masonry, may be the work of William Fitz Osborne, - Earl of Hereford, or at latest of Roger de Britolio, his son and - successor. As early as in the reign of Henry I., Chepstow had come into - the possession of the De Clares of the Strongbow line, often called - Earls of Striguil. Its possession enabled the Mareschals, successors - to the De Clares, to hold their earldom against Henry III. Monmouth - Castle occupied the top of a promontory of rock between the Wye and the - Monnow, and was long held by a line of border barons to whom it gave a - name.</p> - - <p>Upon the Usk, the old castle of Newport has long been replaced by a - later structure, but parts of Usk Castle, some miles higher up, are - old, and Abergavenny, which descended from De Braose through Cantelupe - and Hastings to the Nevilles, is still held by the chief of that - family, though little remains of it save the original mound. It was - at Abergavenny Castle that William de Braose slaughtered, in 1175, a - number of unarmed Welshmen, in revenge for the murder of his uncle, - Henry of Hereford. Caerleon, between Newport and Usk, though founded by - a Norman upon an earlier English site connected with very celebrated - Roman remains, was the heritage of a Welsh family, and continued long - in their occupation. Between the Usk and the Wye the ground, in itself - strong, was strongly occupied.</p> - - <p>Upon the Monnow were placed Scenfrith and Grosmont, which with - Whitecastle formed the famous trilateral, so important in the war - between Henry III. and the Earl of Pembroke. The keep of Scenfrith is a - round tower of early date placed within a right-lined enclosure. Though - small, it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span> was very strong, and its remains are tolerably perfect. - Grosmont, also of early date, is somewhat larger, and its remains are - also considerable. White Castle is an enormous shell of lofty walls and - mural towers placed within a most formidable ditch, beyond which are - very extensive outworks both of masonry and earth. It stands very high, - commands a most extensive view, and its defences are wholly artificial. - All these three castles are reported to have been originally Welsh - seats; but their earthworks have an English aspect. They were obviously - intended for the general defence of the country, and, as usual, were - always in the hands of the great Lords or of the Crown; there were - besides several smaller castles or fortified houses, the centre of - private estates. Of these were the castles bordering the chase of - Wentwood: Dinham, long since a ruin; Penhow, the cradle of the House - of Seymour; Pencoed, which still retains some early masonry; Llanvair, - built by the Pain or Pagan family; and Castroggy, where is seen a part - of the hall and some other masonry. Upon the Ebbw, west of Newport, - stood the small castles of Greenfield and Rogeston, and at Castleton - is a mound, said at one time to have been accompanied by masonry. On - the hill above Ruperra is a very large and very perfect moated mound, - but without any trace or tradition of masonry. Llangibby is an old - Monmouthshire castle.</p> - - <p>The occupation by the Normans of the valleys of the Wye and the Usk - no doubt served to protect the exposed flank of Monmouthshire, but - beyond the Rhymny in Glamorgan this protection ceased, and the hill - territory of Glamorgan contained a native population ever ready to - assist their countrymen, who frequently invaded that Lordship from the - north-west. The Norman settlers all dwelt in the strip of open and - more fertile land from six to twelve miles in breadth that intervened, - like the Concan of Western India, between the mountains and the - sea, where the remains of their castles are placed so near together - as to raise a question as to whence the inhabitants derived their - means of subsistence. The chief castle of the Lordship was that of - Cardiff on the Taff; but the lord also held castles at Dinas Powis, - Llantrissant, Kenfig, and by an early acquisition, at Neath, all which - may be presumed to have been intended for the general protection. - Cardiff, upon the “via maritima” of the Romans, is a very remarkable - fortification. It is rectangular, protected on three sides by a very - high bank and ditch, and on the fourth, towards the river, by a very - strong wall. In one corner at the river end is a large moated mound - still bearing the Norman keep, and which stood upon the line of a - second wall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span> now destroyed, by which that end of the area was cut off - and protected from the rest. The analogy of this work with those of - Tamworth, Wareham, and Wallingford, and in some degree with Leicester, - is remarkable. It also has some points of resemblance to Hereford. - Dinas Powis is a small oblong enclosure of the type of Dinas Brân and - Dolforwin, probably of Norman date. It occupies the top of a rock in - the gorge of a deep valley, and must have been strong against any mere - assault. Llantrissant Castle was of rather larger dimensions. It stood, - and indeed a fragment of it still stands, in a notch in the hill high - above the plain and many miles from the sea. Kenfig, which stood upon - a brook near the sea coast, has been completely swallowed up by blown - sand, “consumptum per sabulonem,” and only a fragment is now visible. - Neath, the most exposed castle in the whole county, was founded by De - Granville, said to be the brother of Robert Fitz Hamon. Save those of - the Lord the only castle in the Lordship held by a public functionary - was that of the Bishop at Llandaff, which seems to have been always - a place of strength, though the gatehouse and enclosing wall still - remaining are probably as late as the reign of Henry III. or Edward I.</p> - - <p>Proceeding westward, the nearest castles to Cardiff were Sully and - Barry, held by families from whom the manors derived their names, as - did Bonvileston or Tre-Simon and its castle from Sir Simon de Bonville. - Penmark was the seat of the Umfravilles; Fonmon, with its rectangular - keep, of the St. Johns; Wrinston, of the De Reignys and Raleighs; - Wenvoe, of Le Fleming; and St. Fagan’s, of the Le Sore family. Of - Peterston and St. George’s there remain fragments of masonry. East - Orchard, the seat of the Berkerolles family, and Beaupré, of the - Bassets, probably were originally castles; but the one shows the ruins - of a fortified house, the other of a manor-house of the sixteenth - and seventeenth centuries. Part of Castleton Castle is old; of Liege - Castle there remains a light earthwork only. Llandough was built by - the Welsh family, and Llanquian, a round tower, by the De Wintons. - Llanblethian Castle was the seat of the St. Quintins, Talavan of the - Siwards: at Penlline is a part of a rectangular keep with herring-bone - masonry, built by the Norrises. Cowbridge town was an appanage of the - chief Lord, and was walled and strongly fortified. St. Donat’s, in its - present form, is very late, and it is doubtful whether the Haweys, the - early lords, had a castle in this county. Part of Dunraven is old. It - was built by the Butlers, who held it under Ogmore. Ogmore, the chief - seat in this lordship of the De Londres, lords of Kidwelly, has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span> a - square keep. It stands on the river whence it is named. Near it are the - remains of a small castle of the Cantelupes, known as Cantelupe’s-ton - or Cantleston. At Bridgend is a late Norman gateway, the entrance to - a small walled enclosure, also probably Norman. It bears the name of - Newcastle. Near it is Coyty, a famous Welsh seat, but built or rebuilt - by the Turbervilles. The buildings are considerable and tolerably - perfect. The adjacent priory of Ewenny was fortified. The Welsh Barons - of Avan had a castle upon the Avon river at Aberavan.</p> - - <p>The Lordship of Cilvae extends from near the Neath to the Tawe, - upon which is posted the castle of Abertawe or Swansea, a structure - remarkable for its open parapet with a rampart wall above the arches, - the work of Bishop Gower. Swansea was the “caput” of Gower under - the Earls of Warwick and the De Braoses, and subsidiary to it were - the castles of Oystermouth, still standing, and Lwchwr on the Burry - river, called the keys of Gower. Lwchwr is now but a small square - tower standing upon a small mound connected with a large Roman camp. - Within the peninsula are Penrice, an early castle of that family with - a good round keep, and in the same parish, and near the church, a - moated mound; Oxwich, a late building of the Mansels, a good example - of the transition from the castle to the fortified house; Pennard, a - quadrangular castle of the Edwardian type; Weobley and Llanrhidian. - At Scurlage and Llandewi were castles, and at Llandimor. Mr. Freeman - has remarked that twelve of the sixteen churches of Gower have towers - evidently built for defence. The exterior doors, where they occur, - are usually insertions. The low country beyond the Burry is protected - by Kidwelly, a tolerably perfect early castle built by the De Londres - family, and inherited from them by the Chaworths. It stands upon the - Gwendreath, and to its north is the strong castle of Carreg-Cennen. - But the real defence of Caermarthen is the river Towy, strengthened by - the four castles on its banks, Llanstephan, Caermarthen, Dynevor, and - Drysllwyn, to which may be added Laugharne, upon an adjacent inlet of - the sea, and the tower at Llangattock, which commanded the end of the - pass from Brecknock. Near to Llandeilo was Llanymdhyfri, which in 1113 - belonged to Richard de Pons. Most of these castles seem to have been - established by the De Clares of the Strongbow line, but strong as they - were, and usually well defended, they had to bear the brunt of the - border war, and were often taken and retaken by and from the Welsh, who - at times permanently occupied them.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span></p> - - <p>This was much or even more the case with the castles of Cardigan, - which, though usually small, and with two or three exceptions not - individually of great importance, were very numerous, and collectively - served sufficiently well for the ordinary defence of the territory. - They were almost all founded by the De Clares and their followers early - in the twelfth century. At the head of them and exceptionally strong - stood Aberystwith near the north of the county, upon the shore of - Cardigan Bay, and partly covered by the junction of the Ystwith with - the Rheidol. Its position on the sea and in the rear of the strongest - parts of South Wales made it particularly obnoxious to the Welsh; it - was exposed to the full fury of the attacks from both North and South - Wales, and strong as it was both by art and nature, was often taken and - retaken, destroyed and rebuilt. Between it and the extreme limit of the - county, the Dyfy, were the lesser castles of Geneur-glyn and Glan-Dyfi, - and near it was Stradpythyll Castle, built by Ralph, steward to Earl - Gilbert. It was besieged in 1122. Cardigan is traversed obliquely by - the Teivi, and near the head of that stream was the great castle of - Ystrad-Meyric founded by Gilbert de Clare, of which the ruins remain. - Tregaron was lower down, as were a number of other strong places, - such as Llanllwyni, Llanfihangel, Llandissul, Llangollen, of which it - is difficult to say whether they were castles of the de Clare period - or earlier residences. Blaen-porth-gwythian Castle was built by Earl - Gilbert before 1112. At Newcastle was a strong castle also on the - Teivi, and nearer to the mouth of the river, on the Cardigan bank, the - castle of the town of Cardigan. Besides these there occur in local - histories the names of Castell-Gwynionydd or Coedvon near Llampeter; - Castell Abereinon; Humphrey’s Castle in Llandissil; Blaen Porth near - Cardigan; Iscoed, where the mound seems to have had a keep in masonry; - Llanven; Llampeter, where the mound remains but the masonry has been - removed; Dinerth, the mound of which is called Danish, but where Roger - de Clare founded a castle in 1135; Castel Rhos in Llanyrysted, built in - 1158; Caerwedro, taken by the Welsh in 1135; and Llanyondri.</p> - - <p>Pembroke, far less exposed than Cardigan to the common enemy, is - divided by the Haven of Milford, owing to which the southern part of - the county, partially peopled by a colony of Flemings, was completely - sheltered from the Welsh incursions, and became in fact a purely - English territory. It was protected but also dominated by the grand - castle of Pembroke, founded by Arnulph de Montgomery, the first Norman - invader, but better known as the seat of Strongbow and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span> Mareschals, - who thence took the title of their earldom. Pembroke Castle, though a - ruin, retains much of its ancient magnificence. The hall, gatehouse, - curtain wall, and mural towers still remain, and the grand round keep - continues to give mass and character to the whole group. The town also - was strongly walled, the castle forming part of the circuit. At the - other end of the root of the peninsula, on the sea, was the Castle of - Tenby, also attached to the earldom, strong in its position, and also, - as its remains show, well fortified. The town of Tenby was walled, and - still retains a portion of the wall and one of its gates. Near Tenby - was Manorbeer, an early castle, though in its present form probably - of the date of Henry III. There is no keep, and the hall is vaulted. - The gatehouse remains. The ruins show it to have been strong. It is - celebrated as the birthplace of Giraldus Cambrensis or de Barri. - Carew Castle no doubt represents an early fortress, and hence sprung, - as is supposed, the families of Fitz-Gerald and Windsor, and most - certainly that of Carew. Lamphey was a castle of the Bishops of St. - David’s and has an arcaded parapet, a poor imitation of that of Bishop - Gower at Swansea; and Castle Martin was the residence of the Barons - Martin. At Nangle was a fortified house of the Sherbornes, and it is - very probable that Stackpole Court was preceded by an early castle - built by the founder of the family of that name. North of the Haven, - that great fiord which gives its distinctive feature to the name of - Haverford, is the strong rectangular keep of Haverford-West, the - present state of which reflects utter discredit on the county. It was - the work probably of Gilbert de Clare early in the twelfth century, - and around it, scattered over the whole face of the county, are an - unusually great number of small castles and strong houses, built and - inhabited by the Norman knights who followed Arnulph and Strongbow, - and whose descendants continued to hold them by military service under - the succeeding earls. Such was Upton, the castle of the Malefaunts, of - which remain the chapel and the gatehouse; Dale, placed on the root of - the peninsula of St. Ann’s Head, belonged to the De Vales; Narberth - was founded by the Perrotts; Lawhaden was the chief seat of the Bishop - of St. David’s and the “caput” of the Episcopal Barony (of it there - remain a fine gateway and some other buildings); Wiston, the castle of - Sir Philip Gwys, and afterwards of the Wogans, is mentioned as taken - by the Welsh in 1146; Picton is thought to have been founded in the - reign of Rufus. Besides these are Wallwyn’s Castle, of which only the - mound remains; Castle Byth; Little Newcastle; Castell Hendre or Henry’s - Moat; Roche<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span> Castle, a square keep perched upon a rugged rock, and - built by Adam de Rupe, founder of the De la Roche family; Cilgerran, on - the Teivi, a very considerable castle, of which much remains: it was - held by the chief lords; Nevern, the chief castle of the old barony - of Cemaes, afterwards replaced by Newport, of which the remains are - considerable. Mention is also made of Benton Castle; of Castle Coning, - near St. Dogmell’s; Castleton, built by the family of Castle; and Punch - or Poyntz Castle, a grange of the bishops of St. David’s, where there - is a large moated mound. Probably there are many other castellets - and fortified houses in the northern and more exposed half of - Pembrokeshire, the sites of which are confounded with the earlier Raths - and circular earthworks of a period preceding the Norman Conquest. The - term Rath, and the pattern of the fortification also, are probably - imported from Ireland, where a circular bank and ditch surrounded the - dwelling-place of almost every landed proprietor, differing from that - in use in England and Normandy by the absence of the mound. The Irish - enclosure was little if at all raised above the exterior ground, and - therefore, though perhaps more convenient, certainly less strong than - the moated mound. Of these Raths there are several in Pembrokeshire. - Here also is another rather peculiar feature. Many of the church - towers, as in Gower, are evidently constructed for defence, intended no - doubt as a ready refuge against a sudden and temporary incursion of the - Welsh, or a descent upon the coast by the Scandinavian pirates. Such a - post, like the Irish round towers, could be held safely for a few hours - until the alarm brought relief.</p> - - <p>The castles of the Welsh border have not been critically examined, - and it is, therefore, difficult to give a list of them that shall at - all approach accuracy; it may, however, be stated roughly that there - were in Wales at the close of the reign of Henry II. 251 castles and - castellets, of which 21 had rectangular keeps, and 20 shell keeps. Of - castles of which little is accurately known, or which do not admit of - classification, there were about 220.</p> - - <p>According to the preceding enumeration, there were at the close of the - reign of Henry II. in England and upon the Marches of Wales about 657 - castles, of which 55 had rectangular and 96 shell keeps, while of 506 - little is known, or else they do not come under one or the other of the - regular Norman types. Considering the difficulties which stand in the - way of accuracy in obtaining these figures, the above total does not - differ very widely from Moore, the only authority on the subject, who - gives a list of about 568 of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span> earlier castles, including therein - those of the reign of Henry III. and the three Edwards.</p> - - <hr class="tb" /> - - <p>With the reign of Henry II. may be said to close the principal - castle-building period of English history. Cœur de Lion was scarcely - an English sovereign. He designed, it is said, and certainly built, - the great fortress of Château Gaillard upon the Seine; but he built - no castle in England, nor does any castle of consequence appear to - have been founded in his reign. John, his successor, was always moving - from one castle to another, exercising in a very unpopular degree - the royal prerogative of purveyance. He introduced the Writ known as - “Commissimus,” by which castellans were appointed to the royal castles, - and he showed his distrust even of his supporters, by continually - transferring these officers from one castle to another, lest they - should establish any local interest. The siege of Rochester Castle was - the great military engineering operation of the reign, in which the - outer wall was undermined near one angle, and the gallery carried on - beneath the keep, which stood but a few feet within the enclosure. The - result was to bring down the wall and the lower part of one angle of - the keep, and the place and extent of the mischief may still be traced, - owing to the angle having been rebuilt with very indifferent masonry. - Almost the last event of his reign was the siege of Dover by Louis of - France, who set up a “malvoisin” to overtop the walls, but failed to - take the place, though before it for four months. John died at Newark, - which, if not the finest castle of the Midlands, contains certainly the - grandest Norman gatehouse in England. From his accession in May, 1199, - to his death in June, 1207, John dated public instruments from 131 - castles in different parts of England, and must have visited a great - many more.</p> - - <p>Henry III. found his realm over-built with castles, and amongst the - vigorous exertions by which William Marshall and Hubert de Burgh - restored the royal authority should specially be recorded the sieges - of Biham and Bedford castles, two very strong places. The Close Rolls - show the extent of the preparations for these sieges. The sheriffs of - the whole Midland and westward to the Forest of Dean are directed to - provide and forward materials and munitions of war. Carpenters, smiths, - quarrymen to dress stone bullets, miners and engineers, are placed - under requisition, and from all sides are ordered timber, stone, lead, - cord, cable, chain, iron bars, balistæ, catapults, mangonels, crossbows - of wood and horn,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span> targets, quarrels, arrows, slings, hides to cover - the malvoisins, and mining tools. Both castles were stiffly defended, - and both were taken. Of Biham no trace remains; of Bedford a fragment - of wall and a mound, reduced almost to a mole-hill, still shows that - Henry’s work was not done negligently. Towards the end of the reign - occurred a still more famous siege, that of Kenilworth. Here, as on - the former occasion, Henry commanded in person, and the celebrated - “Ban of Kenilworth” shows how complete was his victory. Henry also - conducted a campaign in South Wales in which the castles of Monmouth, - Usk, Chepstow, Caerleon, and Cardiff played important parts—castles - calculated to prove a sharp thorn in the side of an English prince, and - to render a uniform and just government impracticable. Henry is not - certainly known as the founder of any important English castle, but he - added to and restored very many. Skenfrith near Monmouth dates from a - little before his time; but Grosmont and White Castle, the two other - members of the great border trilateral, may be of that reign. Henry, no - doubt, was a great builder, and very princely in his operations; but - his works as regards castles were chiefly shown in building, repairing, - and adorning the walls and windows of the royal lodgings, halls, and - chapels in the royal castles, works which were in all cases carried on - outside the keep, within the middle or outer wards, and which in most - cases have long since been swept away. Henry found his castles built to - his hands, and had no opportunity of introducing any specific style or - type of military work. White Castle is a mere pen or enclosure, with - high walls and mural towers, though its earthworks, probably of earlier - date, are on a great scale.</p> - - <p>Castles of the type known as Edwardian or concentric, though taking - their name from Edward I., were, as a chronological fact, introduced in - the reign of his father, and Caerphilly, one of the earliest, probably - the very earliest, of the concentric type, and curiously enough one of - the most complete, was constructed by the Lord of Glamorgan in the very - last year of Henry’s reign. Caerphilly is second only to Windsor in - extent, and second to no mediæval fortress whatever in the skill with - which it is laid out, and the natural features of the ground turned to - advantage. It was executed, and probably planned, with great rapidity. - Its cost must have been enormous, and must have taxed to the utmost - the resources of even so wealthy a noble as the Earl of Gloucester and - Hertford.</p> - - <p>The type thus introduced was adopted by Edward I., and is exemplified - in the castles of Harlech and Beaumaris.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span> Conway and Caernarvon, - though superior in magnificence to these and less symmetrical, are - chiefly remarkable because they form a part of the defences of the - towns attached to them, the whole being of one date and parts of one - plan. The reign of Edward much diminished the value of English castles. - Even the fortresses erected by him in North Wales, when their end was - attained and the province reduced to subjection, ceased to be of value - and gradually fell into decay, and in England when once his rule was - established and his power realised, the lords even of the strongest - castles did not venture to garrison them against him.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">THE RECTANGULAR KEEP OF A NORMAN CASTLE.</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">IN a preceding chapter an attempt was made to describe the appearance - and to give an outline of the history of those earthworks in England - and Normandy upon which the Norman and Anglo-Norman barons founded - their chief strongholds, and which, therefore, are connected with the - military architecture of either country. It is now proposed to describe - the buildings themselves, whether placed within the ancient earthworks - or altogether of original foundation, which constituted the fortresses - of England in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, through the periods - known in ecclesiastical architecture as the Norman and Transition, and - which, in military architecture, include the Norman form of castle. - What is known as the Norman style of architecture prevailed in England - from the Conquest to the close of the reign of Stephen,—that is, from - 1066 to 1154; but this latter is necessarily an arbitrary date, since - it was by degrees only that one style of architecture passed into - another, and the Norman features, though found in all buildings, and - especially in castles, down to the end of the reign of Henry II., or - 1189, became more and more mixed up with those of the succeeding style.</p> - - <p>The castles of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, whether in Normandy - or in England, were of two distinct types,—those with the rectangular - and those with the shell keep. The former type was almost always - employed when the site selected was a new one, the latter where the - site was old, and where there existed a “motte” or mound. There - are exceptions to this; that is to say, the rectangular keep is - occasionally found on an old site, but the shell keep is never found on - a new one. The distinction was mainly due to the fact that the massive - heavy tower could only be safely founded upon solid ground, whereas - the lighter and more widely-distributed weight of the shell keep was - better suited to that which was artificial. The shell keep was the most - numerous of the two; but the tower type, being of a more solid and more - durable character, has lasted longest, and is at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span> this time so much - the most common that it has been designated by writers of authority - as the type, instead of as but one of the two types of a Norman keep. - The rectangular and the shell keep never occur in the same castle; - and, as a rule, where there is a mound there is no rectangular keep. - The only known exceptions to this rule are at Christchurch, Guildford, - Clun, Saffron Walden, Mileham, Bungay, and Bramber. At Christchurch - and Mileham the mound is low, and the keep walls seem to be carried - through it to the solid ground. At Guildford, as at Clun, where the - mound is large, the keep is built on its slope, so that the lower end - and one-third of the contiguous sides are seen to rest on the solid - ground, and thus effectually counteract the tendency of the upper part - to slide down. Walden has not been carefully examined, nor is it known - whether the foundations at Bungay are carried down to the solid earth. - At Bramber there is an oblong natural hill, surrounded by a very deep - ditch, in part artificial, while at one end of the hill is a square - keep, and near the other a small mound. At Llwchwr, in South Wales, a - small square tower stands upon a low and small mound, mixed up with the - bank of a Roman camp. The tower, indeed, is not actually Norman, though - no doubt early, and it most probably descends to the natural ground. - The large rectangular tower at Oxford is not the keep, but a mural - tower, though of unusual bulk. The keep there was a shell, and crowned - the mound. At Kenilworth there seems to have been a small mound, which - has been included within the keep, the walls of which rest upon the - natural rock. The mound in this way fills up the basement of the keep, - the ground-floor of which is thus raised 12 feet to 15 feet above the - exterior level, as in the shell keep of Berkeley and in some degree at - Pontefract.</p> - - <p>The rectangular keep is, of all military structures, the simplest - in form, the grandest in outline and dimensions, the sternest in - passive strength, the most durable in design and workmanship, and - in most cases by some years the earliest in date. Of the five great - fortresses which covered the road from Dover to London, Dover itself, - Canterbury, Rochester, and London have square keeps; the fifth, - Tonbridge, having an earlier mound, has a shell keep. Farnham and - Berkhampstead, Windsor, Wallingford, and Oxford,—fortresses guarding - London from the west,—having mounds, have not square keeps. Hedingham - and Colchester to the east, having square keeps, are without the - mound, though Hedingham, like Corfe and Bramber, stands on a natural - hill. Northwards, Warwick and Kenilworth confirm the rule, one having - had a mound<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span> and no square keep; the other a square keep which has - absorbed the mound, if mound there was. At Belvoir, the mound, a - natural hill, is capped by a shell, as were the artificial mounds of - Bedford, Cambridge, Clare, Eye, and Ongar, while rectangular keeps - are, or were, found at Chepstow, Ludlow, Bristol and Wattlesborough, - Lancaster and Newcastle, and on the moundless sites of Bamburgh, - Carlisle, Corfe, Norham, Norwich, Nottingham, Porchester, Scarborough, - Knaresborough, Helmsley, and Richmond, and in the less distinguished - lordships, some of Norman foundation, of Appleby, Brough, Brougham, - Bowes, Castle Rising, Clitheroe, Castleton, Goderich, and Prudhoe. - Where there is a rectangular keep it rises high over every part of - the fortress, and gives, as at Bamburgh, unity and grandeur to the - architectural composition. It is usually, as at Rochester, Dover, - Richmond, and Scarborough, placed upon the highest ground within the - enclosure, and very rarely indeed in or near the centre, although, as - in London, it may have been rendered central by the removal of its - original <i>enceinte</i> and the substitution of new and extended - lines. At Malling, perhaps the earliest in England of these keeps, and - at Helmsley, probably the latest,—for that of Knaresborough, though - square, is of Decorated date,—the keep stands on one side of, and - forms a part of the <i>enceinte</i>. At Bamburgh, Bramber, Canterbury, - Carlisle, Clitheroe, and Rochester, the keep stands clear of, but very - near to, the outer wall, of which, at Porchester, it forms one angle. - At Kenilworth and Bridgenorth the keep forms an angle of the inner - wall; at Norham one face ranges with the outer and one with the inner - wall; and at Ludlow the keep is placed on the inner wall, close to - the main gateway. At Ogmore it occupies an angle, having one face on - the outer and one on the cross or inner wall. Dover stands detached - in the middle of what appears to be its original enclosure, and so, - probably, did Hedingham and Castle Rising. At Mitford, near Morpeth, - is a singular example of a rectangular keep, of which three angles are - right-angled, and the fourth face is broken into two planes meeting at - a low salient. It is probably late in the period.</p> - - <p>These keeps vary in dimensions from 25 feet to 80 feet and even 100 - feet in the side, and they are usually from one and a half to two - diameters in height to the base of the parapet. Many, perhaps most, - have been raised a stage, as Porchester, Bridgenorth, Richmond, Brough, - Brougham, Kenilworth, and Norham. In most of these cases the addition - was made within the Norman period, and possibly contempo<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span>raneous with - the substitution of a covering of lead for one of shingles or stone - tiles.</p> - - <p>Usually the flat exterior faces are relieved by broad pilaster strips - of slight projection from 5 feet to 10 feet wide, by 6 inches in depth, - one at the end of and flanking each face, and in the larger keeps one, - or even two, between them. The flanking pilasters are commonly placed - so as to cover the angle, the two meeting; sometimes, however, they - do not quite meet, and the solid angle is replaced by a hollow nook, - occasionally, in late keeps, as at Castle Rising and Scarborough, - occupied by a bold bead or engaged shaft. In all but the very small - keeps these flanking pilasters are continued 8 feet to 10 feet clear - above the parapet as the outer faces of square turrets, now usually - ruined. At Hedingham one, partly perfect, remains. Those on the White - Tower and at Rochester are in part original, and certainly represent, - very closely, original structures. At Bowes there seems to have been - but one turret, covering the stairhead. The intermediate pilasters - usually stop either just below the base of the parapet or below an - upper window. At Dover they are carried into the parapet and support - slight internal recesses there, but this is very rare. The pilasters - usually are divided by strings into stages, marking the levels of the - different floors, and all rise from a common plinth, sometimes slight, - but sometimes, as at Malling, Kenilworth, Guildford, Scarborough, - and Norham, where one side rises from lower ground, the plinth is on - that side 8 feet to 10 feet high, and has at Kenilworth and Norham a - very bold base. The set-off and string-course are sometimes carried - along both wall and pilasters. At Colchester and at the White Tower a - projecting half-round forms the apse of the chapel, and the pilasters - appear upon it; at Rochester a rounded corner is solid, save at one - story, but this is probably due to a reconstruction. The pilasters - are one of the most marked features of the Norman style, and their - presence at once distinguishes a keep of that period from the fine - fourteenth-century towers, as Borthwick and Lochleven, found in - Scotland, as well as from towers of Early English date, where the - pilasters are bolder and narrower, and often, as at Exeter Castle, - chamfered at the angles.</p> - - <p>The keep wall is from 7 feet to 14 feet thick, and at the base of the - foundation sometimes 20 feet. That of Colchester is reputed to be 30 - feet. That of the Tower of London is said to have taken six weeks to - pierce, with all modern tools and appliances. The lower 14 feet of the - keep of Newcastle is thought to be solid. The wall usually diminishes - in thickness as it rises, sometimes by external sets-off of 6 inches, - more commonly by an internal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span> step of 1 foot at each floor level. - Occasionally the exterior face slopes inward or batters, but this is - unusual. The summit at the level of the allure or battlement walk is - seldom less than 6 feet, and often 7 feet or 8 feet thick. Within, the - larger keeps are divided by a cross wall, usually ascending to the - summit, and pierced in each floor. Sometimes this wall is confined - to the basement and first floor. Kenilworth, a large keep, had no - cross wall; Norwich and Canterbury had two, and some have chambers - walled off at the ends by secondary cross walls, as Castle Rising, - Wolvesey, Colchester, and the White Tower. At Bowes two walls divided - the basement into three chambers. Usually these dividing-walls were - pierced by doorways, but the openings in the main floor were larger. - At Scarborough was, and at Hedingham still is, a single large arch; at - Rochester and at Middleham are several arches. At Porchester are only - small doorways. Where there is no cross wall its place was, no doubt, - supplied by posts of timber. The smaller keeps have a basement and a - first floor; the larger, a second and third floor,—the latter being - often an early addition.</p> - - <p>The basement chamber is almost always at the exterior ground level, - and never much below it; it is commonly from 12 feet to 15 feet high, - aired, rather than lighted, by one or more narrow loops in each - face, splayed and stepped up to within: Richmond has not even these. - The basement was evidently always a storeroom. Now and then, as at - Scarborough, but not often, its walls contain chambers; more commonly - they are solid. In small keeps, as Ludlow and Carlisle, the first was - the main floor, or room of state; in the larger, as Rochester, it - seems to have been a barrack. The apertures were rather larger than - those below, but not much. In the walls were commonly chambers. In - the large keeps the main floor, usually the second, was from 25 feet - to 30 feet high, generally with windows 2 feet or so broad, and often - coupled under a single arch outside. Inside, the recess was splayed, - and sometimes descended to the floor level, while in the jambs were - door-openings into mural chambers. Some of these castle halls must - have been noble rooms. Where there was a cross wall, as at Rochester, - Norham, and Middleham, there were two rooms; at Kenilworth the large - open space was probably subdivided by a brattice. Usually, in the - larger castles, the wall of the main floor is pierced, high up, by - a sort of triforium gallery, into which the outer windows open, and - which opens into the chamber by lofty and larger arches of 3 feet to 4 - feet opening. Possibly these galleries and their windows were intended - to give another line of defence;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span> but they must have destroyed the - privacy of the hall and made it very cold. Above the main floor was - an upper floor, probably occupied as private rooms, bratticed off by - partitions of wood. Where this floor was not a part of the original - building, to gain it seems to have been one object of the addition. It - was placed immediately below the roof. The original roof seems to have - been inclined at a moderate pitch, such as was necessary to carry off - the water from a covering of shingles. The gables did not rise above - the parapet, so that there was thus a great loss of space. In the - smaller keeps the roof was a simple ridge with lateral gutters; where - there was a cross wall the roof was double, with a central as well as - lateral gutters. That this was the usual arrangement is clear from the - old weather mouldings, which remain in the end walls wherever these - have been raised. The original roof having its ridge rather below the - parapet, had its side gutters in deep hollows. Of course, no military - engine could have been placed on such a roof. Where the walls have - been raised the roof has been replaced by a floor, and an upper story - introduced with either a flat, or nearly flat, and leaded roof. These - additions are almost always late Norman; but at Brougham they are - Decorated. At Ludlow, where there was a central ridge with two lateral - gutters, the interior has been re-arranged, and a flat roof laid at the - ridge level of the old one, gaining a floor without raising the walls. - The gables never seem, as in the Scottish towers, to have risen above - the parapet. Probably one reason why the Norman roofs were lifted and - flattened was to allow of military engines being placed upon them, and - the use of lead must have come in rather suddenly just before the close - of the Norman period.</p> - - <p>The floors of these keeps are almost always of timber; thick rough - planks, resting upon stout balks 12 inches or 14 inches square, placed - about 2 feet or 3 feet apart, and resting either on a ledge or in - regular joist-holes. Such floors exposed the keep to be burned, and - once well on fire it would certainly burn till it was gutted. The - basement is now and then vaulted, but the vaulting is very rarely - original, and when it is so the keep is late. The vaulting at the Tower - and at Dover is modern brickwork; the Ludlow vault seems Early English; - that at the lower part of Carlisle, that of Porchester, Brougham, - Bowes, and Richmond, Decorated; the vaulting at Middleham, Newcastle, - and Mitford may be original. The vaulting at Norham, a late keep, may - be original, but was more probably inserted at an early period by - Bishop Puisèt. That of Bamburgh is an insertion.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span> The basement of Bowes - was vaulted, but what remains of one rib is either Decorated or later. - In a few examples where guns have been mounted on a Norman keep, a - brick vault has been sprung over the upper chamber, and the roof filled - up and paved. At Dover, Carlisle, and Newcastle, where this has been - done, the upper openings of the hall are closed, and the interior of - the fabric utterly disfigured. There is certainly no original vaulting - of a great chamber higher than the basement.</p> - - <p>In most keeps there is a well-stair in one angle, which commences - at the ground-level, supplies every floor, and terminates on the - roof under the turret-head, but has no communication below with the - exterior. This was so originally at the White Tower. There are also - other staircases at other levels, beginning on the first, or even - the second, floor, and not always reaching the roof. As a rule, one - stair, descending to the storeroom, seems to have been enough; but - it was thought an advantage to have two or three ascending from the - hall or upper floor to the ramparts, for readiness during a siege. At - Canterbury there are also two well-staircases in the side walls; and - there is one in London. These well-staircases are from 8 feet to 12 - feet in diameter, and lighted with loops. Usually they communicate - with each floor through a sort of lobby. The stairs are always of - stone. As the steps at each angle do not suit the same level of the - mural gallery, these latter are coaxed and accommodated, usually very - clumsily. Now and then the arrangement is different, the stair stops at - the first floor, and is continued at the opposite diagonal. Sometimes, - as at Carlisle, Ludlow, and Bamburgh, where the outer door is at the - ground-level, the staircase commences in the side of the doorway, and - ascends straight in the wall, and, on reaching the next angle proceeds - as a well-stair. This is so at Chepstow, where the upper ascent is - probably an addition. At Carlisle and Ludlow the staircase stops at the - first floor, and is continued at another angle. At Brough, where the - outer door is on the first floor, a narrow straight stair rises in the - wall to the second. At Prudhoe, it is continued round two sides, and - at Richmond. The direction of the staircases may be always detected by - the position of the exterior loops, and the general rule seems to be to - limit the approach to the stores and main floor, and from the latter - to give a free access to the ramparts. The curves and angles in those - narrow staircases facilitated the defence of them.</p> - - <p>The immense thickness of the walls is usually taken advantage of for - the formation of mural chambers. These are rectangular, and sometimes - placed in an angle, and <b>∟</b>-shaped.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span> They are vaulted, usually - in a plain barrel, or equally plain groining, lighted by external - loops, and now and then, though very rarely, have, as at Bowes, a - fireplace. In breadth they vary from 4 feet to 6 feet, and they are of - all lengths. Usually they are more abundant and larger, in the main - and upper floors. They were intended for sleeping-rooms, garderobes, - oratories, and well-chambers. At Guildford is a very remarkable - oratory, at the first-floor level, <b>∟</b>-shaped, with a mural - arcade. At Brougham the oratory is on the upper floor. At Rochester and - Dover the upper gallery does not run all round; and in the latter ends - in a prison cell. Some keeps, even with thick walls, contain but few - chambers. The two remaining sides of Norham, a late keep, have none, - or, at most, one. Dover, also late, is honeycombed with chambers at - every level, and even the cross-wall above is threaded by a gallery, - a singular example. Newcastle, built in 1080, has very many chambers. - Where there are garderobes they have stone seats, and the vent is - usually a vertical shaft in the wall, though sometimes there is a - shoot upon the exterior surface of it, or, though more rarely, it is - corbelled out. At Kenilworth, a fine but late keep, one angle contained - a well-stair, and the three others chambers. They are turrets from the - ground, and in size larger than usual. They are floored with timber. - One angle turret seems to have been wholly occupied by garderobes, and - the lower part, at present filled with light soil, was evidently a - large cesspool. At Corfe a very large garderobe tower,—perhaps a Norman - addition,—is appended to one side of the keep.</p> - - <p>Most keeps, even early ones, contain fireplaces. One has been - discovered in the Tower, long supposed to be without them. At Dover - they are in the cross-wall; at Rochester, where they are very handsome, - in the sides. Usually the funnel ascends in the wall; at Rochester and - Colchester it forks, and the two flues open a little way up on the - face of the wall, concealed in the hollow angle of a pilaster. It is - not easy to tell whether a flue is original when the fittings of the - fireplace have been inserted; thus, in the Tower closets, where the - fireplaces are Tudor, there are no marks in the wall as though it had - been cut into to construct a flue, so these may represent original - fireplaces, though this is not probable. No doubt open hearths were - much used, and fireplaces of iron with flues of wood and plaster, which - would leave no trace when removed. The fireplaces in the mural chambers - at Dover seem all to be of Tudor date. No fireplace has been discovered - in Richmond keep; there is an original one in a mural chamber at Bowes.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span></p> - - <p>These keeps, built mainly for security, have but few external openings, - and those rarely of any size. Sometimes the narrowest part of the loop - is in the centre of the wall, with a splay each way, having the section - of an hour-glass. This is seen at Kenilworth and Porchester, late - keeps. The arrangement seems a bad one, much aiding the entrance of an - arrow. The larger windows, sometimes of 3 ft. or 4 ft. opening, were - closed with shutters.</p> - - <p>A well was an important accessory to a Norman keep. In Dover there are - two—one being in the forebuilding. Sometimes, as at Bamburgh and Castle - Rising, its mouth is at the ground level. More frequently its pipe is - contained within the wall, and opens into a special well-chamber, as - at Dover, Newcastle, and Kenilworth. At Carlisle it is in the wall, - and was reached by an internal lateral opening, now converted into an - external one. At Rochester it is in the cross-wall; the pipe there - ascends to the summit, and has an opening at each floor, and there are - traces of some such arrangement at Canterbury. At Porchester the well - occupies one angle of the wall, and opens on each floor. At Colchester - the well, long closed, has been discovered. It is in the basement, - near the entrance. At Hedingham there is known to be a well, but its - place is lost. At Bamburgh, one of the most remarkable wells in the - country, carried down 145 ft. in whin rock, was only discovered in the - last century. At Richmond a hollow octagonal pier, carrying the vault, - has been built exactly over the well, which is reached through it. At - Arques, in Normandy, where the well is near one angle, a pipe has been - built over it, raising the mouth to the first floor. At Bowes, Brough, - Brougham, Guildford, Castleton, and Corfe, no well has been discovered, - and it is only very recently that one has been laid open in the White - Tower, in London.</p> - - <p>Great pains were usually taken to cover the entrances of these keeps - by a forebuilding, the details of which have been but little studied. - Upon one side of the keep, but a part of its structure, was placed a - smaller tower, also rectangular, of the length—that is, covering one - side—and about one third of the breadth, of the keep, and two thirds - of its height. At one end, at the ground level, commenced a straight - staircase which rose to near the other end when it stopped at a landing - which was the vestibule of the actual entrance to the keep. Above the - lowest part of the staircase was a low tower and a strong doorway. - Halfway up the staircase was often a second doorway, and sometimes, - as at Dover, a second tower. Over the landing at the stair-head was - a larger and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span> taller tower, also with a strong doorway. Outside - this doorway the staircase was often broken by a drawbridge, as at - Rochester. The staircase was not always covered over, but was protected - by an exterior parapet of some height, as at Berkeley, where the shell - keep has a forebuilding, a very unusual example. The battlements of the - lower or entrance tower were reached by a little door in the adjacent - angle of the keep high up. This is seen at Rochester, and at Middleham - and Brougham, where the tower itself is removed. In the keep-wall by - the side of the staircase was often a recess for the guard, as at - Middleham. The bridge-pit had an exterior parapet concealing those who - used the bridge. At Castle Rising where the middle gate is perfect, its - battlements are reached by a small door from the keep.</p> - - <p>The vestibule at the stair-head was usually a good-sized chamber, often - vaulted. In it was the main doorway of the keep, of not less than 6 - feet opening, with flanking shafts and moulded architrave. At Castle - Rising this ante-chamber is arcaded, and very handsome; at Rochester - it is plain, or nearly so. At Dover it contains a guard-chamber, at - Newcastle and at Middleham a chapel. The basement below the vestibule - was usually a prison, and had a small door into the corresponding - basement of the keep. At Rochester are two floors below the vestibule - and two above it. The forebuilding is perfect only at Castle Rising, - Norwich, Dover, and Newcastle; there are large remains of it at - Rochester, Porchester, and Middleham, and some at Hedingham, Corfe, - and Kenilworth. At Scarborough, Brougham, Bramber, Canterbury, and - Helmsley there are traces only. At Dover there are vaults below the - staircase and lower tower, above which is a vestibule and a chapel, - and in the first or upper floor a second chapel. Sometimes there is - a way from the foot of the staircase of the forebuilding into the - basement of the keep, but probably this is not original. It is seen at - Dover, Newcastle, and Castle Rising. The White Tower has been so pulled - about that it is difficult to say how it was originally entered. The - forebuilding is essentially a Norman appendage, and, with the exception - of Berkeley, and, perhaps, Chilham and Orford, confined to keeps of - the rectangular pattern. It has been supposed to mark a late keep, but - there is a forebuilding at Arques usually regarded as a very early one.</p> - - <p>In the smaller keeps, and some few of the larger ones, there is no - forebuilding, and the entrance is by a plain arch, as at Clitheroe, - Goderich, Bowes, Guildford, and Malling. This entrance was on the - first floor. In the latter case it is, indeed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span> in the basement, - but nevertheless 10 feet above the ground level. The approach in - these cases seems to have been by an external staircase of timber. - At Chepstow, Carlisle, Bamburgh, and Ludlow, the entrance was by a - single doorway at the ground level. In almost all the larger keeps it - has been found convenient—probably when they ceased to be used solely - as military buildings—to have a large direct entrance at the ground - level. Such have been made at London, Rochester, Norham, Kenilworth, - Porchester, Guildford, Clitheroe, Hedingham, Colchester, Goderich, - Canterbury, Brough, and Malling, and probably Chepstow. Some of these - are evidently insertions, taking the place of a loop; others seem to - have been original doors opening from the basement of the keep into - that of the forebuilding, made external on its destruction, as at Corfe - and, perhaps, Kenilworth. At Richmond the removal of the forebuilding - has laid open a large Norman arch in the basement which opened into - it. Besides these main doors, Ludlow has two doors opening from the - keep upon the ramparts of the curtain; and at Rochester is a small - door whence probably a plank drawbridge, six feet or eight feet long, - dropped upon the adjacent curtain. There is something like this at - Helmsley, and in the Norman keep of Adare, in Ireland.</p> - - <p>Most keeps contain an oratory; some a regular chapel. Dover is peculiar - in having two, both in the forebuilding, in its lower tower. Newcastle - has one in its forebuilding, under the staircase and upper tower. - Middleham has the remains of a very handsome one at the head of the - outer staircase. At Rochester the chapel seems to have been in the - forebuilding, high up, beneath the kitchen. At Castle Rising it is on - the first floor of the keep, at one end of one of the large rooms. At - Guildford and Brougham it was in the wall. The finest and earliest - castle-chapel in England is that in the White Tower. It is large, has a - nave, aisles, and semi-circular apse, all vaulted. This chapel occupies - two stories, and below it are two floors of vaulted crypts, intended - for prisons. The chapel at Colchester, though smaller and ruder, - resembles in position that in the White Tower.</p> - - <p>Of the three drawings here given, the first gives the plan of the White - Tower, London, at the second or chapel floor. The three well staircases - are there seen, and the outer and cross walls. Here also is shown, in - the south wall, the small mural staircase which ends at this level, and - affords the only communication with the main floor of the chapel.</p> - - - <div class="figcenter illow55" id="i132"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_132.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span></p> - - <p>The next drawing shows a plan of the third or uppermost floor, at the - level of the clerestory of the chapel. Here the outer wall is shown - perforated all round by a mural gallery, which communicates with the - three well staircases and with the chapel.</p> - - <p>Finally follows a vertical section of the whole keep from east to west, - in which is shown the chapel with its clerestory above and its two - tiers of crypts below. These drawings, which more especially belong - to the detailed description of the Tower of London which follows in - its place, are here inserted as illustrating what is written of Norman - rectangular keeps in general.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i133"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_133.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>The kitchen, though a necessary appendage to a keep, is not often to - be discovered. Probably the cooking was of a simple character, mostly - carried on before an open fire, or by boiling, or broiling over a - brazier. There is a kitchen in the forebuilding at Rochester, high up; - and one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span> at the first-floor level in a mural chamber, at Castle Rising - and at Norwich. The kitchen when it was in a distinct chamber was at - the level of the hall, or even above it.</p> - - <p>The defences of the outer doorway in a Norman keep were usually one or - two stout doors of oak, strengthened with iron, and held close by one - or two bars, also of oak, which ran back into deep holes in the wall - about four inches square. The herse or portcullis, though used in other - parts of castles, was rare in the keep. It is a very old method of - defence, formed of stone in the Great Pyramid, and the groove for which - remains in the city gate of Pompeii. When employed, as in the keeps of - Scarborough, Hedingham, and Rochester, it was a single grate, probably - of oak spiked and plated with iron, and it was worked from a mural - chamber over the archway. Sometimes, from the narrow dimensions of the - groove, the grate seems to have been wholly of iron. It was worked by - chains or cords wrapped round a cylinder or windlass, such as is still - in use in the main gate-house of the Tower. Norman keeps very seldom - retain their original parapets or turrets. The parapet was about two - feet thick and five feet high. It was either plain or had broad merlons - and narrow embrasures. Usually it was a mere continuation of the wall, - without corbels or any contrivance to widen the rampart walls, which - were of sufficient thickness for the walk. At Rochester, holes are - seen at the base of the parapet for beams to carry a <i>brétasche</i> - or external gallery, but these probably are not original. The angle - turrets are usually mere places of arms, the rampart walks passing - through them. Sometimes they have an upper floor reached by a stone - stair or a movable ladder.</p> - - <p>Much has been said of Norman dungeons, oubliettes, and subterranean - vaults, damp and wretched, appliances of Norman tyranny. So far as - these keeps are concerned in the matter, they never contain underground - chambers of any kind. The basement floor is usually at the ground - level, or at most two feet or three feet below it. Where the keep - is built on rising ground it may happen that a chamber, the door of - which is at the ground level, may have one wall half buried beneath - the soil, but there is nothing beyond this. Prisoners of the common - sort were not shut up in the keep, space there was too valuable. The - basement could scarce have been used as a prison where it contained - the castle well, and the mural chambers usually are barred inside. The - rooms under the vestibule, and some of the lower vaults at Dover, and - the crypts of the Tower of London, and at Colchester, probably were - used as prisons. In the upper gallery at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span> Dover there is a very evident - prison. At Carlisle, where the basement has recently been used as a - prison, it probably was not one originally. Large as some of the keeps - were, they were not calculated to be held against a long siege or a - blockade, and all the spare room would then be needed for provisions - and stores. The earlier keeps are very plain. The Tower has not even - a moulding save in the chapel, and an exterior blocking over its main - tier of windows. No doubt it has been much mutilated, but, had the - ornaments been cut off, the courses of freestone that carried them - would still be distinguishable from the ordinary rubble masonry. Some - of the later keeps exhibit rather rich details, though usually marked - by much simplicity, about the doors, windows, and fireplaces. Such is - the case at Rochester, Hedingham, Dover and Newcastle, and specially - at Castle Rising, one of the most highly ornamented of keeps. Bamburgh - has a fine doorway early in the twelfth century; Ludlow and Guildford - some arcades; Porchester some good windows. The exterior of Norwich is, - or rather was, rudely panelled in tiers of arches. Goderich, otherwise - very plain, has an exterior string of hatched or chevron work. In these - keeps the arches are usually full-centred, but sometimes segmental, and - where flat there is commonly above the lintel a relieving arch with - a recessed tympanum, as at Chepstow. At Malling, though there are no - mouldings, the first-floor window on one side is the centre of five - deep plain full-centred niches in the exterior face, which cannot have - been meant for use, and in another face, also outside, are five other - niches, all unpierced. Occasionally false arches are turned in the - walls, as though a door had been closed up, or the possibility of a new - opening provided for. Such are seen at Dover, Norwich, and Guildford. - They are thought, but scarcely on good grounds, to be intended to - invite an attack where the wall is specially thick.</p> - - <p>One or two keeps have buttresses of bold projection, greatly in - contrast to the usual flat pilaster. This is so at Colchester and at - Arques, where the exterior stair passes through one of them. At Arques - also these buttresses are turned to account in the upper story, arches - being thrown across from buttress to buttress, upon which are built - chambers, and on one face a chapel, through the floor of which missiles - could be dropped upon the assailants below. Arques, unfortunately, is - built of chalk and flint with little or no original ashlar, and it is, - in consequence, difficult to decide between what is original and what - has been added.</p> - - <p>Norman keeps differ in workmanship as in material. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span> White Tower, - built in great haste, is of rubble, rudely coursed, with very open - joints; but the plinth, quoins, and pilasters seem to have been of - Kentish rag, dressed as ashlar, and also open jointed. Malling is an - excellent example of very early Norman rubble, with open joints, and - this may also be said of a part of the adjacent abbey church, and - perhaps of the tower of the parish church. Guildford contains a good - deal of herring-bone work; Chepstow and Penllyne a little. Colchester - is partly built of old Roman materials, chiefly brick, and contains - some herring-bone work. In the chalk districts flint was largely used, - as at Bramber, Dover, Hastings, Canterbury, Thurnham, Berkhamsted, - Bungay, and Walden. In the south, or near the sea, the ashlar is often - in small blocks from Caen. Corfe is of excellent local ashlar, as is - most of Kenilworth. Porchester is of chalk and flint rubble, faced - with ashlar outside and partially inside. Hedingham is all ashlar, - and altogether the finest keep in England. Bowes is a fine example of - ashlar, in a local stone. Whatever Norman masonry may be in church - towers, in keeps it is always sound, though often rough, and is very - durable. Now and then chain courses of timber are inserted in the heart - of the walls, to hold the work together till the mortar shall have set, - and it has happened that the wall has been breached and the exposed - timbers have been found to have rotted away, leaving cavities, as at - Rochester, concerning the use of which much nonsense has been written.</p> - - <p>In considering the limited and very inconvenient accommodation afforded - by a Norman keep, it should be remembered that it was not meant for - a residence, save during an actual siege, and that at such times it - often only received the baron’s armed tenants, and not his mercenaries. - Indeed, the builders of some of these keeps seem to have mistrusted - their own troops as much as they feared those of the enemy. The - staircases and galleries are often contrived quite as much to check - free communication between the several parts of the building as between - its inside and its outside. Further, the excessive jealousy in guarding - the entrance, the multiplied doors, the steep and winding staircases, - the sharp turns in the passages, although they helped to keep out an - enemy, or, if he got in, placed him at a disadvantage, also rendered - impracticable the rapid re-entry of the garrison, so that if the court - or outer ward were taken by assault, the defenders had scant time to - retire into the keep, which was thus liable to a <i>coup de main</i>. - Otherwise, with a sufficient and faithful garrison, and ample provision - and military stores, a Norman rectangular keep was almost impregnable, - so great was its<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span> passive strength. Its windows were too small or too - high for their shutters to be reached by fire-balls, and its walls - were too thick to be breached or mined, if properly defended from the - summit. This, indeed, was the true method of defence. An ordinary loop - in a thick wall, however widely splayed, admitted of but little scope - for an archer, or space to draw his bow. The lower loops were entirely - for air, not for defence. Higher up, with larger windows, a bow could - be used with advantage, but there were no flanking defences, for the - angles had no considerable projection, and the shoulders, or lateral - faces of the pilasters, were not pierced. With military engines for - throwing heavy stones and masses of rock from the roof much might - have been effected, but in the early keeps this was not contemplated, - and probably not to any great extent in the later ones. An arrow shot - from a battlement 50 feet or 70 feet high would lose some of its force - in the descent. Of the siege of Rochester certain particulars are on - record, and the account of the operations of the besiegers is confirmed - by the evidence afforded by the existing keep. Rochester keep stands - but 10 feet or 12 feet from the south-east angle of the outer wall, the - angle of the keep corresponding with that of the wall. The angle of - the wall and part of the adjacent curtain have evidently been removed - and rebuilt, with the capping tower, in a later style. Opposite and - behind this newer work, the lower part of the angle of the keep has - also, at some remote time, fallen away, and with it a few yards of the - adjacent sides. These parts have been rebuilt in a rude and slovenly - manner, and the junction of the old and new work is very evident. This - keep was built about 1130, and besieged by King John for three months - in 1215. Military engines produced little effect upon it, but a mine - was opened which, says Wendover, first brought down the walls and - then a part of the tower. This is what we now see. The keep seems to - have been repaired in haste at once, the outer wall probably not till - 1225, when Henry III. spent considerable sums upon the castle, and the - capping-tower of the curtain is of that date. The attack by sap was - the only one to be employed against a rectangular keep, and was rarely - practicable. Where, as was often the case, the keep stood upon a rock, - the running a mine below it would produce no effect. Where this was not - the case, the foundations of the wall were so broad and so solidified - as to stand even when much of the soil beneath them was removed. At - the White Tower, for example, when it was found convenient to bring a - railway from the river quay into the base of the keep for the shipment - of stores, about 20 feet of solid<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span> masonry had to be cut through, and - much earth removed, and this, with every aid, was found to be a very - tedious and expensive operation. The defence of such a keep was its - passive strength alone. The loops were nothing in its defence; the roof - being on a slope and of shingle would support no military engine and - no great store of stones or heavy missiles. The narrow doorway did not - allow of a sally in force, and when seriously attacked the garrison had - no resource but to trust to the thickness of their walls, their ample - supply of water, their magazines of provisions, and thus patiently to - await relief.</p> - - <p>Such are the details of the rectangular Norman keeps, of which we have - in England about fifty extant or well-recorded examples, dating from - the year 1078, when the White Tower was begun, to about the year 1180, - to which may be attributed the keep of Helmsley.</p> - - <div class="center mt3">LIST (APPROXIMATIVE) OF RECTANGULAR KEEPS IN ENGLAND.</div> - - <ul class="hang"> - <li><i>Cheshire.</i>—Chester.</li> - <li><i>Cornwall.</i>—Carnbrè (?).</li> - <li><i>Cumberland.</i>—Carlisle.</li> - <li><i>Derbyshire.</i>—Castleton.</li> - <li><i>Devon.</i>—Okehampton (?).</li> - <li><i>Dorset.</i>—Corfe, Sherborne.</li> - <li><i>Durham.</i>—Norham.</li> - <li><i>Essex.</i>—Colchester, Hedingham, Walden.</li> - <li><i>Gloucestershire.</i>—Bristol (destroyed).</li> - <li><i>Hants.</i>—Christchurch, Porchester, Wolvesey.</li> - <li><i>Hereford.</i>—Goderich.</li> - <li><i>Kent.</i>—Canterbury, Dover, Malling, Rochester, Thurnham.</li> - <li><i>Lancashire.</i>—Clitheroe, Lancaster.</li> - <li><i>Middlesex.</i>—The Tower.</li> - <li><i>Monmouth.</i>—Chepstow.</li> - <li><i>Norfolk.</i>—Bungay, Castle Rising, Mileham, Norwich.</li> - <li><i>Northumberland.</i>—Bamburgh, Mitford, Newcastle, Prudhoe.</li> - <li><i>Nottingham.</i>—Nottingham (destroyed).</li> - <li><i>Salop.</i>—Bridgnorth, Clun, Ludlow, Wattlesborough.</li> - <li><i>Somerset.</i>—Taunton.</li> - <li><i>Surrey.</i>—Guildford.</li> - <li><i>Sussex.</i>—Bramber.</li> - <li><i>Wales.</i>—Ogmore, Penllyne.</li> - <li><i>Warwickshire.</i>—Kenilworth.</li> - <li><i>Westmoreland.</i>—Appleby, Brough, Brougham.</li> - <li><i>Yorkshire.</i>—Bowes, Helmsley, Middleham, Normanby (?), Richmond, Scarborough.</li> - </ul> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">OF THE SHELL KEEP.</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">WHILE of the rectangular keep there remain many, and some very perfect, - examples both in England and Normandy, the <span class="smcap">SHELL KEEP</span>, though - once the most common of the two, has rarely been preserved, and is - seldom, if ever, found in a perfect or unaltered condition. There is - a difference of opinion as to the date of the introduction of these - keeps, whether a little before or a little after the other type. - The shell keep, being invariably connected with early earthworks, - might be supposed to be the older form; and Arundel, the only castle - mentioned in Domesday as existing in the time of the Confessor, has a - shell keep; but a tolerably close examination has failed to discover, - either at Arundel or elsewhere in England or in Normandy, any masonry - of very early character, probably none that can safely be attributed - to the eleventh century. The fact seems to be that the early timber - structures, which are known to have been erected originally on the - moated mounds, were found to be very defensible, and so were retained - by the Norman lords until they were able to replace the timber by - masonry. The rectangular keeps were either on new sites, or on sites - not defended by very strong earthworks, so that their construction, - from the first, was in masonry, and thus it came to pass that the - shells of masonry, though always connected with the older sites, were - of later date than the solid towers. Even at Durham, a castle recorded - to have been built by the Conqueror, and of which the keep must always - have been on the present mound, though the chapel and connected - buildings may be his work, the shell keep contains no Norman masonry; - and if, as is to be supposed, there was once a Norman shell, it was - probably the work of one of the Conqueror’s sons, or even of Henry II.</p> - - <p>A shell keep is always placed upon a mound, either natural or - artificial. Of those on natural hills, the most considerable are - Belvoir, Durham, and Lewes, but the masonry of the two former is not - original, though built upon the old lines. Dunster, the Tor of the - early Lords Mohun, has been ex<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span>amined, and the only trace of its keep - is a fragment of a drain. Montacute, where the hill is wholly natural, - has also been cleared of masonry. But by far the larger number of these - mounds are either wholly artificial, or of a mixed character.</p> - - <p>In plan and dimensions these keeps are roughly governed by the figure - of the mound on which they stand. Most are polygons of ten or twelve - sides, not always equal. Some are circular, others polygonal outside - and circular within. Others are slightly oval, others more complex in - plan. York, for example, approaches to a quatrefoil, 64 feet by 45 - feet, and this seems to have been the plan of the long-since destroyed - keep of Warwick. Their diameter is rarely less than 30 feet, and seldom - exceeds 100 feet.</p> - - <p>The wall was usually 8 feet to 10 feet thick, and, as a security - against settlement, was generally placed 2 feet to 3 feet within the - edge of the mound. Sometimes, as at Lincoln and Tickhill, the walls - were strengthened by flat Norman pilasters, but more commonly they - were of plain rubble with plinths and angle quoins of ashlar. Cardiff, - though without a plinth, has angle quoins, and probably dates from - early in the twelfth century. The walls of these keeps were 20 feet to - 25 feet high to the rampart walk, which was reached by open interior - staircases either of wood or stone. Traces of the latter were visible - a few years ago at Cardiff. Such a shell is well suited to be placed - upon made ground, which would not have supported a solid mass. At - Cardiff, where a heavy tower was long afterwards added, it slipped and - fell. The interior of the larger keeps was an open court, around which - were placed the buildings—sometimes mere sheds—against the ring wall. - Where the keep was large and the castle important, these buildings were - permanent, though even in the greater keeps, such as York, timber was - largely used. Windsor, before the alterations, contained an open court, - as still does the keep of Ledes Castle, which is peculiar in standing - upon a small island, completely occupied by it. The present round tower - at Windsor, though modern, is built upon the lines of the Edwardian - tower, which again was built upon those of a late Norman keep, the - foundations of which were laid open by Wyattville, and found to rest - upon an artificial mound. Durham keep is said to have been originally - open, but to have been closed to accommodate the bishops, who were - forced, by the disturbed state of the country, to reside within it. The - keep at York, known as Clifford’s tower, is rather Early English than - Norman, and probably succeeded a timber structure. It much resembles - some of the French keeps built by Philip Augustus. It has a well in - the court,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span> turnpike stairs to the ramparts, and a chapel over the - entrance, much altered in the Decorated period, and which, as is not - uncommon, serves as a portcullis chamber. At Hawarden, a small and - close, but very curious keep, the oratory is over the entrance.</p> - - <p>Tamworth, rather an Early English than a Norman structure, was long - the actual residence of a considerable family. It is still inhabited, - and contains some crowded and curious buildings, an open court, and - a well. Connected with the keep is an earlier curtain-wall with some - herring-bone work. The approach to the keep lies along the rampart of - this wall. The actual entrance is a small, plain, pointed doorway. At - Lincoln the keep is a mere Norman shell. It is nearly circular, and - has two original doorways, one (the larger) opening from the castle - area, the other opening upon the outer ditch. The mound stands upon - the <i>enceinte</i> line of the place, and at the points at which the - two curtains abut upon the keep are two mural chambers, which appear - to have been garderobes. At Clare the shell was a polygon of fourteen - faces, and at each angle was a buttress, triangular in plan, and of - three stages, dying into the wall. The shell was 52 feet internal - diameter, and the walls 6 feet thick and 25 feet high, with four tiers - of putlog holes. The foundations of this keep are of the unusual depth - of 6 feet. There is said to have been an underground chamber, which - may be doubted. The material is flint rubble, with ashlar buttresses - and dressings, but the actual masonry, though, no doubt, generally on - the old lines, does not look later than Edward III., if so old. The - mound is 53 feet high, and on the <i>enceinte</i>, and traversed by the - curtain. The base is about 870 feet in girth, of which about 600 feet - are outside, and 270 feet within the area.</p> - - <p>At Alnwick the whole inner ward is a shell keep built upon a natural - knoll. The main buildings, being the lord’s lodgings, are built - against and form part of the wall, and the centre is an open court. - The gatehouse is Norman, and part of the foundations of the wall, but - most of the superstructure has been rebuilt twice over, though upon the - old lines. There is a well in the wall, probably original, but encased - in late Norman masonry. Alnwick being a sort of Castle Dangerous, and - always open to sudden attack, the lord habitually lived within the - keep, which was far more commodious than usual. Tickhill keep was a - decagon, of which the foundations remain, to the top of the plinth, - with the base of a flat pilaster capping each angle. The entrance was - by a small door, just within which was the well. The mound stands on - the <i>enceinte</i>, and the curtain runs up it on each side. About a - quarter of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span> girth is within the castle area, and the rest outside. - Part of Pickering keep is standing; it is late and polygonal. Here the - mound is central, and stands on the line of a curtain which divides - the area into two parts. At Ewyas-Harold, Builth, and Berkhampstead - are traces of the foundations of the keep. At Kilpeck part of the wall - is standing, and the well was within it, and is probably older than - the masonry. Farnham keep is part of an inhabited dwelling, and has - not been examined. At Oswestry is a fragment of the masonry, and at - Whittington are traces showing that the mound was revetted, and also, - in Decorated times, strengthened by four or five large mural drum - towers.</p> - - <p>The foundations of Tonbridge keep show it to have been a slightly - oval polygon, 86 feet by 76 feet, with fifteen external pilasters at - the angles, and walls 11 feet 6 inches thick. This is attributed to - Bishop Odo, but the noble gatehouse and walls below are later. The - mound covers an acre, and is on the <i>enceinte</i>. Arundel has a - good plain Norman doorway from the castle court, and an entrance by - a gallery in the curtain from the gatehouse. Here is a chapel on the - first floor, at the junction of the curtain with the keep, and near it - is the well-chamber. The well is outside, and probably older than the - keep wall. In the wall is a turnpike stair leading to the ramparts, - and near its foot a small subterranean chamber, but both are later - than the keep, and insertions. At Oxford the mound contains a crypt, - an addition; but here, as at Wallingford, Hinckley, Leicester and - Caerleon, the walls are gone, as at Bedford, so celebrated for its - siege by Henry III. The mound at Quatford, having been the seat of Earl - Roger, was, of course, fortified, though whether by masonry is unknown. - There is, however, a deep well, which must have been within the keep. A - tunnel and later flight of steps have been cut, and descend through the - skirts of the hill from the outer ward. This passage strikes the shaft - a few feet above the water level.</p> - - <p>Berkeley, on many accounts one of the most interesting castles in - England, has a very curious shell keep, built round a mound, which thus - fills up the lower stage. The wall, the lower part of which is thus a - revetment, is strengthened by three half-round mural towers, one of - which contains the well, and above it the chapel. This keep is also - remarkable for the forebuilding covering its entrance, which contains - a tower over the lower or outer gate, at the foot of the staircase. - This castle is known to have been built soon after the accession of - Henry II., and, though Norman, is, of course, late in the style; - Orford and Chilham, Norman keeps of a peculiar character,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span> also have - forebuildings. The keep at Pontefract is very peculiar. The castle - covers the table-top of an oval knoll, natural, with precipitous sides - of rock. At one end, on the edge of the cliff, is placed the mound, now - encased partially in masonry. The masonry begins at the foot of the - cliff, as a sort of half-round tower, or rather a cluster of roundlets, - built as a retaining-wall. Above, the circle of masonry is completed, - includes the mound, and forms the shell keep. The base is honeycombed - with passages and chambers, cut in the rock, and partly lined with - masonry. In its present condition this keep exhibits masonry of both - Decorated and Perpendicular date, but its substance, as also some of - its adjacent masonry, is evidently late Norman.</p> - - <p>Restormel is rather a round castle than a shell keep, and more Early - English than Norman. On the whole, however, it may be classed with - the shells. It occupies a natural knoll, and its ring-wall crests the - steep slope; against it are the buildings, and within is an open court. - Launceston, also, though Early English, belongs to the shell type. It - has a central round tower, and a concentric wall much lower, a sort of - <i>chemise</i>, the space between the two having been covered in with - a flat roof. Possibly Montacute, built by the same lord, may have been - after the same pattern; but of Montacute even the ruins have long since - perished. - </p> - - <p>The approach to these keeps seems, in its simplest form, to have been - by a wooden bridge over the ditch on the side within the castle, - and thence by steps up the mound, as at Lincoln, where, however, - they are modern, and the ditch is partially filled up. At Tickhill, - and at Hawarden, there is a flight of steps just within, and built - against the curtain. At Cardiff recent excavations have disclosed the - piles of a timber bridge, which crossed the ditch, and may be older - than the remains of the Norman keep. Cardiff, however, thanks to the - same excavations, affords an excellent example of the more elaborate - approach to a Norman shell keep. Here a thick curtain-wall traversed - the court of the castle, and crossing the ditch of the mound was - continued up its slope; just within the curtain was a drawbridge across - the ditch, beyond which a direct flight of steps led up to the keep. - Here, as at Wallingford, the well was on the slope of the mound, just - within its ditch. Usually the actual entrance to the keep was by a mere - door in the wall, as at Arundel, Lincoln, Tickhill, and Tamworth. At - York is a regular gate-house, a part of the shell, which was reached by - a very steep bridge, crossing a very formidable wet ditch.</p> - - <p>It has been mentioned that these shell keeps, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span> mounds on which - they stand, are usually upon, and form a part of the <i>enceinte</i> - or line of the outer defence of the castle, though isolated from it by - their proper ditch, of which the main ditch of the place is commonly a - part. This is well shown in the old plans of York Castle, and may be - actually seen at Arundel, and many other works both large and small, - and in other mounted mounds, such as Hên-Domen, near Montgomery, and - Brinklow, which have never been defended by masonry. It was, of course, - necessary to carry the palisade, and afterwards, if constructed, the - curtain, across the ditch and up the slope of the mound to the wall - of the keep, and even where the mound was central, as at Pickering - and Cardiff, it was upon the division line of the two wards, and, - therefore, on the line of a curtain. At Berkhampstead the keep seems - to have been, not upon, but outside the line of defence, and to have - formed a sort of spurwork connected with the main curtain by a single - but very thick wall. Arundel, Durham, Lincoln, Tamworth, Tickhill, - Tonbridge, Windsor, and Wallingford, are, or were, good examples of - shell keeps on the line of the <i>enceinte</i> wall.</p> - - <p>Besides any other approaches, it is evident that the curtain was always - made use of as one way to the keep, and at Arundel and Tamworth is - still so used, the parapet in front and rear protecting the rampart - walk. As, however, it was a fundamental rule in Norman castles that - the keep, the final retreat, however many its approaches, should have - as few entrances as possible, the curtain usually stopped at the top - level of the mound, and was continued only as a parapet, so that those - who came along the wall had, on reaching the keep, to pass along its - outside a greater or less distance before they reached the doorway. - This is well seen at Tamworth. At Arundel the wall is raised to the - full height of the keep, as at Lincoln, but this is not usual. At - Hawarden the curtain is continued 10 feet or 12 feet high, and so abuts - upon the keep, but the rampart walk does not communicate with it.</p> - - <p>The position of the well in these keeps has already been noticed. At - York and Tickhill it is within the area. That at Arundel is in a tower - outside the wall, but a part of it. That at Berkeley is also in a - tower, a part of the wall. Those of Alnwick and Kilpeck are in the wall - itself; those of Cardiff and Wallingford at the foot of the mound, just - within the ditch.</p> - - <p>It is much to be regretted that so few of these shell keeps remain, - even in ruin, and very few, indeed, in a state at all approaching - to their original condition, for, as the representatives<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span> of a very - early form of fortification, and as the chief seats of very ancient - estates, and of original English families, they possess a very peculiar - interest. Nor are they, when of large size, at all wanting in a noble - effect. It is true that upon level ground, as that occupied by the - Tower of London, or upon such a ridge as Corfe, or such an elevated - platform as Hedingham, the rectangular keep produces a very fine - effect, but there are positions in which this is fully equalled by the - keeps of the other type. At Durham, where the central tower of the - cathedral is equal in grandeur and simplicity to a rectangular keep, - it is eclipsed by the adjacent castle. The keep of Belvoir, which, - though rebuilt and weak in its details, retains its original outline, - would be ill exchanged for the towers even of Norham or Lancaster, and - no other structure could be substituted to advantage for the keep of - Windsor, crowning and completing its “tiara of proud towers.” Massive - as is the rectangular keep, simple, uncompromising, and warlike its - features, still, even when seen to its greatest advantage, as on the - promontory of Dover or the bold impregnable rock of Bamburgh, it must - be confessed to be inferior in grandeur and in completeness of outline - to the stern round tower of other days, identified as it is with the - early residences of the adventurous Northmen who laid the foundations - of the English people.</p> - - <div class="center mt3">LIST (APPROXIMATIVE) OF SHELL KEEPS, PAST OR PRESENT.</div> - - <ul class="hang"> - <li><i>Bedfordshire.</i>—Bedford, Clophill, Ridgemount (?), Toddington.</li> - <li><i>Berks.</i>—Reading (?), Wallingford, Windsor, Yieldon (?).</li> - <li><i>Buckinghamshire.</i>—Buckingham.</li> - <li><i>Cambridgeshire.</i>—Burwell (?), Cambridge, Ely.</li> - <li><i>Cheshire.</i>—Dunham-Massey, Kinderton (?), Malpas (?), Mold (?).</li> - <li><i>Cornwall.</i>—Launceston, Restormel, Trematon, Truro (?).</li> - <li><i>Derbyshire.</i>—Sheffield (?).</li> - <li><i>Devon.</i>—Barnstaple, Barnton, Plympton, Tiverton (?), Totnes.</li> - <li><i>Dorset.</i>—Dorchester (?), Shaftesbury (?), Wareham.</li> - <li><i>Durham.</i>—Durham, Elswick (?), Throston, (?), Tunstal (?), The Yoden (?).</li> - <li><i>Essex.</i>—Bures (?), Ongar, Plessy.</li> - <li><i>Gloucestershire.</i>—Berkeley, Gloucester (?).</li> - <li><i>Hampshire.</i>—Basing (?), Carisbrooke, Southampton, Winchester.</li> - <li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span><i>Herefordshire.</i>—Erdesley, Ewyas Harold, Hereford, Kilpeck, Richard’s Castle, Weobley, Wigmore.</li> - <li><i>Hertfordshire.</i>—Ansty (?), Berkhampstead, Hertford, Stansted Mount Fitchet, Stortford.</li> - <li><i>Huntingdonshire.</i>—Huntingdon.</li> - <li><i>Kent.</i>—Haydon Mount (?), Kenardington (?), Ledes, Newington (?), Tunbridge, Tong (?).</li> - <li><i>Lancashire.</i>—Gleaston (?), Halton, Penwortham, Robin Hood’s Butt (?).</li> - <li><i>Lincolnshire.</i>—Bourne, Lincoln, Stamford.</li> - <li><i>Monmouth.</i>—Abergavenny, Caerleon, Crickhowell.</li> - <li><i>Northamptonshire.</i>—Fotheringay, Lilbourne (?), Rockingham.</li> - <li><i>Northumberland.</i>—Alnwick.</li> - <li><i>Oxfordshire.</i>—Oxford.</li> - <li><i>Rutland.</i>—Belvoir.</li> - <li><i>Salop.</i>—Oswestry, Pulverbatch (?), Quatford, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch, Whittington.</li> - <li><i>Somerset</i>.—Castle Carey, Dunster, Montacute, Stoke Courcy.</li> - <li><i>Staffordshire.</i>—Chartley, Stafford (?), Tutbury.</li> - <li><i>Suffolk.</i>—Clare, Eye, Haughley, Thetford.</li> - <li><i>Sussex.</i>—Arundel, Chichester (?), Knapp, Lewes.</li> - <li><i>Warwick.</i>—Beldesert, Tamworth, Warwick.</li> - <li><i>Wiltshire.</i>—Castle Combe, The Devizes, Marlborough, Old Sarum.</li> - <li><i>Worcestershire.</i>—Worcester.</li> - <li><i>Yorkshire.</i>—Aughton (?), Pickering, Pontefract, Sandal, Skipsea, Tadcaster, Tickhill, York.</li> - <li><i>North Wales.</i>—Hawarden.</li> - <li><i>South Wales.</i>—Brecknock, Builth, Cardiff, Coyty.</li> - </ul> - - <p>Thus, of 119 presumed sites of shell keeps, there are set down 31 the - evidence for which is imperfect, and 88 for the existence of which - there is good evidence, and of these about 40 actually remain in a more - or less perfect, or rather, imperfect, condition.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">CASTLES OF THE EARLY ENGLISH PERIOD.</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE transition from the Norman to the Early English style, which in - ecclesiastical architecture constitutes a period of great interest, - is by no means, at least in England, so strongly marked in buildings - of the military type. The rectangular and circular or polygonal - keeps, with their Norman features, retained their hold upon English - castle-builders through the reigns of Stephen and that of Henry II., - 1135–1189, or for a century and a quarter from the Conquest, or even - later. At Dover, the dog-tooth ornament and a bead moulding, combined - with very decidedly Norman features, mark the Transition period, as - do the ornamental details of the rectangular keep of Helmsley, and - the particulars of the shell-keeps of Tamworth and York. The later - keeps are known by the increased depth of the pilasters, which become - buttresses, as at Dover and Clun, and in the twelfth-century keep of - Chambois (Orne); sometimes by their improved and fine-jointed ashlar, - as at Hedingham; by a more frequent use of the stone of the district - instead of that brought from Caen; by the presence of ribs upon the - groins of the hip-vaulting of the galleries and mural chambers; by - the use of nook-shafts at the exterior angles, as at Scarborough and - Castle-Rising; and by the greater tendency to ornament about the rib - bosses, door cases, window recesses, and fireplaces; and by the more or - less Early English character of such ornamentation. The portcullis is - perhaps less rare in the later keeps. There was, however, little change - in the internal arrangement so long as the Norman outline was retained, - and but little tendency, so far as the keep was concerned, towards - flanking defences. Passive strength is still relied upon.</p> - - <p>Little is known of the <i>castra adulterina</i>, of which so many - score were constructed during the reign of Stephen, and destroyed by - his successor. They could scarcely be of the solidity of the Norman - keeps, else their demolition would have been a more difficult task. - They were probably either of timber, or mere walled enclosures of no - great strength. Few, if any of them, represented the chief seats of - large<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span> estates, and being built for the most part on new sites, the - earthworks were inconsiderable, and where the works above ground were - destroyed there was little left to show where was their site. Among - the latest rectangular keeps should be mentioned the tower at Penhow, - Monmouthshire, the cradle of the house of Seymour; and that of Fonmon, - in Glamorgan, still inhabited. They are small, without pilasters, and - with scarcely any Norman features, and belong to the Early English - period, as, judging from its foundation laid open and from some - fragments dug up several years ago, did the castle of Sully, near - Cardiff, and probably that of Dunraven, in the same county, the remains - of which are built into a later house.</p> - - <p>By degrees, as the Norman towers and shell-keeps fell out of fashion, - they were succeeded by towers of a cylindrical form, known as Donjons - or Juliets, and this change corresponds to the middle period of the - Early English style in ecclesiastical architecture. Scientifically, - in a military point of view, this was scarcely an advance, for the - defenders of an isolated round tower could not concentrate their fire, - and could only protect the foot of the wall by exposing themselves at - its summit. On the other hand, with equal material, the round tower - was stronger, and more difficult to breach or to bring down by a - mine. Also, it admitted of being vaulted in every story, and was thus - more solid and less exposed than the rectangular keep to being set on - fire, either from within or by balls projected upon its conical roof. - Usually, however, in England, only the basement was vaulted, as at - Brunless. At Pembroke, the great round tower is vaulted at its summit, - as are some of the cylindrical towers in the <i>enceinte</i>; but it is - possible that these elevated vaults may be additions. At Coningsborough - the basement alone is vaulted, and the vault is entered by a ladder - from an aperture in the centre of the dome, under which is the well; - the basement, as in Norman and Early English towers generally, being - used as a store-chamber, and seldom, if ever, as a prison. In fact, - in a single tower, whether rectangular or cylindrical, intended by - its passive strength to defy attacks and to wear out the patience of - a blockading force, an ample store of provisions was of the first - consequence, and to their storage all the spare space was necessarily - devoted. In those days, when the keep was the citadel, and not - unfrequently used as such, prisoners were not kept within its walls. - Dungeons there were none, save in a very few exceptional cases, and the - basement or ground-floor was invariably occupied as a magazine.</p> - - <p>These donjons were usually entered at the first-floor level, either - by an exterior stone stair or by one of timber; or some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span>times, as at - Pembroke, by a drawbridge, which dropped upon a detached pier, whence - an inclined plane or a flight of steps descended to the ground level. - In their elevated entrance, and in some other respects, these donjons - recall the isolated towers erected during the decline of the Roman - Empire, of which a good example, but square, remains at Autun. There - are only two instances in England of the application of a fore-building - to cover the entrance of these towers, but these—Chilham near - Canterbury, and Orford in Suffolk—are late Norman, not Early English. - Dolbadarn, in North Wales, a rather later tower, but cylindrical, has - an exterior stair of stone, which, however, may be an addition.</p> - - <p>There were commonly three floors. The basement was for stores. The - central floor contained the principal apartment, usually with a - fireplace, and sometimes with mural chambers, one of which is almost - always a garderobe. The flues of the fireplaces and the shafts of - the garderobes are often vertical, and contained within the wall. - The upper floor was either for the soldiery or for a bedroom for the - lord. The walls are ordinarily 10 feet to 12 feet thick, and there is - often a well stair—as at Skenfrith, in Monmouthshire—from the first - floor, leading to the upper chamber and the battlements. In some of - the ruder towers—as in that by the church of Aghadoe, near Killarney, - the ascent from the first floor is by the narrow steps projecting from - the interior face of the wall into the chamber. In the larger towers, - as at Coucy, there is often a small chamber in the wall, over the main - entrance, for the working of a portcullis. Now and then the staircase - begins at the ground-level, ends at the first floor, and begins again - at the opposite side, as in the rectangular keeps. Thus no one could - leave his post on the battlements without the knowledge of the captain, - who lived in the main chamber.</p> - - <p>Where the cylindrical tower formed the donjon or keep, it was commonly - placed within the area, as at Brunless and Skenfrith. At Coningsborough - it stands upon the outer wall; at Pembroke on the wall of the inner - ward; but in neither case is there any communication between the - tower and the rampart of the wall. At Coucy the tower stands on an - inner wall, but is girt about with a low concentric wall covering the - foundations. At Launceston the annular space thus created between the - tower and the girdling wall was roofed over, and there is something - similar round the tower of Penrice in Gower. At Tretower a round tower - has been built within an older rectangular keep, and the space between - roofed over. In these cases the outer wall was about half the height of - the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span> tower. At Lillebonne and Coucy the tower has its proper ditch.</p> - - <p>Coningsborough on the Don is the most complete English example of - the Early English or Transition Norman cylindrical keep. Pembroke, - though rather later, and of far inferior workmanship, is also, in its - proportions and dimensions, a very fine building. Launceston, Tretower, - Penrice, Skenfrith, Brunless, and Dolbadarn, are good examples, as - are the Danes’ tower at Waterford, and the small and rude, but very - curious, tower at Aghadoe. At Nenagh also is a very fine tower, - apparently of the Early English type. The round keep of Barnard Castle, - though of nearly similar pattern, is of later date. At Whitchurch, near - Cardiff, are, or recently were, the foundations of a detached round - tower of considerable diameter, the base mouldings of which showed it - to be of Early English date. At Caldecot, a fine old Bohun castle, - admirably described by Mr. Octavius Morgan, is a round tower, probably - Early English, having a ditch of its own. This tower crowns a small - and evidently artificial mound. It is now a mural tower upon the line - of the outer wall, but it seems to have been cased, and the core is - probably, or possibly, the keep of an earlier castle.</p> - - <p>Those English towers, though curious, are far inferior to those of the - same period remaining in France, whether keeps, such as Étampes, 1160, - the plan of which is a quatrefoil; or Roche-Guyon, where one-half of - the cylinder is absorbed in a triangular spur; or mural towers, as the - King’s Tower at Rouen, that at Carcassonne, and a specially fine one, - lately restored, at Pierrefonds. The keep at Nuremberg is also a good - example. The tower of the Louvre has long been destroyed, but its base - was recently laid open, and found to contain two shafts—those of a well - and a sewer.</p> - - <p>Probably the round towers, or keeps, are the oldest examples of the - form, but very soon afterwards they came into use in England and France - as mural towers, flanking and strengthening the <i>enceinte</i> wall. - They were especially used to cap an angle or to flank a gateway. There - is an example of a round tower capping an angle, of this date, in the - Tower of London, known as Bell Tower. Marten’s Tower at Chepstow is a - good example of a mural tower of the Early English period, having a - fine oratory attached. Its interior is a complete cylinder, but the - exterior, or gorge wall, seen within the court, is flat. At Rochester, - the angle of the ward next the keep has a circular tower, or rather a - buttress tower, as it is not higher than the curtain. In such positions - their passive strength was a great advantage.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span></p> - - <p>In the latter part of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth - centuries, much was done to introduce domestic comfort into castles. - Fireplaces, which in the Norman keeps were but recesses in the wall, - often with a mere lateral orifice for a smoke-vent, as at Colchester - and Rochester, are now adorned with hoods, often of stone, sometimes of - wood and plaster, and the flues are capacious and calculated to carry - off the smoke. The stone hoods are usually of excellent masonry, and, - even when plain, of much elegance of design, resting upon brackets, and - these on clustered columns flanking the hearth. The vent or flue is - often capped by a chimney-shaft and smoke lanthorn, such as may be seen - at Grosmont and St. Briavels castles, or in the remains of the priory - at Abingdon. Where the hood was of wood or plaster, with a shaft of the - same, or where there was an opening or louvre in the roof, all traces - are, of course, gone, and thus is explained the absence of fireplaces - in rooms evidently intended for ladies and persons of rank.</p> - - <p>In the Norman keeps boarded floors were a necessity, and very - ill-jointed and cold they no doubt were, but with the vault the floors - were composed of beaten lime and sand. Garderobes continued to be - frequent, both in mural chambers and on the battlements, and the shafts - were usually vertical, and descended within the wall, having an outlet - at the foot of it. The hall chapel, and other buildings, placed usually - in the inner ward, were more ornate than in the Norman period.</p> - - <p>In addition to the flanking defence afforded by towers upon the line - of the <i>enceinte</i> wall, there was in general use a contrivance - called a “Brétasche.” This was a gallery of timber running round the - walls outside the battlements, and at their level, supported by struts - resting upon corbels, and covered in with a sloping roof. Sometimes, - in large towers, there were two tiers of these galleries, the upper - projecting beyond the lower, and thus affording a very formidable - defence. As these galleries concealed the top of the wall, this part - was often left in a rude state, and now that the <i>brétasche</i> is - gone, such towers, as at Caerphilly, have a very unfinished appearance. - The <i>brétasche</i> was only put up when a siege was expected, and - examples of it are very rare indeed, although it is evident in numerous - instances that it was formerly in use. There remains a fragment of the - actual <i>brétasche</i> over the Soissons gate of Coucy; and at Ledes, - over the outer gate, is the place of its main beam. The tower of the - Palazzo Vecchio at Florence shows by its lines of corbels that it was - intended to carry a <i>brétasche</i>, and a door is seen, as at Norham, - in the wall, which could only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span> have opened upon a timber gallery. - Château-Gaillard, the work of Richard I., has what is not unlike a - <i>brétasche</i>, executed in stone. - </p> - - <p>The best example in England of the kind of tower which succeeded to - the rectangular and shell keep of the Norman period is the keep of - Coningsborough, which, though containing certain Norman ornaments and - details, belongs to the Transition period. It stands on the summit - of a natural hill, and forms a part of an earlier <i>enceinte</i> - wall, which has been clumsily broken to admit it. The tower, about 70 - feet high, is cylindrical, about 50 feet diameter at the base, and 40 - feet at the summit, but the cylinder is supported exteriorly by six - buttresses of great breadth and bold projection. There is a basement - domed over with a central hole above the well. The only entrance is in - the first floor, about 12 feet from the ground. The upper floors and - the roof were of timber. The staircases are in the wall, winding with - it. There are two garderobes, two fireplaces, no portcullis, and in the - upper part of one of the buttresses is an oratory. The roof was a cone, - but sprang from a ring wall, about 3 feet within the battlement wall - and the rampart walk. By this means the tower could be defended without - a <i>brétasche</i>, which would not have been the case had the roof - rested on the outer wall. A similar arrangement may be seen at Marten’s - Tower at Chepstow, and at Pembroke.</p> - - <p>It is not, however, in England that the best examples of these Early - English or Transition keeps are to be found. In rectangular and shell - keeps England has some fine remains, but in France Philip Augustus - carried the new style of building much further, and even now there - remain keep towers of that time which have defied time and the madness - of the Revolution, and still remain tolerably perfect. The greatest - triumph of the period, in this case early in the thirteenth century, - is the tower of Coucy, probably the finest military tower in Europe. - It is the keep of a castle which is itself the citadel of a town, also - strongly fortified. This wonderful work, a cylinder of fine masonry - about 98 feet in diameter, and rising clear and unbroken to 180 feet, - was the work of Engerrand III., Sieur de Coucy, and the most powerful - Baron of his age. The walls are of great thickness, and the basement - and upper floors, three in number, were vaulted, each in twelve deep - and pointed cells. A fosse, paved and walled, 20 feet broad and 12 - feet deep, the counterscarp of which is raised as the wall of a - <i>chemise</i>, surrounds the base, and protects it from the operations - of the miner. A drawbridge, crossing this fosse, leads to the first - floor of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span> the tower by its only entrance, which is protected by a - portcullis, an interior <i>meurtrière</i>, and a stout door. From the - entrance passage a staircase ascends in the wall, at first direct, and - afterwards as a turnpike, and supplies each floor, reaching finally the - ramparts. The basement was the store, and above are state and other - chambers. The well, of large size, is in the basement, and each floor - has its fireplace and garderobe. The roof was conical, and rested upon - an internal wall, outside of which was the rampart walk, protected by - an unusually lofty parapet, surmounted by a heavy bold coping, and - pierced by twenty-four doorways, intended to open into the timber - <i>brétasche</i>, while between the doorways are twenty-four loops, - intended to be used when the <i>brétasche</i> was not fixed. A curious - evidence remains of the manner in which this tower was scaffolded. A - double row of putlog holes are seen to wind round the tower spirally, - in two parallel lines, showing that as the wall rose it was surrounded - by a sloping roadway of timber, of which the main beams were thrust - into the wall, and supported by struts, the lower ends of which rested - upon blocks in the lower holes. A similar arrangement may be seen in - the north-west tower of Harlech Castle, commencing at the top of the - curtain-wall. So strong was Coucy keep that when, at the command of - Mazarin, powder was exploded in its basement-chamber, and the vaultings - throughout, thus lifted, fell, the cylinder, though cracked, was not - thrown down. This noble example of a thirteenth-century tower has been - successfully repaired by Viollet-le-Duc, who closed the fissure, and - made the tower apparently as sound as ever. The vaulting, however, is - gone. - </p> - - <p>Nor does Coucy, though the chief of the towers of the thirteenth - century, stand alone in its magnificence. Issoudun, known as La - Blanche Tour, is remarkable for the position of its entrance-door, - and for its well-stair contained in the projecting spur; Tournebut, - Cosson, Verneuil, Chinon, Villeneuve-le-Roi, Semur, Alluye, - Bourbon-l’Archambault, and Châteaudun, are a few only of the round - towers or donjons scattered over France, and dating from the latter - half of the twelfth and from the thirteenth century.</p> - - <p>There is a peculiarity in these French towers unknown in England. - Where, as at Château-Gaillard, they are exposed on one side to be - battered, they are constructed with a projection forming a right-angled - salient from the cylinder, which thus becomes keel or boat-shaped in - plain. This spur has a fine effect, and being usually solid, adds much - to the strength of the tower. This projection, of which Roche-Guyon is - a fine example, and which ascends the whole height<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span> of the tower, is - very different from the spur-buttress, by which a round tower rises - from a square base. This is especially common in Wales, and may be seen - producing a good effect both at Chepstow and Goderich.</p> - - <p>Of cylindrical keeps, either of early English or late Norman date, in - England, may be mentioned Brunless, near Brecon; probably Caldecot, - Monmouthshire; Coningsborough, described above; Dolbadarn, in North - Wales; Launceston; Pembroke; Penrice, Glamorganshire; Skenfrith, - Monmouthshire; and Tretower, county Brecon. The round tower at Barnard - Castle, a very fine one, already mentioned, is later.</p> - - <p>The reign of Henry III., 1216–1272, was long, and that prince was a - munificent patron of art, and especially of architecture; nevertheless, - and notwithstanding the internal dissensions of the period, the - reign produced (excepting perhaps in South Wales) but few original - castles, and those not remarkable for grandeur. The cause of this was - that the country was already rather over-furnished with castles, so - active had the Norman lords been during a century and a-half, and the - positions of the existing castles being well chosen, and their keeps - of a substantial character, it was found better to add to them, when - space was needed, rather than construct new ones in new positions. - The itinerary of John shows that almost all the great castles of - the country were even then built, and the use to which they were so - frequently put may well have made the successors of that sovereign - anxious rather to destroy than to build. Thus Bedford, a very early - and very strong castle, was held by Fulke de Bréauté against the king - in person, and was only taken by assault after a vigorous siege of two - months, after which it was not only dismantled, but destroyed, its - ditches filled up, and the materials of its walls and towers used for - other constructions. Sometimes, however, where it was desirable, as - in London or at Porchester, or Winchester, or Richmond, to retain the - existing castle, either <i>enceinte</i> walls or more extended outworks - were added, affording more accommodation for troops or for live stock - for the garrison. Palisades gave place to walls, and mural towers and - gatehouses, of large size and great strength, were added. Sometimes, as - at the Tower of London, an outer ward, encircling the older building, - was added; in other cases, as at Corfe, Chepstow, and Barnard Castle, - the new ward was applied on one side, or at one end. In these augmented - castles the keep was still treated as an interior citadel, a last - resource or refuge, and was protected by one or two lines of wall, with - mural towers, usually round or half round, and by gatehouses,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span> composed - of two round towers with the entrance between them, the new area within - being proportioned to the importance of the place.</p> - - <p>These composite structures are the earliest to which the term - concentric is properly applicable. Where the keep is central, and - the <i>enceinte</i> double, as at the Tower and Dover, the result is - a very perfect example of the concentric type of castle, though of - course the parts are of different dates. Of Kenilworth, and probably - of Bridgnorth, the original arrangement was concentric, although the - central part is a ward or walled enclosure, not a single isolated - keep tower, which in these is worked into the line of the inner ward - wall. As the outline of most castles was materially affected by the - disposition of the ground, it is obvious that no classification as - regards chronology can be based altogether upon the ground plan. At - Alnwick, for example, the outline of which is probably Norman, and to - some extent governed by the ground, the keep stands between two wards, - and is the connecting part between them, and so at Chepstow and at - Pickering; while at Richmond, also Norman, the arrangement is wholly - different, as it is at Porchester, where Roman walls have been turned - to account.</p> - - <p>South Wales contains some castles which appear to have been altogether - built, though possibly on old sites, in the reign of Henry III., as - Cilgerran, Manorbeer, Grosmont, and Whitecastle. These, especially - Whitecastle, are mere enclosures of irregular plan, within a strong - curtain wall, supported by mural towers almost always round, and - entered between two such towers as a gatehouse. The domestic buildings - or lodgings, as the hall, sleeping-rooms, kitchen, offices, and - stables, which in a regular English castle were of masonry, in these - Border structures, such as Whitchurch, were partly of timber, with flat - or moderately-sloping roofs, built against the walls of the area.</p> - - <p>In the royal castles, and others the “capita” of estates and seats of - the greater barons, great attention was paid to domestic comfort and - splendour. The records of the reign contain many sheriffs’ accounts - for additions or repairs for domestic buildings within the castles, - for painting the walls in fresco, or filling the windows with stained - glass, all showing a vast growth in taste and luxury. More attention, - indeed, was paid to these matters than to the military defences, for - the pure castles in time of peace were allowed to fall into disrepair, - and scarcely any garrisons were kept up within them. When a rebellion - broke out, and the castles of a district were threatened, the patent - and close rolls are filled with orders to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span> the sheriffs, constables, - and castellans, to supply timber, nails, lead, cordage, barrels of - arrow-heads and cross-bow bolts, calthrops, bow-staves, and now and - then military engines, which were collected from all quarters. All, - however, was done hastily, and any masonry work erected under such - circumstances is generally found to be of inferior quality, and in - marked contrast to the masonry of churches and ecclesiastical buildings - of the same period.</p> - - <p>In the reign of Henry also began to be constructed fortified - dwelling-houses, embattled and usually moated, but not regular castles. - The invasion of the prerogative, under Stephen, led to its enforcement - with strictness in the subsequent reigns, but as there were few - new castles, it was chiefly in favour of fortified houses that the - <i>licentia kernellare</i> was applied for and granted. The earliest - extant licence of this character dates from this reign, and about a - score altogether appear to have been issued by Henry. Of these, six - only were applied for by considerable barons, and in only two cases for - castles of consequence, namely, Dudley and Belvoir. - </p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</h2> - </div> - - <div class="subhead">OF THE EDWARDIAN OR CONCENTRIC CASTLES.</div> - - <p class="drop-cap">EVERY castle, if more than a solitary tower or peel, and having more - than a single line of defence, has more or less of a concentric - character, but in most, even of the largest of the earlier castles, the - secondary defences were of small extent and confined to works for the - protection of the entrance, as at Richmond and Coningsborough, and such - cannot, with any propriety, be called in a general sense concentric. - At Richmond, for example, the original castle was an enclosure within - a fortified wall of which the keep formed a part, a small barbican - covering the entrance, and so of the purely Norman part of Corfe, of - Coningsborough, of Brough, of Bridgnorth, and probably of the original - Tower of London. None of these were originally concentric, nor can the - term be correctly applied to the original castles of the early part of - the reign of Henry III., nor even to some of those built by his son. - White Castle, Grosmount, Cilgerran, and even Caernarvon and Conway, - are mere enclosures, strengthened and fortified by mural towers and - gatehouses upon a single line of wall. Salisbury was concentric by - necessity, the earthworks leaving the builders no choice in the matter. - The concentric arrangement has been supposed to have been introduced - by Prince Edward from Syria. That so able a soldier, and so shrewd an - observer, added to his knowledge of the military art by what he saw in - Palestine is probable enough, but the system of defence for which his - reign became celebrated was in truth introduced into England before the - death of Henry and before Edward returned from the East. Caerphilly, - one of the most complete examples of the concentric lines of defence, - was constructed just before Henry’s death, and was the work, not of the - sovereign but of a subject. Nevertheless, so great was Edward’s fame, - that the system which, though he did not invent, he adopted, has been - designated by his name, and the term Edwardian has been applied to that - style of fortress, that took the place both of the round tower and of - the walled enclosure, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span> carried forward the art of fortification - from the Early English to the Decorated period of English architecture.</p> - - <p>Edward’s policy, on his return from the East, and accession to the - throne, led him not to build, but to pull down castles. In the fourth - year of his reign it was enacted: “It is to be enquired of castelles, - and also of other buyldings girt with dytches, that the walls, tymber, - stone, lead, and other manner of coverynges are worth, and how they may - be solde, after the very value of the same walles and buyldinges. And - how moche the buyldinges without the dych may be sold for, and what - they may be worth, with the gardens, custylages, dove house, and all - other issues of the court by the yere.” Probably this mainly related - to such unlicensed castles as had escaped the hands of Henry, as none - of the older or more important structures were then pulled down. Many - of these, indeed, had recently been augmented and embellished, and - where it suited his convenience, Edward followed in the same track, - strengthening and repairing decayed walls and towers, and adapting - them to the changed circumstances of the time. Thus, at Porchester, he - rebuilt the inner ward, and much enlarged the contained buildings. The - additions to Middleham, an outer ward and gatehouse, are of his reign, - and the vast outworks beyond the lake at Kenilworth, and the effect of - these and similar alterations was to convert the original castles into - those of the concentric type.</p> - - <p>But it was in North Wales that circumstances called forth Edward’s - talent as a military engineer. In that country the strong places were - hill camps, unfitted for modern warfare, and out of the line of his - operations. He found there neither English mounds nor Norman keeps, and - his works are not only on a grand scale, but they are original. To him - are entirely due the castles of Conway and Caernarvon, Beaumaris and - Harlech. Possibly Bere Castle and Dolbadarn Tower were strengthened - by him, but they rather resemble the early works of his father. In - Scotland Edward’s works have been mostly destroyed, but his hand may be - recognised at Linlithgow, possibly in the castle at Edinburgh, and in - the old fortifications of Berwick.</p> - - <p>The first characteristic of a concentric castle is the arrangement of - its lines of defence, one within the other, two or even three deep, - with towers at the angles and along the walls, so planned that no part - is left entirely to its own defences. A wall cannot be advantageously - defended unless so arranged that the exterior base of one part can be - seen and commanded from the summit of another. A Norman keep or an - Early English round tower could only be defended by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span> projection - of missiles from the battlements, exposing those who discharged - almost as much as those who received them. The employment of mural - towers not only added to the passive strength of the wall whence - they projected, but when placed within a bowshot distance enabled - the defenders, themselves protected, to enfilade the intermediate - curtain. By this means the curtain wall, that part of the work least - able to withstand the strokes of the ram, became that in defence of - which most projectiles could be brought to bear, whilst the towers, - which from their distance apart were but imperfectly flanked, were - from their form and solidity in little danger of being breached. By - this means also material was economised. The walls were less thick, - and the defence generally was carried on with more skill and less - dependence upon passive strength. In this indeed there was nothing - new, but not the less the principle was ignored in the construction - both of keep-towers and their successors, the round towers, donjons, - or juliets. But in the concentric system a good deal more than this - was effected. The parts of the lines of defence were so arranged that - the garrison could sally from one part, and so harass the attack upon - another. Moreover each part, tower or gatehouse, and sometimes each - stage of a building, was so contrived that it could be held separately - for a short time. Also, from the concentric arrangement of the lines, - a breach of the outer wall did not involve the loss of the place. The - second ward, as at Beaumaris, Harlech, Caerphilly, or the Tower, was - so narrow that in the event of its being entered from a breach, the - assailants were exposed to an attack on either flank, in such a manner - that their greater number could not be brought to bear, nor was there - room to work a catapult or set up a malvoisin. In these castles, the - keep, the main feature in a Norman or an Early English fortress, was - dispensed with; it was developed, to speak anatomically, into an open - court, strengthened at its sides and angles by gatehouses and mural - towers, and having the hall and domestic apartments ranged against the - wall along one or two sides. Around this inner ward was disposed a - second ward, of narrow breadth, and broken up by cross walls. Sometimes - around this second ward was disposed a third or outer ward, usually - of large area, so as to accommodate the greater part of the garrison, - the horses, and the neighbouring peasants with their cattle. In many - castles this outer ward contained a ditch, or even a large sheet of - water, as at Ledes, Caerphilly, and Kenilworth, formed by damming back - a local streamlet. In such cases the defence of the dam became a matter - of prime consequence, and was specially provided for by stout walls - along<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span> its length, and towers or gatehouses at either end. In these - castles every part is intended for everyday use. No part is set apart - only to be inhabited during a siege. The hall, chapel, and kitchen were - habitually used, and constructed on a fitting scale.</p> - - <p>As Caerphilly is both the earliest and the most complete example in - Britain of a concentric castle, it will be convenient briefly to - point out its principal features. The position was selected to close - a pass by which the Welsh were wont to issue from the hill country of - Glamorgan into Monmouthshire, the way by the sea coast being barred by - Cardiff and the castles of the vale. The spot selected lay between the - Taff and the Rhymny, upon a gravel bank rising in a low marshy bottom, - having mountainous, or at least very high ground to its north, south, - and west. The central part of the bank was occupied by a rectangular - enclosure, 70 yards by 53 yards, having at each angle a lofty drum - tower, and in the centre of each end a broad and lofty gatehouse. On - one side of this inner ward was the hall, 72 feet long by 33 feet - wide, placed between the chapel and the private apartments, while - the gatehouses also contained apartments second only to the hall in - magnitude. This inner ward stood within a second and rather larger - area, also rectangular, and 106 yards by 90 yards. This middle ward was - provided with smaller gatehouses connected with those within, and was - contained within a revetment and parapetted wall which descended 20 - feet all round into water. Four parapetted bastions, corresponding to - the interior towers, capped the four angles, and the side next the hall - contained the kitchen and offices, and a water-gate opening from the - hall by a broad passage with space for the stowage of boats.</p> - - <p>The water by which these two wards were encompassed was on one side - a deep and broad lake covering about 16 acres, and on the other - side a smaller sheet of water of about 3½ acres. These two waters - were connected by cross cuts at each end, traversed, opposite the - gatehouses, by drawbridges. One of these dropped upon a <i>tête du - pont</i>, a sort of hornwork or ravelin of earth, about an acre and - a-half in area, and enclosed within a revetment wall duly parapetted, - and probably with a stout palisade on the raised ground within. A - branch from the lake encircled this work, and a second drawbridge - connected it with the ground outside. At the opposite end of the castle - another bridge dropped from the middle ward upon the outer ward, a very - remarkable work. This was a raised platform nearly 330 yards long by - from 14 yards to 36 yards in depth, covering the whole front<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span> of the - castle, including the two sheets of water. The platform was divided - near its centre by a lofty wall embattled on each face, and having a - ditch along one of them. On this wall was a strong gatehouse having - below a portcullised doorway, with a drawbridge connecting the two - parts of the platform, and above, a smaller doorway, also protected by - a bridge and portcullis, and guarding the way to the battlements of the - outer wall. At one end of the platform was a postern connected with the - stables, and at the other a cluster of towers on the outer bank of the - lake, containing another postern. In the centre was the great exterior - gatehouse, from the gateway of which a bridge dropped upon an enormous - pier standing in the middle of the outer ditch, from the exterior - face of which a second bridge dropped upon the village street. On the - platform was a large corn-mill, and connected with it the dam and - sluice by which the waters of the lake were retained and regulated, and - which was very strongly fortified. Thus there were two great gates and - two posterns at points of the castle distinct from each other, whence - large bodies of cavalry could issue, so that the camp of a besieging - force could be attacked from four directions, and, in case of failure, - the castle could be reached by four entrances, besides two water-gates. - In addition to these strategical arrangements, each tower and gatehouse - had a portcullised entrance on the ground floor, and in the upper - stories the lateral doorways opening on the battlements of the curtains - were protected in a similar manner.</p> - - <p>In a military point of view, Caerphilly is a work of consummate skill. - Unfortunately for its historic fame, the settlement of Wales followed - so closely upon its erection that it never attained to any great - importance.</p> - - <p>Harlech is a concentric castle, probably designed by the architect of - Caerphilly. Here also is an inner rectangular ward, with drum towers at - the angles and the hall, and other buildings on two sides. This stands - within an outer ward, also rectangular, with parapetted walls and - bastions. The inner ward has a large single gatehouse, connected with - a second and smaller one in the outer ward, from which a drawbridge - spanned a deep and broad ditch quarried in the rock. Harlech stands - well, and occupies a bold headland of rock which formerly rose out of - the sea, from which it is now separated by a broad tract of low land. - Its great peculiarity is a covered staircase cut in the rock, defended - seaward by a looped parapet, and closed above and below by small - gatehouses. This was the water-gate of the fortress, and opened upon a - small quay now occupied by the railway.</p> - - <p>Beaumaris, another of Edward’s castles, deserves special<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span> attention - from the fact that it stands upon open ground, and its plan is - therefore unaffected by any peculiarities of level. It is composed - of two wards; the inner rectangular, 58 yards by 66 yards, with high - curtain walls, drum towers at the four angles, a gatehouse in the - centre of each end and half-round towers in the centre of each side, - of which one is the chapel. The apartments were in the gatehouses, and - the hall was on the first floor, above the portal. The curtains are - remarkable. They are 16 feet thick, but are pierced longitudinally - below the ground level by a series of sewers, and above by a mural - gallery, the rampart walk being above all. The outer ward is an - irregular octagon, the opposite sides being equal. It is strengthened - by twelve drum towers. The space between the two walls, forming the - ward, is narrow—from 40 to 50 feet broad. At one end is a gatehouse, - protected by a double traverse raking the passage, and at the other is - a postern, part of a gatehouse, either unfinished or pulled down. From - one end towards the sea shore projects a wall 5 yards broad and about - 33 yards long, containing a passage looped each way and traversed by a - gateway. This is a spurwork, and was connected with the quay, and ended - in a round tower. There was but one ditch, which girdled the whole, and - was fed from the adjacent sea. It is now filled up.</p> - - <p>The additions to the Tower of London, by which its Norman keep and - Early English inner ward were converted into a regular concentric - castle, are skilfully managed. Here the second ward, as usual, is very - narrow, and a broad and deep ditch girdles the whole. One limb of - the ditch is, however, represented by the Thames, but between it and - the outer wall is a strip of land serving as a quay for the landing - of stores, of which the rear is strongly fortified. At each end was - a sluice for regulating the water of the ditch, and in the centre a - grand and strongly fortified water-tower, with a portcullised canal - from the river, known as Traitors’ Gate. The annexed plan of the Tower - represents very fairly a composite but concentric castle.</p> - - <p>When the size of the fortress did not require more than one ward, as - at Pennard in Gower, or where the ground was unsuitable, as at Conway - and Chepstow, the concentric arrangement was laid aside. At Chepstow - the Norman keep stands upon a steep ridge of rock, occupying its whole - breadth. The additions, therefore, were necessarily at each end, so - that the whole castle, constructed at various times, is an oblong, - composed of five wards opening one from the other, with the keep in the - centre. Its plan is, as it were, a slice cut right across a concentric - castle.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span></p> - - <p>In an Edwardian castle the principal feature was the hall, spacious, - well lighted, usually with a handsome fireplace and an open timber - roof. At Beaumaris it occupies the first floor of a gatehouse; at - Ludlow, Durham, Pembroke, and Conway it is built against the curtain. - The domestic apartments opened from the dais end of the hall. The - accounts of Henry III. often record works in the halls of castles.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span> - 28 Henry III. a great louvre was ordered for the hall at Woodstock, - and a new hall 60 feet by 40 feet at Ludgershall, with offices and two - kitchens for the king and his household at one end of it. At Chepstow - Henry ordered a hall and kitchen to be constructed of timber.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i_163"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_163.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>The kitchen was a very important part of an Edwardian castle. The - Norman cookery was probably very simple, and few of their keeps have - any discoverable kitchen. The later kitchen was often a great feature - in the castle. At Caerphilly, as at Cockermouth, it occupies a large - tower. At Ludlow it stood out alone in the court-yard. At Kenilworth - its remains are considerable. The oven was often of large size. That at - Morlais was 12 feet diameter.</p> - - <p>The chapel is also an essential part of an Edwardian castle. Many - of the Norman keeps contain mural oratories. In Newcastle, Dover, - and Middleham there were regular chapels within the forebuilding. At - Guildford the oratory is an <b>∟</b>-shaped mural cell. At Caerphilly - the chapel opened from the lower end of the hall. At Kenilworth - foundations of a large chapel, of Decorated date, have been laid - open in the outer ward. At Goderich the chapel is connected with the - gatehouse, and at Prudhoe. At Beaumaris, Kidwelly, and Oxwich it - occupied a mural tower. At Chepstow the chapel was on a large scale, - and in the outer ward. There is also, in Martens tower, a charming - Early English oratory. In royal castles, in the reign of Henry III., - the chapel often appears in the accounts. In one castle Henry orders - a chapel to be constructed 25 feet long, and the head of the oriel - was to be in the king’s chamber. At Kennington Castle, the chapel was - to be wainscotted and provided with a staircase of plaster 30 feet - long and 12 feet wide. Its upper part communicated with the queen’s - private chapel, and the household sat below. At Winchester the chapel - opened into the queen’s chamber, and at Woodstock was a passage between - the two, so that the queen could go and return dryshod. Twelve mats - for the worshippers were ordered in St. Thomas’ Chapel in Winchester - Castle. Many of the larger castles contained regularly endowed chapels, - sometimes, as at Windsor, even collegiate. Pontefract and Hastings were - so provided. This was also the practice in Scotland. Dalkeith Castle - had a chapel endowed in 1377, and to Lord Moray’s chapel, in Bucharm - Castle, were attached certain tithes early in the thirteenth century. - At Dunster and elsewhere was a provision that the officiating monks, - who came from an adjacent priory, should during a siege perform their - services at home.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span></p> - - <p>An Edwardian gatehouse is a very imposing structure. It was usually - rectangular in plan, always flanked in front by two drum towers, and - sometimes in the rear by two others containing well-staircases. In - its centre was the portal arch opening into a long straight passage - traversing the building. Three loops in each flanking tower commanded - the bridge of approach, raked the lateral curtain, and covered a point - immediately outside the gate. Above the portal was usually a small - window, and above that, at the summit, a machicolation set out on - corbels, or in its place a sort of bridge, thrown across from tower to - tower a couple of feet in advance of the wall, so that a chase or slot - was left, down which stones or even beams could be let fall upon those - who might be assailing the gate below. Such an arrangement is seen at - Neath, Leybourne, and Pembroke, and is not uncommon. Over the town - gate at Coucy and at the barbican gate at Ledes the projection was of - timber, and part of it remains.</p> - - <p>The portal arch, wide enough to admit a wain, or three men-at-arms - abreast, was usually of the form known as “drop.” Within, the first - defence was a herse or portcullis, and behind it a door of two leaves, - opening inwards, and, when closed, held by one or two stout bars of - oak, which could be pushed back into cavities in the wall. Behind the - door the vaulting was often replaced by a flat roof of timber, through - which worked a second portcullis, and then came two lateral doorways - opening into porters’ lodges, usually connected with a small prison. - At St. Briavels the lodge doors are portcullised. At the end of the - boarded space the vault recommenced, and there was a second pair of - doors and a second portcullis. These two were intended against assaults - from within, each gatehouse being constructed for an independent - defence.</p> - - <p>Usually, in addition to these gates and doors, the vault was pierced - with from one to five square or round holes, about a foot across, - called “meurtrières.” These might serve to hold posts to check the - entrance of a body of men, or for thrusting pikes down upon them. They - have also been supposed to be intended to allow water to be poured - down, supposing the passage filled with bushes set on fire, though it - is difficult to see how any quantity of water could be obtained, any - more than melted lead or pitch, which are spoken of. The first floor of - the larger gatehouses contained a handsome chamber with lateral doors - leading to the ramparts of the curtain, and sometimes, as at Caerphilly - and the Tower, to an oratory. The portcullises were worked through the - floor, and their tackle must have given an air of warlike reality to - the room, like<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span> the guns in a state-cabin at sea. At Caerphilly and - Chepstow the passage to the curtains is protected by a portcullis and a - drawbridge, of which the pit is a deep hollow in the wall.</p> - - <p>The walls of these Edwardian castles varied from 25 to 40 feet in - height and were from 6 to 8 feet thick, or even more, to allow of mural - galleries, as at Chepstow, Caerphilly, and Beaumaris. Upon their top - was a path called the “allure,” or rampart walk, protected in front - by an embattled parapet, and in the rear by lower and lighter walls. - Frequently there was a loop in each merlon, and each embrasure was - fitted with a hanging shutter, both of which are seen at Chepstow. - Where the curtain crosses a ward or projects as a spur, as at - Caerphilly and Beaumaris, it was embattled on both faces. The ramparts - were usually reached from the adjacent mural towers, but sometimes, - as at Warwick, by an open staircase of stone. Occasionally, where a - wall is too slight to allow of a rampart wall, it was, in time of war, - provided with a platform of wood, like a builder’s scaffold. This seems - to have been the case with the city wall of York where it bounds the - cathedral garden.</p> - - <p>Mural towers vary much in form and size, but are more usually round, - or half-round, or half-round with prolonged sides, than square. Now - and then they are polygonal, as at Stokesay, Warwick, Cardiff, and the - Bishop’s Gatehouse at Llandaff. Stokesay is of the thirteenth century, - but usually these towers are later. Mural towers have seldom much - internal projection. In Roman works they are usually solid, but in - later castles they are sometimes open in the rear or gorge to prevent - their being held when taken by the assailants. The towers of Cologne - and Avignon are so open, and at the Tower the Byward and Traitors’ Gate - towers are closed only with a wooden brattice. The annexed drawing - shows the back view of Traitors’ Gate, with the large arch over the - water and the timber-work above it.</p> - - <p>Where there was an outer ward and a second wall, this was considerably - lower than the inner wall, and commanded from it; and the mural towers - often became mere bastions, not rising above the curtains. The second - ward, besides being too narrow to allow of troops being massed or - machines posted for the attack on the inner wall, was traversed by - cross walls with gates, so as to isolate any body of assailants who had - breached the outer wall. Such cross walls may be seen at Caerphilly and - at the Tower.</p> - - <p>The barbican was sometimes a mere walled space attached in front of - the gateway, as at Carlisle, Alnwick, Richmond, or the Bars at York. - Sometimes it was a <i>tête du pont</i>, detached<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span> from the main work, - and posted at the end of the bridge, upon the counterscarp of the - ditch, as at Hawarden, Ledes, and Goderich. At Scarborough it is placed - at the outer end of the long raised causeway, which, again, is broken - by two drawbridges falling from a low central tower. At Helmsley, as - at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span> Caerphilly, the barbican partakes of the character of a horn-work. - The Tower barbican, called the Spurgate, is a regular low gatehouse, - with flanking drum towers or bastions covering the head of the bridge, - and itself protected by a loop from the main ditch. At Bridgenorth the - barbican contained a kitchen, ordered to be repaired, 17 Hen. III. At - Canterbury the barbican, <i>temp.</i> Ed. II., was used as a prison.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i167"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_167.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>Spelman defines a barbican or “ante-murale” as “munimen a fronte castri - aliter ante murale dictum; etiam foramen in urbium castrorumque mœniis - ad trajicienda missilia.”</p> - - <p>A palisaded embrasure in front of the barbican was known as the - “barriers.” They are well represented at the Tower by the stockade - covering the entrance.</p> - - <p>The drawbridge was an important feature in the defence of a castle. - In its most simple form it was a platform of timber turning upon two - gudgeons or trunnions at the inner end; when up, it concealed the - portal, and when down, dropped upon a pier in the ditch or upon the - counterscarp. Its span varied from 8 to 12 feet. The contrivances for - working it were various. Sometimes chains attached to its outer end - passed through holes above the portal, and were worked within by hand - or by a counterpoise. Occasionally there was a frame above the bridge, - also on trunnions. In the larger castles the arrangements were very - elaborate. Sometimes the bridge was the only connexion between the - gateway and the opposite pier; at others the parapets or face walls - rested on a fixed arch, and the bridge dropped between them. A fine - example of this kind of bridge is seen at the Constable’s Gate, Dover - Castle. At Goderich the details are tolerably perfect. The ditch was - crossed by a stone bridge, apparently of two arches, but only the outer - one is permanent. The roadway of the inner one was a drawbridge. At - Caerphilly, in the ditch in front of the main gate, is a large stone - pier from which a bridge fell each way. Probably it carried a tower of - timber. In Henry III.’s accounts is mention of a <i>brétasche</i> on - the bridge of the great tower at Winchester, and of another, covered - with lead, upon the new bridge.</p> - - <p>The portcullis, the “altera securitas” of the badge of the House of - Somerset, always present in the castles of Henry and Edward, was an - important part of the defence. It was a strong grating, in the smaller - gateways of iron, in the larger of oak, strengthened and shod with - iron spikes, and suspended in grooves by two cords or chains, which - passed over two sheaves, or sometimes through a single central block, - and either were attached to counterpoises or worked, as at the Tower - and York gates, by a winch. The grooves are generally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span> half-round, - with slightly prolonged sides, 4 to 6 inches broad by from 4 to 7 - inches deep. Above, in the vault, is a chase through which the grate - is worked. Sometimes the portcullis chamber is a small cell in the - wall, as at Rochester keep and Coucy, but in large gateways where - there are two or three grates, they are worked in the chamber above. - At Linlithgow and Thornton Abbey, where the grate is single, it is - carried up within the wall and worked in the second story. Sometimes - the grate had no lateral grooves, and must have either hung loose or - been steadied by its spikes resting on the ground below. This is seen - at St. Briavels and at the upper gate of Chepstow, though never with an - outer portcullis. Sometimes grooves are cut for a spare grate, but do - not appear to have been armed.</p> - - <p>Nothing is more remarkable than the provisions for cleanliness in - military buildings. At Ludlow, Langley, and Caerphilly Castles are - large mural towers appropriated to garderobes. At Goderich they occupy - a broad buttress. At Beaumaris the sewers are of very large size, and - run within the main curtain like galleries. Such sewers are often - supposed to be secret passages, though the garderobes above, and the - character of the outlets below, should correct this notion. At Coyty - the filth was collected in an enormous vaulted chamber. The ramparts of - the curtains are also usually provided with garderobes.</p> - - <p>Subterranean chambers were not more frequent in England in the - thirteenth and fourteenth than in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, - and if we have nothing like the magnificent tiers of vaulting in the - tower of Coucy, neither have we anything like the wretched cells and - oubliettes found in German castles, and of which those of Baden-Baden - are examples. The basement chambers of mural towers are, indeed, often - below the level of the court-yard, but they are above that of the ditch - outside. At Castel Coch, near Cardiff, is about the worst dungeon in - Britain, but even this is not underground.</p> - - <p>The posterns in these castles are often very elaborate. There is a very - fine one at Windsor, opening in the castle ditch, and intended for - the passage of cavalry. This is probably of the age of Henry III. At - Caerphilly are two with regular gatehouses and drawbridges. Sometimes - the postern is a small door with a grate. That at Goderich was worked - in the floor above, so that it required two men in two several places - to open or close the postern. At Caerphilly are two water-posterns; one - out of which a boat could be lowered into the lake, the other at the - water-level, as at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span> Ledes and Tonbridge. Harlech water-gate has been - mentioned.</p> - - <p>The castles both of Henry and Edward combine the palace with the - fortress, but the domestic are always subordinate to the military - arrangements. Whether absolutely original, as Caerphilly or Beaumaris, - or completions of older works, as Corfe, Dover, and the Tower, they - usually present a grand appearance, and the masonry is generally - excellent.</p> - - <p>Very many of our principal towns were walled in during the reigns of - Henry and Edward; some—as York, Leicester, Colchester, and Chester—took - advantage of the Roman wall. Northampton was walled before 1278. At - Winchester the wall was founded upon an early earth-bank. The only - licences granted for town walls appear to have been to the men of - Harwich and Ipswich, 26 Ed. III.; the Mayor and prud-hommes (probi - homines) of Coventry, 37 and 38 Ed. III.; of Salisbury, 46 Ed. III.; - and of Winchelsea, 3 Hy.; the defences of Hereford, a very exposed - place, seem to have been formed of briars and thorns, placed upon very - formidable banks of earth. It sometimes happened that the gatehouses - were of masonry, while the rest of the defences were banks of earth - stockaded.</p> - - <p>The fourteenth century was prolific in castles, chiefly of the smaller - class, upon the Scottish border and in Scotland. In England Dacre, - Dunstanborough, and Spofforth were built early in that century; the - Palace Castle of St. David’s was built in 1342, Caesar’s Tower at - Warwick about 1360, and Guy’s Tower in 1394, two magnificent works. - Gradually, however, pure castles fell into disuse, and such structures - as Bolton and Wressill and Sheriff-Hutton took their place, affecting - generally the form of a square court, round which the buildings were - ranged, and which was entered by a regular gatehouse. In these, - however, the castellate character was employed more from custom than - from necessity, and the external windows are large, and the walls of - very moderate thickness. Many of the royal castles were left to decay, - and others were employed as prisons and handed over to the counties. A - short Act of the 13 R. II. orders “that the King’s castles and gaols - should be joined to the bodies of the counties, and, where severed, - should be reunited.”</p> - - <p>Castle-building was from a very early time considered as a royal - prerogative, though in the reigns immediately succeeding the Conquest, - it was so great an object to hold the country, that the claim seems - to have been allowed to slumber. The wholesale destruction of the - adulterine or unlicensed castles which followed upon the death of - Stephen showed the revival<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span> of the prerogative, and, in the reign of - Henry III., a regular form of licence, “licentia crenellare,” had to be - granted before a house could lawfully be fortified. The earliest known - of these licences was granted by Henry III. to the Bishop of Winchester - in 1257–8, to enable him to fortify the Isle of Portland. Henry granted - 20 of these licences; Edward I., 44; Edward II., 60; Edward III., 181; - Richard II., 60; Henry IV., 8; Henry V., 1; Henry VI., 5; and Edward - IV., 3. A very complete list of these licences, prepared by Sir J. - Duffus Hardy, has been printed by Mr. Parker. Of the 382 given by him, - only four relate to castles of importance; Belvoir, Bungay, Dudley, - and Whitchurch, all of which had been fortified before legal memory. - Most of the others relate to manor-houses, some to bishops’ palaces - and cathedral closes, some to monasteries, some to houses in cities, - and some to castles probably then first built, or perhaps rebuilt on - a larger scale. Such were Apley, Aldworth, Amberley, Bodiam, Bolton, - Bothal, Cowling, Dunstanborough, Ford, Harewood, Naworth, Penrith, Rose - Castle, Stokesay, Shirburne, Tanfield, Tongue, and Wardour, most of - which are still standing, and two or three inhabited.</p> - - <p>The following, from the Patent Roll, 15 Hen. VI., 1437, is a part of - the licence granted to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and his Duchess, - who proposed to build a strong house upon the hill now occupied by - the Royal Observatory at Greenwich: “Muris petra et calce includere - et firmare, et muros illos kernellare, batellare, et turrellare, ac - quandam turrim infra parcum prædictum similiter petra et calce de novo - construere, edificare, ac tam turrim illam sic de novo constructam et - edificatam quam dictum manerium sive mansionem ut præmittitur inclusum, - firmatum, kernellatum, imbattellatum, et turrellatum, tenere possint - sibi et hæredibus suis prædictis in perpetuum.”</p> - - <p>Innis (“Sketches,” 444) gives a corresponding licence from the Earl of - Ross, in 1406, for the building of Kilravock.</p> - - <p>“Johne of Yle, Erle of Ross ande Lord of the Ilis, to all ande sundry - to quhais knawlage thir our present letteris sall come, greeting. Witte - us to have gevyn ande grantit, and be thir present letteris gevis - ande grantis, our full power ande licence till our luffid cosing, man - ande tennand, Huchone de Roos, Baron of Kylravok, to fund, big, ande - upmak a toure of fens, with barmkin and bataling, upon quhat place - of strynth him best likes, within the barony of Kilrawok, without - any contradictioun or demaund, questioun, or any obiection to put in - contrar of him or his ayris, be us or our ayris, for the said toure - ande barmkyn making, with the bataling,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span> now or in tyme to cum. In - witnes hereof, ye haf gert our sele to ther letteris be affixt at - Inuernys, the achtend day of Februar, the yer of Godd a thousand four - hundreth sixte yer.”</p> - - <p>Mr. Innis points out that one of James’s first acts on returning from - his English captivity was to order the owners of all castles and - manor-places to make them habitable and to live in them; and he adds - that it is remarkable “How many Scotch castles date from the half - century following the above enactment, and all of one design—a stern, - square keep, rudely kernellated, and surmounted with a cap-house, - partially surrounded by a barbican or barmkin, affording protection - to the inhabitants and their cattle from the hurried inroads of - rough-handed neighbours.”</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - - <div class="center xlarge mt10 mb10">MEDIÆVAL MILITARY ARCHITECTURE.</div> - - <hr class="h20" /> - <div class="center xxlarge">DESCRIPTIONS.</div> - <hr class="h20" /> - - <div class="center-container small mt10"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i0">“ . . . . . Time</div> - <div class="i1">Has mouldered into beauty many a tower,</div> - <div class="i1">Which, when it frowned with all its battlements,</div> - <div class="i1">Was only terrible. . . . . —<span class="smcap">Mason.</span></div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="ALNWICK">ALNWICK CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE castle of Alnwick stands upon a moderate eminence on the south bank - of, and about 150 yards distant from, the river Alne, which was thus - its immediate defence against the Scot. It is about five miles from, - and about 200 feet above, the sea-level. Towards the east and south - the castle is cut off from the town of Alnwick by a deep combe, once - the bed of the Bow Burn. This has been trimmed and scarped by art, and - its upper part towards the town has been almost obliterated by modern - upfilling.</p> - - <p>To the west is a nearly level platform in front of the castle, and - separated from it by a ditch wholly artificial, and in part filled up - and covered by the stables. This ditch was formerly produced along the - south front, and communicated with the Bow Burn ravine. A modern bank - of earth conceals the town from the castle on this, the south-western - quarter.</p> - - <p>The walls of Alnwick town were embattled, and probably built, under a - licence to Henry Percy, in 1434, when he constructed the Bond Gate, - now standing. It is uncertain whether the town wall was independent of - the castle, as at Chepstow, or abutted against its outer wall, as at - Carlisle. The main entrance to the castle and its principal postern - were both outside the town. The former was approached from it by a town - gate, the position of which is remembered, and its name preserved, in - the way called “Narrow Gate.” The castle postern opens towards the - river. The Lion gateway in the south wall, leading to the town and the - railway station, is altogether a modern structure, but may represent a - by-gate communicating with the town.</p> - - <p>In plan the castle is irregular and many-sided; the west and south - sides terminate, the one in the Abbot’s Tower, and the other in the - Eastern or Ravine Tower, and are 125 yards and 213 yards long; and the - side towards the river, and contained between these two towers, is 226 - yards. The area within the walls is nearly 3 acres; that included by - the ditch is near 7 acres.</p> - - <p>There is no single keep-tower. The keep is in plan an irregular - polygon, set round with clustered towers, and containing a central - court. This is placed nearly in the middle of the general inclosure,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span> - with which it was connected at three points: one, on the south, by a - bold and lofty gallery which has replaced an original curtain, and - projects 35 yards from the keep to a gatehouse which divides the - eastern and western wards, and is known as the Middle Gate. The other - connexions on the north side were two curtain walls, of which one - reached from the keep 33 yards to the Falconer’s Tower, now rebuilt and - shifted, and had upon it the Armourer’s Tower, now destroyed; and the - other was a curtain, now removed, which extended 20 yards from the keep - to the Postern Tower.</p> - - <p>By these arrangements the area was subdivided into an outer or western, - an inner or eastern ward, and a central open keep. There remained, - however, on the north front a three-sided space, bounded by the keep - and the two curtains, and flanked by the Falconer’s and Postern towers. - This space, open towards the river, is at present protected on that - side by a low retaining terrace-wall and bastions of very modern - date. A survey of 1567 shows this side open, and no doubt it was so - originally; the river, its steep bank, the keep, the flanking towers - and curtains, and no doubt palisade, being regarded as a sufficient - defence. This disposition is, however, singular and very curious, and - looks as though the engineer wished to attract the enemy to this the - strongest and most completely flanked part, by a show of weakness by - the absence of an outer <i>enceinte</i>. Economy of construction could - not have been the motive, for the cross curtains, in length, would go - some way towards completing the broken <i>enceinte</i>.</p> - - <p>It would seem, from existing fragments and traces of foundations, that - the lines of the present <i>enceinte</i> and keep are those of the old - Norman fortress. The outline is governed very much by the disposition - of the ground, and the shell keep was the approved Norman way of - occupying such a knoll, whether natural, as at Durham, or artificial, - as at Windsor, or, as here, probably a very slight addition to a - natural knoll. A distinct ditch, now filled up, encircled the keep and - protected it from its containing wards. Towards the river this ditch - seems to have worked out into a steep scarp.</p> - - <p>The keep is at this time an open court surrounded by towers. To the - south-east, the gatehouse, about 40 feet deep and 20 feet wide, has - grand external and internal round-headed Norman arches of 9 feet 2 - inches span, the vault between being segmental and crossed by plain - chamfered ribs. The exterior arch has a double band of bold chevron - mouldings within a circle of double-hatched work. The inner arch has a - single chevron band, and above it a band of which the voussoirs have - alternate patterns of sunk nail-heads and the heraldic “lozengy.” - This is the work of Eustace de Vesci, who died 1157, and may be dated - 1150, though possibly a part of his “munitissimum castellum,” which, - according to Mr. Tate, was existing in 1135. This Norman gateway is - imbedded within a complete gatehouse by Henry de Percy in 1530, of - which the main features are two lofty towers, which as half octagons - flank the entrance from the eastern ward. Original shields of arms, - in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span> the Northumbrian fashion, are carved below the parapets; and - upon the merlons, which are looped, are some original figures, as at - Bothal and Chepstow. The archway is portcullised. The parapets are not - machicolated. The vaulting of the interior of these towers is very - good, and they contain in the basement the original dungeons, which are - described as vaults 10 feet square, aired by loops, while below these - are oubliettes, 8 feet by 9 feet, and reached only by trap-doors in the - floor above. Over the gateway is the private dining-room. The plan of - encrusting an original Norman gateway with later work is very common; - the gatehouses at York afford excellent examples of it.</p> - - <p>Entering the court, the open part of which is about 24 yards across, - on the right, in the wall, is the very curious well. Within a pointed - panel are three deep recesses, also pointed, of which the centre - contains the mouth of the well, the shaft of which descends in the - thickness of the wall. A wooden axle crosses above it, and is fitted in - the lateral niches with two wheels, set round with pegs, for winding up - the water-buckets by hand. Above, within the panel, in a small niche is - a figure of St. James blessing the source. This curious and probably - singular well was the work of the first Henry de Percy, in 1312–15; - but the figure of the saint is thought to be an insertion of the last - century. There is a similar arrangement over the great gate of Goderich - Castle for working the portcullis.</p> - - <p>Beyond the well is the rear wall of the Great Hall, built by the same - Percy, refitted by the first duke, and rebuilt in 1863. The vaults - below with their segmental ribbing are original, as is part of the rear - and north wall and of the bow, whence the cross curtain ran to the - Postern Tower. This is still the state dining-room, 60 feet by 24 feet, - and the vaults fulfil their original destination as cellars. At this - point is placed a modern cloister supporting a corridor, by which a - bye-access is given to the suite of state-rooms. The original entrance - to the hall was by six open steps from the court.</p> - - <p>Next beyond the hall, pointing to the north-east, is a tower, once the - kitchen and scullery, but rebuilt for the second time in 1856, and now - the drawing-room, 45 feet by 22 feet. Beyond this, along the north-east - front, are the saloon, 42 feet by 22 feet, and an ante-room, 22 feet - by 22 feet, built in 1750–86, but newly fitted up. Next to these, - and forming the north-west angle of the keep, is Prudhoe Tower, the - principal tower in the fortress, upon which the flag is hoisted. This - contains the library, 55 feet by 24 feet, and presents two grand bays - to the east and west, with a deep re-entering angle between them. This - also is modern.</p> - - <p>Next, on the west front, follows the chapel, built in 1856, a - rectangular tower of bold projection, one principal floor, and a - high-pitched roof. The two angles are cut off, so as to form a - polygonal apse. This conventional east end points, however, south-west.</p> - - <p>Then, facing to the south-west, follow two half-round towers, rebuilt - 1750–86, containing state bedrooms, and connected by a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span> short curtain, - within which is a dressing-room. Finally, between these and the - gatehouse, completing the circuit of the keep, and projecting due - south, is the gallery, having on the first floor a breadth of one line - of five rooms and a corridor, and below, the middle gateway. The rooms - are the private apartments of the duke and duchess, and a passage - communicating with the kitchens. The gateway, which has a portcullis, - is of the date of 1309–15, and built into the south curtain, from the - outside of which it projects as a mural tower. The gallery replaced - a curtain about 1760, and was rebuilt 1856. The battlements of the - gatehouse were probably added about 1407–55.</p> - - <p>The entrance to the state apartments is in the central court, beneath - the arched vestibule, at the north-west corner. From this a grand - flight of steps ascends to an interior vestibule, and thence by a - second flight to the guard chamber, which opens into the state-rooms. - These are all on the first floor, the basement being occupied by - servants’ rooms.</p> - - <p>Although the greater part of the keep has been rebuilt in the last and - the present century, it still is composed of the seven towers of the - early Percies, shown in the plan of 1567, and much, especially of the - basement, is old; and what is new is arranged with a close general - regard to the older, and, indeed, in many parts, Norman plan. The - exterior ditch of the keep is partly filled up, and the drawbridge of - the inner gate has been removed. A portcullis remains.</p> - - <p>Of the general and exterior <i>enceinte</i>, the most complete and - striking portion is the western gateway, a very fine and unaltered - example of a gate and barbican of the Edwardian period, 1312–15, in - its simplest form. The barbican, about 55 feet long by 32 feet wide, - is entered by a large round-headed arch, between a pair of square - flanking buttresses, corbelled out above into two turrets, also square. - Over the entrance in a sunk panel is a large Percy lion, with their - motto, “Espérance.” The arch leads into a passage, 55 feet long by 10 - feet wide, for the first 20 feet vaulted, but afterwards open to the - sky. This lies between very lofty side walls, embattled each way. On - the left, a small side-door led to the counterscarp of the ditch; also - on the left another door opens into a mural stair ascending to the - battlements. In front is the portal of the gatehouse. This barbican - crossed the ditch now filled up. Besides an outer drawbridge, over a - loop of the main ditch, it had an inner bridge between its lateral - walls, dropping from the gatehouse. This is mentioned in the survey of - 1538, and was removed in 1567. The parapets are without machicolations, - and the embrasures have no mouldings. The merlons are not looped, - and the figures placed upon them date only from 1750–86. Probably in - advance of the ditch of this barbican was a barrier or palisade of - timber, and the level space in front, commanded by the walls of both - town and castle, is what was usually employed for jousting matches or - military duels. The adjacent river was a sufficient security against - surprise.</p> - - <p>The gatehouse, of which the barbican is the covering, is a rect<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span>angle - 40 feet deep by 45 feet broad, of slight internal and bold external - projection, and presenting to the field two half octagonal towers. - The passage is vaulted and has the usual defences of a portcullis and - gates. The portals are round-headed. There are lateral lodges, entered - one from the passage and one from the court.</p> - - <p>Entering the court, the curtain on the left, of considerable height, - has Norman foundations, 1150, and an Edwardian superstructure, 1350. - Outside, a string-course marks the base of the parapet, and the - embrasures have a decorated moulding carried all round. The wall - extends to the Abbot’s Tower, but upon it is a small rectangular mural - tower, called the Avener’s Tower, 1309–15. The Abbot’s Tower, of the - same date, caps the north-west angle. It is rectangular and of three - stages, the lowest being vaulted and ribbed with segmental arches, as - in the Constable’s Tower, and below the Great Hall. The third stage - rises clear of the wall, and is reached by a well-stair, which occupies - the north-east angle.</p> - - <p>From this a short curtain of mixed date, 1150 and 1350, with a low - salient, extends to the Falconer’s Tower, also rectangular, rebuilt, - though not exactly on the old site, in 1856, and from which a modern - curtain wall runs up to the Prudhoe Tower of the keep. Upon this wall - stood the Armourer’s Tower, also rectangular, destroyed in 1856, - to improve the view from the library. The removal of this and the - Falconer’s Tower are said to have been the only subtractions made from - the original military works of the castle.</p> - - <p>Returning to the west gate, the curtain on its right extends past the - west Garret Tower to the Clock Tower, all rebuilt 1750–86. The latter - is circular, with a flat gorge and keel-shaped salient, and caps the - south-west angle. Outside the last-named curtain, and reached through - it by a gateway, are the stable courts, riding-school, and guest-hall, - 135 feet by 35 feet, by 25 feet to the spring of the open timber roof, - a very noble structure. These buildings are of modern date, 1856.</p> - - <p>From the Clock Tower the south curtain supports on its outside the - estate offices. Part of this curtain is 1750–86, part 1309–15. This - latter part includes the Auditor’s Tower, 1770, of which the square - rear projects into the court and the half-round front outside. Beyond - this is a bit of Norman curtain, 1150, against which on the outside - is built the modern kitchen, and above which a modern corridor - communicates between the duke’s room and the record-room in the - Auditor’s Tower. The treatment of this part of the structure by Mr. - Salvin deserves especial notice from the happy combination of the - features of the Edwardian age with the appliances of the present day. - The kitchen, with much to remind the visitor of Durham and Avignon, - is as a whole superior to either, and is besides a model of culinary - arrangement. These offices, originally within the keep at the east end - of the hall, were placed here by the first duke, but were recast and - rebuilt by Duke Algernon.</p> - - <p>Formerly there stood in the west ward the exchequer and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span> stables. - The exchequer was a large rectangular building, applied to the north - limb of the west gatehouse, and, like it, embattled. The two ranges of - stabling stood a little within and parallel to the curtains next the - Clock Tower. These buildings, shown in the survey of 1650, were removed - probably about 1755.</p> - - <p>Traversing the middle gate, in front is the eastern or inner ward, and - on the left the inner or gatehouse of the keep. On the right, outside - the curtain, is the steward’s room, and beyond it the Warder’s Tower, - mentioned in 1567, but altogether remodelled and rebuilt in 1860 upon - a work of 1770. It now contains the Lion gateway, leading to the - gardens. Below the gatehouse is an ale-cellar, and above one side of - it, attached to the offices, the confectionary.</p> - - <p>Beyond, the line of the curtain is irregular. About the salient it is - Norman, 1150, and a very good example of the rough walling of the age. - Upon it is the East Garret, 1309–15, and it ends in the Ravine Tower, - the most eastern work of the castle, and capping an acute angle of the - <i>enceinte</i>. This is a good-sized round tower, with a well-stair - at its junction with the curtain. It has been much repaired since its - foundation in 1309–15. It is defended by the ravine, whence it derives - its name. - </p> - - <p>From hence the curtain trends to the north-west, being in great part - Norman, but repaired at what is called the “Bloody Gap.” Beyond this - is a garret bartizan, called Hotspur’s Chair. It was the gorge of a - half-round tower, now removed, but shown in the plan of 1650. Beyond - this the curtain is again mixed Norman and Decorated of 1312–15, to - the Constable’s Tower. This is a strong half-round tower, capping a - flattish salient to the north-east; it has an exterior entrance by - stairs to each of its three floors. From this a short curtain, 1150, - leads to the Postern Tower, 1312–15, rectangular, pierced below by - the vaulted and portcullised passage of the postern, and vaulted also - on the first floor. This tower is a fine example of a Northumbrian - military building of the Decorated period. The arches are round-headed - or segmental, and it has in its rear wall a remarkable two-light window - with a transom, and in the head a foliated circle. There is also a very - perfect garderobe with external shoot. From this tower a curtain, now - removed, ran upwards to the bow of the hall tower of the keep, and thus - completed the defences of this ward. The original postern passage is - filled up, or nearly so, with earth, but by the side of the tower a way - leads to a terrace walk between the keep and the river, and extending - to Falconer’s Tower.</p> - - <p>The eastern ward contained the castle chapel and the conduit, supplied - with water by lead pipes from an exterior spring called Howling Well. - The chapel, a considerable building, stood detached near the Bloody - Gap, and was removed in 1755. The ecclesiastical establishment seems - to have been on a respectable scale, and included a chantry for the - performance of the obits of the family. In this quarter also stood the - brew, bake, and slaughter-houses for the use of the garrison.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span></p> - - <p>Alnwick Castle is probably the finest extant example of a Norman castle - of this type, having an open keep and a complete <i>enceinte</i>; for - although most of the present buildings are either of the fourteenth - or the nineteenth century, the plan is certainly Norman, and certain - detached portions of the construction. It seems also that the keep was - never a mere shell, like Cardiff or Arundel, but was always set about - with towers and provided with a handsome gatehouse. A notable feature - is the use of the round-headed and the segmental arch in the Decorated - period. This is not uncommon in the North of England. The very free use - of stone warriors upon the parapets, carried to an absurd extent in - the repairs of the last century, is also remarkable. They are seen at - Bothal, and in Edwardian works both at Caernarvon and Chepstow, but by - no means so freely distributed as here. They were obviously intended - for ornament only, but, of all figures, that of the eagle at Caernarvon - is the only one at all appropriate. No archer would or could have - stood on the crest of the parapet. Most of the later figures were very - properly removed by Mr. Salvin.</p> - - <p>There is found upon the battlements of both walls and towers, in - various parts of the castle, a convenient arrangement for hanging a - movable wooden shutter in the embrasures, so as to defend the warders - from a Scottish shaft, and from the scarcely less keen edge of the - bleak winds of the Border. The shutter was suspended horizontally, like - a port-lid, but from trunnions, of which one rested in a round hole in - one merlon, and the other in a similar hole terminating in a groove - in the other, so that the shutter hung freely, and could be lifted in - and out if necessary. The arrangement is precisely that applied to the - roller of a round towel. Traces of this arrangement remain in various - parts of the castle. A perfect example is seen on the barbican. It may - also be seen on the east wall of Goderich, at Chepstow, and elsewhere.</p> - - <p>The officers forming the staff of this castle as a civil residence, in - 1567, were the constable or governor; the porter of the outer gate; the - greive, or executive officer or bailiff; the receiver or auditor; the - feodary, who looked up the services and tenures; the steward, learned - in the law, who administered justice; the clerk of the courts, who - engrossed the rolls and kept the records; and the foreign or outer - bailiff, who collected the castle-guard and cornage money, and summoned - the tenants and suitors. The whole of the annual payment to these - officers was £58. 18s.</p> - - <p>Looking to the character of the country, so charged with traces of - early military earthworks, and to the strong and well-defined natural - position of Alnwick, it seems probable that it was occupied as a camp - by some of the tribes who, from a very remote period, made this Border - their battlefield, and whose defences are still visible in eleven - distinct earthworks within a very short distance of the town. If so, - they would necessarily have placed their defences to the north and - east upon the lines of the present castle. The interior eminence would - certainly have been their citadel, and the trench,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span> completing their - security, would most conveniently have been carried along the general - direction of the western front, so as to connect the head of the Bow - Burn with the Alne, and thus complete the seclusion of the peninsula. - Such a site, so defended, was not uncommonly adopted or constructed by - the Northmen and Saxons when they became settled, and they would have - placed the timber and palisaded mansion of their thane upon the central - entrenched knoll.</p> - - <p>Probably the Norman Gilbert Tison, of cloudy memory, who is the reputed - pioneer of the Conquest in these wild regions, found and contented - himself with some early kind of timber fortress, for the earliest - traces of masonry that remain <i>in situ</i> or have been extracted - from the walls, though Norman, are of late character, and attributable - to Eustace Fitzjohn, who married Beatrix, daughter and heir of Ivo de - Vesci, who is thought to have married Tison’s daughter. Eustace, called - De Vesci, flourished under Henry I. and Stephen, and died in 1157. He - was a likely man to have constructed a great castle, being a baron - of considerable power, sheriff of Northumberland, and founder of the - abbeys of Alnwick and, in Yorkshire, of Malton. Also he must have felt - the want of a strong place, for in his days, in 1135, Alnwick Castle - was taken by David I., of Scotland, in the interest of the Empress Maud.</p> - - <p>Eustace no doubt built in the first half of the twelfth century a - polygonal clustered keep upon the knoll, gave it the gateway we still - see, and placed his residence within. Traces of his walls are said by - Mr. Tate to have been discovered when the last rebuilding was being - executed. No doubt also he cleared out the moat round the keep. To him - also must be attributed the general wall of the <i>enceinte</i>, and - possibly the ditch outside it; and this would have been strengthened - by mural towers, many of which must have stood where their successors - are now placed. De Vesci’s work is indicated by the stones being mostly - square blocks of moderate size, laid in courses, but in beds more or - less wavy, as though the mason used neither line nor level. The joints - are open. Beyond question De Vesci constructed a castle in keeping with - his wealth, and worthy of the chief baron of the Border.</p> - - <p>In July, 1174, William the Lion, on his way back from an invasion of - Cumberland, found himself, to his surprise, before Alnwick. William, - son of Eustace de Vesci, attacked him. He was unhorsed, captured, and - sent into England, and beyond sea, to prison. Eustace, son of William, - succeeded in 1190, and was visited by King John, 12th February, 1201, - and 24th April, 1209, when the king received at the castle the homage - of Alexander, king of Scotland. Four years later, May 14th, John - ordered Philip de Ulecote to demolish the castle of Alnwick—a mandate - which could scarcely have been obeyed, seeing the king himself was - there 28th January, 1213, and 11th January, 1216, no doubt unwelcome - visits, for Eustace was a Magna Charta baron. He met his death from an - arrow before Barnard Castle in the last year of King John.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span> Henry III. - visited Alnwick 23rd September, 1256, and Edward I. was the guest of - John de Vesci there 30th April and 1st May, and 16th and 17th August, - 1291, and 16th August and 13th and 18th December, 1292; and again 22nd, - 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, and 27th September, 1296; and 26th and 29th - June, 1298.</p> - - <p>The Barons de Vesci became extinct in 1297, by the death of William, - seventh Baron, when the castle and barony were acquired, it is said, to - the fraudulent exclusion of the natural son, by Antony Bec, the warlike - Bishop of Durham, by whom, in 1309, 3 Edward II., they were sold to - Henry de Percy, the representative of a warlike family, whose advent - forms an important era in the history of the Border. Percy, as the - leader of the Northern barons, made Alnwick his residence, and although - in possession only for five years, seems to have rebuilt much of the - fabric, the rest being completed by his son of the same name.</p> - - <p>The Percy Castle, laid out nearly upon the Norman lines, presented very - nearly the appearance of the present structure. The authorship of the - Edwardian part of the inner gatehouse is established by the escutcheon - of Clifford on its walls, the second Henry de Percy having married a - lady of that house. To the first half of this fourteenth century may - be attributed, as has already been pointed out in detail, nearly all - the leading features of the castle, as it stood at the incoming of the - first Duke of the present family. The Percies, though they maintained - the reputation of Alnwick as the great Border fortress during nearly - four centuries, do not appear to have materially altered the fabric of - the two earliest lords. They received here Edward II. in 1311 and 1322, - and Edward III. in 1335; but the later earls were much at Petworth and - in Yorkshire; and upon the death of the eighth earl, in 1537, and the - attainder of his brother, the family ceased to reside at Alnwick, and - the castle was neglected. The Percy line ended in Elizabeth, daughter - of Jocelyn, the eleventh earl, who, 30th May, 1682, married Charles, - Duke of Somerset. Of their children, two had issue, Algernon and - Catherine, who married Sir Wm. Wyndham, and eventually conveyed to that - family the Percy estates at Petworth, Egremont, and Leconfield.</p> - - <p>Algernon Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and by creation Earl of - Northumberland, left one child, Elizabeth Seymour, who inherited - Alnwick, and married Sir Hugh Smithson, created Duke of Northumberland, - and ancestor of the present family.</p> - - <p>A survey of Alnwick in 1567 shows the decay then to have been very - considerable, and as the Seymour lords preferred their paternal - residence, Alnwick became almost a ruin. From this it was redeemed by - the first duke, who, under the advice of Adam, restored, and in part - rebuilt, the keep; and although he fitted up the interior with plaster - and frippery, made the exterior sound and good, and, on the whole, in - keeping with the character of the place, and with what remained of the - ancient buildings.</p> - - <p>Matters so remained until the accession of Duke Algernon, better known - as Lord Prudhoe, a naval officer and a good man of business,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span> who had - travelled much and possessed a cultivated taste, and was of a truly - noble and magnificent disposition. While foremost in works of public - usefulness connected with his estates, county, and profession, and - careful to drain his lands, rebuild the cottages of his labourers, - restore the local churches, and provide lifeboats for his dangerous - coast, he, under the sound advice of Mr. Salvin, almost rebuilt - the castle, preserving with scrupulous care all that admitted of - preservation, and adapting his new work to the period of the first and - second Percy, the founders of the later castle. Having thus restored - the great fortress of the Border with strict regard to the rules of - military architecture, he proceeded, under the advice of Canina, to - fit up the interior in the style of an Italian palace. The contrast - afforded is certainly extreme, and the attempt on so costly a scale was - hardy; but the adaptation of the fittings to the irregular plan of the - rooms is so well conceived, the materials employed are so rich, and the - execution of the details is so skilful, that it is difficult to regard - even so great an incongruity as other than a distinguished success.</p> - - <p>Much attention has of late years been paid, and by very competent - persons, to the history of this castle. Grose gives some particulars, - now very valuable; but this and the castles of Warkworth and Prudhoe - have been illustrated by the late Mr. Hartshorne, and are treated - of also by him with great success in the Northumberland volume of - the Archæological Institute. More recently, Mr. Tate has handled the - subject of Alnwick Castle with both skill and accuracy in his admirable - history of the barony of Alnwick. And finally, in the “Life of William - Rufus,” Mr. Freeman has touched lightly but very effectively upon the - connexion of Alnwick and its lords with Northumbrian history. In the - above sketch free use has, to some extent, been made of the above - materials; but the object of the writer has been to treat solely of the - fabric of the castle, and that from a military point of view.</p> - - <div class="center mt5">REFERENCES.</div> - - <div class="center-container"> - <ol class="left inline"> - <li>Donjon.</li> - <li>Inner Ward.</li> - <li>Outer Ward.</li> - <li>Terrace.</li> - <li>Stable Courts.</li> - <li>Kitchen.</li> - <li>Estate Offices.</li> - <li>Ravine.</li> - <li>Ditch.</li> - <li>Tower.</li> - <li>Inner Gate.</li> - <li>Middle Gate.</li> - <li>Barbican.</li> - <li>Hall.</li> - <li>Withdrawing-room.</li> - <li>Music-room.</li> - <li>Ante-room.</li> - <li>Library. Prudhoe Tower.</li> - <li>Chapel.</li> - <li>State Bedroom.</li> - <li>Entrance.</li> - <li>Spur Gallery.</li> - <li>West Garret.</li> - <li>Abbot’s Tower.</li> - <li>Falconer’s Tower.</li> - <li>Postern Tower.</li> - <li>Constable’s Tower.</li> - <li>Ravine Tower.</li> - <li>Hotspur’s Chair.</li> - <li>East Garret.</li> - <li>Warder’s Tower.</li> - <li>Auditor’s Tower.</li> - <li>Clock Tower.</li> - <li>Avener’s Tower.</li> - <li>Garden.</li> - </ol> - </div> - - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i185"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_185.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">PLAN OF ALNWICK CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND.</div> - </div> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="ARQUES">THE CASTLE OF ARQUES, NEAR DIEPPE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">ARQUES is one of the earliest examples of a Norman castle, for which - reason, though not an English fortress, it has been thought convenient - to include an account of it in these pages. This grand castle crowns - and occupies the head of a steep and bold cape or promontory, in this - case a spur from the great chalk table-land of the “Pays de Caux.” - On the west it is flanked by a short but deep combe or dry valley, - and on the east by the deeper and far wider valley of the Bethune and - Varenne—streams derived from different sources, but which here meander - across a broad and level bottom, above half a mile wide, until, a - little below the castle, uniting, they receive the tributary Aulne, - and, thus combined, under the name of “la Rivière d’Arques,” fall into - the sea at the port of Dieppe.</p> - - <p>The castle thus stands above the left bank of the principal valley. - It is about 4 miles from Dieppe; and immediately below, and to its - north-east, is the village whence it takes its name, remarkable for a - church of unusual size, and a most elegant example of the style of the - latter part of the sixteenth century. Beyond, upon the right bank, are - the remains of the ancient Forest of Arques, a part of the spacious - domain of the ancient lords of the fee, and upon the skirts of which, - within shot of the castle, was fought, in 1589, a very celebrated - battle.</p> - - <p>The castle in its present form is composed of a rectangular keep, - standing in the south-west corner of an inner ward, in plan something - less than a half-circle, having its chord to the west, and contained - within an <i>enceinte</i> wall, strengthened by towers and buttresses - along its sides and at its southern end, and capping its angles.</p> - - <p>Applied to the north end of this is an outer ward, of later date, - four-sided, and having drum towers at its four angles.</p> - - <p>The main entrance, approached by a steep and winding road from the - town, is in the north end, or at the point of the cape, between the - two towers. Entering, is a second gatehouse, opening from the outer - into the inner ward, also between two towers. A third gatehouse, at - the other end of the fortress, leads direct from the exterior into the - south end of the inner ward, and thus opens a communication with the - root of the cape. There is also a lateral postern with vaulted passages - in the west wall of the outer ward.</p> - - <p>Outside the wall, encircling it closely, is the ditch, the most - striking feature in the whole fortress. This is in general plan not - unlike the long section of a pear, the northern end being the smaller, - and the western side flattened so as to be nearly straight. The - counterscarp of this ditch includes an area of about 5 acres. The ditch - itself, measured from the level of the foot of the wall crowning its - scarp, is about 60 feet deep, with slopes of 1 foot horizontal to 2 - feet vertical, and about 70 feet broad. It is only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span> just not too steep - to be covered with short turf. The crest of the counterscarp is a ridge - about 6 feet broad, and about 20 feet below the level of the foot of - the wall. From it descends another slope, equally steep, but much - deeper; on the west side descending about 150 feet to the bottom of the - valley, and on the east to a rather less depth, as here this “glacis” - is succeeded by a sort of broad terrace of pasture land, which falls - gently towards the river, the level of which may be 250 feet below the - platform of the castle. In many respects these defences resemble those - of Bramber, in Sussex.</p> - - <p>At the north-west end the ditch is traversed by a very modern causeway - of earth, which supersedes the earlier drawbridge. At the south end, - where the ground is highest and the ditch about 50 feet deep and - 80 feet broad, there remain two engaged piers upon the scarp and - counterscarp, and between them two detached piers, of which the outer - has fallen against the inner. All are rectangular; and the inner of the - detached two is considerably the larger, and probably carried a tower - for the protection and working of a double drawbridge. These piers are - of flint rubble, cased with ashlar, of which a small part only remains.</p> - - <p>At the outer end is the earthwork of a <i>tête du pont</i>, or ravelin, - of triangular plan, the passage from which was a little to the east - side of the apex. This work was evidently constructed when artillery - was in use, and is attributed to Henry IV., during the campaign of - 1589. It no doubt represents an earlier barbican, also of earth and - timber. There are no traces of masonry beyond the bridge. This work - opens upon the ridge of the promontory, which widens and rises somewhat - higher to the south. The ground is scarred with banks and ditches, the - remains of fieldworks of various dates, both of attack and defence.</p> - - <p>The design of this castle ditch is peculiar. The more obvious plan - would have been to place the walls upon the edge of the hill, and scarp - its sides down to the valley with such steepness as suited the ground. - Instead of this, the upper 40 feet of the hill, being chalk rock, was - scarped vertically, and then faced or revetted by a wall, upon which - was placed the <i>enceinte</i> wall of the inner ward. At the foot of - the revetment was then excavated the ditch just described, the material - being thrown outwards so as to form an artificial scarp, which thus - became a sort of advanced banquette or earthwork beyond the ditch, - representing the crest of the glacis, and capable of being held by a - line of soldiers, but which, when taken, was too exposed and too narrow - to allow of its being held, or of cover being constructed upon it. This - banquette was at a rather lower level than the foot of the opposite - wall.</p> - - <p>Such an arrangement is found in other castles in Normandy, and notably, - as pointed out by M. Deville, at Molineaux, De Longueville, Bec de - Montagne, and in the later work of Château-Gaillard, where, however, it - is less marked.</p> - - <p>The keep is rectangular, about 80 feet north and south by 70 feet - east and west, and at present about 60 feet high. It stands in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span> - south-west corner of the inner ward, close to the <i>enceinte</i> - wall, of which its south-west angle forms a part. Its walls at the - ground level are about 13 feet thick. It presents three buttresses - on the north face and two on the south—the third being a sort of cap - thickening and enveloping the south-east angle. These are of the - unusual breadth and projection of 9 feet, and they rise to the present, - which cannot be above 10 feet below the original summit. At the - north-east angle the adjacent buttresses are set square, leaving the - angle free. The south face is plain, or nearly so, excepting the cap at - its south-east angle, which extends southwards, and is connected with - the adjacent <i>enceinte</i> wall. The west face is plain, outside of - which was the entrance.</p> - - <p>This is composed of a flight of steps, beginning upon the north face, - passing by a doorway through its most westerly buttress, and which - then, turning, is continued along the west face, until at its south - end it lands in the usual square appendage or forebuilding common in - these keeps. This staircase was guarded by an exterior wall, and had - gateways at its foot and its summit. It was covered over, as appears - from marks upon the wall; and above it was no doubt the usual platform - for defence. In the basement of the forebuilding, which forms also part - of the <i>enceinte</i> wall, was a vaulted chamber opening into the - basement of the keep, as at Rochester, either a store or a prison. The - landing story was barrel-vaulted, having at one end a loop towards the - field, and at the other a door in the wall of the keep.</p> - - <p>Entering this door, the staircase is continued southward in the wall - of the keep, up a roughly-vaulted, round-headed, mural gallery, until - at the angle it reaches the level of the first floor. The gallery now - turns the angle, and is continued on the level half-way along the south - wall, when it is stopped abruptly. A door on the right leads upon the - <i>enceinte</i> rampart, and one on the left probably led into the keep. - </p> - - <p>The interior of the keep is composed of a basement and an upper or, - perhaps, two floors, divided by a north and south wall into two - chambers on a floor. This division-wall is said to be original, and - ought to be so in a keep of this size, but it looks of the sixteenth - century, and may represent an older one. The west basement is much - choked up with rubbish. The east chamber is tolerably clear, and shows - an exterior aperture in its east wall, near the south end, which - communicates with the adjacent south gateway. This may be original, - but it is now a mere hole. In the north wall is a short mural gallery, - entering a well-stair in the north-east angle, which ascends to the - first floor and chapel only. The lower stage was not vaulted. The - first floor has four windows on the north side, two in each room, and - one on the east side. The second floor had also similar windows on - its north, and a vaulted chamber on its east side; no doubt a chapel. - This chapel is formed by throwing a vault from buttress to buttress - for its floor, and at a higher level for its roof, and above this were - the leads. There are traces of similar chambers on the north front. - The upper story has been vaulted in six bays, three on each side, duly - groined and ribbed, as is shown by the springers. The material and the - workmanship, no less than the section of the ribs, show this to be a - late addition, probably of the sixteenth century.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i189"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span> - <div class="caption">PLAN OF THE CASTLE OF ARQUES, NORMANDY.</div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_189.jpg" alt="" /> - - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>A. Keep.</li> - <li>B. Inner Ward.</li> - <li>C. Outer Ward.</li> - <li>D. Walls of Le Bel.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>E. Old Ditch.</li> - <li>F. Glacis.</li> - <li>G. New Ditch.</li> - <li>H. Norman Gate.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>I. South Gate.</li> - <li>K. Barbican.</li> - <li>L. North Gate.</li> - <li><i>a.</i> Galleries.</li> - </ul> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span></p> - - <p>The supposed two upper floors were very possibly intended for one floor - of state, with two tiers of windows and a chapel above. The chapel - seems to have had a barrel round-headed vault, probably groined. The - accounts show this eastern side to have been the royal chamber in the - fourteenth century. The fireplaces seem to be confined to the upper - floors. As now seen, they are of the date of the vaulting.</p> - - <p>In the south-west angle of the keep, very near the wall, is the well, - of which the pipe was continued at least to the first floor, as in the - additions at Richmond. It is about 6 feet diameter, lined with ashlar, - and in 1768 was choked up at 254 feet deep, or about the level of the - river; a depth now reduced to 30 or 40 feet.</p> - - <p>Outside, between the buttresses, are traces of walls, as though the - spaces between them had been turned to account below as well as above; - but these walls are thin, and do not seem original.</p> - - <p>M. Deville cites the public records for the existence in 1318 of four - turrets on the keep, roofed with lead.</p> - - <p>M. Le Duc, in his Dictionary, Art. “Donjon,” gives a great variety of - very curious detail connected with this keep, detail unknown to M. - Deville, and for which there should be some authority other than the - traces actually existing, which are very unsatisfactory.</p> - - <p>The keep is built of large chalk flints grouted copiously in mortar, - and cased outside with ashlar, now mostly stripped off and removed. - Within, the flints are occasionally laid herring-bone fashion. The - ashlar was a calcareous tufa, known in the country, and formed by the - trickling of calcareous springs over moss and similar vegetation. - It was much used in the earlier French castles. The later ashlar of - the vaulting ribs and inserted door-cases seems to be a fine hard - limestone, approaching Caen stone in appearance, and perhaps actually - that material. Where the ashlar is wanting, the putlog holes are seen, - placed with exceeding regularity. The joints of the original ashlar are - large, those of the later fine. The new and old ashlar can readily be - distinguished; but one flint wall is very much like another.</p> - - <p>The inner ward, in length about 160 yards, and in its greatest breadth - about 70 yards, is a natural chalk platform, revetted all round by - a wall about 8 feet thick, which on the east side is reduced to a - parapet, but on the west rises about 20 feet higher, probably its - original height. In 1708 this court contained the apartments of the - governor and the staff of the garrison, a well, and a chapel. These - were probably of the sixteenth century or later, and have now entirely - disappeared.</p> - - <p>The <i>enceinte</i> wall, which girdles this inner ward, deserves - attention, as most of it is of early date. Setting aside the four - northern<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span> towers with their curtains, which are of later date, we - have about 380 yards of curtain broken by five mural towers and - three rectangular buttresses. Nearly the whole of the wall is faced - with flint, with three bands of ashlar. Much of the flint is laid in - herring-bone fashion, the repairs, where of brick, being of much later - date. The ashlar bands are of tufa. Of the towers two, half round, are - on the east front. Of these one, though probably original, has been - cased with brick. The other has had an ashlar base, and the upper part, - of flint, shows herring-bone work. Each is about 15 feet diameter, with - walls 5 feet thick.</p> - - <p>Between these towers are three rectangular buttresses; two of 15 feet - breadth and 12 feet projection, and one about 7 feet square. The two - former contain no herring-bone work, and are probably early additions, - perhaps by Henry I.; the latter is original.</p> - - <p>On the west face are now no towers, but in 1708 there were two, half - round, and of small size, traces of which remain. They were, no doubt, - original.</p> - - <p>The remaining three towers capped the three salient angles of the south - end, the central containing the gateway, and the others flanking it. - All are one quarter engaged.</p> - - <p>The flanking towers are alike, about 22 feet diameter and 55 feet high - from the exterior base, with walls 7 feet thick. The bases are either - solid or pierced by steps leading down to the galleries. There is a - regular basement story, and above it a floor on the level of the inner - ward. They are not vaulted and show no exterior herring-bone work, - though one has a little inside. A modern summer-house has been built - upon that to the south-east.</p> - - <p>The central or gate-tower is 24 feet diameter. It is pierced at the - level of the scarp by a portal which opens upon the drawbridge, the - piers of which have been described; and there is a stage above this.</p> - - <p>The portal ascends towards the keep; its details are much broken down, - and little can be made of them.</p> - - <p>Of the <i>enceinte</i> of the inner ward there remains to be noted the - <i>northern gatehouse</i>. This, the original and, probably, the only - entrance to the Norman fortress, though much ruined, does not appear to - have been materially altered. It consists in a rectangular building, - 40 feet deep by 20 feet broad, set in the centre of the curtain, with - which its outer face is nearly flush. It is crossed by an outer, - middle, and inner wall, each pierced by an arch of 12 feet opening, - through which lies the passage. There remain the rectangular grooves - of a portcullis, and a few years ago there was evidence of a second, - and in the wall is herring-bone work. The arches are plain, without - moulding or chamfer. The inner one is round-headed, and springs from a - flat abacus, chamfered below. The joints of the ashlar work are about - 1 inch wide. The curtains on either side of this gateway, though much - repaired, seem to be original, and there are traces of the old round - gate-towers. The pit of the drawbridge remains in front of the gate, - upon the original line of fosse. - </p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span></p> - - <p>The outer ward no doubt occupies the site of an earlier outwork. - It is built against the narrow and north end of the inner ward, is - four-sided, about 250 feet north and south, by a mean of 110 feet east - and west. Its west side is straight, being the continued line of that - face of the old fortress. The east face has a slight re-entering angle, - caused apparently by the shape of the ground. At the two southern - angles are two large drum towers, which connect the old and newer work, - and probably replace two smaller and older towers. These stand in - the line of the old ditch, and flank the Norman gateway. That to the - south-west, rather the larger of the two, and slightly oval in plan, - has a mean diameter of 60 feet; it is of two stages. Both are vaulted, - or rather domed. That to the south-east, of 50 feet diameter, is nearly - circular, but has a remarkable spur or keel-shaped projection towards - the field. It is of three stages, the two lower being domed. These - towers are in fact casemates, having embrasures for small culverins - towards the field. Each has a well-stair in its southern side, and is - entered from the gorge.</p> - - <p>The two other towers cap the northern angles of the ward, and flank the - main gateway. They are of irregular form, semicircular to the field and - angular within. In diameter they are about 40 feet, and about the same - height. They are of two stages, which have been domed. The walls of - these four towers are from 14 feet to 16 feet thick. They are of flint - faced with brick.</p> - - <p>Between the gate-tower is the gateway, composed of a larger and smaller - portal, the latter very narrow. The present work is modern, but no - doubt in this double entry represents the earlier openings. The ditch, - two detached piers standing in it, and with these any traces of the - drawbridge, are concealed by the modern causeway.</p> - - <p>In the west curtain, near the south-west tower, a flight of steps - beneath hanging arches of brick descends from the ward level in the - direction of the foot of the wall. This is much encumbered with ruin, - but seems to have been a postern, opening upon the ditch.</p> - - <p>All the works of this outer ward are of flint, rubble-faced with brick, - which material forms the lines of the embrasures. The quoins are - sometimes of ashlar, as are the extensive string-courses and bands, and - the dressings of the openings. Traces of herring-bone work in its west - curtain, outside, will be accounted for afterwards.</p> - - <p>As the original castle was confined to the inner ward, its ditch - everywhere encircled it. When the outer ward was added, the intercepted - portion of the ditch was partially filled up, but the new work was - included in a new ditch, which was an accurate prolongation of the old - one, of equal depth and breadth, and continued in the same direction. - Accurate observation will, however, detect two slight shoulders in the - counterscarp, showing where began the curve of the old ditch.</p> - - <p>Very remarkable in this castle are the subterranean galleries, driven - in the chalk rock beneath the lines of the original wall, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span> behind - the scarp of the ditch. These are now in part blocked up, but there - still remain two or three hundred yards of them of which the direction - is known. They are entered by a passage in the inner ward, in its - north-west quarter, and by a descent of fifty-four steps near the keep, - and possibly from other points now lost. The galleries are about 7 feet - high and 6 feet wide, rudely cut, and somewhat singularly laid out. - They lie within, without, and beneath the wall, and give off frequent - spurs or short passages intended to occupy any space in which a mine - was likely to be opened. At this time they have been broken into at - three or four points in the scarp of the ditch, about half-way down. - They were intended as a system of permanent counter mines to meet any - attempt at mining on the part of the besiegers. In one place a large - central pier is surrounded by a gallery, whence the branches go off,—an - arrangement intended probably to check the progress of those who might - break in. So far as is known, these galleries, of which a survey was - made in 1708, are confined to the southern half, or four-fifths of the - old castle. There are none under the outer ward.</p> - - <p>Outside, and to the north-east of the outer gate, are some semicircular - platforms, which seem to have played a part in the defence of the - castle; but whether before or after the use of artillery is uncertain.</p> - - <p>The Bel.—A curtain wall, which originally was about 5 feet thick, and - from 15 feet to 20 feet high, commences abruptly upon the crest of - the counterscarp in two places; one on the east opposite to the mural - tower, which marks about the centre of that front of the castle, and - thence descends towards the river; and the other north, close outside - of the drawbridge of the main entrance. This latter wall is continued - down the hill, and makes a bold sweep towards the town, and, finally - reaching the river bank, joins the river wall. The enclosure thus - formed contains about twice the area included by the ditch of the - castle, and has long been known as Le Bel or La Baile, a form evidently - of the Norman-Latin <i>Ballium</i>, called by us the “Bailey.” - This enclosure is traversed by the road from Dieppe to Martigny, - which passes through the two gates bearing those names. A third, or - water-gate to the east, opened upon the river. Upon the north front - appear to have been two small half-round mural towers, of which one - remains. The river has somewhat encroached upon the lower part of the - Bel, and has undermined part of the wall.</p> - - <p>The Dieppe gate, which is also that from the town of Arques, was in - 1433 called “La Première Port du Bel de Château d’Arques,” and, as - such, was the subject of a tenure by castle guard, the tenant being - bound to defend it for forty days in time of war. From this gate the - approach ascends to the castle, having the curtain-wall as a protection - on its right. Where this wall approaches the castle, at either end, it - is covered by a broad ditch, continued down the slope.</p> - - <p>A flint wall may be of any age, but the remains of the gates,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span> which a - few years ago showed round-headed arches, prove this inclosure to be - of early date, probably one of the earliest additions to the castle, - and made by Henry I. No doubt, before the construction of the outer - ward, the wall of the Bel was produced so as to unite with those of the - castle. M. Deville has discovered a part of this wall worked into the - great curtain of the outer ward, which lies in its line, and may still - be seen.</p> - - <p>Looking to the history of this castle, and to the evidence afforded - by its remains, it seems probable that the keep is the oldest part - of the masonry, and the work of the Conqueror’s uncle, Guillaume - d’Arques, between the years 1039–1043, and it is supposed to be one - of the earliest, if not the earliest, of the rectangular Norman keeps - known. The chronicle of Normandy, cited by M. Deville, says of William, - “Si fist faire une tour moult forte, audessus du chastel d’Arques”; - as though there had been an earlier castle, which the aspect of the - earthworks renders highly probable.</p> - - <p>To the Conqueror or his immediate successor must be attributed the - <i>enceinte</i> of the inner ward and the formation of the galleries. - The ditch may be much older than the western masonry. The inner ward no - doubt formed part of the original plan, and it is only the occasional - appearance of round turrets upon the wall that leads to the opinion - that any time intervened between the actual construction of the keep - and of its surroundings. - </p> - - <p>The southern entrance, with its gate and two flanking towers, and one - or two of the other mural towers or buttresses, seem to be additions, - but of the Norman period, probably the work of the Conqueror’s son, - King Henry I., who, about 1123, seems also to have enclosed the Bel. - Robert de Thorigny—called also “Du Mont,” from his abbacy of Mont St. - Michael—a Norman chronicler of the twelfth century, says that King - Henry I. “fortified admirably the castle of Arques with walls and a - tower.” This has been held to show that the whole structure was the - work of Henry, who reigned from 1105 to 1135, and the extreme boldness - of the buttresses and superincumbent constructions of the keep no doubt - favour this view; but, as M. Deville remarks in the same passage, - similar reference is made to Gisors, Falaise, and other castles, known - to be of earlier date.</p> - - <p>M. Deville is disposed to attribute the southern gate to Charles V., - as he finds a record of 1367, charging cost of transport of 6 “nances” - of stone, each of 16 to 18 “tonneaux,” from the river to the castle, - for the masonry of the new bridge and the new gate of the castle. This - material was taken by the king’s direction from the dismantled “manoir” - of Veules or Weulles, at St. Valery-en-Caux. The accounts of 1378–80 - mention the tower on the bridge behind the keep, its drawbridge, axles, - ties, “vergues” or levers 18 feet long, and its beams of 9 feet. This - was probably the southern drawbridge and gate, including the opening - of the communication between this and the basement of the keep. - These works are attributed to Charles V. about 1378–80.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span> He probably - only pierced the existing central tower, not otherwise altering or - rebuilding it.</p> - - <p>The next considerable work was the outer ward, which may be attributed - to the fifteenth century, subsequently to the general use of brick and - the introduction of siege artillery. It is singular that no record of - this very considerable work should be preserved, for it included not - only the outer ward, a castle in itself, with its enormous towers and - massive curtains, but the extension of the very formidable ditch, the - repair of the older walls and towers, and finally the fitting up and - vaulting of the keep. All this is supposed to have been the work of - Francis I., and it is said that the date of 1553 was inscribed upon - some of the additions to the keep.</p> - - <p>Henry IV., during his occupation of the castle in 1589, may have - constructed quarters in the inner ward and repaired what was amiss in - the old building; but more probably his traces are to be found in the - field works which crown the adjacent hills, and along the high ground - towards Dieppe.</p> - - <p>It has been thought that the ditch of the castle is a remain of an - older fortification, such a work as the early Northmen or still earlier - Celts might have constructed. No doubt this was usually the case with - the sites of the great Norman castles, both in Normandy and in England, - and the position of Arques is a tempting one. There is, however, no - positive evidence of an earlier encampment.</p> - - <p>It will be observed that the keep is so placed as to command both the - inner ward and the most exposed side of the castle,—that along the - level ridge of the promontory. It was perfectly capable of holding - out when all else was taken, and finally, if threatened with fire or - starvation, its garrison had a possible escape by the galleries.</p> - - <p>This castle is the triumph of Norman skill. Often attacked, it was - never taken by storm. Without being a royal residence it was visited - in peace or in war by our Norman kings, from the Conqueror to John, - and by most of the kings of France, from Henry I. to Henry IV.; and, - after a lapse of 800 years, its oldest parts are still those best worth - attention, and are at least as well preserved as the additions of far - later date.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="ARUNDEL">ARUNDEL CASTLE, SUSSEX.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">ARUNDEL, in its position, magnitude, and history, is one of the - foremost of the mediæval military structures of England. English - in its origin, Norman by adoption, it is not only among the rare - castles recorded in Domesday, but is the only one therein specifically - mentioned as in existence before the coming in of Duke William. It was - held by Alfred and by Harold, and was granted with its surrounding - and dependent lordships by William to the head of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span> the great house - of Montgomery as an acknowledgment of kinship, and a fitting reward - for his distinguished services at Hastings. Three members and two - generations of that family held the castle for about thirty-two - years. They were followed by Henry I. and his Queen, who held it - for half a century, and it has since descended in succession by the - lines of D’Albini, Fitz-Alan, and Howard, through seven centuries of - inheritance, to its present lord. Though less extensive in area, it is - equal to Windsor in antiquity and position, and resembles it closely - in type, having an upper and lower ward, and a lofty mound partially - interposed between the two, girdled by a deep fosse and crowned by a - circular keep. Within its precinct is the Chapel of St. George, and far - beyond the walls, but in one direction only, extends its broad demesne. - Just beyond the wall of the Norman castle, but probably within the - earlier English outwork, stands the fine parish church, a Fitz-Alan - gift, and attached to its east end is the chapel of the college founded - by Richard, Earl of Arundel, in 1386, and now, by a grant or purchase - in the reign of Edward VI., vested in the descendants of its founder, - and the private property of the lord of the castle. The buildings of - the college are mostly removed, and the chapel contains many tombs of - great magnificence and considerable historic interest, beneath which - rest the remains of many members of the great house of Fitz-Alan, who - loved full well and gave full largely to that church to which their - Howard descendant has shown himself a not less liberal benefactor.</p> - - <p>The Arun, a principal river of the south, has its sources in Surrey. - It traverses the whole breadth, here about twenty miles, of the - county of Sussex, and in its passage to the sea cleaves the southern - ridge of the chalk by a very striking ravine or dell, which, with - the river, gives name to the castle and the town, as well as to the - Rape of Arundel, within which they stand. The castle is placed upon - a bold bluff of chalk, which rises on the right or western bank of - the river, here flowing in easy curves across a broad tract of low - and level land, which intervenes between the downs and the sea, from - which the castle is distant about four miles. Upon and at the foot of - the slope has sprung up the town, which for centuries paid allegiance - to the castle and received from it protection and support. Six miles - westward of the Arun is Bognor, rich in Roman remains, and as far - to the east is the mouth of the Adur, where Shoreham contests with - Portsmouth the representation of the ancient Portus Adurni. A few miles - north of the castle, Staneway marks the line of the old Roman road - between Chichester and London. Various villages, the names of which - show their English origin, are thickly posted along the lower course - of the Arun; but the name of the river may be British, as are no doubt - the hill camps here and there scattered over the downs. The Rape is - supposed to be a Jutish division. It includes five Hundreds, and was - formerly nearly all forest. The courts were held beneath an oak-tree at - Madehurst.</p> - - <p>The bluff occupied by the castle is the end of a ridge of high ground, - which is specially steep towards the east and south, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span> ascends to - still higher land towards the north and west. In this direction lies - the park, which covers about 1,100 acres, and includes, between two - ridges of the chalk, a deep valley, in the lower part of which, just - below the castle, is the lake called Swanbourne, the pool from a very - remote period for the use of the mill.</p> - - <p>The history of Arundel has been written by Dallaway in his Western - Sussex, and by Tierney in a specific work. Whatever may be the value - of either production for the history and descent of the lordship, - neither gives a full plan of the earthworks of the castle, nor enters - at all scientifically into its details from either the military or - architectural point of view. Unfortunately, the proximity of the - castle to Brighton and some lesser watering-places has caused the - exclusion of visitors, save under restrictions so very narrow that it - is impracticable to examine the works at all in detail. It appears from - Tierney’s history that the castle is protected towards the north or - open country by a double line of defence, composed of a bank and ditch, - of which the outer includes the present as well as the older park, and - is, in places, at least two miles from the castle. The inner line is - of much smaller extent, but the two seem intended to protect the town - and the port, as well as the site of the castle, and to be rather lines - of defence than the remains of a camp, whether British or English. - Within both of these, and probably of later date, are the earthworks - upon a part of which the Norman castle was founded. These resemble the - works common to England with Normandy, and may probably be attributed - to the Northern invaders in the eighth or ninth centuries. The high - ground is occupied by an oblong inclosure, of which more or less of the - original earthbank remains, and outside of which to the south and east - was the natural steep, and to the west a natural hollow, deepened and - extended round the north front by art. The inclosure is in length 317 - yards, and in breadth 83 yards, and includes about 5½ acres. Near the - centre of the western side, and forming a part of the <i>enceinte</i>, - is a large circular mound, almost wholly artificial, having its proper - ditch, which on the outer face is also the ditch of the general - <i>enceinte</i>. The mound is about 90 feet diameter at its table - summit, and about 230 feet at its base. As the ground rises towards the - north, the height is on that side about 50 feet, and on the opposite - side about 70 feet from the bottom of the ditch. The Windsor mound is - about the same height, but rather larger, being 125 feet across, at its - summit. By its projection this work materially narrows the main area, - and with the addition of a short cross-ditch, bank, and wall, now gone, - divided it into an upper or northern and lower or southern ward, in the - latter of which are the domestic buildings. These two wards were the - parts of the earlier fortification taken possession of by the builder - of the Norman castle, but there is also an inclosure opposite to the - mound, and outside the ditch, which runs up to a narrow end towards the - north-west. Whether this was fortified with masonry is uncertain, but - it certainly was a part of the earlier fortress, and shows its extent - and importance. The ditches everywhere being in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span> the chalk, and at a - high level, were no doubt always dry. Earl Roger, probably, found along - the crest of these earthbanks the same sort of defences that he left - behind him, on similar banks and mounds, at his paternal castle in - Normandy; but whether these were of timber or of masonry is uncertain. - They might very well have been of either. It is, however, certain that - the earl, or his immediate successors, inclosed the main area within a - curtain of masonry, which ran up the mound and placed half of it, as - at Lincoln and Tonbridge, outside the inclosure. Upon this curtain, a - little south of the mound, was placed the gatehouse, and along it at - various points were mural towers, probably square, of which one, on the - curtain north of the mound, and known as Bevis Tower, still remains, - though more or less altered. The domestic buildings were then, as now, - along the sides of the lower ward, and upon the mound was placed a - shell keep. - </p> - - <p>As the public are only permitted to inspect the lower part of the - gatehouse, the adjacent curtain, and the interior of the keep, it is - impossible to form a correct opinion as to the extent of the original - earthworks, or as to the age of the general curtain, or the basement - of the domestic buildings, parts of which are said to be of Norman - date. That the earthworks were extensive, and in part remain, may be - seen from the summit of the keep, and from the upper gate of the park. - Dallaway gives a large, but not quite correct, plan of the keep and - its mound, the gatehouse and Bevis Tower, and the lower ward; but his - plan does not include the higher ward nor the earthworks, nor is it - accompanied by any sections. Dallaway and Tierney were not strong in - architectural details.</p> - - <p>The <i>Gatehouse</i> stands on the line of the curtain, projecting - inwards from it, and upon the southern edge or counterscarp of the - ditch of the mound. It opens into the lower ward. It is of the early - Norman type, resembling that at Tickhill. It is a square of 32 feet, - having in the outer and inner faces a large round-headed doorway, - quite plain, without even a chamfer, and with a plain sloped abacus. - The chamber is, of course, square, and but little broader than the - doorways. That towards the ward seems to have been closed by a pair of - doors only. The other or outer doorway has a broad portcullis groove, - which may or may not be original; more probably not. The covering—the - floor of the upper room—was no doubt of timber, and flat. The present - vaulting is an insertion. There was always an upper floor, but this - has been much altered, chiefly in the Decorated period. The old loops, - now blocked, may be traced. Some of the inserted windows are very - late. In the south part of the inner doorway was a door opening into a - mural stair leading to the upper floor and to the rampart-walk of the - curtain, which seems to have been continued through the gatehouse, over - the outer portal. The present staircase is exterior, and modern. This - is the whole of the original gatehouse, which, with the adjacent and - very thick curtain, is probably the work of Earl Roger.</p> - - <p>The gatehouse has been extended outwardly in the Decorated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span> period. - There is appended to it a crooked passage about 10 feet broad - and 40 feet long, between thick lateral walls. In its sides are - shoulder-headed doorways, which led into lodges and cells, and on the - south side is a well-staircase, ascending to the roof. The passage - is covered by a very flat-pointed vault. It ends in an outer doorway - having a drop arch, and opening between a pair of flanking towers, 20 - feet square, rising out of the ditch. These have sub-basement chambers - in the ditch, basements at the ground level, and two upper floors. In - the doorway is a very broad portcullis groove for a timber frame, and - in front was a drawbridge, now replaced by an arch of masonry. This - addition to the Norman gatehouse, making with it a very long covered - entrance-passage, is attributed to Earl Richard Fitz-Alan, on his - return from the wars of Edward I. In very modern times the floor of - the passage has been lowered about 3 feet, and the walls underpinned - by a plinth. The doors which are not in use have been left unaltered, - and show the original level of the sill. Probably the approach to this - entrance lay through an outer gate to the north-west, at the upper - part of the town, and across the large outwork, now a garden and a - carpenter’s yard.</p> - - <p>The <i>Keep</i> is a rounded shell of masonry, about 67 feet by 59 - feet in the internal cross diameter, and with walls, 8 feet to 10 feet - thick, and 20 feet high to the rampart-walk. It is built of rubble - masonry, the material chiefly Sussex stone and chalk, but faced outside - with small ashlar blocks of Caen stone, close jointed, and with flat - pilasters which die into the wall below the base of the parapet. The - entrance was by a rather large full-centred doorway to the south-east, - probably reached, as at Tickhill and Lincoln, by a flight of steps - up the mound, with a timber bridge at their base, as at York. This - doorway is not shown to visitors, but Tierney’s drawing represents it - as having a bold chevron moulding alternating with rolls or rounds, - common to the head and the jambs, and unbroken by imposts. Within, it - opened into a recess, also full centred, and having its angle replaced - by a bold roll. This, as at Lincoln, was the original entrance, and - it seems, though walled up, not to have been otherwise altered. Near - this doorway a well-stair has been formed in the wall, ascending from - the ground to the ramparts. It is evidently a Decorated insertion, of - the same date with a steep flight of steps and a vaulted subterraneous - chamber near the centre of the area, probably a cellar belonging to - the lodgings which, as at Windsor, were at one time built against the - wall all round, leaving a small open court, as at Tamworth and Ledes, - in the centre. That there were here such lodgings is evident from the - roof corbels in the wall, and that they, as at York, had an upper - floor, is shown by a late fireplace, which marks the upper level, and - the back of which is formed of tiles set on edge. The parapet was - about 8 feet high, and crenellated, and in each merlon was a loop, set - in an arched recess. In one merlon is a small full-centred recess, - evidently a garderobe. The present parapet seems a Decorated addition. - The keep stands, as does the mound, on the line<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span> of the main curtain, - which crosses the ditch from the gatehouse, and ascends the mound, - and has a similar continuation northwards. Where the south curtain - abuts upon the keep, there stands a broad irregular tower, of about 20 - feet in projection by 50 feet in breadth. This contains the well and - its chamber, the entrance from the curtain rampart, and an oratory. - The entrance is by a vaulted passage, with a portcullis groove at the - ground level of the keep. The curtain has a parapet on either face, - forming a covered way, and is commanded by a sort of balcony connected - with the keep. The well is of unusually large diameter, but not in - use. The chamber was at the surface level of the keep, into which it - opened by a full-centred doorway. There was also an upper chamber, - now ruined. This position of the well, on the outside of the keep, is - found elsewhere. At Wallingford it is on the slope, and at Cardiff - nearly at the foot of it. The oratory, or chapel of St. Martin, is a - small chamber of irregular plan at the first-floor level, and is placed - over the entrance passage. It has a large east window, altered at two - periods, and two smaller lateral windows, all now closed up. The roof - was of timber, and is gone. This oratory had a special endowment, - afterwards shifted and expanded in favour of the large chapel in the - lower ward. The details of this appendage show that, as at York and - Cardiff, it was an addition to the original shell, the ashlar face of - which is seen within one of the lower chambers. At Cardiff the added - tower was Perpendicular; at York, where it included a small chapel, - Early English. Here the addition seems Early Decorated. The chapel is - probably the St. Martin’s mentioned in Domesday, and in the Patent - Rolls of 1275, and was, of course, dismantled when the endowment - was shifted in 1375. The keep is mentioned at different periods as - Beaumont, Hautmont, and Grosmont, all names preserving its chief - characteristic.</p> - - <p>As the English “Aula” was probably on this mound, while the ashlar - exterior of its present wall is unquestionably later than the Conquest, - it has been supposed that the heart of the wall is original, and that - it was cased by the Norman architect. Of such casing there is, however, - no appearance. The entrance from the curtain seems to have been cut - through the wall, which has been thought there to show traces of early - masonry. The wall, however, appears all of one date, and that probably - late Norman, as is usual with shell keeps.</p> - - <p><i>Bevis Tower</i> stands upon the curtain and projects from its - outer face only. It stands on the north counterscarp of the ditch of - the mound, about 42 yards from the keep. It is square, and said to - be, in substance, of the age of the gatehouse, but it is not allowed - to be seen close. It is called a barbican, but its position scarcely - justifies its having been so intended. It looks more like an ordinary - mural tower. There is no communication from the keep with the curtain - on this side. North of this tower the earthworks of the upper ward - seem tolerably perfect, but a request to be allowed to visit them was - evidently regarded as a sort of treason.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span></p> - - <p>Besides the well attached to the keep was a second, now covered up, - in the middle of the lower ward. The habitable part of the castle is - mostly or entirely Howard work. Edward, the ninth duke, was a great - builder. He rebuilt Worksop, which was burned soon afterwards, in 1761, - and he founded Norfolk House in St. James’s Square. What he did here - does not appear. The present domestic buildings which line the lower - ward to the east, south, and west sides are, in substance, the work - of Duke Charles towards the close of the last century, or 1791–1806, - and have since been added to. They are what might be expected from the - period, and better than the rather earlier work at Alnwick, lately - removed. It is said that in the cellars, and built into the outer - walls, are parts of the earlier structure, some of Norman date. The - hall stood on the east curtain. It had a good Early English door, - destroyed in the present century. The hall itself was ruined during the - siege of 1643. The present grand entrance to the ward, to the south of - the original one, is entirely modern, as are the approach to it and - the outer gateway. So also is the Chapel of St. George, which stands - along the west wall. The chapel which preceded it, and was taken down - in 1796, was 40 feet long by 22 feet broad, and was endowed by Richard, - Earl of Arundel, in 1375, with spoils derived from Crecy. The domestic - buildings are said to have been augmented at the same time by wealth - from the same source. The ecclesiastical endowment, shifted from the - oratory of St. Martin to the Chapel of St. George in 1375, was, after - about a century, again shifted to the Fitz-Alan Collegiate Church, - without the walls.</p> - - <p>Arundel is a castle where, if anywhere, traces of English masonry - earlier than the Norman Conquest might be expected to be preserved, - and no doubt it is just possible that such may be found about the - foundations of the Norman walls. What is mainly remarkable about it is - the resemblance to Windsor in its general plan; the oblong inclosure - encroached upon from one side by the mound and its ditch, so as to - divide it into two wards, in one of which are domestic buildings. The - older part of the gatehouse, and parts of the curtain near it, may be - regarded as Early Norman, the work probably of Earl Roger. The keep - seems later, though also Norman. The additions to the gatehouse, the - well-tower, and the oratory are probably Decorated. What is wanted is - a correct ground-plan, which should include the outworks and the more - distant earthworks. The older walls should be critically examined, and - especially the basement of the domestic buildings.</p> - - <h3>HISTORY.</h3> - - <p>The Manor of Arundel, with others in this immediate neighbourhood, was - given by Alfred, by will (885), to his brother’s son. It was held by - Harold, and afterwards by William, who about or before 1070 granted to - Roger de Montgomery the castle and honour of Arundel, with 84½ knights’ - fees. Roger, who was of kin to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span> Conqueror, and commanded the Norman - centre at Hastings, became Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury, and held the - Castle about twenty-three years, till his death. Domesday describes the - Castle of Harundel as having, in the time of King Edward, paid annually - for the mill, 40s.; for three “convivia,” or entertainments, 20s.; and - “pro uno pasticio,” or pasty, 20s. There was also the church of St. - Nicholas, or the parish church, and St. Martin’s, probably the chapel - of the castle. There was also another mill which paid ten bushels of - corn. The burgh, port, and shipping paid £12 or more.</p> - - <p>It is curious that Arundel, Chichester, Shrewsbury, and the Norman - Manor whence Roger derived his territorial designation, each possessed - a mound. On William’s death in 1088, Earl Roger gave his support to - Robert Curthose, whom he invited to land at Arundel. The Prince’s - sluggishness alienated his English followers, and the Earl tendered his - aid to Rufus. At Earl Roger’s death, in 1094, he bequeathed his Sussex - earldom, called also “of Chichester,” to his younger son Hugh, the - Hugh Goch of the Welsh, who held both Arundel and Shrewsbury, stood in - opposition to William Rufus, and was slain while repelling pirates from - the north Welsh coast in 1098. His successor in the English earldom was - his eldest brother, who already held the family lordships in Normandy. - This was Robert, Earl of Belesme in la Perche, who received at Arundel - William Rufus on his arrival from Normandy in 1097.</p> - - <p>Earl Robert, the wicked son of a wicked mother, was a bold soldier, - and an able, though a very cruel man. He built with great rapidity the - strong castle of Brugge or Bridgenorth, and that of Montgomery, called - by the Welsh Tre-faldwin, from Baldwin, its early seneschal. His career - in England was violent and short. Bridgenorth was besieged and taken by - Henry I., who brought the wooden turret known as a malvoisin to bear - upon its walls. The Earl went into exile in 1102, and died in 1118.</p> - - <p>King Henry held Arundel till his death, when it passed in settlement to - his widow, Adeliza, daughter of Godfrey of Louvaine, Duke of Brabant. - The Queen Dowager married William d’Albini, a Norfolk noble, known - to chroniclers as “William with the strong hand,” the royal dapifer. - They received the Empress Maud at Arundel on her landing in 1139, with - her brother, the Earl of Gloucester, and in consequence had to stand - an attack from Stephen, to whom, it is said, Adeliza pleaded with - success the duties of hospitality, and Maud was allowed to retire to - Bristol. D’Albini, however, was, on the whole, a supporter of Stephen, - though with great judgment. He advised the accord between Stephen and - Henry in 1153, and signed the compact as “Earl of Chichester.” Henry, - on his accession, acknowledged the service by a grant of the earldom - of Arundel in fee with the third penny of the county of Sussex. Earl - William died in 1176. By Adeliza, who died in 1151, he left a son, - also William, the first of four generations of D’Albinis, and of five - persons who held the earldom of Arundel, or, as they called it,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span> of - Sussex. They were buried at Wymondham, their own foundation. Earl Hugh, - the eighth from the Conquest, died childless in 1243. Isabel, his - sister, carried on the succession, and married John Fitz-Alan, whose - son, on his uncle’s death, succeeded.</p> - - <p>This John, head of the great house of Fitz-Alan, Lords of Clun and - Oswaldestre, became the ninth earl, and died 1240. He was the first of - fourteen earls of the name who held the castle for twelve generations. - Of these, the elder line died out in the person of Thomas, fifteenth - earl, who died childless in 1415; but the succession was continued by - his cousin, Henry Fitz-Alan Lord Maltravers, who died 1580, leaving an - heiress, Mary, who married Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The later - Fitz-Alans lived much at Arundel, with which place they became closely - identified.</p> - - <p>Duchess Mary died 1557, and her husband in 1572. Their son, Philip, - became twenty-second earl, since when there have been in all ten - generations of Howards who have held the title of Arundel, the - present Duke of Norfolk being the thirty-fifth Norman earl, and the - thirty-second by descent from Queen Adeliza and William d’Albini.</p> - - <p>The castle of Arundel has not played any very important part in English - history. Its most famous event is the siege of 1643, when it was - besieged by Sir William Waller, who first attacked and took the town, - then defended by walls, and finally battered the castle from the tower - of the church, where he posted his guns. The siege lasted from the - 20th December, 1643, to the 6th of January following, when the place - surrendered, and with it the celebrated Chillingworth, who died shortly - after. The domestic buildings were then ruined, and seem so to have - remained until the last century.</p> - - <p>The town was walled round by Richard Fitz-Alan, who had a licence for - that work in 1295. There were two gates, one below and on the river, - the other called St. Mary’s, at the top of the town. The town wall - seems to have abutted upon the castle, which thus formed a part of its - defence.</p> - - <p>The present duke has built just outside the castle, and not far from - the parish church, a large church dedicated to San Filippo Neri, a very - noble structure, and fitted up with great simplicity and excellent - taste. Unfortunately, it is so placed as to detract materially from - the general aspect of the castle from the plain below. Placed a little - lower down, it would have left the castle as the predominant figure, - permitted the fine old parish church to hold its due place, and have - supported and elevated, instead of somewhat oppressing, the whole - group.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BARNARD">THE CASTLE OF BARNARD CASTLE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">BARNARD, or Bernard’s, Castle, so called from its founder, Bernard de - Baliol, stands in a commanding position on the left bank of the Tees, - here the boundary between Durham and Yorkshire. It is a large castle, - and was long a very important one, both from its position on the - frontier of the bishopric, and from the power of the great barons who - built and maintained it.</p> - - <p>The castle crowns the summit of a steep and in part precipitous - shelf of rock, which rises about 100 feet above the river, and has a - projecting shoulder, by means of which the north-western quarter of the - fortress is protected naturally by a cliff. The remainder of the area - was covered by a deep and broad artificial ditch, now mostly filled up, - which intervened between the east and north sides of the castle and - the contiguous town, to which it gave name, and the people of which, - in the times when the castle was maintained, looked to its lords for - protection. The north front of both town and castle received a further - defence from the Percy beck, a stream which flows into the Tees about - 450 yards higher up.</p> - - <p>The area of the castle, within the walls, is rather above 8 acres. In - plan it is oblong, having four unequal sides, averaging about 293 yards - north and south by 133 yards east and west. The east or town side, the - longest, is slightly convex, and measures 336 yards; the west, or that - upon the river, 245 yards; the north end, 160 yards; and the south - end, 110 yards. The Tees Bridge springs from the rocky bank, below the - centre of the western front, and was commanded from the battlements.</p> - - <p>The area is divided into four wards, of which the “outer” covers - rather more than its southern half, and the “town ward” about the - eastern half of the remainder. The other, or north-western quarter, is - again subdivided pretty equally into a “middle” ward, and a northern - or “inner” ward. The whole area and the several wards are protected, - where necessary, by walls and ditches. The curtain along the cliff - seems to have been a mere parapet, save where, as in the inner ward, it - supported interior buildings. The walls generally vary up to 30 feet - in height, and from 4 feet to 5 feet in thickness. The outer ditch - of the place, also the town ditch, commenced in a deep ravine close - north of the keep, and was carried along the north front, skirting - what are called “the Flats”; thence along the east front, between the - wall and the town, and thence round the south end, and so beneath a - part of the west front, until it is lost in the steep ground near the - bridge, having been altogether nearly 700 yards in length. From this - ditch branched a second, which traversed the place east and west, from - the town ditch to the river bank, and which, placed to the south of a - cross-wall, was the defence of the three northern wards from the outer - ward.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span></p> - - <p>Another ditch, commencing in the ravine below the keep, runs north and - south, and joined the preceding ditch, and thus protected the inner and - middle wards from the town ward. Finally, from this branched another - and still shorter ditch, which ran east and west into the river bank, - and formed the defence of the inner from the middle ward; so that each - curtain had its separate ditch. All the ditches are shown in Grose’s - plan, but the town ditch, though to be traced, has been filled up - and built upon. The deepest and broadest of the whole, and it is a - formidable excavation, is that proper to the inner ward, something of - the elevation of which is due to the heaping up of the contents of the - ditch. These ditches seem all to have been dry. They are traversed - at their ends by the curtains, and in three places, where the north - curtain closes the end of the inner-ward ditch, and where the other - end ran out upon the river slope, and where the east curtain closes - the great cross ditch, are arched openings in the curtain at the level - of the bottom of the ditch. Grose also shows a fourth arch in the wall - of the middle ward. These were either drains or posterns. They are so - nearly buried that only the tops of some of them are seen. Grose calls - them doors, and they may be so. They seem original.</p> - - <p>The <i>enceinte</i> of the outer ward seems to have been a mere - buttressed and embattled wall, of no very great strength. This ward - could only have been held by a very strong garrison. It was probably - designed, like the Scottish barmkin, to afford a refuge for the - townfolk and their cattle, supposing the town to be taken by an enemy. - In the event of a serious siege it would probably have been abandoned. - Leland speaks of a fair chapel and two chantries in the first area, - with monuments said to be of the Baliols. They were probably in this - ward. There was a gate from the town in the east front, opposite the - market-place, probably at the present entrance, and an inner gate, at - the north-west corner, of which some traces remain, and which led into - the middle ward. The drawbridge of this gate is replaced by a causeway - of earth, closing the end of the ditch. The slight defence of this - outer ward is consistent with the stanzas in the old ballad of the - “Rising of the North”:—</p> - - <div class="center-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i0">“That Baron to his castle fled,</div> - <div class="i3">To Barnard Castle then fled hee.</div> - <div class="i1">The uttermost walles were eathe to win,</div> - <div class="i3">The Earles have won them presentlie.</div> - <div class="i1">The uttermost walles were lime and bricke;</div> - <div class="i3">But thoughe they wan them soon anone,</div> - <div class="i1">The innermost walles they could not win,</div> - <div class="i3">For they were cut in rocke of stone.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <p class="noindent">The baron was Sir George Bowes, who held the castle for eleven days - against the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland in 1569, and then, - according to some accounts, capitulated on fair terms. Probably Percy - beck was then so named.</p> - - <p>The town ward, occupying the north-east quarter of the area, much less - extensive than the outer ward, was more strongly fortified. Upon its - east curtain are the remains of a rectangular building, projecting - inwards from the wall, and known as Brackenbury’s Tower. There was - also a square tower at the north-east angle. On the north front is a - half-round tower, projecting from the wall, and serving to flank a - large round-headed doorway, evidently a main entrance from the north, - independent of the town. The arch of this portal is composed of three - rings of voussoirs, each chamfered, of excellent ashlar, but without - ornament. The jambs are also chamfered. They have a plain impost also - chamfered, but with a sort of bead-moulding underneath. There is no - portcullis. This seems to have been the middle or inner doorway of a - regular rectangular gatehouse, the lines of the side walls of which are - indicated by toothings on each side of the door. There are remains of - similar lateral walls within. With the gatehouse, the drawbridge is, of - course, gone, and the ditch has been filled up.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i206"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span> - <div class="caption">BARNARD CASTLE.</div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_206.jpg" alt="" /> - - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>A. Inner Ward.</li> - <li>B. Middle Ward.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>C. Town Ward.</li> - <li>D. Outer Ward.</li> - <li>E. North Gate.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>F. Brackenbury’s Tower.</li> - <li>G. Round Tower.</li> - </ul> - </div> - - <p>West of this Norman gate, and standing on the counterscarp of the ditch - of the inner ward, opposite to the keep, a shoulder in the curtain is - occupied by a small rectangular tower, in substance Norman, whence the - curtain, of great height and strength, closing the north end of the - ditch, runs up to the keep. In its base, in the bottom of the ditch, - is seen the upper part of one of the round-headed openings already - noticed. This is of 4 feet span, and more like a postern than a drain.</p> - - <p>The area of this town ward is occupied as a kitchen-garden, and part - of it is locked up, and entry refused. The curtains seem substantially - Norman. Grose shows the remains of a drawbridge between this and the - middle ward, and no doubt there must have been some such communication.</p> - - <p>The middle ward seems to have contained stables and offices, now - destroyed. Its communication with the outer and town wards has been - mentioned. It had also a drawbridge, superseded by an earthen causeway, - at its north-west corner, leading into the inner ward. It is difficult - to say whether the ditch was here run out upon the face of the cliff, - and has since been filled up, for a cottage has been built on the slope - outside, and effectually conceals the point for examination. Grose, - however, indicates a doorway in the ditch here, as at the other end, - and in the cross-wall dividing this from the town ward.</p> - - <p>The inner ward is the most perfect and really curious part of the - castle. It is in level about 30 feet above the rest, commands the whole - area, and predominates grandly over the Tees. It contains the keep, - northern tower, the domestic buildings between them, the curtains - and buttresses, and the remains of the gatehouse. The keep caps the - north-east angle, and is half within and half without the curtain. It - is a very grand piece of masonry, built of blocks of coarse red grit - of moderate size, square and coursed, with rather open joints. It is - circular, about 40 feet diameter, and about 50 feet high to the base - of the parapet, now gone. It rises from the rock. Its base for about - 6 feet batters slightly, but above that it is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span> cylindrical. It is - absolutely without ornament, and there is not even the usual cordon to - mark the top of the base. The loops are of unusual length, and slightly - dovetailed at the lower end; never cruciform. The original openings - are mostly square-headed, and without mouldings or labels. One large - window, high up, towards the north, is round-headed, and probably - original. Towards the town ward is a five-light late Tudor window, an - insertion. Probably the parapet rested on bold corbels, but, if so, - they are gone. There are no strut-holes nor indications of a bretasche. - Though circular above and towards the field, the southern or interior - face is capped by a bold spur, a pyramid cut diagonally, with the apex - dying into the round wall about four-fifths of the way up. This spur - contains a mural chamber. It is much shattered.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow74" id="i208"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_208.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE KEEP, BARNARD CASTLE.</div> - </div> - - <p>The keep is cylindrical within, and has a basement and three upper - floors. All its original openings seem to have been either flat or - round-headed. There is no original pointed arch; that over the main - door is clearly an insertion. The basement is on the ground level, - about 20 feet diameter, and the walls about 10 feet thick, and it is - covered in with a flattish dome of inferior rubble, but pro<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span>bably - original. On the south side are traces of a fireplace, of which the - vertical tunnel remains in the wall. The entrance-door is on the - west side, and so also is the main door. It is much broken, and - has at present a late flat-pointed arch, but it seems to have been - round-headed. It opened not, as now, from the court, but from the - passage-room leading to the postern. In the outer wall, a couple of - yards to the right of the door, is a recess like a sepulchre in the - keep wall, and in it is laid a stone coffin, probably found in the - outer ward. The recess may have been a seat; it can scarcely have - been a tomb. The entrance-door has no portcullis. In its left jamb a - flat-topped mural passage, 3 feet wide, leads into a garderobe which - projects outwards between the keep and the curtain, and has a short - exterior loop. The shaft of a garderobe in the floor above so drops - that it is evident that here, as at Corfe, there was a wooden partition - within it.</p> - - <p>Entering the keep, on the right a door leads up half a dozen steps into - the north side of what is called the guard-chamber, a barrel-vaulted - room, 14 feet east and west, by 7 feet, with a loop to the south. This - looks very much like an oratory, though it is a passage-room. It is - contained partly within the spur buttress, and is evidently the cause - of that appendage. From near the west end of the chamber, a second door - leads by a mural stair, 3 feet broad, to the first floor, a circular - chamber, 21 feet diameter, with walls about 8 feet 6 inches thick. This - stair opens by a narrow, round-headed door in the jamb of a doorway, - also round-headed, which seems to have led from this floor into the - “great chamber,” the withdrawing-room of the hall. In the opposite door - jamb, a similar door leads by a mural passage to a garderobe above that - already mentioned.</p> - - <p>The first floor was evidently the state-room. It has traces of a - fireplace to the south side, but the hood is gone, and opposite to - it is a round-headed window of 4 feet opening, looking up the Tees. - Another window, probably of the same pattern, looked towards the tower - ward. This has been altered to suit a Tudor five-light flat-topped - window. This seems to have been called “My Lady’s Chamber.”</p> - - <p>In the left-hand jamb of the north window, now much broken, another - narrow door opens on a mural stair, 2 feet 6 inches broad, which, - following the curve of the wall, and lighted by small loops, led up to - the battlements, opening, on the way, upon the second floor, of which - the floor and roof, both of timber, are now gone. This floor also had - a fireplace, and a sort of magnified loop, which did duty as a door, - and opened upon the battlements of the hall, and led also to a third - garderobe, corbelled out above the other two. This has an open vent, - while the shaft of the other two descends within the wall to a sewer, - the arched mouth of which is just visible at the foot of the wall, - outside.</p> - - <p>There seems also to have been a square-headed opening in the stair, to - give a way to the top of the ward-curtain, of which the allure was 2 - feet 6 inches wide, having a parapet of 3 feet, and a rerewall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span> of 2 - feet. As the parapet of the keep is gone, the stair terminates abruptly - at the level of the rampart wall, where the wall is 7 feet 6 inches - thick; and thence is a good view of the castle and town, and of one of - the most lovely reaches of the Tees. In 1592 this keep was roofed with - lead. The roof was probably always flat.</p> - - <p>Mortham Tower capped the north-west angle of the ward, rising from the - rock high above the river. It is a mere fragment. It seems to have been - of irregular plan, built to fit on to the hollow bend of an existing - wall. When it was built, it was thought prudent to strengthen the wall - by stout exterior buttresses. The original wall is Norman. The first - built part of the tower seems to have been Early English, and its - completion Decorated.</p> - - <p>The space between Mortham Tower and the keep was occupied by the - hall and withdrawing-rooms, the latter being next the keep. The hall - was on the first floor, as shown by its two windows in the curtain. - These are of two lights, with a transom and trefoiled heads, and an - oval quatrefoil in the head. They are placed in recesses with plain - segmental arches, and side seats of stone. They are of the best - Decorated period, and evidently insertions into an older wall, which - has also been strengthened with Decorated buttresses.</p> - - <p>Between the hall and the keep were, on the ground-floor, passages - leading on the left to what was probably a cellar below the hall, and - on the right into the keep, while at its end is a small square-headed - postern in the curtain, still in use. Above this passage was the - withdrawing-room, placed between the hall and the state floor of the - keep; and the window of this room, in the curtain, is the well-known - bay which displays in its soffit the “bristly boar” of Richard III. The - window is projected over the postern, upon bold corbels and is mainly - of good Perpendicular date, but the superstructure has been altered - and debased by some very poor Tudor work, similar to the window in the - keep, and possibly due to Sir George Bowes. This was called “The Great - Chamber” in 1592.</p> - - <p>Its gatehouse occupied the south-west angle of this ward, and was - built on the edge of the cliff. The remains of it are very scanty. The - curtain between it and Mortham Tower seems to have been a mere parapet, - cresting the cliff.</p> - - <p>The curved curtain connecting the gatehouse with the keep, and covering - the two landward faces of the ward, is tolerably perfect. It is - strengthened by an exterior buttress and a small tower. This latter, - which is placed near the angle of the curtain, towards the keep, - contains a basement and upper chamber, both vaulted, though of the - latter, which was at the rampart level, only some fragments remain. - This tower is rectangular, but the angles are chamfered off. It has no - internal projection, and outside, against each of its three faces, is - applied a Decorated buttress of 2 feet 6 inches breadth, by 3 feet 6 - inches projection at the base. Each is of three stages, and dies into - the wall near its summit. Between this tower and the keep is a large - buttress, apparently hollow, possibly for the pipe of a garderobe. This - also is a Decorated addition. Near it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span> the curtain has a flat Norman - pilaster strip, but of three stages. It is 4 feet broad, and diminishes - from 18 inches to 6 inches projection. It also dies into the wall near - the top.</p> - - <p>It is not unlikely, from the aspect of the inner ward, that this was - a fortress of the tenth century, composed of a cliff on two sides, a - ditch on the other two, and a centre more or less nearly circular, and - artificially scarped; in fact, a motte, upon which stood the original - stronghold. The outer ditches may be of the same date, but from their - figure and plan they are more likely to have been a later, probably a - Norman, addition. Their contents are thrown inward so as to form a ramp - behind the wall.</p> - - <p>It is evident that the whole area of the castle, as it now stands, was - inclosed by the Normans, and the walls throughout and nearly all the - towers are latish in that style. Here and there, spread over the whole - <i>enceinte</i>, are remains of Norman work. The pilaster strips on the - inner curtain, the arches in the several ditches, the square tower and - gate on the north curtain, Brackenbury’s Tower, and much of the wall - towards the town are original. In the inner ward the base of Mortham - Tower, and the half-round mural tower near the north gate, are probably - Early English. The keep, the fragments of the hall, the south-east - tower of the inner ward, and most of the remains of other buildings are - evidently Decorated. The original walls were mostly of sound rubble, - with ashlar dressings. In the Decorated work ashlar was more freely - used. - </p> - - <p>The castle must have undergone almost a rebuilding in the Decorated - period. The Norman architect evidently treated the whole inner ward - as a shell keep. His successors added part of Mortham Tower, and the - Decorated artist, more ambitious, raised the round tower as a keep, - added—probably rebuilding—the hall, and completed Mortham Tower, and - strengthened or restored the curtain in various places.</p> - - <p>Here, as was much the practice in the North, the round-headed arch - and the flat lintel were largely employed in the Decorated period. - The general style of the work is much to be admired. Strong, sound, - massive, very plain, of excellent execution, it is in admirable taste, - and in good keeping with a military structure. The keep, though not - one of the largest, is one of the finest round towers in England. Its - proportions are good, its materials of proper size and rich colour, and - its very plainness is indicative of strength.</p> - - <p>There is but little Perpendicular work; probably it was of a lighter - character, and has fallen and been removed.</p> - - <p>Whatever may be regarded as the value of the material evidence of - its earthworks, the notion of Bernard Castle occupying the site of - an earlier stronghold is unsupported by records. The present town is - thought to have risen on the fall of Marwood, a place the very site of - which is now forgotten; neither is it a parish, being included in the - vast parish of Gainford, the church of which is eight miles distant. - From Domesday no aid is to be derived, seeing that this valuable record - does not include Durham, nor is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span> there any mention of either Marwood - or Gainford, still less of the castle, in Hugh Pudsey’s Domesday of - Durham, the Boldon Book, compiled in 1133, for this is confined to the - bishopric, within which the Baliol fee was not at that time included.</p> - - <p>Guy de Baliol received from William Rufus the Barony of Bywell, in - Northumberland, and either from that king, or his father, the lordship - of Gainford, of which he gave the church to St. Mary’s, at York.</p> - - <p>Bernard, his son and successor, was a distinguished adherent of - Stephen, but lived into the reign of Henry II., and was one of those - who broke up the siege of Alnwick, by the Scots, in 1174, before which - time he probably built Barnard Castle. He also seems to have built the - church, or rather chapel, of Barnard Castle town, and gave it also - to St. Mary’s. He was succeeded by another Bernard, father of Hugh, - father of John de Baliol, founder of Baliol College, Oxford, and of St. - John’s Hospital, in Barnard Castle town, and regent of Scotland. He was - born in the castle. He married Devorgoil, a co-heir of Alan, Lord of - Galloway, from whom their son, another John, inherited the deadly claim - to the throne of Scotland, which he made good, after a fashion, in - 1292. He lost his English estates, and died at Château-Gaillard in 1314.</p> - - <p>Edward, his son, became king of Scotland, 1332, but was expelled in - 1341, and died childless in 1363.</p> - - <p>On the attainder of John de Baliol, Bishop Bek claimed Barnard Castle, - probably unjustly, as belonging to the See. As early as 1301 he had - seized upon it, and he held it for some time, and to his tenure are - attributed the keep and other additions in the style prevailing at - the period. Edward I., however, granted it to Guy Beauchamp, Earl of - Warwick, who cared little for episcopal claims, which took the form of - protests from several successive bishops.</p> - - <p>The castle remained in the Earls of Warwick, Beauchamps and Nevilles, - for five descents, and here Thomas Beauchamp founded an Augustin - Priory about 1381. How it came to be held for a time by the Earls of - Westmoreland of the other line of the Nevilles does not appear. It - finally, however, vested in Richard Duke of Gloucester, who repaired - it, and left his cognisance upon it, as has been stated. On his - death it remained in the Crown until it was sold, and after various - vicissitudes became the property of the ancestor of the Duke of - Cleveland. It was dismantled in 1630, when the spoil of the great hall - was carried to Raby.</p> - - <p>The bridge across the Tees is a fine one, of two lofty pointed arches, - said to have been rebuilt in the last century. The arches are moulded - in three sets-off, and beneath, each arch is supported by five bold - ribs. If modern, the old type is well followed.</p> - - <p>In the adjacent church there are some old parts. There is a good ornate - south door with flanking columns and capitals, round-headed, with a - chevron moulding on the arch. The opening is wider than usual. The - style is late Norman. The base of the tower is set round with several - short Early English buttresses. About 12 feet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span> west of the tower, in - the churchyard, are laid several large blue gravestones of a quality - not now used. They seem to have carried brasses, are much worn, and - have evidently been removed from the interior of this church or the - castle chapel. Under one, on which remains a merchant’s mark, is buried - Sir John Hullock, a Baron of the Exchequer, who died July 31st, 1829, - and his wife, who died November 18th, 1852.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BEAUMARIS">BEAUMARIS CASTLE, IN ANGLESEY.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">BEAUMARIS Castle is built upon a marshy flat, close to the sea-shore, - and but little above the level of the sea, from which its ditch was - supplied. It is an example of a purely concentric fortress, in which - the engineer was left free to design his works without being governed, - as in most other cases, by the irregularities of the ground.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow65" id="i213"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_213.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><i>Ground Plan.<br />Beaumaris Castle.</i></div> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span></p> - - <p>Its inner ward is a quadrangle about 50 yards square, contained within - four curtain-walls about 16 feet thick and 40 to 50 feet high. At the - angles are four drum-towers, three-quarters engaged, of the height - of the curtains. On the east and west sides are intermediate towers, - half-round, with prolonged sides, of which that to the east, as at - Kidwelly, contains the chapel. In the centre of the north and south - sides are the gatehouses, of large size and something higher than the - other towers. In each a quadrangular part projects into the court, - capped at the two angles by round turrets containing staircases. - Outside, half-round towers with prolonged sides flank the entrance. The - ground-plan here given shows the general arrangement.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i214"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_214.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attl"><i>C. A. Buckler.</i></div> - <div class="caption"><i>Entrance to Beaumaris Castle.</i></div> - </div> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i215"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_215.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">BEAUMARIS CASTLE: ANGLESEY:</div> - </div> - - <p>The great hall, 70 feet by 23 feet 6 inches, occupies most of the first - floor of the northern gatehouse, and is lighted from the court by - five windows, of two lights each, with a transom, as at Stokesley and - Ludlow, contemporary halls. The fireplace was on the opposite side. The - roof was of timber, but with one stone rib, as at Charing. The southern - gatehouse probably also contained a large chamber, now destroyed. The - state-rooms and lodgings were in the gatehouses. The portals were of - unusual length, and each was guarded by three grates.</p> - - <p>The curtains are pierced lengthways by long mural passages, - communicating with the tower chambers and the staircases, of which - there are many. The rampart walk is of unusual breadth. Under a part - of the wall, south of the chapel, the lowest mural gallery is a large - sewer.</p> - - <p>The chapel, on the first floor, though not much above the ground level, - is a beautiful little chamber, entered at its west end from the court - by a flight of steps and a short passage traversing the mural gallery. - On each side is a vestry. The actual entrance to the chapel is by a - double door, trefoiled. The chapel is composed of two bays with a - polygonal apse. The whole is groined, and the walls are panelled in two - stages all round. There are five lancet loops opening upon the face of - the tower, and two windows opening into the chapel, from the vestries. - The chapel stands on a crypt, also vaulted.</p> - - <p>Outside the south gatehouse a sort of barbican, a hollow square of - masonry, has been erected, having an entrance on its west side. It is - an addition intended to prevent the portal being raked or carried with - a rush.</p> - - <p>The ward above described stands detached within the outer ward. This is - in figure eight-sided, symmetrical, or nearly so. At its four principal - angles, opposite the angles of the inner ward, are four drum-towers, - three-quarters engaged. From these towers the walls slope outwards, so - as to form salient angles, of which there are thus four, one opposite - to the centre of each face of the inner ward, and thus space is given - for the gatehouses, the chapel, and its opposite tower. Each salient is - capped by a drum-tower, and on each of the sides forming the salient - is a smaller tower. There are altogether twelve towers, three of the - spaces and one angle being otherwise occupied. These outer towers and - curtains are much lower and slighter than those of the inner ward.</p> - - <p>There are two gates. The north gate seems never to have been completed, - but its remains are very peculiar. There is a main portal in the - curtain, and on each side of it a small portal or postern. Outside are - four bold but narrow buttresses, one on each side of the main gate, - and one outside each of the side gates. The western buttress is of - bolder projection than the rest, and is evidently in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span>tended to cover - and conceal a sally from the quarter whence the Welsh were most likely - to approach. Each buttress is looped, the two inner ones so as to - command the main from the side entrances. The southern entrance is also - peculiar, and has a gatehouse and outwork of its own. The gatehouse, - shown in the drawing here given, has two towers on quadrangular bases, - corbelled out so as to rise to drum summits, producing a fine effect. - This outer gate opens upon the sea-shore. Behind, or to its west, was - the walled tower. Towards the east it was protected by a spur-work; a - long curtain wall, running on from the exterior wall of the castle to - the sea-shore, of great thickness, and pierced by a long gallery below, - and having above a rampart walk, parapeted on each face. The passage - is looped each way and strengthened by a half-round tower on its west - face. It seems to have ended in a round tower, now removed. The object - of this work was to cover the landing of supplies from the sea, and - to prevent an enemy from the east side from creeping round by the - sea-shore and so surprising either the castle or the town. The spur has - been pierced by a modern archway.</p> - - <p>The birdseye view given shows the castle from its south-eastern angle. - The root of the spur-work is shown, the outside of the chapel tower - with its lancet windows, and the windows of the great hall. There was - but one ditch, which embraced the whole structure, and is now filled up.</p> - - <p>Beaumaris was probably commenced about 1295, twelve years after the - execution of Prince David, and later than Conway, Caernarvon, and - Harlech. On the subjugation of Wales it ceased to be of importance, and - even in the reign of Edward II. it was out of repair.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BEDFORD">BEDFORD CASTLE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">ON the left bank of the Ouse, about 50 yards from the stream, within, - but upon the eastern edge of, the town, is to be found all that remains - of the once-celebrated and very strong castle of Bedford. These - remains, though scanty and confined, or nearly so, to earthworks, are - very marked and of a durable character, and, although the fame of the - castle rests upon its adventures as a Norman fortress, there is reason - to suppose that it had an earlier history, and that most of its present - relics belong to that earlier and Saxon period.</p> - - <p>The principal work is a motte or mound of earth, wholly artificial, - placed upon the gravelly plain across which the Ouse winds its way - down the broad band of the middle oolite. This mound is circular, now - about 15 feet high and 150 feet in diameter at its summit,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span> which is - perfectly level, and has for above half a century been employed as - a bowling-green. The slopes are uniform and moderately steep, and - planted with trees and shrubs. On the north side, or that farthest from - the river, an excavation has been made for an ice-house; but this is - of modern date, and does not appear to have laid open any traces of - masonry below the surface of the ground.</p> - - <p>Towards the river, and westwards towards the town bridge about a - furlong above the castle, the ground is perfectly flat, and under - cultivation as a garden; but, on the north and north-east it is rather - higher, and here are traces of a ditch at the foot of, and concentric - with, the mound, and no doubt a part of its defence upon this its - weaker side.</p> - - <p>The only masonry that can possibly be old is a small rectangular - mass on the south side of the mound, and which now carries a modern - summer-house. The ragstone of the country, of which this fragment is - comprised, weathers so rapidly that it is difficult to form an opinion - upon its age; but, though possibly old, it may be of recent date.</p> - - <p>Looking to the position of the mound as regards the river, and to the - low and flat character of the ground about it, it is evident that the - great strength of the place must have been derived from the Ouse, here - deep and broad, and from banks of earth and ditches filled from and - communicating with the river. The entire absence of masonry and the - disappearance of all but a trace of the surrounding banks and ditches, - commemorated in the Chronicles as once so high and deep, are fully - accounted for by the circumstances recorded of the famous siege by - Henry III.</p> - - <p>Bedicanford, or Bedford, was well known to the Saxons, and a town - probably of Saxon origin. Here, just outside the town, was buried in - 796 the Saxon Offa, king of Mercia, in a chapel long since swept away - by the flood waters of the Ouse. Early in the tenth century the town - was attacked by a party of Danish settlers from the five burghs, who - were beaten off by the townspeople, and shortly afterwards Edward the - elder repaired the place, and erected what some call the suburb of - Mikesgate, and some a strong place, on the southern side of the river, - possibly a cover for the “ford,” which contributed towards the name - of the town. Bedford was, without doubt, an important town under the - Saxons, and, as at Tamworth, Leicester, Wareham, and Wallingford, had a - citadel at one angle of the enclosure, upon the river.</p> - - <p>The Barony, also called the Honour, of Bedford, was conferred by - William Rufus upon Payn, second son, but eventual heir of Hugh - Beauchamp, a companion of the Conqueror, and possibly allied to the - greater family of that name, who afterwards held the earldom of - Warwick. Hugh was the recipient of many manors in Buckingham, and about - twenty in Bedfordshire. Payn is the reputed builder of the Norman - castle, described as of great strength, with ditches and ramparts of - earth, and which descended to his son Simon, steward to King Stephen. - The family, however, afterwards took part against<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span> the king, who seems - to have attempted to settle the fief upon the daughter of the eldest - brother, married to Hugh, surnamed “Pauper,” brother to the Earl of - Leicester. Milo de Beauchamp held the castle against King Stephen in - 1137. The siege lasted five weeks, and was pressed with great energy. - It was finally taken by starvation. The author of the “Gesta Stephani” - describes the castle as having strong earthworks, “editissimo aggere - vallatum.”</p> - - <p>Simon de Beauchamp held the castle through the reigns of Henry II. and - Richard I., until his death, about the 8th of John. It appears from the - red book of the Exchequer that he held 36 and 5–10ths knight fees of - the old feoffment, and 8 fees of the new, all in the barony of Bedford. - In his time the castle seems to have been held against Henry II. since - in the second year of that king, 1155–6, those burgesses of Bedford who - were in the castle against the king were fined twenty marks, of which - sum they rendered account in 1157–8. In 1190 Simon fined £100 for the - governorship of the castle.</p> - - <p>William, son and successor of Simon, is described as lord of the strong - castle of Bedford, the “caput” of the Honour. He took part with the - rebel barons towards the close of John’s reign, and in 1215 admitted - their forces into his castle. In consequence it was attacked by the - well-known Falk de Breauté, and, not being relieved, was surrendered - in November, after a seven days’ siege. John was himself present at - Bedford thrice in that year, in all for eight days. He granted the - confiscated Honour to Falk.</p> - - <p>Falk strengthened and held the castle into the reign of Henry III., and - thence ravaged the country below the Chilterns. At first a supporter - of the young king, he afterwards resisted his authority, and, at the - instance of his oppressed neighbours, Henry de Braibroc was sent to - Dunstable in 8th Henry III., 1224, to try their complaints, when thirty - verdicts were found against the baron, and fines imposed of £100 under - each of them. In revenge, Falk kidnapped the judge and lodged him a - prisoner in Bedford Castle, treating him with much indignity. His - wife complained to the Parliament then at Northampton, and the king - ordered him to give up the judge, but in vain. Henry was probably - glad of the opportunity of crushing a very turbulent subject, and - appears to have lost no time in punishing the affront. In June, 1224, - commenced a series of orders, issued by the king himself, and which - show the greatness of his preparations for a siege, and the vigour - with which he pushed them forward. On the 22nd of June, Henry was at - Bedford in person, and there remained during the siege until the 19th - of August, nearly two months. The preparations were both extensive and - minute, and the mandates, always described as pressing, were issued - to a vast number of sheriffs and other persons as far south and west - as Corfe Castle and St. Briavels. They require men, money, arrears of - scutage, cord, cable, iron, steel, hides, leather for slings, twine - for strings, mangonels, petraries, balistæ, quarrells, stone shot, - quarrymen, masons, miners, carpenters, saddlers, wagons for conveying - the royal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span> pavilions, and almonds, spice, and ginger for the royal - still-room. All the smiths in Northampton who can forge quarrell bolts, - or feather them when forged, are to work day and night until 4,000 are - ready and despatched. Large quantities of wine from the royal stores in - London, at Northampton, and elsewhere, are to be forwarded with speed - to Bedford. Knights performing castle guard at Lancaster are ordered - up: greyhounds are sent for for sport. The sheriff of Bedfordshire is - to supply quarrymen and masons with their levers, hammers, mauls, and - wedges, and everything necessary for the preparation of stone shot for - the mangonels and petraries. Miners come from St. Briavels, in the - Forest of Dean. Windsor supplies its master-carpenter and his mates. - Cambridge sends cord and cable. Charcoal comes with the iron and steel - from Gloucester, and the adjacent abbey of Newenham spares a large - quantity of raw stone to be converted into shot.</p> - - <p>The details of the material supplied are recorded in the close rolls of - the period. The particulars of the siege itself have been preserved by - the neighbouring monks of Dunstable, from whose town, and probably from - whose monastery, the judge had been taken, and whose fellow-townsmen - played an important part in the siege. The king brought with him the - Archbishop of Canterbury and divers bishops and abbots, by whose - interest was granted to him two men from every hyde of their church - lands to work the siege engines; an aid of “carucage” or a mark from - each caruca or plough land of demesne, and 2s. from each held in - tenancy, gifts which were guarded against being drawn into a precedent - by special charter from the king.</p> - - <p>Falk left his brother to abide the attack, and sought aid on the lands - of the Earl of Chester, Ranulph Blundeville. The earl, however, was - with the king, together with Peter de Rupibus, bishop of Winchester, - William de Cantelupe, Brian de l’Isle, and Peter de Maulay. All were - suspected of disaffection, and in consequence the earl and the bishop - left the camp, although the earl was afterwards brought by the Bishop - of Chester to his duty. Falk remained at Northampton until he fled to - Wales.</p> - - <p>The siege operations included on the east front a petrary and two - mangonels, which daily battered the opposite tower; on the west front, - two mangonels bore upon the old tower; on the north and south fronts - were two mangonels, one on each, and each breached its opposing wall. - The operations of these seven pieces of ordnance were materially aided - by two large wooden turrets, tall enough to command the whole castle, - and supported by other smaller turrets, all charged with archers and - crossbow-men. There was also the timber covered-way, known as a cat, - by the aid of which miners were able to undermine the wall, while the - bowmen cleared the battlements above. These works were thickly covered - with hides, rendering them proof against fire; and the slingers, of - whom there were many, probably kept up a general and incessant shower - of pebbles upon all who dared to show themselves on the ramparts.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span></p> - - <p>The works were stormed by four vigorous assaults. First the barbican - was taken, with a loss of four or five of the assailants. Then entrance - was effected into the outer ward. This was the work of the men of - Dunstable, and was attended with severe loss. In this ward were stored - most of the munitions of the place,—arms, horses and harness, cattle, - bacon and live hogs. Much forage was here burned, with the houses and - sheds in the ward.</p> - - <p>The miners next underworked the wall next the old tower, which wall - fell. The resistance here appears to have been obstinate, many lives - were lost upon the breach, and ten of the most forward assailants were - taken and carried into the interior of the place.</p> - - <p>Finally, on the vigil of the Assumption, 14th August, about the hour - of vespers, the miners having undermined the foundations of the old - tower, fired the props. The walls split, the smoke rose, and, the place - being no longer tenable, the garrison hoisted the royal banner, and - surrendered, sending out De Braibroc with the wife of Falk, and the - other women. Next morning the king took possession. William de Breauté - and the garrison were put upon their trial, and he and about eighty - of his men were hanged out of hand. Three were allowed to join the - Templars in Palestine, and the castle chaplain was delivered over to - the archbishop as the spiritual power. It appears from the records that - the remainder of the garrison escaped with fines and confiscations. - The spoil was considerable, in treasure, provisions, and munitions of - war. Henry left for Kemeston (Kempston) on the 18th, but was again at - Bedford on the 19th, and at Dunstable on the 26th of August. Even when - flushed by success he seems not to have been severe upon those not - actually implicated. Alice, widow of the executed William de Breauté, - was allowed her dower-lands in Bedford and Cumberland. On the 19th and - on the 22nd, Margaret, wife of Falk, was allowed for her subsistence - the manors of Heyford and Sabridgeworth. Gilbert de Breauté also was - allowed a manor; and Falk, the author of all the mischief, had twenty - marks allowed for his personal expenses on his way to exile.</p> - - <p>Immediately upon the surrender, Henry broke up the siege establishment. - Nine hundred quarrels, the residue of the 4,000, were returned to - Northampton, and the sheriff of Beds is debited with the remaining - iron, charcoal, &c., collected for the siege operations. The mangonels - and heavy artillery were to be taken to pieces and returned to - Northampton Castle. Various payments were also made and rewards given, - chiefly out of the confiscated De Breauté lands. John de Standon, the - king’s miner from the Forest of Dean, had land granted him under St. - Briavels.</p> - - <p>The castle itself was far too strong and too dangerous to be spared, - and the orders for its destruction are very sweeping and specific. By - an order of the 20th of August, five days after the surrender, the - sheriff is ordered to level the banks, fill up the ditches, and make - plane the surface of the outer ward. He is to reduce the mote or mound, - and the walls of the inner ward by one-half their height, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span> to level - three-fourths of the old tower towards St. Paul’s, that is on the - north-west. The stones are to be divided between William de Beauchamp - for his proposed house, the church of St. Paul, Bedford, and the - priories of Caldwell and Newenham; but the last is to have the larger - share, because it supplied stones for shot for the siege.</p> - - <p>Five days later came out another order enforcing the former, and - directing Henry de Braibroc and William de Pateshull to see to its - prompt and accurate execution. It was also specified that William de - Beauchamp might, if he pleased, build a dwelling-house on the site, - and use the reduced wall of the inner ward, but he was not to raise - the mound or the wall above a certain height, or to embattle it. He - might only erect it. Braibroc is to see the stone from both walls and - mound distributed as directed. September 16th, the sheriffs of Herts, - Cambridge, and Hunts were ordered to send men to aid Braibroc and - Pateshull in the work of destruction, and they are to take tools with - them, and stay until the mound is lowered and the ditches filled up as - ordered. Beauchamp was further allowed half the timber from the barn - and the old tower.</p> - - <p>Thus passed away the strength and glory of the castle of Bedford, the - great fortress of the Ouse. Whether William de Beauchamp built upon its - site does not appear. He died 44 Hen. III., and within a very few years - his name was extinct and his barony divided.</p> - - <p>The castle, or its site, probably as the seat of a manor court, is - named from time to time in the <cite>Inquisitiones post Mortem</cite>. Thus, - 5 Ed. II., Roger L’Estrange, by Margaret his wife, was seized of “the - Castle” and the “site of the Castle” of Bedford; 1 Ed. III., John - de Mowbray was seized of the site of Bedford Castle and the fishery - of the Ouse; and 40 Ed. III., another John had suit of court in the - castle of Bedford; and 50 Ed. III., Elizabeth, wife of John Mowbray, - holds of the same castle. Also, 6 Rich. II., another John Mowbray is - seized of Bedford Castle and Bedford Barony; and, finally, 8 Hen. IV., - Thomas Mowbray, Earl Marshall, holds Bedford Castle in chief, by the - service of almoner to the king at his coronation; so that the tenures - and privileges attached to the castle remained in force long after the - fortress itself had been razed. In Leland’s time, the castle mill,—that - great evidence of feudal customs,—remained; and he also mentions the - “great round hill” as a burrow for foxes. There were not then any - buildings.</p> - - <p>It is evident from present appearance that the mandate of Henry III. - was strictly obeyed. No trace of a ditch is to be seen between the - mound and the river, and the mound itself is so much lower than is - usual with works of that diameter as to make it probable that at least - one half has been removed and employed in filling up the ditches.</p> - - <p>It is not easy to gather from the account of the siege a clear idea of - the disposition of the parts of the castle. There were two wards, and - the outer, judging from its contents, must have been of considerable - area. It probably included the inner ward and the mound,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span> and abutted - upon the river. The barbican would scarcely be placed upon the river - or outside the town, and probably was to the north-west, or near the - church of St. Paul.</p> - - <p>The inner-ward wall probably surrounded the mound, on the outside of - its ditch, and was thus open to attack when the outer ward was taken.</p> - - <p>The old tower, last taken, and the fall of a part of which reduced the - garrison to surrender, was probably the donjon or shell crowning the - mound. This would be of Norman date, and therefore might well be called - the old tower, as distinguished from Falk’s additions, and the repairs - after the siege by Stephen. Thus, if the explanation be accepted, - Bedford Castle had a shell keep or donjon upon a mound, surrounded by a - ditch and wall, and this again by another wall, at a greater distance, - the principal storehouses and dwelling being, as was usual, in this - larger or outer ward. The History of Bedford Castle and of its siege - are the subject of an elaborate paper by the late Rev. C. H. Hartshorn, - privately printed in 1861.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BERKHAMPSTEAD">BERKHAMPSTEAD CASTLE, HERTS.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE Castle of Berkhampstead stands in the parish of Berkhampstead St. - Peter, in the county of Hertford, and, geologically, upon the lower - chalk. Its position is in a chalky bottom, on the left bank of the - Bulborne rivulet. Between the stream and the castle the ground is - naturally low and marshy, but it is now traversed by the Grand Junction - Canal and the London and North-Western Railway, which, with the - water-course and the turnpike-road, separate the castle from the town.</p> - - <p>To the east and north-east of the castle the ground rises steeply - towards Whitehill and Berkhampstead Common. To the west and north-west - it rises more gradually towards Berkhampstead-place. Between the two, - towards the north, is a combe or nearly dry valley, occupied by the old - park, called the Berkhampstead estate, and in this valley stands the - castle, about 400 yards from its termination in the river.</p> - - <p>The constituent parts of the castle are a mound; an inner - <i>enceinte</i> or ward; an inner ditch; a second <i>enceinte</i>; a - second ditch; a third <i>enceinte</i>, enveloping the northern half - only; a ravelin upon the west face; and a third or exterior ditch, also - confined to the northern half of the work. - </p> - - <p>The mound is wholly artificial. It is conical, about 60 feet high - and 40 feet diameter at the top, having steep sides and a wet ditch - round three-fourths of its circumference. Its top was crowned with a - circular shell of wall, about 8 feet thick, of which the foundations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span> - only remain. Up its southern side is a curtain-wall, much ruined, and - about 8 feet thick. This commences at the ground level at the top of - the mound, and runs into a fragment of the <i>enceinte</i> wall of the - inner ward. It evidently connected this wall with the keep, and was - probably, as at Tamworth, parapeted on either face of its rampart walk. - It was not continued down the further side of the mound, which was not - a part of the <i>enceinte</i>, but a citadel placed outside it, and - connected with it only by a single wall.</p> - - <p>Probably the ditch of the mound was originally continued all round it, - and simply traversed by the wall. Much of the ditch between the mound - and the inner ward is filled up, probably very recently, as the process - is now in progress, the object being to connect the level sward of the - <i>enceinte</i> with the mound for pleasure purposes. - </p> - - <p>The inner ward is an oval space, about 500 feet north and south by 300 - feet east and west. It is encircled by a wall, about 7 feet thick, - and now about 20 feet high, and which may have been 4 feet to 5 feet - higher. Traces of the crenellations are visible. This wall is broken - down in parts, but nearly three-fourths of it remain. The northern, or - end opposite to the mound, is concave, the ditch of the mound having - been run into it. There is a fragment of a mural tower on the west - face, much mutilated and apparently rectangular. In the east face are - two openings, one of which may have been a postern. In the north-east - quarter a cross-wall seems to have belonged to a domestic building. The - gap for the main gateway is at the south end. There are no traces of - towers there, and there do not appear, judging from the wall, ever to - have been any. The interior <i>terre-plein</i>, or platform, is level, - no terrace against the wall, and no trace of a bank against which the - wall could have been built. Outside the wall is a space of about 5 feet - broad, beyond which the ground falls sharply towards the wet ditch.</p> - - <p>The inner ditch is carried quite round both mound and inner ward wall, - being in plan an unbroken oval. It is deep and everywhere wet, and - in parts it opens out into a pool. This is the case where it gave - off the ditch embracing the mound, now in part filled up, and in the - south-eastern quarter, where its overflow escapes into the river.</p> - - <p>Outside, and forming the counterscarp of this ditch, is the second or - middle <i>enceinte</i>. This is a steep and narrow bank, carrying a - walk of about 8 feet broad, having about an equal slope inwards towards - the inner ditch, and outwards towards the outer. For about its northern - two-thirds this bank is very uniform, but at the south-west quarter it - swells into a small mound or cavalier, about 22 feet in diameter at - top, and about 20 feet high, close to which the land has been cut away - to effect a modern entry. Opposite to this, on the south-east quarter, - is another rather larger mound, about 30 feet across and 25 feet high; - and at this point the bank makes a loop outwards, which somewhat - destroys the symmetry of its plan. These two mounds are evidently - intended to flank the extremities of the outer bank.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow74" id="i225"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_225.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span></p> - - <p>This middle bank is perforated by a modern culvert at its southern - part, by which the waters of the inner ditch escape; and a few yards - east of this the bank is crossed by two parallel walls, 12 feet apart, - and which evidently belonged to the outside of the main entrance.</p> - - <p>The second or middle ditch, also deep and wet, envelopes the middle - bank very regularly. At present it is wanting on the south side, for a - short distance, having been filled up and converted into a road when - the railway was constructed.</p> - - <p>Outside this ditch is the third or outer <i>enceinte</i>, a steep - bank, which forms the counterscarp of the middle ditch, and envelopes - rather more than the northern half of the castle. It is about 10 feet - broad above, and is strengthened outside by eight bastions, also of - earth, placed at distances of from 60 feet to 150 feet, and each, - at top, about 30 feet broad by 40 feet projection, and rounded. The - five best marked of these, being steep and about 20 feet high, lie to - the north-west. A small streamlet coming in from the north then cuts - the line, and to the east of this, covering the north-east and east - faces, the bank is continued for about 580 feet, strengthened by three - bastions, which, however, are low, and have nothing of the sharpness - of the others. These latter three have scarcely any ditch, but the - other five have at their feet a ditch, which, even now, is boggy, and - no doubt was once a formidable defence. West of this outer bank, and - ranging with it so as to cover part of the west face of the castle, is - an earthwork of very doubtful character. Its lines are rectangular, - it has a ditch, and it much resembles the early ravelins which were - common in the fifteenth century, and not unknown in the fourteenth and - thirteenth.</p> - - <p>Connected with its ditch is a pond, which appears to have been a - mill-pond and fish-stew. No doubt all these extensive ditches were - turned to account, and fed the mill which is known to have been - attached to the castle.</p> - - <p>Berkhampstead is altogether a very striking and a very peculiar - fortification. The mound was no doubt an English burh, and, as was - not uncommon, had its own defences. The inner <i>enceinte</i>, though - not, as is usual, encircled by a bank, was encircled by a steep slope - and ditch, which, with a palisade, would have been a very sufficient - defence. These probably were the whole of the original works, and - within them may well have been held the famous Council of Berkhampstead - in 697. The two outer works seem to be later. The outer certainly, from - its bastions, must be later than the Conquest, and the middle bank is - far too slight in its construction and too sharply preserved to be of - remote antiquity. But it is remarkable that there is no trace of any - other than the inner <i>enceinte</i> wall, and it is pretty evident - that there was never any other. The earthworks, except the mound, would - not have carried a wall, and had such been built it would have been - liable to be mined and overthrown with very little trouble. Evidently - these banks were crested with palisades, and probably careful cutting - into them would show traces of the stakes.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span></p> - - <p>Further, it is singular that, though there is a second and a third - line of defence, there is no middle or outer ward. These lines of - defence include ditches only, and not the space which, however narrow, - was always left between the walls of castles for the assembling their - defenders. Here the garrison of the two outer lines must have been - ranged in line close in rear of the stockade, with but room to pass - between it and the ditch in their rear.</p> - - <p>It should be mentioned that an earthwork, composed of bank and ditch, - and known locally as Grimsdyke, traverses the high road above the - town, and there are several barrows in the immediate neighbourhood. - The Berkhampstead earthworks are quite peculiar, but the neighbourhood - is rather rich in military earthworks of a circular character, among - which, to the south and west, may be mentioned Bushwood, Hawridge, - Cholesbury, and, at a greater distance, Kimble.</p> - - <p>The masonry that remains is all of chalk flint rubble, bathed in a - pure white mortar, and probably faced with coarse flints, picked, if - not squared. Here and there parts of the face remain. This work may be - Norman, or it may be later, though probably not much. The absence of - towers is remarkable. There is no ashlar at all. This, no doubt, was - removed when Berkhampstead Place was built, but there could not have - been very much of it.</p> - - <p>Berkhampstead was a seat of the Kings of Mercia, and the place of - meeting of a council of magnates summoned, in 697, by Wightred, king of - Kent; and, at the time of the Confessor, it belonged to Edmar, a thane - of Earl Harold. It was evidently a strong place, for when the Conqueror - gave it to his brother Robert, Earl of Mortaigne, amongst the vassals - there was a certain “Fossarius,” whose duty must have been to clean the - castle ditches. Robert is said to have fortified it with a double ditch - and rampart, and he held it at Domesday. Moreover, under the Conqueror, - it was expanded into a very extensive Honour, of which it was the - <i>caput</i>. The manor is named, but not the castle, in Domesday. - </p> - - <p>The castle seems to have been held by King Stephen and by John, with - the earldom of Cornwall. It had suffered in Stephen’s wars, and John - gave it, 1206, to Geoffrey Fitzpiers, Earl of Essex, who rebuilt or - restored it, and may have erected the present walls. Prince Louis laid - siege to, and took it, in 1226. The attack was from the north side, and - the castle held out for a considerable time.</p> - - <p>Richard, Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans, brother to Henry - III., held it. He wrote to his brother from hence in 1261, and died - here in 1271–2, as did his wife Isabel Mareschal in 1239. His son - Edmund had the castle, town, and halimote. In 1299 the castle was - returned as yielding no rental; but the millpool and the castle ditches - let for the fishing at 20s. per annum. There was then a water-mill and - a park with deer. It was a part of the dower of Margaret of France, - the second wife of Edward I., who died 1317. Edward II. gave it, with - the earldom of Cornwall, to Gaveston; and to the Black Prince, as Duke - of Cornwall, came from his father the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span> castle, manor, vill, park, and - honour of Berkhampstead, the lands of which extended into Herts, Bucks, - and Northamptonshire. It was put in order for the residence of John of - France, and the Black Prince was here not long before his death. It was - also used by the favourite of Richard II., Robert de Vere, Marquis of - Dublin, who had licence to inhabit it. Here, also, died Cicely Nevill, - the mother of Edward IV.</p> - - <p>Queen Elizabeth leased it to Sir Edward Carey, whose grandson employed - its material to build Berkhampstead Place, since which it has been - leased to various persons, and was finally sold to the Egertons, whose - descendant in the female line, Earl Brownlow, is the owner also of the - adjacent park of Ashridge.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BERKELEY">BERKELEY CASTLE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE Severn, below Shrewsbury, which on the map seems to mark a natural - division between England and the southern part of the Principality of - Wales, neither is, nor ever has been, really the dividing line. It is - not, in those parts even, a county boundary, Gloucester, Worcester, and - Salop being astride upon the stream, with large portions of their area - upon its western bank. To go back to the sixth century, when the West - Saxons, starting from the coast of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, - pressed hard upon the Britons, many indications still show how firm was - the resistance, so long as the ground was favourable; but, when once - fairly driven over the crest of the Cotteswold, the Britons evidently - retired more rapidly across the open country, nor is it until the - commencement of the high ground is reached, that we find works which - abundantly show how fierce was the struggle, how close and persistent - the attack. The high ground which forms the western edge of the Marches - is studded thickly with camps, the position and figure of which show - them to be British, while the adjacent frontiers of Gloucester, - Hereford and Shropshire, are covered with moated mounds, placed both - within and without the Dyke of Offa, and which show both the extent - of the English conquests and the manner in which they were maintained - before and during the eighth and ninth centuries.</p> - - <p>The Normans trod very closely in the footsteps of the English, and - although their fortresses were of a stronger and more permanent - character, they occupy, for the most part, ancient sites. The three - counties, from the bordering Chepstow, the home of Strongbow, to - Clun, the cradle of the house of Stewart, were bristled thick with - fortresses; some, like Chepstow, Goderick, Kilpeck, Ewias, Here<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span>ford, - Ludlow, Wigmore, Richard’s Castle, Cleobury, Brampton, Bishop’s Castle, - and Clun, either places of great strength, or held by powerful barons; - others, as St. Briavels, Wilton, Penyard, Weobly, Croft, Clifford, - Whitney, Eardisley, Huntington, Lingen, Hopton, de Botwood, Stoke-Say, - or Wattlesborough, either fortified houses or castles of smaller area - and inferior strength. Upon the line of the Severn, in the rear of - all these, there were but eight of any importance, Bristol, Berkeley, - Gloucester, Hanley, Worcester, Hartlebury, Bridgenorth and Shrewsbury, - and of these Berkeley was in many respects the most remarkable, and has - endured the longest.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i229"> - <div class="caption sansserif">BERKELEY CASTLE.</div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_229.jpg" alt="" /> - - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>A Keep.</li> - <li>B Inner Ward.</li> - <li>C Outer Ward.</li> - <li>D Outer Gate.</li> - <li>E Inner Gate.</li> - <li>F Fore Building.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>G Ed. II. Dungeon.</li> - <li>H Ed. II. Tower.</li> - <li>I Domestic Apartments.</li> - <li>J Chapel.</li> - <li>K Room above Cellar.</li> - <li>L Hall.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>M Buttery.</li> - <li>N Kitchen.</li> - <li>O Offices.</li> - <li>P Well.</li> - <li>Q Oratory and Well.</li> - </ul> - </div> - - <p>The other castles are either ruins or have altogether been swept - away. Of Bristol there remains only a portion of a crypt. Gloucester, - Hanley, and Worcester are gone. Of Bridgenorth a part of the keep is - all that is seen; and of Shrewsbury a fragment of a Norman gatehouse, - the much-altered walls of the hall, and, older than all, the mound that - gave character to the whole. Berkeley, on the other hand, has been - inhabited from its foundation to the present day. With one temporary - alienation to the Crown, it has always been in one family, and it is as - little altered as is consistent with modern usages and modes of life.</p> - - <p>The castle, church, and borough town of Berkeley, contained within the - hundred to which they give name, are placed upon the southern extremity - of a tract of ground which rises about 50 feet above the meadows to the - south and west, and the drainage whence is carried on by the channel of - the Little Avon, which falls into the Pill or Creek of Berkeley, and so - reaches the Severn, here expanding into an estuary, the southern shore - of which is about two miles distant from the castle. The castle stands - upon the southern extremity of the high ground. A few yards to its - north is the parish church with its detached tower, and again a little - to the north is the town, which has grown up under the protection of - its lordly neighbour. A deep and wholly artificial ditch intervenes - between the churchyard and the castle, crossing the high ground, and - cutting off and isolating the latter, of which it protects the northern - and western faces. These, to the south and east, are made secure by the - natural declivity, scarped and rendered steeper by art. The meadows out - of which the castle hill rises, being but little above the adjacent - Severn, were formerly an extensive and almost impassable morass, adding - much to the strength of the place. Under the skill and labour of - centuries, they have become grass-lands of great beauty and fertility, - and form a charming foreground to the castle. Beyond, are elms and - oaks often of great magnitude, disposed in frequent hedgerows, and in - the distance to the west are the Welsh mountains, and to the east the - nearer scarp of the Cotteswold, here and there covered with thriving - plantations.</p> - - <p>Town and castle stand geologically upon the Old Red Sandstone, which, a - very few yards to the east, is succeeded by the Ludlow rocks, which are - again covered up by the marls of the Lias and New Red, and towards the - Cotteswold by the Lower Oolite.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span></p> - - <p>Like Warwick, Windsor, Arundel, and some other ancient piles, noticed - by Shakespeare,—</p> - - <div class="center-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i0">“There stands the castle by yon tufted trees,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <p class="noindent">between its town, and its park, now, indeed, disparked, but which - extended far and wide to the south-east, and is traversed by an - extended avenue. As was the case at Warwick, there is a deer-park - entirely detached from the castle.</p> - - <p>The main approach to the castle lies through the town, on leaving - which, a road, passing the church, leads up to the entrance, and - crosses the ditch by a permanent bridge, by which the draw-bridge - was superseded by Henry Lord Berkeley in 1587, and beyond and partly - standing in which is the <i>outer Gate-house</i>. This is a rectangular - building of no great merit, pierced by a portal having a low drop arch - on each face. The passage is plainly vaulted in calcareous tufa, and in - the crown of the vault are three square holes or <i>meurtrières</i>. - There is no upper story, nor, at present, are there any flanking towers - or curtain. There is a basement below the road-way level, entered - from the ditch, but, probably, at one time filled with earth. This - gate-house may be of Decorated date. It has no portcullis. From the - ditch, the side walls of the bridge look original, and may have been, - as at Goderich, the lateral walls between which was the pit of the - draw-bridge.</p> - - <p>Entering the outer gate, the visitor finds himself upon a triangular - platform, of which the outer gate-house is the apex, and the inner - gate-house and part of the keep the base; on the left a modern wall, - which replaces the curtain, crests the scarp of the ditch, and forms - the north side of the platform 66 yards long. On the right a low - parapet, 54 yards long, forms the south side, and caps a revetment wall - of about 10 feet in height, at the foot of which the ancient scarp - has been laid out in good taste in a terrace garden. This triangular - platform is scarcely an outer ward: it is rather a barbican covering - the main entrance and the keep. Its area is 7,750 square yards. There - is no trace of a second ditch in advance of this side of the keep and - the inner gate, but it is very probable that there was one, though, if - so, it must have been filled up when the courts were added to the keep, - as otherwise it would have completely occupied them.</p> - - <p>The keep covers about 35 yards, or above half of the base of the - barbican, and lies to the left or north of the gate-house. Part - of it has been removed and a large breach formed, showing that - the interior is full 22 feet above the ground level outside. The - <i>inner Gate-house</i> is in the same position as at Alnwick. It - is in truth not a regular gate-house, and has no flanking towers or - <i>machicoulis</i>, but the entrance passage pierces a lofty pile of - buildings which connect the domestic apartments with the keep, and - complete the circle of the main court. The portal is about 11 feet - broad and 30 feet deep, and its roof is flat and of timber. It has two - drop arches. On the right is a lodge door, and the inner archway has a - half round port<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span>cullis groove. Above are two stories through which are - doors, no doubt modern, into the keep. Probably the Norman entrance was - here, a mere opening in the wall. Much of the structure seems Decorated - with later alterations. South of, and flanking the gate, between it and - the south-east angle of the place, is a small Tudor building. - </p> - - <p>The gateway opens into the <i>Great Court</i> of the castle, a roughly - rectangular space, having the circular keep encroaching considerably - upon its north-west angle, and the remainder of the space set round - with domestic buildings built against and completely concealing the - lofty curtain.</p> - - <p>This court, which is, in fact, the castle, measures outside upon its - south face 60 yards, and its east face 72 yards, these two being set - nearly at right angles. The north and west faces are about 60 yards - and 76 yards, but the north-west angle is occupied by the keep, which - covers about 40 yards of the north, and 42 yards of the west face, - forming a part of the <i>enceinte</i>. The buildings project about 30 - feet, so that the inner and open part of the court is much reduced in - area. The curtain, originally thick, has been strengthened outside, - probably in the Decorated period, by nearly thirty broad and thick and - very clumsy buttresses, some of which probably conceal the early Norman - pilaster, for most of the wall is certainly of that date. Some of these - buttresses are pierced by loops, showing an immense thickness of wall.</p> - - <p>On entering the court, on the left is the high plain wall of the keep, - with its forebuilding and exterior staircase ascending to the entrance. - On the right are domestic buildings, drawing-rooms, bed-rooms, &c., - extending to the south-east corner. The face wall, though much altered, - and pierced with Tudor windows, seems in substance Norman with large - Decorated alterations. The pointed Norman arches may be traced in the - wall. These buildings have a basement and two upper stories. It is - uncertain whether they stand upon a vault.</p> - - <p>The chapel occupies the south-east angle. The hall is next to it along - the east side, and the butteries, kitchen, and offices fill up the - north-east angle and the north side as far as the keep. In the south - wall, near the gate-house, but at the exterior ground level, is a small - pointed doorway, probably a postern, and connected with it a small - chamber, about 6 feet below the level of the court, of doubtful age, - but with an old doorway. It has a flat roof, and wooden floor of the - room above: being filled with the bins of a modern cellar, it cannot be - examined.</p> - - <p>The <i>Chapel</i>, dedicated to the Virgin, rests on the vault of the - great cellar, and measures 29 feet by 18 feet. It is entered by a - modern door in the north wall, west of which are traces of what seems - to have been the original entrance. It has a rather flat apsidal east - end of three faces; the vestry, a mural chamber, opening in that to - the south-east. The south side is the outer wall, 14 feet thick; it is - pierced by a mural passage, a sort of aisle, at the floor-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span>level, which - opens into the chapel by four foliated arches, each corresponding to - a window or loop in the curtain. There is a small Decorated piscina. - Against the west wall is a sort of pew of two stages, the upper being - an enclosed gallery for the family, opening from the principal rooms.</p> - - <p>The roof is open, at a very low pitch, with timber ribs rising from - corbels. These, with cross ribs, divide the roof into large panels - of a very curious character. The walls of the chapel are Norman, but - the roof and fittings are mostly Decorated. Maurice, Lord Berkeley, - 38 Edward III., obtained from Pope Urban II. a bull bestowing certain - spiritual privileges upon all who worshipped here or in the chapel in - the keep.</p> - - <p>The <i>Cellar</i> below the chapel is part of the original castle. - Its level is a little below the floor of the hall. It is in plan an - equilateral triangle about 40 feet in the side. Its roof is vaulted and - groined in three hexagonal bays, springing from three shafts of late - Norman character. Nine triangular vaultings, abutting on the walls, - complete this very curious roof. Opening from this is another vault, - also a cellar, at a lower level by about 5 feet. It is much smaller, - and has a ribbed and vaulted roof. Unfortunately it is used as a - cellar, and obscured by modern fittings. It has a small Tudor window.</p> - - <p>From the chapel and drawing-room a broad wooden seventeenth century - staircase descends into the hall at its south or dais end, in which is - a large and handsome fireplace, probably of the same date.</p> - - <p>The <i>Hall</i> is 32 feet broad by 61 feet long, and has an open - pointed roof. It is built at the ground level against the east curtain, - which is, or was, pierced by four windows, three in the hall and one - within the buttery screen. The latter is late Norman, with slender - flanking shafts. The other three are full centred, with a keel bead - at the angle, and an interior drip. They seem Decorated, and no doubt - replace Norman loops. In the west or court wall are four large and - lofty flat-topped and somewhat peculiar windows of two lights each, - broken into four by a heavy transom. The upper lights are trefoil, the - lower shoulder-headed. Between each pair, outside, is a triangular - buttress. The entrance from the court is in the west side, at the - north end, by a handsome and spacious porch, vaulted and groined. The - exterior doorway is an arch composed of four quite plain straight - sides, parts of an octagon, similar in outline to those above the - Berkeley tombs at Bristol, known locally as the Berkeley arch. This - is repeated with the addition of some ornament in the inner doorway, - which opens into a narrow strip of the hall cut off by the screen. On - the left, in the end wall of the hall, are three fine Berkeley arches - opening into the butteries, of which the central was formerly a door. - Above this passage, high up, is a small music gallery, probably of - Tudor date, or even later. The roof of the hall is poor, but said to be - of the fourteenth century. No doubt this represents the original Norman - hall, rebuilt, as regards the court wall, in the Decorated period.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i232"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_232.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attl">Wyman & Sons, Gᵗ. Queen Sᵗ. London.</div> - <div class="caption"><span class="sansserif">BERKELEY CASTLE—THE KEEP.</span><br /><i>From the Hall.</i></div> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span></p> - - <p> In the hall are placed, not inappropriately, - the earlier charters of the family, protected with glass. Perhaps, - however, looking at their extreme value as connected with the castle, - it would be safer to restore them to the muniment room, and replace - them for public exhibition by photographs.</p> - - <p>To the north, beyond the lower end of the hall, are the butteries, - kitchen, and pantries, the latter against the curtain. The - <i>Kitchen</i> is an irregular hexagon, averaging 13 feet 6 inches in - the side. In the three longer sides are recesses for a fireplace, and - hoods over cooking-places. The original doors were in the buttery on - one side and the scullery on the other, and there were two windows - towards the court. The roof is of open work, very plain, heavy and - poor, and very high up. It is said to have been brought from Wootton - Manor House, and placed here by Henry VII. The scullery, &c. occupy - the north-east angle of the court, and, like the adjacent chambers, - is of irregular form, governed by the general outline of the castle. - The larders, dairy, &c. are against the north curtain, and from the - bakehouse a modern vaulted passage leads to the ancient well, which - is in the court. The oven is in the north-west corner, and two bold - drop-arched stone ribs traverse the chamber, and stiffen its vaulted - roof. All these rooms form the ground floor, and carry an upper story. - Their front towards the court seems to have been modernised, but in - substance they are Decorated, with considerable remains of older Norman - walling. - </p> - - <p>The <span class="smcap">Keep</span> is the most interesting part of this very remarkable - castle, since it is a shell keep of a known date. It is nearly - circular, about 50 yards diameter, and the containing curtain-wall - is about 8 feet thick, reducing its inner area to near 45 yards. The - floor, of earth, is about 22 feet higher than the exterior ground, and, - the wall being 40 feet high inside, is about 62 feet outside, the lower - 22 feet being a revetment, and very thick. Upon its circuit are three - half-round projecting towers or bastion turrets, 20 feet in diameter, - of the height of the curtain, which seems to have been open at the - rear, or closed only with timber. One of these projects to the east, - and is abutted upon by the northern curtain of the castle court. In its - base is a well, under a barrel vault, and above, resting upon this, is - the oratory, dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The western or end wall - of the oratory, and the outer stair leading to it, are modern.</p> - - <p>The oratory is at present used as a muniment room. The ecclesiastical - features are much injured and obscured. The eastern end is a half - round, and there are remains of the flanking shafts of the Norman east - window, and a small piscina. It appears to have been vaulted.</p> - - <p>The second half-round tower is 64 feet from the former, and projects to - the south into the court, commanding the inner face of its entrance, - and the approach to the keep. In it, below the ground level, but not - much lower than the level of the court below, is a circular dungeon 25 - feet deep, into which Edward II. is said to have been finally thrust.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span></p> - - <p>The third tower is 50 feet from the second, and projects to the south. - Here also has recently been discovered a chamber somewhat similar to - the dungeon already mentioned, also not vaulted, and of very rough - masonry, as though a mere foundation intended to be filled up with - earth. These two last towers are blocked in by later masonry, the first - within, the latter both within and without, as it projects into the - buildings of the gateway. As this tower could never have been intended - to be thus concealed, it points to the conclusion that the keep was - built before the wall of the inner court.</p> - - <p>Besides these three half-round towers is a fourth, rectangular, and a - much larger work, to the north, forming a part of the exterior line of - defence. This is known as Thorpe’s Tower, and the family of that name - are said to have held their adjacent estate of Wanswell by the tenure - of its defence. This tower is 64 feet long by 17 feet deep. It forms a - part of the curtain, having a very slight interior projection. At each - end it expands into a square turret, that to the west 17 feet, that - to the east 20 feet. The western turret and the body of the tower are - thought to be solid, which is very improbable. They are not unlikely to - have been filled in with earth to increase their power of resistance - when the castle was battered from the churchyard. The eastern turret - contains a square well-staircase of fifty-four steps, which leads to - the battlements, and has a mural chamber on its way. The entrance - below to this staircase is by an original full-centred arch, partially - blocked up. This tower is somewhat higher than the curtain, with which - it does not communicate. It is said to have been originally higher by - a few feet more. Even at present it is the highest part of the castle, - and hence the family banner is displayed. Below and outside this tower, - to the north, are some modern offices.</p> - - <p>Between Thorpe Tower and the Well Tower is seen in the wall the outline - of a recess for a loop, and above it a segmental arch and Norman - moulding, now closed up. The whole south side of the keep area is - occupied by a block of building, about 80 feet long by from 20 feet - to 30 feet deep. No doubt part of this building may be original, but - by far the more prominent part is evidently modern, and sadly out of - place. It covers the rear of the two southern half-round towers, which - are thus not seen from within.</p> - - <p>The entrance to this keep is peculiar. Usually, as at Tamworth, - Lincoln, York, Cardiff, and Arundel, the entrance to a shell-keep was - at its ground-level, and that of a rectangular keep, as at Castle - Rising and Dover, at its first or second floor. Here, however, both - conditions may be said to be fulfilled, for although the entrance is on - the ground level as regards the interior of the keep, it is the full - height of a first floor above the ground outside, and this height is - gained by an exterior stair, guarded by a middle and lower gate, and - above the latter by a regular tower. This forebuilding is common to - rectangular keeps, but does not occur elsewhere in shell keeps. Here - the <i>Forebuilding</i> is 72 feet in length, and is applied to the - south-east side of the keep, or that within the court. In breadth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span> it - varies from 15 feet to 10 feet. Five steps ascend to its outer gate, a - large full-centred archway contained within a plain chamfered moulding. - As the doorway has been blocked and reduced in size by a perpendicular - work, its jambs are concealed or may have been removed. Within is a - vaulted passage, carried through the gate-tower, which is 15 feet - square, and has an upper story. From the doorway twenty-four steps - ascend to an open platform, having on the right a high and pierced - parapet, and on the left the wall of the keep. At the stair-head a - ledge on the right serves as a way to the upper floor over the gateway. - This is a small chamber lighted by two windows and a lancet loop. The - two larger windows and the door are of Tudor date, as may be the whole - room; but, if so, it is a rebuilding, for the original tower must - have been on the same pattern. In the room is an ancient bed and some - hangings of needlework or tapestry, very early, but scarce of the age - of Edward II., whose chamber this is reputed to have been.</p> - - <p>A little beyond the stair-head, against the walls, right and left, are - seen the rebates of the middle gate, and in front, in the wall of the - Oratory Tower, is the weather moulding of a roof. Hence it would seem - that the staircase, as at Castle Rising, was covered all the way up.</p> - - <p>The main entrance to the keep opens upon the platform at the - stair-head. It is a handsome, full-arched doorway with closed tympanum - and flat head. It was flanked by highly ornate shafts, of which - one remains. This portal opens into a vaulted passage through the - keep wall, and enters the keep under an original archway, segmented - with Norman mouldings. The jambs are worked in a very bold chevron - pattern. From the exterior platform a narrow stair is continued to - the battlements of the curtain over the bakehouse; but this may be - an addition, for usually every part of a Norman keep was complete in - itself, and had no direct communication with any other part of the - castle. There is another and parallel stair in the wall, but opening - outside and leading to the room above the bakehouse. This is not - original.</p> - - <p>The keep is constructed of exceedingly rude rubble masonry. Upon - two parts of its face are nine narrow and shallow pilaster strips: - three towards the barbican, and six between the inner gate and the - forebuilding. The keep wall has a rude plinth, with no set-off or - string. It is evident that this, as at York, and in other shell-keeps, - was lined by lodgings, having an upper floor, placed all round against - the wall with an open court in the centre. These were probably of - timber. In the part of the keep towards the barbican is a breach - about 40 feet broad down to the level of the inner floor. It is said - that this part of the wall was partially broken down during General - Massey’s attack, and was afterwards enlarged to its present condition, - as at Kenilworth, rather as a matter of favour, to render the castle - untenable without injuring it as a dwelling. Had the keep been blown - up as was usual by gunpowder, it would have presented a very different - aspect.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span></p> - - <p>If the masonry of Berkeley Castle were to be removed, as at Kilpeck or - Ewias Harold, its remains would show a mound of earth, and attached - to three sides of it a platform, the whole encircled with a ditch or - scarp. It would, in fact, be a moated mound with an appended platform, - of a character very common in England, in the Welsh Marches, and in - Normandy, and would resemble such works as Tamworth and Towcester, the - dates of which are given in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The inference - is, therefore, that Berkeley was the seat of an English lord, probably - from the ninth century. Had the fortress been an original Norman work, - it is scarcely probable that a shell would have been the form of keep - selected, or that, having been so selected, its lower 22 feet would - have been filled up with earth. Evidently the Norman builder, finding a - moated mound of no great height, but of considerable breadth, built his - shell round it, as at Pontefract, as a revetment wall, and upon this, - when clear of the top of the mound, raised his curtain. At a lower - level, along the scarp of the existing ditch, he, or his immediate - successor, constructed the walls, which, then as now, contain the whole - castle.</p> - - <p>All the main walls of the castle are either Norman, or rebuilt upon - Norman foundations, or very nearly so. Probably the keep was built - first and the court enclosed shortly afterwards. Much was done in the - Decorated period. The inner wall of the hall, at least, was rebuilt, - and it may have been enlarged. The porch was added, the chapel much - altered, and the domestic buildings possibly gutted and recast. Henry - VII., when in possession, seems to have made some inconsiderable - alterations, and others have been added since.</p> - - <p>Berkeley is a rare example of an estate which has descended in the male - line from the reign of Stephen, and in the female line from the Norman - Conquest. The first of the latter ancestry is entered as the Lord of - Berkeley in Domesday; the first of the former is also there entered, - though as proprietor of other estates. Few, if any, of our oldest - families can say with truth as much, but further than this the Berkeley - tenure has been “per Baroniam,” and from the Conquest they have been - barons of the realm, first by tenure, and when, in the reign of Henry - III., tenure fell into disuse, then by writ; but by one right or the - other they have ever sat in the great council of the nation.</p> - - <p>There is no reason to suppose that the Romans had any settlement at - Berkeley. Their camps and villas are frequent in the neighbourhood, - which was traversed by Roman roads, but of their presence in Berkeley - itself there is no other evidence than the fact that the two main - streets of the town cross in its centre at a right angle, in the Roman - manner.</p> - - <p>There is, however, evidence of a religious house at Berkeley in the - eighth century. Tilhere, Bishop of Worcester, in 778, seems to have - been previously Abbot of Beorclea, as was Etheldune, also his successor - at Worcester in 915. Tanner thinks the family at Berclea, mentioned - in the Acts of a synod at Cloveshoe in <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 824, may<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">237</span> refer - to a religious house here. There was also a nunnery, for a charter by - Adeliza, queen of Henry I., gives to the church of Reading, Berkeley - Hern, that is, the church of Berkeley, with its appended prebends, and - the prebends “duarum monalium,” which seems to refer to a nunnery. - Camden says the nunnery was suppressed by Earl Godwin in the reign of - the Confessor, and preserves a scandalous tale thereupon, which derives - some support from a curious entry in Domesday, whence it appears that - Gytha, the wife of Godwin and mother of Harold, had Ullcestre, near - Berkeley, from her husband, he having bought it from Azor that she - might live there till she should live at Berkeley. “Nolebat enim de - ipso manerio aliquid comedere pro destructione abbatiæ.”</p> - - <p>In Domesday, Berkeley appears as a royal demesne and free borough, - which had been held by the Confessor, and belonged to William, but - was held of him by Roger, called thence of Berkeley. It was the head - of a soke or barony, for attached to it were “Berews,” or members, - in twenty-one adjacent parishes. The castle is not mentioned, but in - “Ness,” probably Sharpness, was a castellum, or castellet, claimed - by the same Roger. His holding in the Liber Niger is set down as 2½ - knights’ fees. He gave liberally to Stanley Priory, and died there - 1096. William, his nephew, succeeded, and had a son Roger, father of - Roger, who all held Berkeley, and are designated by its name. This - latter Roger was a partisan of King Stephen, and was turned out of - Berkeley by Henry, who gave Berkeley to Robert, son of Hardinge, - Præpositus of Bristol, who died 1170, 16 Henry II., aged seventy-five, - leaving Maurice Fitzhardinge, his son. To stanch the feud between the - dispossessed and the new lord, Henry made up a double alliance: Helen, - daughter of Fitzhardinge, was married to a son of Roger de Berkeley, - and Alice, Roger’s daughter, to Maurice Fitzhardinge of Berkeley. - The result was that the old Berkeleys fell back upon their manor of - Cuberley, and finally died out, and the Fitzhardinges, with the estate, - bore the surname of Berkeley, and have so continued. At that time the - Manor or Lordship, sometimes called the Honour of Berkeley, included - above thirty parishes, and extended over most of the hundred. It was - rated at 160 hides, and paid a chief rent of £70.</p> - - <p>Henry, at the time of the gift, was only Duke of Normandy, and weak, - and Fitzhardinge was an important man; hence the duke treats as equal - with equal, and with the estate makes a promise to build him a castle - to his taste. “Et pepigi ei firmare ibi castellum secundum voluntatem - ipsius Roberti,” and, on the other hand, Robert promises to be Henry’s - liege. Henry visited Berkeley in 1155, when, no doubt, the present - castle was begun. Henry’s charter is in excellent preservation, and is - kept at Berkeley.</p> - - <p>Another charter by Henry, when king, also there preserved, confirms - to Robert Fitzhardinge, Berkelai-Herness Manor by the service of one - knight, or, if he prefer it, 100 shillings per annum. A third charter - is almost a copy of the second, but states the service at five knights, - and is silent as to the composition. There is also a charter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">238</span> printed - by Dugdale, by which Robert Fitzhardinge grants certain churches to - St. Augustine’s at Bristol. These are the earliest title-deeds of - the family. St. Augustine’s was founded by this Robert in 1142, and - consecrated in 1148. He died 1170.</p> - - <p>Maurice, son of Robert, is said to have dug the ditch between the - castle and the church. He probably deepened it. He also is reputed to - have built the castle exterior to King Henry’s keep, including the two - gatehouses. He died in 1189.</p> - - <p>Robert, his son, bore the name of Berkeley. He was in arms against - John, who held the castle from 1211 till his death in 1216. Lord Robert - died 1220. His brother, Lord Thomas, received Henry III. here in 1220. - He died 1243. Maurice, his son, here entertained Prince Edward in - 1256. He added to the estates, and is said to have strengthened the - castle. Thomas, his son, sixth lord, was a great soldier, and served - at Bannockburn. He died 1321. Maurice, his son, took part against the - Despensers, and was imprisoned by the king till his death, in 1326. - Edward seized the castle, which was held by the Despensers. Lord - Thomas, his son and successor, received Edward II. here as a captive, - 15th April, 1327, and here the king seems to have been murdered by - Maltravers and Gournay, 21st September, 1327. A payment was charged to - the Exchequer for prayers for his soul in the castle chapel.</p> - - <p>Lord Thomas held the castle from 1326 till his death in 1361. He fought - at Cressy and Poitiers, and probably made money in the wars, for he - is reputed to have made great alterations in the castle, and probably - the hall and the Decorated work generally is his doing. He is said to - have built Thorpe Tower. He may have raised it, but it is apparently - as old as the keep. The Berkeley arch, seen in great perfection in St. - Augustine’s Church, now Bristol Cathedral, and here introduced, as - was proper, in a plainer form, is attributed to Knowle, Abbot of St. - Augustine’s, from 1306 to 1332. The connexion of the Berkeleys with - the monks of St. Augustine’s was intimate, and the same architect was - likely enough to be employed by both.</p> - - <p>Another Thomas, grandson to the former, here received Richard II., in - 1386–7. This is the Lord Berkeley mentioned in “Shakespeare’s Richard - II.,” when the castle is described as—</p> - - <div class="center-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i0">“Mann’d with three hundred men, as I have heard,</div> - <div class="i1">And in it are the Lords of York, Berkeley, and Seymour.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <p>Lord Thomas pronounced the deposition of Richard in Parliament in 1399. - John of Trevisa, whose translations from the Apocalypse are yet seen - on the ribs of the chapel roof at Berkeley, was vicar of this parish - during the life of this lord. Lord Thomas left a daughter only, married - to Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who strove hard, but in vain, - to oust the heir male, James de Berkeley. Lord Warwick appeared before - the castle in 1418 with an armed force, and his heirs preferred a suit - at law which lasted 150 years, varied with occasional combats, one of - which, known as the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">239</span> battle of Nibley Green, led to the settlement of - the dispute, Lord Lisle, the claimant, being slain in the field by - William Lord Berkeley. William, the next lord, was created Earl of - Nottingham by Richard III., and Marquis of Berkeley by Henry VII., in - return for which he alienated the estate from his brother and male heir - in favour of the latter king and his heirs male, nor did the Berkeleys - recover it until the death of Edward VI. and the failure of the royal - male line, when the castle was recovered by Henry, who resumed the - title of Berkeley, after an alienation of 61 years 4 months and 20 days.</p> - - <p>Henry VII. is said to have erected the kitchen, but probably he only - put a new roof upon it.</p> - - <p>During the Parliamentary struggle, the Lord of Berkeley seems to have - been a moderate Royalist, with strong friends among the Parliamentary - leaders. In 1642 it was surrendered to Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur - Forbes, for the Parliament, but was not pillaged, and even the arms - contained in it were not removed. Probably this moderation was abused, - for, 24th September, 1645, being held by Sir Charles Lucas, it was - stormed from the churchyard by Colonels Rainsborough and Morgan, and - free plunder allowed to the soldiery. Fortunately, at the moment of - victory, a pressing order came for the march of the troops to assist - Fairfax, on which the plunder was compounded for at 5s. a head. Such - goods as were taken away were inquired after and restored, and the - chief mischief seems to have been confined to the muniment room, where - the charters and title-deeds were torn and mutilated. In 1646 the - out-works were destroyed, and the arms, ammunition, and drawbridge - removed to Gloucester. Probably the great breach was then made by the - workmen employed upon the earthworks, which would account for the - careful manner in which the wall has been cut away.</p> - - <p>George, Lord Berkeley, was created in 1679, by Charles II., Viscount - Dursley and Earl of Berkeley, titles still extant.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BODIHAM">BODIHAM CASTLE, SUSSEX.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">ABOUT four miles below the ancient Priory of Robertsbridge, and - fourteen, by its own sinuous course, above its junction with the sea - below the old Cinque Port of Rye, the Rother, a considerable Sussex - river, receives from the north an important tributary known as the Kent - Ditch, and, time out of mind, the boundary of the two counties. The - waters meet obliquely, and between them intervenes a tongue or cape - of high land tapering and falling gradually towards the junction, and - occupied by the church, village, and castle of Bodiham.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">240</span></p> - - <p>Who was Bodi, or Bode, whose home was here established, is unknown. He - was evidently a Saxon, and from the position of his estate, probably - an early one, giving name it may be to a tract won in arms from the - Britons. Ham is here a very common termination to the proper names of - places, varied with Hurst and Den and Ley, and other less frequent but - equally Saxon denominations.</p> - - <p>The church stands on the high ground, a little north of the centre of - the cape, the castle about 600 yards to the south of it, and about - half the distance from the Rother, at some thirty feet or so above its - level. The Rother, here and lower down, traverses broad patches of - lowland, now fertile meadow, but in former days evidently inaccessible - morass. The position, therefore, between the two streams with their - marshy banks was defended by nature towards the south and east, the - quarter from which, after the complete expulsion of the Britons and - during the early Saxon period, danger was mainly to be apprehended.</p> - - <p>The earlier lords, both Saxon and Norman, who gave name to, and derived - their names from, Bodiham, pitched their homestead on the north side of - the high ground, some way from the church, and upon the right bank of - the Kent Ditch, where the site is still indicated by some earthworks - and a moat. Nearer to, but south of the church, on the brow of the - hill, above the present castle, are the remains of another earthwork, - rectangular and oblong in form, the site probably either of an early - residence or a still earlier encampment.</p> - - <p>Below this brow, on the southern verge of and just within the slope, - it pleased a Lord of Bodiham, having become so by marriage with its - heiress, to establish a new residence. Sir Edward Dalingruge, a - successful soldier in the rough school of the Black Prince and his - captains, of whom his immediate chief, Sir William Knollys, was one of - the roughest, having held offices of trust under Richard II., decided - here to build a castle suitable to his rank, wealth, and military fame; - and having, in the 9th of Richard, 1385–6, obtained the royal licence, - he constructed at a vast cost, both in earthwork and masonry, the - castle here described.</p> - - <p>Bodiham is a building of very high interest. It is a complete and - typical castle of the end of the fourteenth century, laid out entirely - upon a new site, and constructed after one design, and at one period. - It but seldom happens that a great fortress is wholly original, of - one, and that a known, date, and so completely free from alterations - or additions. It has, moreover, fallen into good hands. Enough, and - not too much, has been done to arrest the effects of time and weather. - The repairs have been well executed, and in Wadhurst stone, the proper - material; and, though well watched, it is open to all who care to visit - it.</p> - - <p>In plan and details Bodiham belongs to the early Perpendicular style, - and occupies a mean position between Caerphilly, a work late in the - thirteenth century, and Wressil, only a few years later than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">241</span> Bodiham - in time, but much later in style and arrangements. Like these castles, - it has no keep, and its domestic buildings are constructed within and - against the walls of a court, but while Caerphilly, like Harlech and - Ledes, is concentric, and has a narrow outer ward, Bodiham and Wressil, - like Bolton, have but one ward, one line of defences, and are only - rectangular enclosures, with strong and lofty curtains, flanked by - still more lofty mural towers. Pennard in Gower, though of the reign of - Henry III. or his son, is, on a small scale, of the same general type - as Bodiham.</p> - - <p>Save the adjacent river and the marsh, the immediate site of Bodiham - possesses no natural advantages. A sort of platform was selected upon - the sloping ground, about 30 feet above the river’s level, and in it - was excavated a rectangular basin, 180 yards north and south, by 117 - yards east and west, and about 7 deep. To the east, the containing - bank was wholly artificial, formed of the excavated material, as was - also the case with the contiguous parts to the north and south. The - remaining part of the south bank was also slightly raised.</p> - - <p>On the west side, near the north end, a small natural combe descended - towards the excavation, of which, being wet, it was regarded as the - future feeder. A strong dam was thrown across the lower part of this - combe, between it and the excavation, of which it thus formed the bank. - No doubt the pool so penned in was intended as a store pond when the - moat was low.</p> - - <p>In the centre, or nearly so, of the excavation, was left a rectangular - island of rather above half an acre in area, raised artificially about - four feet, and to be occupied by the future castle, of which the ground - plan would thus be a plot of about 50 yards by 46 yards, surrounded by - a wet moat from 35 to 65 yards broad. At present a sluice is provided - for the occasional emptying of the moat, and probably something of - the sort was originally constructed, though it would, of course, be - concealed. The fact is, however, that a few vigorous workmen could - at any time have cut through the bank in a few hours, and thus have - deprived the castle of one of its defences. The mud, however, until - dry, would be even a better protector than the water.</p> - - <p>Bodiham Castle, then, is a rectangular enclosure 152 feet north and - south, by 138 feet east and west, contained within four curtain walls. - At each angle is a drum tower, 29 feet diameter, and of three quarters - projection, flanking the several faces. In the centre of the north face - is the great, and of the south face the lesser, gatehouse, and in the - centre of each of the other faces is a square tower. There are thus - eight mural towers, four cylindrical, and four rectangular, giving an - agreeable variety to the outline. Besides these there is a projection - from the east face of 8 feet, containing part of the chapel and the - sacristy. The walls and towers all rise direct from the water. The - curtain is 40 feet 6 inches high from the water to the crest of the - parapet, and the towers are one-third higher, or 54 feet. The outer - walls generally are 6 feet 6 inches thick, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">242</span> is also the height of - the parapets. The stair turrets rise 14 feet higher than their towers, - and the chimneys about 9 feet. Both are octagonal, and are crested with - miniature battlements in the late Perpendicular manner. There is no - water gate or postern, such as those at Ledes and Caerphilly.</p> - - <p>The great gatehouse is a very imposing structure. It is in plan a T, - the horizontal limb forming the front of 30 feet breadth, and the - vertical limb extending backwards as far, and containing the entrance - passage. The front is composed of two towers, rectangular, but having - the angles largely recessed, so as to throw forward the central part of - each tower as a bold buttress, 15 feet broad by 6 feet deep. The whole - projects from the curtain about 15 feet, and between the towers, deeply - sunk, is the gateway.</p> - - <p>The gateway has a slightly four-centred arch, very plain, and set - in the usual square-headed shallow recess, intended apparently to - receive the platform of the bridge when lifted. There are traces of - the chain holes in the spandrels. The whole is placed in a deeper - and plain recess, terminating above in a four-centred arch, which - carries the parapet, and has behind it three machicolations which - protect the entrance. Over the door is the usual portcullis chamber - window, and right and left other windows, all small and lancet, - some trefoil-headed, and some plain. Two pairs of loops command the - approach, one pair has oylet holes at each end of the slit. The other - pair have holes, rather larger, at the lower end only. It is the style - of loop that marks the introduction of fire-arms. In the jambs of the - portal is a half-round portcullis groove, and a little within a pair of - folding doors. The entrance passage, 12 feet broad and 30 feet long, - is unusually lofty. It is divided by a cross arch into two chambers, - both vaulted. The first, 18 feet long, has on the right and left small - lancet doors, leading by a narrow vaulted and ribbed mural passage into - the lodges, 11 feet by 10 feet. On the left is a second door opening on - a circular well-stair, 8 feet diameter, and unusually steep, leading to - the upper chambers and roof, and terminating in a turret at the angle - of the gatehouse. The vaulting has fallen in, but it is clear that it - resembled that of the second chamber. Beneath the cross archway is a - second portcullis, and beyond it the second part of the passage. This - is 12 feet square, without lateral doorways, and vaulted. The vault is - of four cells, three ribs and two half or wall-ribs springing from each - corner corbel, and meeting in one central, four lateral, and four half - bosses, placed upon two cross or ridge ribs. They are pierced as in the - inner ward gate of the Tower of London, and possibly each contained - a flower. The openings are, of the central boss 6 inches, and of the - others, 4 inches diameter. These apertures can scarcely have been meant - for defence; they are too small, and do not command the four corners of - the passage. No doubt a long pike might be thrust down some of them, - but scarcely, to be of use, down the half holes next the walls. As to - pouring down melted lead, pitch, or oil, such articles were always too - expensive to form a part of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">243</span> regular munitions against a siege, nor - is there here, nor in portcullis chambers generally, any furnace for - heating such materials in any quantity.</p> - - <p>The portal leading from this passage into the inner court has a second - pair of doors, and beyond them a second portcullis. This chamber is not - a part of the regular gatehouse. It forms a sort of porch projecting - from it into the court, and has no upper story. A well-stair on the - left opened from the court, and led up to the embattled platform which - rested on the vault. This subsidiary prolongation of the length and - defences of the entrance passage is believed to be peculiar to Bodiham.</p> - - <p>Over the outer part of the passage is the portcullis chamber. It has - at each end a low four-centred arch, which concealed the head of the - grate, when lifted, and above this, at each end, is the customary small - window. The lobby between the well-stair and this chamber is groined - and ribbed, and in the centre is a large boss carved in foliage. The - gatehouse lodges have a pit or sub-basement, perhaps a cellar, perhaps - merely a cavity to keep the floors dry. If cellars, they were entered - by traps in the floor above. There are also, above the basement, two - upper floors.</p> - - <p>The lesser gatehouse is placed opposite to the main gate, in the centre - of the southern face of the castle, and though equally lofty, is much - smaller. It is a plain tower 22 feet square, projecting 15 feet in - advance of the curtain, but with no internal projection. The outer gate - is in the centre of the tower, and had a portcullis, and behind it - were folding doors. The entrance passage is 11 feet square, vaulted as - the great gateway, but not so lofty. Right and left are loops raking - the curtain. A door in the west wall opens into the usual well-stair, - contained within the north-west angle. There is no lodge. The inner - portal was closed by doors only. It opened into a passage at the lower - end of the great hall.</p> - - <p>In front of, and outside this gatehouse, there project 9 feet into the - moat two walls about 3 feet thick. They seem to have contained between - them a bridge pit, over which a bridge dropped from the gateway, - upon a cross wall which remains. The pit is filled up. Opposite, - the counterscarp of the moat, 62 yards distant, is revetted, and - from it projects a half-hexagonal pier. How this intervening space - was traversed is not now seen. Scarcely by a boat, for the pier is - evidently intended to support a timber bridge, and a boat could not - conveniently be reached from it. Probably there was a footway upon - tressels or wooden piers.</p> - - <p>Thus much of the two gatehouses, the only towers which are - machicolated. Each leads into the court of the castle, an open space 86 - feet south and north, by 76 feet east and west; round which are placed, - against the curtains, the domestic buildings, 22 to 30 feet in depth, - some of one floor, some of two, but all of nearly equal height, and so - placed as to conceal the curtain and the lower parts of the towers from - the inner court.</p> - - <p>Right and left of the great gatehouse the buildings had a ground<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">244</span> - and first floor. Those on the left, or to the east, were rather more - ornate, as being nearer to the state apartments. The north-east and - north-west towers communicated on each side with these rooms. They have - sub-basement pits, with loops, a ground and two upper floors. They - differ somewhat in details, but each has a well-stair in its gorge - wall, and mural closets and fireplaces at the several levels. The pits - are circular, the chambers above hexagonal.</p> - - <p>Along the west side are offices, and probably servants’ apartments, and - rooms for the garrison. In the centre a large and handsome doorway, - with a window on each side and traces of a porch, opens into a small - kitchen, a room 21 feet by 16 feet, having on each side a fireplace, - with a converging tunnel, and an arched head of 12 feet span and 2 feet - rise. There is no hood or projection. The roof was open, and at the - battlement level. A gallery seems to have run across above the door, - entered from the room to the south, and beneath it in the wall is also - a door.</p> - - <p>The enclosure next south seems to have been of two floors. The lower - room, 38 feet by 22 feet, was probably for stores or for the servants; - the upper was the lesser hall. The lower room had two windows to the - court and a small door, and perhaps between the windows a shallow - fireplace with a bold hood. Above was a noble room of the same size. - The lower room opened into the west tower. This, like the east tower, - is 25 feet broad, by 21 feet deep, and of 15 feet projection from the - curtain. The sub-basement here was evidently a cellar. It has three - loops a little above the water-level. A well-stair in the south-east - angle leads upwards from the ground-level.</p> - - <p>Along the south side were placed the great kitchen, buttery, and - great hall. The kitchen, 33 feet by 24 feet, occupies the south-west - angle, and communicates with the adjacent angle tower. It has two - large fireplaces, of 12 feet span, in the north and south walls. The - former has an oven in its west jamb, an afterthought, as it projects - into the adjacent room. The other had a large stone hood, of which one - springing stone remains, and is buttressed by a corbel, placed in the - hollow angle to receive its thrust, as at St. Briavels. The kitchen had - an open, lofty roof. Next is the buttery, of two floors, with traces - of a cellar below. It is 18 feet by 24 feet, and opened into the hall - by three equilaterally arched doorways side by side, each towards the - hall, having a deep hollow early Perpendicular moulding. These opened - into a passage under the music-gallery.</p> - - <p>The hall was about 50 feet long by 26 feet broad, with an open roof. - It had, at the dais end of the south wall, a window of two lights, - with a transom; the lower pair square-headed, the upper pair pointed. - The whole is in a recess, with a flat segmental arch. There are said - to have been two windows in the north wall, looking into the court, - and here probably was the fireplace, for fireplaces and not central - hearths seem to have been in fashion here. The hall door remains. It - is a handsome archway with a double ogee moulding. It opened below the - music-gallery, and at the other end<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">245</span> of this passage was the entrance - to the lesser gatehouse, so that there was access from the court to - the gate, through a passage screened off from the occupied part of - the hall. Of course, the lesser gateway was used for foot-passengers - only. A passage somewhat similar crosses the lower end, not of the hall - itself, but of the vaults below the hall, at Kenilworth.</p> - - <p>The state apartments and chapel occupied the east side, and the former - seem mostly to have been of two floors.</p> - - <p>Behind the end of the hall was a large room, called the armoury, from - which opened the south-east tower. Here the sub-basement is hexagonal, - and was vaulted and groined. The vaulting has fallen away, but the - corbels remain, and the six gables and wall-ribs. Probably this was a - private store or cellar, for it has no fire or garderobe, and though - the vaulting was elegant, the chamber, being at or a trifle below the - water-level, must always have been damp. The upper floors were of - timber.</p> - - <p>Probably the term armoury is modern, and here were the - withdrawing-rooms, to which a passage led from the north end of the - dais, outside the hall. There remains a platform of masonry, which - seems to have been laid to carry such a passage.</p> - - <p>North of these rooms are traces of others, which communicated with - the east tower and chapel, and were probably private apartments, with - windows to the court. Under the whole was a range of cellars, below the - court level, but with doors and loops ascending to it.</p> - - <p>Next comes the chapel, 29 feet by 19 feet, having a large pointed - window of three lights at the east end. The floor, of timber, covered - a cellar, having a loop, rising to the court, and a door in the south - wall. The eastern end has a solid raised platform for the altar, and - near it a small north window. To the south is a small plain-pointed - piscina, and near it a lancet door, opening by steps into a vaulted - and groined mural chamber, 11 feet by 6 feet, intended as a sacristy, - having two lockers, and a small window to the moat. The chapel door - was in the south wall, leading from the lower private apartments. - Above the sacristy is a rather larger room, having a door from the - upper apartments, and a square-headed window, of two trefoiled lights, - looking into the chapel; evidently the lord’s private seat, whence, - unseen, he could be present at mass. There was no west door, or direct - entrance from the court. The chapel seems to have had an open timber - roof.</p> - - <p>The masonry throughout the castle is excellent ashlar, the material - a fine-grained, soft, but durable sandstone. There is but little - ornament. There were seven main well-staircases, each terminating in - an octagonal turret, serving as a head. The stairs did not ascend to - the top of the turret, which was domed over, and inaccessible. The - rooms are almost all furnished with fireplaces, and very many with - mural garderobes which seem to have been closed with curtains, or not - at all, since there are no marks of doors. Their shafts descend within - the walls, and discharge into the moat below the surface.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">246</span> The windows - generally are small, that of the chapel and of the hall are the only - ones even of tolerable size, towards the moat.</p> - - <p>The drum towers look older than their real date, their gorge-walls, - general proportions and arrangement, well-staircases, and lancet and - often trefoiled windows, savouring of the Edwardian period. Their - hexagonal interiors, however, and the bold and simple moulding that - crowns their parapets, belong to the Perpendicular style. The chimneys - throughout are octagonal, well-proportioned, but plain, save the - embattled moulding above. They may be later than the castle.</p> - - <p>The three armorial shields over the great gateway represent Bodiham - or Bodeham, Dalingruge, and Wardeux. The central, being that of the - founder, is placed angle-wise beneath his helmet and crest. There - were also three shields above the lesser gateway. One was, no doubt, - Dalingruge, as before, another was Knollys, out of compliment to that - commander.</p> - - <p>The battlements generally have a plain ∧ coping, with a beaded ridge - towards the field. The merlons are much broader than the embrasures, - but are not pierced. The coping is not repeated in the embrasures. - No well has been discovered, nor any lead piping, as at Ledes, where - the castle was supplied with pure water from a spring at some little - distance. On the whole, the castle, for its period, is unusually severe - in its arrangements, there being scarcely any traces of luxury. It was - a castle, not a manor house, nor palace.</p> - - <p>There remains to be described a very singular feature in this castle, - the approach to the great gateway. At present, a causeway of earth, - about 6 feet broad, springs from the north bank of the moat, and - proceeds direct, about 62 feet, towards the opposite gateway. It then - stops abruptly, and its head is revetted in masonry, which, however, - is modern. Opposite, 11 feet distant, the water flowing between, is - an octagon of 16 feet on each face, or 40 feet diameter, rising as an - island out of the moat, and revetted all round. There was evidently a - shifting bridge of some kind between this octagon and the causeway. - Whether this octagon carried any superstructure is uncertain, probably - it had only the parapet, of which traces remain.</p> - - <p>Crossing the octagon in the same straight line, there is reached a - second gap, of 6 feet, and beyond this is a rectangular island about 21 - feet north and south, by 20 feet broad, also revetted all round, and on - which revetment stood the walls of the barbican. This was, therefore, a - rectangular building, traversed by the entrance passage, and having a - doorway at either end, the outer guarded by a portcullis, and the inner - by doors. The passage was vaulted and apparently groined. It seems to - have been of one stage only, the platform resting on the vault and - battlements. In the north-west corner was a well-stair, opening from - the passage, and ascending to the roof. Grose’s drawing shows this as - though it was a side or foot entrance, which does not appear to have - been the case. The work is excellent ashlar, but only the west side - remains.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">247</span></p> - - <p>The barbican is about 54 feet from the great gate, and at present is - connected with it by a causeway. As this causeway is here and there - seen to be revetted, it may be original, in which case it was possibly - broken at either end, and the connection carried on by bridges falling - from the barbican and from the great gate. This, however, is conjecture - only.</p> - - <p>Some doubt has arisen as to how the octagon was originally approached - from the main land. This doubt is caused by the presence of a demi-pier - of masonry projecting from the west bank a few yards from its north - end, and therefore opposite to the octagon. It is therefore supposed - that the causeway from the north bank is an addition, and that another - causeway, or some kind of communication, was laid from the west bank to - the octagon, a much greater distance, nearly thrice as far. No doubt a - similar half-pier on the south bank indicates a communication thence - with the lesser gateway, but here there seems no reason whatever for - the suggested lengthening and bend in the approach. On the whole, for - whatever purpose the western pier may have been intended, the evidence - is in favour of the approach having always been along the present line. - Neither the north nor the west bank is commanded seriously by higher - ground. That to the north rises, no doubt, but scarcely so as to give - any great advantage to archers posted to annoy those entering the - castle, and certainly no greater advantage than could be gained from - the rising ground to the west. Possibly the pier was intended for the - mooring and protection of the boats employed on that side of the moat. - A road, still traceable, led up to this demi-pier.</p> - - <p>This double outwork in the moat is peculiar, it is supposed, to - Bodiham. At Ledes, indeed, there are two barbicans, but they are not - exactly in the moat, but upon the bank, and are deeply intrenched, so - as to carry the water round them. At Caerphilly, there is a single - large isolated pier in the centre of the moat, now dry, which pier was - connected by drawbridges with the great gate and the counterscarp, and - may be likened to the octagon in the present instance.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BORTHWICK">BORTHWICK TOWER, IN MIDLOTHIAN.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">BORTHWICK has been selected and is included in these examples as a - noble specimen of military architecture, and the finest extant specimen - of the Peel tower so celebrated upon the Scottish border; meaning by a - “Peel” a stronghold of which the tower is the only considerable work, - and which stands within a walled base-court or barmkin of moderate - area. Here, indeed, the dimensions of the tower are those of a Norman - keep, and the court, though small, is guarded by bastion towers of - large diameter, but still the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">248</span> tower is itself the fortress, and was - obviously the residence of the lord and his family, not only during a - siege, but at all times. Such fortresses as Lochleven and Urquhart on - Loch Ness, though far inferior to Borthwick in strength of masonry and - grandeur, are nevertheless castles, whereas Borthwick is a Peel.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow88" id="i248"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_248.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">SECTION A B, LOOKING WESTWARD.</div> - </div> - - <p>Though a ruin, and deserted probably for a couple of centuries, - Borthwick is still in tolerable order, having been preserved by the - unusual thickness of its walls and the excellence of their masonry, - and the fact that both its basement and uppermost story are vaulted, - and the upper vaults protected by stone roofing of a very substantial - character. The intermediate timber floors are all gone, and the vast - cavities are inhabited by a numerous colony of jackdaws, whose heaps of - guano might be removed with advantage. No care has been or is bestowed - upon the place, which until recently needed but little; now, however, - the rank vegetation on the roof is displacing the tile stones, and the - water penetrates the vaults. The grand fireplaces have fallen, and some - of the lesser ones are about to fall. At present a few score pounds - judiciously laid out would arrest the decay which, unchecked, will - certainly in a very few years bring down the upper vaults, and involve - the whole structure in irreparable ruin.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow62" id="i249"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">249</span> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_249.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">C. Prison. D. Well-room. E. Kitchen. - F. Queen Mary’s Rooms. G. Hall.<br /><br /> - BORTHWICK TOWER.</div> - </div> - - <p>The tower stands upon a tongue of rocky land, protected by deep, - rugged, and wooded ravines to the south, east, and north. Down two of - these flow the heads of the Middleton burn, and, below the castle, - unite, to fall into the Gore water, which, gathering its springs from - the adjacent Lammermuirs, flows, parallel to the railway, down a pretty - pastoral valley by Gore Bridge, to the South Esk. The tower, placed - over the juncture of the three streams, is a very marked object from - the railway, contesting the attention of travellers with Crichton - Castle, in an opposite direction, but in sight, for a few seconds, at - the same time.</p> - - <p>The platform, covered by the base-court, is an irregular figure, - governed by the ground, rounded to the east, and presenting right - angles to the north and south-west. Its dimensions are about 80 yards - east and west, by 35 yards north and south. There is a large drum-tower - at the south-west angle, and another, with a square rear, in the centre - of the south front, and there are traces as of a third capping the - south-east angle. These towers are 18 feet diameter, have a basement, - a first and second floor, and are about 23 feet high above the court, - and 35 feet to the field. In the west front, close to the angle-tower, - is a gateway; an opening in a very thick low curtain, round-headed, and - probably of the date of the tower. It had a drawbridge and portcullis, - and may have had a low upper story. Above the door, outside, is a flat - entablature, with mouldings in the Renaissance style, and the adjacent - bastion and curtain are pierced with long loops, placed horizontally, - evidently intended for musquetoons, and therefore insertions. They are - similar to those in the north-east bastion of Berwick town wall. The - southern bastion has the original vertical loops for bows and arrows. - The west is the weak side, for which nature has done nothing. The - curtain accordingly is on that side thickened to 12 feet or 15 feet, - and there may have been a ditch, now filled up.</p> - - <p>The court was divided by a cross wall, north and south, of no great - strength, and the tower stood in the western half, from six to eight - yards from the three outer walls. The northern curtain is an irregular - heap of ruins; upon it, opposite to the tower door, there seems to have - been a mass of masonry ascended probably by steps, and serving as an - abutment to the stone arch by which the main or first-floor entrance - was reached.</p> - - <p>The <i>Tower</i> is rectangular, 74 feet north and south by 69 feet - east and west, and from 90 feet to 110 feet high, the latter height - being to the ridge of the gables. In the west front is a recess, also - rectangular, 14 feet broad and 24 feet deep, so that the building in - plan resembles the Greek capital Π, and may conveniently be divided - into a body and wings. The recess is not quite in the centre, the north - wing being 31 feet and the south 29 feet broad. Also, the - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">251</span> latter is - rather the shorter, so that the north front measures 69 feet, and the - south front 68 feet. The arrangement of the chambers is very simple, - all being rectangular and parallel to the sides, but the mode of - reaching them by staircases is very complex. The walls are of immense - thickness, the north or entrance side being 14 feet, and the other - from 10 feet to 11 feet. Those of the recess, being protected, are - rather less, and in parts only 6 feet. It is remarkable that these - thicknesses are continued with little or no reduction, to the top. The - style is simple and severe, and although the material is cut stone, - of remarkably fine workmanship both inside and outside the structure, - there is scarcely any ornamentation. Over the outer door, in a shallow - ogee niche, is a saint or bishop in low relief, and within is a - handsome canopied niche for a statue and a sort of seat of state or - sedile for the lord. The fireplaces also are good, and the two larger - ones of magnificent character and dimensions. These ornaments belong to - the Decorated style of architecture, and correspond with the known date - of the building, the first half of the fifteenth century. The walls - rise from a plain plinth, and are terminated by strong corbels, 2 feet - apart, and about 2 feet deep, between each of which was a “meurtrière,” - and outside it a low parapet, now removed. As usual with Scottish - towers, at each angle was a three-quarter low bartisan resting on the - corbels, and probably rising no higher than the parapet. Also, the - three high-pitched roofs of the body and wings rise above and within - the walls, being set back from 6 feet to 8 feet. The chimneys, where - they remain, are tall and handsome, and the three well-staircases - opening on the roof were housed in cylindrical turrets with conical - roofs, of which one remains, wanting only its finial. - </p> - - <p>The basement is on the ground level, which is about 5 feet below the - exterior ward. Above it is a first floor, which in the body is occupied - by the great hall, above which is a second floor containing the chapel - and upper hall. Above this is a third floor. The divisions of the - wings are less lofty. The north contains six floors, the south five. - There are five well-staircases in different parts of the building. - Two ascend from the ground level to the first floor and there stop. - Two others commence at that floor and ascend to the roof, supplying - the intermediate floors, and another commences half-way up the height - of the hall, threads two walls as a gallery, and finally rises as a - well-stair to the roof. There was thus a ready access from the first - and upper floors to the battlements in case of danger.</p> - - <p><i>Basement.</i>—In the body are three chambers placed crossways, east - and west, side by side, all 23 feet long, the central 14 feet wide, - the others 15 feet. The vault springs 14 feet from the floor, and in - each, at the east end, is a large arched recess, high up, narrowing - to a loop. At the springing line of each vault is a row of strong - corbels, evidently to support a floor, a sort of windowless entresol. - These lower chambers communicate by doors, and in the south wall of - the most southern is a recess or cupboard. The outer doorway, 6 feet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">252</span> - wide, at the level of the ground outside, is in the north wall, and is - closed by a stout door, within which the passage descends eight steps. - In the same wall is a well-stair, which ascends from the basement to - the first floor, and there stops. In this, half-way up, is a door into - the entresol over the northern chamber, from which level the stair is - continued to the first floor. The entresols over the other two chambers - were reached by ladders. The whole range clearly was intended for - stores, in case of a siege.</p> - - <p>From the north and south chambers doors open into the basements of the - two wings, also vaulted. The north, the prison, is 18 feet by 12 feet, - with a high and narrow loop to the west. In its upper part is also a - small door, from the adjacent entresol, which may have opened upon a - similar floor above the prison, or may have been an opening to look - down into it.</p> - - <p>In the left wing is a vault 20 feet long by 12 feet 6 inches broad, and - only 8 feet high. This was reached from the adjacent chamber in the - body, and contained the well. From this chamber, opening in the south - wall, is a well-stair, which rises 10 feet to an entresol, and thence - proceeds to the first floor. This entresol, also vaulted, was 18 feet - by 12 feet. There is a fireplace and cupboard in the north wall, and in - the south a small loop, a mural garderobe, and the door of entrance. - From it a rise of 14 feet leads to the first floor, which is thus 24 - feet above the basement.</p> - - <p>The <i>first floor</i> contains the great <i>hall</i>,—a noble chamber, - 51 feet by 24 feet, with walls from 12 feet to 14 feet thick. It is - covered by a pointed barrel vault, quite plain, but, with the walls, - of excellent ashlar. The height to the crown is about 30 feet. It - occupies the whole breadth of the building. In the north end is a mural - chamber, 8 feet 6 inches by 7 feet 10 inches, which contains the head - of the well-stair from below. This has a door into the hall and another - into the entrance passage. This is the passage of the main entrance, - 4 feet 7 inches broad, and 14 feet long, having a door at each end, - but no portcullis. It is the main entrance to the tower. Outside, it - seems to have been approached by a stone arch of about 8 feet span, of - which the springing-course is seen under the door-sill. In the vaulted - mural passage are the opposite doors, one mentioned already upon the - stair-head, the other leading to the kitchen, which occupies the north - wing.</p> - - <p>At the other extremity of this northern end of the hall a door opens - into a well-stair, 7 feet 10 inches in diameter, which here commences, - and supplies the upper floor and the roof. The east side of the hall is - pierced by two windows, square headed, in deep-splayed arched recesses - of 7 feet opening, and 22 feet apart. Besides these, towards the north - end is a small light, a mere loop, in a recess of 2 feet 7 inches - opening.</p> - - <p>The great feature of the hall, after its fine pointed vault, is a - grand fireplace, 9 feet broad and 3 feet deep, with a projecting hood - of stone, which dies into the wall about two-thirds of the way up, - and is supported by two double half-shafts, with bases and carved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">253</span> - caps and a flowered band above, all in the Decorated style. This - occupies the centre of the south end, and on each side of it, high up, - are recesses of 5 feet opening ending in loops of 1 foot. The hood - is broken down and the fireplace in decay, but its remains are very - striking. Along the west side of the hall are various openings. In the - centre is a window recess, 5 feet 10 inches broad and 9 feet deep, - from which a side opening leads into a vaulted serving-room, 5 feet by - 11 feet, which again opens into the kitchen. In the south end of this - side a door opens into the withdrawing-room, and another door into - a well-stair, which here commences, and communicates with the upper - floors of the south wing, and the roof. Near the north end of this side - a low arch or buttery-hatch opened direct into the kitchen. Besides - these openings, there are two ornamental recesses. The one a niche in - the north wall for a statue, about 5 feet high, with a handsome groined - and floriated canopy and a base resting upon a half-shaft, probably for - a statue of the patron saint of the family. Also in the west wall, near - the fireplace, is a sort of sedile, 4 feet broad, with an ogee canopy, - containing on a shield the three cinquefoils, the Borthwick arms. The - walls of the hall seem to have been either painted or covered with - devices, one of which, “Ye Temple of Honour,” was recently to be seen. - Here and in the staircases are many masons’ marks. Two of the doors - have heads as of three sides of a hexagon, something like the Berkeley - arch.</p> - - <p>The <i>Kitchen</i> occupied the first floor of the north wing. It is - 16 feet by 22 feet, and is spanned by a large flat arch, throwing the - western half into a stone hood, under which the principal culinary - operations were carried on. There are three recesses with loops in the - north and west sides, one of which is blocked by a later oven. There - is also a small fireplace. The entrances are from the main door of the - hall and from the serving-room, and between is the buttery-hatch.</p> - - <p>The <i>Withdrawing-room</i> occupies the south wing, and is 19 feet - by 14 feet. It was entered from the hall and from the well-stair, and - has recesses and small windows towards the south and west, besides - wall cupboards. The south wall contains, in a vaulted chamber, the - head of the staircase from the well-room and its entresol; and in - this wall also is a mural chamber, 8 feet by 7 feet, with two doors, - a window, and, in its flat slab-covered roof, a shaft, probably for a - stove chimney. This is called Queen Mary’s room, and was probably her - bed-chamber when she visited Borthwick. This and the larger room are - plugged for panelling, and the contiguous doorways from the stairs and - the hall had a wooden porch shutting them off in the corner of the - room, so that there was a passage either from the Queen’s room or the - staircase into the hall without entering the withdrawing-room.</p> - - <p>Above the hall, a corresponding space, 51 feet by 24 feet, is divided - by a cross-wall into an upper hall and a chapel. The <i>upper hall</i>, - 27 feet by 24 feet, has a large fireplace, with a stone hood and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">254</span> - flanking shafts, and near it a window, both in the east wall. In - the north wall is a large recess and window and a door into the - north-eastern staircase. In the west wall is a window in a recess, and - a door which leads by a mural passage into the north wing, and into a - garderobe in the north wall.</p> - - <p>The <i>Chapel</i>, 24 feet by 21 feet, has a recess of 9 feet wide, in - which is the east window, a piscina, and an almbry. It had also two - south windows, and between them a small fireplace. In its west wall is - the entrance-door from the well-stair, and a door, 2 feet above the - floor, from the south wing, which probably opened into a raised seat - for the lord. Both chapel and upper hall had a flat timber roof, and - were 14 feet high.</p> - - <p>The room next above these, the third floor of the body, was of the - dimensions of the great hall. It had three windows to the east and one - to the north, south, and west. It was entered from the well-staircase - in the north-east corner, and that of the south wing, and it had a door - direct into the north wing. This room has a long, full-centred barrel - vault, which rises about 6 feet above the walls, and is, therefore, to - the crown, about 15 feet high. It is probable that this great chamber - was broken up by partitions, but it contains no fireplace.</p> - - <p>Corresponding to these floors in the body are, in the south wing, - five,—the first being the withdrawing-room already described, and - 13 feet high. The second has two windows, a fireplace, and a mural - garderobe, and is about 11 feet high. The third, the same, and is 8 - feet high; the fourth has the same arrangements, and, in addition, a - door into the private seat of the chapel. It is 17 feet high. The fifth - floor has two windows only, and is about 15 feet high to the crown of - its vaulted roof. All the chambers in this wing are of the same size, - and one over another.</p> - - <p>The chambers in the north wing are over, and of the same size with, - the first floor or kitchen, the hood and chimney-shaft of which, built - against the west wall, passes up through each floor, tapering as it - rises. In this wing there are six floors, most having two windows and - some a fireplace. The second floor—that over the kitchen—is entered - from the eastern well-stair, whence, at 12 feet above the floor of the - hall, a mural passage threads the north wall and its window recess, and - leads into the chamber. Hence, ascending in the west wall of the hall - 10 feet, it reaches the commencement of a well-stair, which leads to - the upper floors and the roof. The uppermost and sixth floor is in the - vault of the roof, and is lighted by orifices in its gables.</p> - - <p>Besides these chambers in the two wings there are small mural chambers - at two levels in the west wall, which are reached from the south stair, - and look into the recess on the west front of the tower.</p> - - <p>The battlements are still accessible by two staircases, and the three - roofs are seen to rise independently from the rampart-walk level. They - are high-pitched, and their vaults are covered with cut stone tiles, - fitted so as to form ridges and hollows, and so jointed as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">255</span> completely, - while perfect, to exclude the rain. This roofing has lasted well, and - even now only needs relaying and the replacing of a few broken stones. - The gables are of cut stone. The stair-heads are about 8 feet high, - circular, with conical roofs of ashlar. There seems to have been a low - parapet all round, set out upon corbels, and between each pair a square - machicolation. There is a clear walk all round, only broken by the - chimney-shafts. The parapet has been removed, probably to prevent the - tower being held as a military post. The east wall near the top is much - injured, it is said, by Cromwell’s shot, when he battered the castle - from this side, beyond the ravine.</p> - - <p>Borthwick Tower was built under a licence from James II. to Sir William - Borthwick of that ilk, dated the 2nd of June, 1430.</p> - - <p>Billing gives an excellent view of this tower from the south-west, and - a good drawing of the interior of the hall, showing the great fireplace - before its fall, and the lord’s seat.</p> - - <h3>HISTORY.</h3> - - <p>The family of Borthwick, though for centuries the owners of this - estate, derive their name from a place on the shore of Borthwickwater, - in the shire of Selkirk, whence, at a remote period, they migrated to - the lands and castle of Catcune, holding it with Legertwood and Herriot - Muir, whence they again removed to Locherwart, to which they gave the - name of Borthwick, an inversion common in Ireland, but rare in England - and Scotland. Their predecessors at Locherwart were the Hays of Yester.</p> - - <p>The first of the name on record was, I., <i>Thomas</i> de Borthwick, - <i>temp.</i> David II., and who held lands in Berwickshire. His son, - II., <i>Sir William</i> Borthwick, of Catcune, was living 1378, and - his son, III., <i>Sir William</i> Borthwick, in 1387–1401, and who - was father of, IV., <i>Sir William</i>, of Legertwood, who, in 1410, - had a grant from Robert Duke of Albany of the lands of Borthwick and - Thoftcotys, in Selkirk; V., another <i>William</i>, son of the last, - was one of the hostages sent to England for the ransom of James I. To - him, as Willelmus de Borthwic, miles, the king granted, 2nd June, 1430, - a letter of licence, “construendi castrum in illo loco qui vulgariter - dicitur le Mot de Lochorwort ... ac in eodem castro et fortalicio - Constabularium, Janitorem, custodesque necessarios et optimos pro sua - voluntate providendi, removendi, et omnia alia quæ ad securitatem et - fortificationem dicti castri necessaria fuerint faciendi.” - </p> - - <p>Such a licence is rare in Scotland, where the nobles were very - independent of the Crown, and the country commonly so disturbed that - a castle was almost a necessary of life. To the castle so licensed to - be built was given the name of Borthwick. It is probable from the term - “Le Mot” that there was already a strong place there, for which indeed - the position was very suitable. This Sir William seems to have been - the first Lord Borthwick. His lineal male descendant, John, the eighth - lord, held out his castle for a time<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">256</span> against Cromwell’s artillery. His - son, John, the ninth lord, died childless in 1681, and on his death the - castle passed to his sister’s son, Dundas of Harrington, from which - family, after two descents, the castle was purchased by Borthwick of - Croston, descended from a younger son of the first lord, and his male - descendant in the tenth generation claimed, in 1774, the barony, which, - however, was ultimately granted to a still nearer male heir.</p> - - <p>John, the fifth lord, was a strong partisan of Queen Mary. He it was - who ducked the apparitor in the burn, and made him eat his letter of - excommunication, steeped in wine. Mary fled to Borthwick Castle, about - three weeks after her marriage with Bothwell, 7th June, 1577, and, - being followed by the opposing lords, fled thence, on the 11th, to - Dunbar, disguised as a page. No doubt she slept in the chamber called - by her name. Bothwell, at that time, possessed the adjacent castle of - Crichton.</p> - - <p>The Borthwick arms carved in the hall of the castle are,—(A) three - cinquefoils (sable).</p> - - <p>The adjacent church was rebuilt, or nearly so, in excellent taste, in - 1850. It has a western tower with a broach spire, a nave, chancel, and - round apse, and two transepts, of which that to the south is old, and - mainly in the Decorated style, though with some traces of Norman work.</p> - - <p>Dr. Robertson, the historian, was born in the manse, which, however, - has been rebuilt.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BOVES">THE CASTLE OF BÔVES.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE Castle of Bôves is here introduced as a good example of a moated - mound on the other side of the Channel. The castle and village stand - upon the left bank of the valley of the Noye, in the old province of - Picardy, above and about a quarter of a mile distant from the stream. - The Noye rises near to Crêvecœur-le-Grand, beyond Bretuil, and flows - across a district of chalk. Both a little above and immediately - below Bôves, it inosculates with the Avre, which rises near to - Crêvecœur-le-Petit, and the combined stream, flowing past Longeau, - joins the Somme immediately above Amiens, which city is about five - miles distant from Bôves. Both the Noye and the Avre exhibit the - features which are still more strongly marked in the Somme. They flow - sluggishly across broad, flat tracts of peat and gravel, contained - within steep and high banks of chalk. The peat has been extensively - excavated for fuel, and the cavities are filled with dark peaty water. - The supply of coal by railway and canal seems somewhat to have checked - the demand upon these turbaries, and the uncut surfaces are highly - cultivated as nursery gardens, which appear in patches amidst the - pools, and are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">257</span> chiefly reached by boats. The poplar is the prevailing - tree of these damp, gloomy districts, and it there attains a very - considerable size. Below the peat, and at the base and up the sides of - the chalk hills, the rock is more or less thickly covered up with beds - of gravel and light loam, in which are found the flint implements which - have been the subject of so much speculation.</p> - - <p>The village of Bôves contains under 2,000 persons, whose chief - employment is bleaching in the open fields the cotton cloths - manufactured in the neighbourhood. The church, the only public - building, is a heavy Doric temple, of modern date. The village is built - at the foot of the chalk hill upon which stands the castle, and which - has been quarried for building purposes into a cliff of 50 feet to 80 - feet high.</p> - - <p>The castle, now a mere ruin of no great extent, is chiefly remarkable - for its earthworks. It stands upon a chalk ridge, perhaps 150 feet - above the valley, and has been isolated towards the south by a curved - ditch, about 50 feet deep by 60 feet or 70 feet broad, and about a - furlong in length. This ditch works out upon the face of the cliff - towards the village, and upon the natural slope in the opposite - direction. The ground without, or upon its counterscarp, has not been - disturbed. The contents have been thrown inward, and cause the scarp to - be crowned by an elevated bank.</p> - - <p>On the highest part of the ground, just within the ditch and near its - centre, is a mound or motte, with very steep sides, about 50 feet high, - and a circular flat top about 100 feet in diameter. This motte has a - basis of chalk rock, which has been scarped, and the material added - to the summit. The bank proceeds from the mound along the edge of the - ditch, and probably was connected with or covered the entrance into the - work upon the motte. To the east and north of the motte the ground is - tolerably level as far as the edge of the cliff, and of a deep hollow - way ascending from the village. This space is now partially occupied by - a public cemetery and some farm buildings. West of the motte is a sort - of lunated platform, beyond which the slope is again scarped by art. - Probably the principal buildings of the castle and its offices occupied - these platforms under the motte.</p> - - <p>The only masonry remaining stands upon the motte, and consists of - the ruins of a tower and a fragment of wall. The tower stands at the - junction of the scarped bank with the motte, upon the edge of the - ditch. Its remains are quadrangular, with thick walls, of which only - the north and south remain. It was of three floors, a basement vaulted - in round-headed barrel; a first floor, with timber ceiling; and a - second floor, higher, and evidently a room of state. In the basement - walls remain three rectangular loopholes, or small window-openings, - high up. The upper room may have been vaulted. Its walls show a - round-headed gable, but this may have belonged to a coved plaster - ceiling. Outside, against one wall, is a plain buttress, 3 feet by 3 - feet. The material is chalk rubble, without flints, and faced, within - and without, with chalk ashlar, the stones being coursed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">258</span> and about 9 - inches long by 6 inches high, with rather open joints. This tower may - have contained a small portal. From it extends a fragment of curtain, - along the edge of the motte. This has one broken opening, perhaps a - window, with a round head. It is difficult to form an opinion upon the - age of this masonry. It is possibly late Norman.</p> - - <p>There are marks of the foundations of a shell of wall all round the - edge of the motte, and of a central rectangular court. At present the - summit is planted with trees, and the slopes covered with brushwood.</p> - - <p>Bôves underwent a siege from Philip Augustus of which an interesting - account was drawn up by Guillaume le Breton. The following is extracted - from it:—</p> - - <p>“The first barriers being won, the besiegers constructed with osiers, - hides and stout planks, a cat, under cover of which picked men filled - in the ditch. This done, the knights, under cover of their large - shields held against the wall, covered the miners, who, with bars and - picks, broke into the wall, propping it up with rough trunks of trees, - and then removing the masonry above the level of the foundations. When - enough was thus undermined, they set the props on fire and retired. - When the props were burnt the wall fell in the midst of a dense cloud - of dust and smoke. The besieged then gave way, a body of youth, - sheathed in armour, ascended amidst the dust and ruin, massacred some - and captured others, while the remainder, retreating, fled into the - keep, which, built upon a scarped rock and protected by a double wall, - offered a sure asylum.</p> - - <p>“Then a machine, contrived for various purposes, was brought to bear - upon the keep; sometimes as a mangonel, such as are used by the Turks, - it sent a shower of small stones into the air, sometimes a single stone - of vast weight was projected with a velocity exceeding that from a - sling. Fissures began to appear in the walls, shaken by the repeated - blows,” &c.</p> - - <p>The history of Bôves is probably that of Amiens. It is supposed to have - been thrown up in the ninth century, for defence against the aggressive - Northmen, and the character of the earthwork favours this view. Some of - the Sieurs de Coucy were lords also of Bôves; and Henry IV., whose wars - brought him to Amiens, is said to have occasionally visited Bôves with - Gabrielle d’Estrées. The lordship was, during that reign, the property - of Philippe de Mornay, son of that Du Plessis Mornay whose name is so - intimately associated with the career of Henry. The earthworks are seen - to great advantage from the Bôves Station of the Amiens Railway.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">259</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BOWES">BOWES CASTLE, YORKSHIRE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE stronghold known as Bowes Castle consists at this time of a single - rectangular tower, unconnected with any other buildings, and bearing - no trace whatever of ever having been so connected. This is very - remarkable, inasmuch as the tower is in every respect both of plan - and detail, a Norman keep, and Norman keeps usually, it may be said - invariably, are, as the name imports, connected with or surrounded by - other buildings, of which the tower is the strength or citadel.</p> - - <p>Brough, Brougham and Appleby, Carlisle and Newcastle, Helmsley, - Scarborough, and Richmond, all Norman rectangular keeps of the Northern - Counties, are parts only, though the chief part, each of its castle, - and it is only to fortresses so composed of parts that it is usual - to apply the name of castle, a single structure being usually termed - a tower or peel. Bowes, however, is always styled a castle in the - records, and it is, of course, possible that it may, in respect of - composition, have resembled other castles, and that the stronger and - better-built part of the work may have proved most durable. It is, - however, clear that no other work in masonry abutted upon, or, at - least, was bonded into this tower, nor is there any indication of - building or of foundations in the greensward, to which the tower on - two of its sides lies open. On another side the churchyard runs up - to within but a few feet of the tower, and on the remaining side the - cottages show nothing of either old walls, or of the material of which - such were likely to have been constructed.</p> - - <p>Bowes Keep, if then Keep it may be called, is a rectangular tower - rather above 82 feet east and west by 60 feet north and south. It does - not, however, stand with the main points of the compass, the actual - north being the north-west angle of the description. It is about 50 - feet high. Each angle is capped by a broad flat pilaster, 14 feet broad - and projecting a foot, and the angle of meeting of each pair is solid. - Midway, in the centre of each face, is also a pilaster 8 feet 10 inches - broad, and of the same projection with those flanking it. There is no - base or plinth or set-off, save where a plain string-course marks the - level of the upper floor, and is continued along the whole building, - walls and pilasters. The top of the wall is much broken down, no - battlement remaining. There do not appear to have been turrets at the - angles, save perhaps one at the south-east, containing the stair head.</p> - - <p>There is a basement, a main, and an upper floor. The basement, as - usual, is at the ground-level. Its walls are 11 feet to 12 feet - thick and solid, enclosing an area 36 feet by 58 feet. This again is - subdivided by two cross-walls, 4 feet 4 inches thick. One of these, - lying north and south, seems to have ascended through each floor, the - other at right angles to it was probably confined to the basement. - Both walls are broken away, only enough being left to show that such - there were. Of the three chambers thus formed, that occupying the - west end of the floor was 37 feet long by 16 feet broad (<i>a</i>). - Of the two others the southern was 37 feet 10 inches long by 17 feet - broad (<i>c</i>), and the northern the same length by 15 feet broad - (<i>b</i>). - </p> - - <div class="figcenter illow60" id="i260"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">260</span> - <div class="caption">BOWES CASTLE.</div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_260.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">261</span></p> - - <p>The western chamber was certainly vaulted, the corbels whence sprung - the ribs or vaults remaining at the four angles. The other two chambers - were probably also vaulted, some trace of the angle corbels remaining. - A special rib seems to have shut off the south-east angle, probably to - give head-room for the staircase doorway. A doorway led from the south - to the western chamber, of which the south jamb remains. Probably these - chambers were vaulted in two bays, but of this no indication is left. - All are lighted by loops, each loop is about 2 inches broad, and 6 - feet above the ground, and is placed in a round-headed stepped recess, - splayed from an internal breadth of about 4 feet 6 inches. Of these - loops there are six. One in the north wall, opening from the north - chamber; three in the south wall, of which two open from the south - chamber, and the third from the west chamber, which has also two others - in the west wall.</p> - - <p>The south-east angle is occupied by a well-staircase 11 feet 8 inches - diameter, which rises to the roof, communicating by a short lobby with - each floor. The only access to the basement was by this staircase from - the first floor.</p> - - <p>The first or main floor was divided by the cross-wall into a larger - east (<i>e</i>) and a smaller west chamber (<i>d</i>), and a shelf or - set-off reduces some of the walls by a foot, and enlarges the inner - area accordingly. At this level also the walls contained several mural - chambers. The main, and indeed the only entrance to the tower was - on this floor in the east wall, about 10 feet from the ground. The - doorway, a plain rounded arch of 5 feet 4 inches opening (<i>f</i>), - led into a passage of 6 feet breadth, opening direct into the eastern - chamber. There was no portcullis, and the only defence was a stout - door, barred. In the south wall of the passage a small doorway led into - a chamber in the east wall, 6 feet wide by 14 feet long, and which has - a loop in its outer wall, and no doubt opened by a doorway, now broken - down, into the east chamber. On the north side of the doorway, but not - communicating with the passage, the north-east angle of the building is - occupied by a second mural chamber 14 feet long by 9 feet broad, also - vaulted (<i>g</i>). In the north wall of this chamber is a fire-place - with a concave back, and at the east end is a loop. It was entered from - the east chamber by a doorway, now broken down, in its south wall, and - this door led into a small lobby, cut off by a cross-wall from the - chamber with the fire-place.</p> - - <p>A third mural chamber is entered from the larger room by a small door - in the south wall. This opens into a passage 2 feet 6 inches broad, - and 33 feet long, lighted by a couple of loops in its south<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">262</span> wall, and - terminating in a small chamber about 8 feet by 4 feet, which occupies - the south-west angle, and was lighted by a loop in the west wall.</p> - - <p>A fourth chamber was contained within the west wall. It was entered - by a doorway now broken down, opening into a passage 2 feet 8 inches - broad by 19 feet long, lighted by two loops in the outer wall, one - of which was in a garderobe, and in the broken wall is seen a shaft - descending from an upper garderobe, possibly in the second floor or on - the battlements. The mural chambers are all vaulted. At the south-east - angle a doorway and lobby lead into the winding staircase. This main - floor was lighted by three windows, one in the north and one in the - south wall of the larger apartment, and one in the west wall of the - smaller room. These windows are all alike. Their recesses are flat - sided and round headed, and are open to the floor-level. They are 8 - feet wide. Their framework or tracery is gone, so that it is impossible - to say precisely how they were closed in. Their flat sides give to - these three window recesses very much the appearance of doorways. This - floor was not vaulted, but ceiled with timber in the ordinary way.</p> - - <p>The upper or second floor is a mere ruin and inaccessible, only - fragments of its walls remaining. The least injured part is about the - head of the staircase at the south-east angle. Here the sides of the - doorway and one wall of the lobby remain.</p> - - <p>The material of the building is a rough strong sandstone, weathered - to a dark colour. The walls, inside and out, were faced with coarse - ashlar, well executed, and on three of the exterior sides remaining - unhurt. The west face has been stripped, no doubt for use for later - buildings. The interior also has been almost wholly stripped, just - enough remaining to show what has been. The basement is encumbered with - the fragments of the vaulting, so that the floor is nowhere to be seen. - There may therefore have been a well. The stairs have been designedly - broken away, so that the staircase remains an empty cylinder. The - entrance to it, at the base, is much broken. The three southern loops - are tolerably perfect; one quite so.</p> - - <p>On the first floor the larger or eastern chamber was probably the - Hall. The main entrance had no forebuilding or exterior covering, nor - is there any trace of a stone staircase or of a drawbridge. It seems - to have been reached by steps of wood. The chamber in the north-east - angle, containing a fireplace, full large for its size, may have been - the kitchen. This is the only fireplace now seen in the building, - though there may have been others in the cross-wall. The two chambers - about the south-west angle seem to have been garderobes, one opening - from each of the main rooms. The three windows are unusually large, and - being only 12 or 14 feet from the ground, must have much weakened the - strength of the place. No doubt the framing or tracery filling up the - apertures was heavy and strong, but still no tracery or mullion could - have resisted a heavy stone from a catapult, nor indeed could the shell - of wall containing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">263</span> the staircase. Probably the borderers, whose raids - the tower was intended to resist, had no military engines at their - command.</p> - - <p>As the roof is gone, with the walls that immediately supported it, it - is impossible to say whether it was flat or pitched at an angle. There - is seen, however, in the west wall, at its north end, a patch of ashlar - cut to a low slope, evidently that of a former roof, and there is a - like indication in what remains of the cross-wall, at its south end; - also about the same level is a square hole, which evidently carried the - water from the gutter on one side of the wall to that on the other. The - level of these indications of a low-pitched roof is about that of the - floor of the upper story, and many feet below even the present top of - the wall. It looks as though here, as at Richmond, Ludlow, Porchester, - Bridgenorth, Kenilworth, and in many other instances, the original - roof had been over the first story, and the second story had been an - afterthought, generally not more than a few years later. Possibly the - whole wall above the string-course is an addition, but if so it is a - very early one.</p> - - <p>Bowes tower may safely be pronounced to be very late Norman in style. - The cross-walls are certainly original, but the vaulting was probably - an addition, and, to judge from the skewbacks of two ribs in the south - wall, of the Decorated period. The basements of Norman keeps were very - rarely vaulted, and here, as at Brougham, Richmond, and Carlisle, the - vaulting looks later than the walls.</p> - - <p>The two open sides of the tower, the west and south, show that it was - guarded by a ditch at from 40 to 70 feet distance, and this may have - been continued all round. The tower stands a few yards south of the - highway which traverses this district from east to west, and represents - the Roman Way from Greta Bridge by Brough, Appleby, and Brougham, with - branches northwards to Alston and Carlisle. At Bowes, as at Brough and - Brougham, the road was strengthened by a camp, and Bowes tower stands - within the camp, near its western boundary, and to the south of its - central line. The ditches of the camp may be traced to the north and - west, and partly to the east, and its area is about 130 yards, by 140 - yards: to the south the ground falls sharply towards the deep bed of - the Greta, and is defended by terraces and scarps, in which, a little - west of the centre, is an opening probably for communication with the - river. The remains of a Roman bath have been laid open outside the - south-east angle, and a fragment of lead pipe, no doubt feeding it, - was dug up in the adjacent churchyard. To the west are the remains of - four small barrows in Roundhill Close, and the defence of the camp is - strengthened by two watercourses at a short distance on the east and - west fronts. Besides this camp there is one at Greta Bridge, 6 miles - to the east, and two others at 6 and 8 miles to the west, of which - one known as Raycross is regarded as a British camp, adopted by the - Romans. The cross, commemorated in the name, is said to have been set - up in 1067 to mark the boundary then agreed upon between England and - Scotland. The further camp is known as Maiden Castle. Bowes is held to - be the Roman Lavatræ.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">264</span> The position is well chosen, having considerable - local elevation. It is 928 feet above the sea, and commands extensive - views, especially to the south and east.</p> - - <p>As the history of North Yorkshire is as yet unwritten, but little is - known as to Bowes, save that both manor and castle were always held by - the Earls of Richmond. King John, that most restless of monarchs, was - at the castle on the 16th February, 7th of his reign, that is, in 1206, - when he thence, “apud Bouas,” addressed a mandate to the Foresters of - Nottingham, and again, according to Mr. Hunter’s itinerary, 16th June, - in the 14th year of his reign, 1212. “The Earls of Richmond,” says - Camden, “here levied a through toll, and set up a gallows.” Rymer also - gives a charter of Henry III. to Peter, Earl of Richmond, dated 25th - March, 1262, granting and confirming to him, with other lands, “Villas - de Richemund et Boghes, cum castris et wapentachiis, et omnibus aliis - pertinentiis suis;” and “Bowes castrum” was held of Peter of Savoy, - 10 Edward I., and “Bowes Manerium” of John le Dreux the elder, Earl - of Richmond, 13 Edward I. 19 Edward I., William de Felton was put in - charge of Richmond and Bowes, &c., for the King. John le Dreux, Earl - of Richmond, had it 5 Edward III. 36 Edward III., Margaret de Dacre - died, seised of Bowes manor, as, 4 Henry VI., did Joan, widow of - John de Gray, Chevalier; and, 14 Henry VI., John Duke of Bedford. 22 - Henry VI., two parts of the manor or lordship of Bowes were held by - John Duke of Somerset. Its present owner is Mr. Pulleine of Clifton. - Mention is made of a Bowes in Northumberland in the reign of Edward - III. and of a tenement called Bowes in Boulne in Sussex, 4 Henry IV. - The castle was probably built late in the 12th century, and dismantled - by either Charles or the parliament in the 17th century. It is a very - good example of a late Norman keep. The mill, the almost invariable - appendage of an early castle, stood upon the river Greta.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BRAMBER">THE CASTLE OF BRAMBER, SUSSEX.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">OF the shires of England there is none more intensely English than - Sussex. Its name, the names of the most central of its two capital - towns, of its principal and secondary divisions, of its parishes, - and in a very remarkable degree of its inhabitants, are but little - changed from those they bore on the eve of the Conquest, and when - under the sway of Godwin and Harold. Even the not infrequent marks of - Norman occupation, in the form of parish churches, abbeys, and castles - of great strength and durability, were many of them grafted upon - foundations dating from the days of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">265</span> Alfred and Egbert. This is the - case with Selsey, the ecclesiastical parent of the see of Chichester, - with Bosham, Malling, Steyning, and other religious houses; and - Arundel, Bramber, Knapp, Hastings, and Lewes, all great castles in - their day, were the seats of English chiefs for centuries, before their - banks were crested with walls of masonry, or their mounds crowned with - keeps constructed after the Norman pattern. Pevensey, indeed, boasts a - still earlier origin.</p> - - <p>British remains in Sussex are but scanty. A few of the larger and more - elevated of the hill-camps, and those of irregular form, as Cissbury, - which includes 60 acres, are supposed to be the work of the Regni, the - earliest recorded inhabitants of the district. It is also difficult not - to see in the Arun, the Adur, and the Ouse, names corresponding to the - Aeron, the Dour, and the Usk or Esk, by which many streams in Celtic - countries are still designated. Glynde has been claimed as a Celtic - name, but it is very rare, especially in Sussex, to find the name of a - parish of other than Teutonic origin.</p> - - <p>Of the Roman period the traces are more numerous. The main road - intersecting the county from Chichester towards London is undoubtedly - of that date, and there seems to have been at least one other from - Chichester—the Roman Regnum—to Pevensey. There remain also several - rectangular camps, as Goushill, Hollingbury, Ditchling, Highdown, and - Brighthelmstone Down, evidently Roman. Chichester, though its Latin - name probably includes an earlier appellation, has the Roman cruciform - arrangement of its two main streets, though not the rectangular - outline. Anderida, Mutuantonis, and Mida, Roman towns of which the - site is disputed, seem to have been in Sussex; and at Bognor and other - places, pavements and foundations and inscribed stones, and other marks - of Roman habitation, have been discovered. Still the remains, whether - of British or Roman occupation, are but slight: all that speaks of - law, of order, of property, of the family tie, of the forefathers of - the people, of civil or religious polity, and of public worship—all of - this character which is ancestral, is English. This thorough uprooting - of the traces of earlier occupation is due, no doubt, to the position - of Sussex upon that part of the British coast most exposed to Saxon - and Danish invasion, and which bore the attacks of those formidable - invaders when at their earliest and fiercest. Sussex was late to come - under the humanising influences of Christianity, remaining Pagan till - the middle of the seventh century. The remarkable conservation, to our - days, of the names and divisions is probably due to the very peculiar - configuration of the district, and to the isolation produced by its - steep and lofty frontier ridges, and by the dense woodland which - covered, and to some extent does still cover, its central part. As the - position of the principal castles is determined by this configuration, - a few words concerning it will not be out of place.</p> - - <p>Sussex forms the western half of a chalk basin. The chalk rises in - a long, narrow, lofty, and very steep ridge, forming the northern,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">266</span> - eastern, and southern margins of the area, its height, reaching to - 800 feet, being known as the Downs. The North Downs divide Sussex - from Surrey, the South Downs are the frontier towards the sea. This - latter ridge extends from near Chichester to Beachy Head, while the - North Downs extend to Folkestone and Dover. The deep wooded area thus - enclosed between them is the well-known weald of Sussex. The basin is - cut across obliquely by the sea, and the south-eastern frontier of the - county thus laid open for a length of about fifty miles. In former - days, however, the broad marshes of Pevensey, Winchelsea, and Romney - closed this opening with a barrier as effective as the downs themselves.</p> - - <p>Upon these downs, and especially upon the range to the seaward, the - early sea-kings seem to have pitched their resting-places. Here are - still found such hill-camps as Woolstonbury, Caburn, Rookshill, and - Cheukbury, circular in form, and therefore neither British nor Roman, - and besides these, several others, as Newhaven, Seaford, and Burling, - which are segments of circles, and, like Flamborough Head, enclose - headlands, and are attributed, with some probability, to the Danes. It - seems the general opinion that these circular or segmental earthworks - preceded the mounds and banks found in the interior of the country and - upon lower ground, the work of the same people after their settlement - and civilisation.</p> - - <p>Sussex is the only county the primary divisions of which bear the - names of rapes; of these it contains six: Hastings, Pevensey, Lewes, - Bramber, Arundel, and Chichester, subordinate to which are sixty-five - hundreds; each rape contains a portion of seaboard, a river, a haven, - and a fortress. The rivers are the Lavant, which nearly encircles the - city of Chichester, and falls into one head of the Bosham estuary, the - port of Chichester—the name is thought to be a corruption of the Saxon - <i>hlifian</i>, a rising, because the springs rise annually from deep - sources;—the Arun, which descends the dell bearing its name, cleaving - the chalk-range, and reaches the sea at Little Hampton; the Adur, the - river of Bramber, which, also by a pass in the chalk, reaches the sea - at Shoreham; the Ouse, the river of Lewes, which, through a narrow - gorge, now joins the sea at Newhaven, instead of, as formerly, flowing - out at Seaford. The Cuckmere is the river of Pevensey, but it leaves - that haven far to the east, and descends, also by a gap in the chalk, - to the sea, west of Beachy Head; and, finally, the Rother, the river of - the rape of Hastings, but the common boundary of Sussex and Kent, and - which falls into the sea at Rye. Pevensey Haven, though deprived of the - Cuckmere, is the receptacle for a number of lesser streams, by which - the upland waters formerly flooded that extensive level. - </p> - - <p>The fortresses of the rapes are also six:—Chichester, probably of Roman - origin, long since destroyed; Arundel, Bramber, Lewes, and Hastings, - all of præ-Norman date; Pevensey, of Roman origin. Ella, who landed - <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 477, took possession of Chichester. All were the seats - of English lords, and all were accepted by the Normans as well-chosen - positions, and by them were occupied and strengthened.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">267</span> Knepp or Knapp - Castle, subordinate to Bramber, in the same rape, like it, is of - English origin. - </p> - - <p>Of the six castles, three, Arundel, Bramber, and Lewes, are posted at - the upper openings of narrow gaps in the chalk downs. Chichester is - placed to the east of and outside the chalk range. Pevensey stands - within the weald, among the low marshes by which that tract opens - upon the sea; and Hastings, also within the weald, stands upon the - sea-cliff, on the rocks and sands to which it has given geologically - its name.</p> - - <p>All the six, as well as Knapp, possessed, on a larger or smaller scale, - the conical mound so characteristic of English strongholds, and each, - after the Conquest, became the chief seat of a barony, and was held by - a powerful noble. Robert de Eu had Hastings; William de Warren, Lewes; - the Earl of Moreton, Pevensey; Chichester fell to Roger de Montgomery, - who there founded a castle upon the site of the earlier works, of which - part of the mound remains. The castle stood within the city enclosure, - in the north-east quarter. It became, with Arundel, the property of the - D’Albinis, and was destroyed by order of King John, after which the - third Earl of Arundel founded on its site the Grey Friars, of which - the house was probably built with the materials of the castle. It is - said that upon the mound stood a circular or polygonal keep, as at - Arundel, and that the traces of its foundations were long visible on - its summit. The mound has survived all its Norman additions, and is the - only relic of the ancient fortress that is extant. The city, within - which the castle stood, is also an early strong place. The cruciform - streets are, doubtless, Roman, as are the coins and inscribed stones - occasionally dug up; but the outline of the city is not rectangular, - and is enclosed within a bank and ditch of irregular outline, once - of formidable strength, and still in parts tolerably perfect. It is - not improbable that these earthworks are post-Roman, the work of the - Romanised Britons, and therefore earlier than the date of the castle - mounds. The later wall was built against the bank, which thus still, - where it remains, forms a broad ramp or terrace.</p> - - <p>Arundel Castle, next eastwards to Chichester, and its superior in - military importance, stands on the right bank of and high above the - Arun. The pass is of a more open character than those to the east of - it. This castle has already been described.</p> - - <p>Knepp Castle is in Shipley parish. It had a shell keep upon the mound, - of which traces remain, but which is said to have been destroyed as - early as 1216.</p> - - <p>Bramber, the castle next eastwards of Arundel, is held to be the - English “Brymmburgh,” a fortress upon a brim or brink. It was the head - of a barony, and the chief place of the rape to which it has given - name, and which includes forty-two parishes. The rape extends about - twenty-four miles from the Surrey border to the sea, with a width of - about eight miles. Narrow as it is, it contained till 1832 the four - Parliamentary boroughs of Shoreham, Bramber, Steyning, and Horsham, - returning eight members to Parliament,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">268</span> now reduced to three. The - castle stands on the west side of, and just above, the channel by - which the Adur reaches the sea at Shoreham. The pass thus commanded - is four miles long, and half a mile wide; the bottom flat and marshy, - the sides very steep and rising to 600 or 700 feet. New Shoreham, - founded about <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1200, by the Norman lord of Bramber, stands - upon the seashore; but old Shoreham, the English port, is now half a - mile inland, the deposits from the river and the <i>débris</i> of the - chalk range having encroached considerably upon the sea. Combe and St. - Botolph’s, ancient parishes, are placed within the pass, and higher up - upon the same side is the village of Bramber, standing upon slightly - rising ground at the foot of the western hills, and upon the edge of - a broad tract of level land, still wet, and formerly impracticable, - across which the sluggish and frequently flooded Adur takes a rather - winding course.</p> - - <p>The castle is placed a little to the north-west of the village, and, - as was the English custom, close to the parish church. From thence a - raised causeway is carried across the valley, leading to the village of - Sele or Beeding, the Bedinges of Domesday, where was once a religious - house dependent upon the castle. The village, composed of one short - street, adjoins the causeway, and near it was discovered, in 1839, the - piling and piers in masonry of an ancient bridge by which the road was - carried across one of the bye-streams of the Adur. A charter of 1075 - refers to this bridge and to a chapel upon it, as “Stᵘˢ. Petrus de - veteri ponte.” The causeway, however, claims to be of higher antiquity, - and to have carried a Roman road across the marsh then probably flooded - by the sea.</p> - - <p>In the construction of the fortress, advantage was taken of a knoll of - the lower or grey chalk, roughly oval in figure, and about 120 feet - high above the river. This was levelled on the top and scarped round - the sides so as to form a more or less rounded area, 560 feet north - and south, by 280 feet east and west. The scarp descended above 180 - feet at an angle of 45 feet, or a slope of one to one, into a ditch - about 20 feet wide at the bottom, and the opposite side of which, - or counterscarp, rose about 40 feet at a similar angle, so that the - ditch at the counterscarp level was 100 feet broad, and the crest of - the scarp rose 30 feet to 40 feet above the ground opposite. A very - formidable defence. Towards the east, where the ground was low, the - counterscarp was not above 20 feet high, and to add to the depth of - the ditch, it was crested by a light bank, from which the ground - sloped towards the marsh. On the north and north-west, where the ditch - was at its deepest, and the ground was high, the slope outwards is - gentle, falling off for a furlong or so. To the west, where there is - a valley now occupied by the railway, the ground is low, and here the - outer side of the ditch, forming the crest of the counterscarp, is - a narrow ridge, as at Arques, succeeded by a very steep slope. Thus - those who approached the place on that side, after toiling up a steep - and dangerous ascent, would only find themselves on the outer edge of - a deep ditch, with a second still higher and steeper ascent beyond - it. Towards the south the ditch crosses instead of skirting the - hill, and is much less deep. Here was the entrance, and upon the small - tail of the knoll thus cut off is placed the parish church, standing, - therefore, just outside the ditch, and in its turn defended by the - slope of the hill, and by a hollow way which runs a few yards within - the edge of the marsh, the level of which is 8 feet or 10 feet below it.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow90" id="i268"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_268.jpg" alt="" /> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>C. Church.</li> - <li>D. Ditch.</li> - <li>E. Entrance.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>F. Foundations.</li> - <li>K. Keep.</li> - <li>L. Lowland and Marsh.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>M. Mound.</li> - <li>P. Platform.</li> - </ul> - <div class="caption">BRAMBER CASTLE.</div> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">269</span></p> - - <p>Upon the table summit, 160 feet from its northern, and 40 feet from its - eastern, margin, was thrown up a conical mound, about 40 feet high, - and 70 feet diameter at its summit. It is wholly artificial, and the - material has evidently been scooped up from the surface of the area, - which has thus been rendered slightly hollow, the surface rising gently - towards the mound, and towards the outer margin of the area, that is, - the crest of the scarp. The mound does not appear to have had any ditch - proper to itself. It has been dug into and disfigured on its southern - side. Possibly there have been buildings there. On the north the - original and usual form is untouched. The slope is very steep. This was - the “burgh” or keep of the original fortress.</p> - - <p>What stood upon the burgh, or how the margin of the area was originally - defended, is of course a matter of conjecture; but considering the - wealth of timber in the district, it is probable that the defences - were all of that material, as well as the adjacent church, and thus - supposing, we may figure to ourselves the “aula” of Earl Guerd, who was - the lord of Bramber during the reign of the Confessor. The position - is a very strong one, and the view from it to the east and north-east - extensive.</p> - - <p>Bramber is one of the castles named in Domesday. It was then a part - of the lordship of Washington, and held by Wm. de Braose, the Norman - grantee. “Ipse Wills. [de Braiosa] tenet Wasingetune. Guerd comes - tenuit tempore Regis Edwardi. Tunc se defend. pro LIX. hid. Modo non - dat geldum. In una ex his hidis sedet Castellum Brembre.”</p> - - <p>William de Braose here mentioned probably was present at Hastings. - A charter cited by Dugdale, dated 1075–6, shows him to have been of - Braose, near Saumur, on the Loire. He had an immediate grant of nearly - the whole rape of Bramber, and he adopted the castle as his chief seat.</p> - - <p>Although local history is silent as to De Braose’s operations, much - may be extracted from the evidence of the existing ruins. Around the - edge of the table area he or his immediate successor built a wall of - <i>enceinte</i>. Where the ground was sound, this was founded upon the - edge of the slope, but where the chalk had given way, the foundations - were laid 3 feet or 4 feet lower down, so that the wall was built as a - revetment, and the ground within formed a ramp against it. Of this wall - of <i>enceinte</i> some large portions remain, and its foundations may - be traced all round. It was 7 feet to 9 feet thick, from 10 feet to 18 - feet high inside, and outside from 20 feet to 30 feet. It was built - entirely of large pebbles, as from the sea-beach, laid in very thick - beds of mortar. Of course, such stones<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">270</span> could have no bond, and are - about the worst material that could, under ordinary circumstances, have - been selected, but so firm is the mortar that the wall remains sound, - and in places, even the parapet, 2 feet thick, and composed of the - same material, is standing. Towards the north-east is a sharp angle, - and another of some boldness towards the south-west, but neither there - nor elsewhere do there seem to have been any mural towers, although it - must be confessed that a dense underwood of thorn and bramble renders a - close inspection of the exterior impracticable. - </p> - - <p>The Norman keep stood upon or just within the line of the - <i>enceinte</i>, at its south end, close to the east of the entrance, - and opposite to the church. It was a square of 40 feet, standing north - and south, and about 240 feet south of the mound. Its walls at the base - were 9 feet 6 inches thick, and at the summit but little, if anything - less, and its exterior face was vertical. The basement chamber at - the ground level was 21 feet square and 14 feet high, and above it - were three stages, all with timber floors. The height to the rampart - wall is, by guess, about 70 feet, or a diameter and three-quarters. - The first floor, 23 feet high, either rested upon joists which were - supported by the north and south walls, now gone, or, which is more - probable, upon a ledge in the wall, which is reduced in thickness at - that level about 6 inches, as seen on the west side. Only the west wall - remains, and the lower 6 feet or 8 feet of the east wall. The north - and south walls are entirely removed. The west wall is solid at the - base, but the east wall is recessed in a curious way inside, and seems - besides to have contained two cavities like cesspits. The whole mass - has, however, been so pulled about, that little can be made of it. - </p> - - <p>At the first floor, also, the west wall is solid, save that in its - south end is a short mural passage, vaulted, which seems to have ended - in a garderobe, the vent of which is marked by a sort of vertical - furrow in the wall. This passage was probably entered by a door in the - south wall, near the south-west angle. The east floor, 19 feet high, - rested upon six joists in the east and west walls. In its west wall - is a full-centred recess, 3 feet deep, 2 feet above the floor, 5 feet - wide, with jambs 7 feet high. In the recess is a window 3 feet wide, - with jambs 5 feet high, also full-centred. Both recess and window are - quite plain, and are not splayed.</p> - - <p>The third floor, 14 feet high, also rested on six joists, east and - west. This has no window to the west, but in the wall are two recesses - for the vertical beams of a roof, and at the base of each a corbel. - This looks as though the roof was inclined, as at Bridgenorth and - elsewhere, at a low pitch, the north and south walls being its gables.</p> - - <p>There are some indications, in a foundation, as of a forebuilding - attached to the north face, where probably was the entrance. The - material of the keep is chalk flint, laid in copious beds of mortar. - The flints are undressed, and the workmanship is coursed rubble, very - plain and good, but rather rough, with a tendency to herring-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">271</span>bone - work. The window is dressed with ashlar, as are the hollow quoins - of the interior, but there is no ornament, not even the usual - Norman pilaster or plinth. The ashlar is probably the malm rock - of the neighbourhood, a bed below the chalk, much like that used - at Dorchester, and for some of the adjacent Oxfordshire churches. - Altogether, this keep seems to be early Norman work, perhaps as early - as Malling, and was probably built by the first De Braose before 1095, - when his son was in possession.</p> - - <p>When the keep was blown up, as it evidently was, with powder, the south - and east walls fell in four or five huge masses into the adjacent - ditch, where they remain but little altered, though obscured with - vegetation. If these were cleared, something more of the detail of the - keep might be discovered. The north wall seems to have been broken up - and removed.</p> - - <p>About 40 feet west of the keep are the remains of the entrance. So far - as can now be seen there was no considerable gatehouse, probably only - an arch in the curtain, as at Richmond. The fragment of a wall shows - the approach to have been steep, and about 40 feet from the gate was a - bridge, the pier and counter-pier of which, 13 feet apart, are still - standing in the ditch, here not above 90 feet wide and 30 feet deep. - The approach to the counter-pier rises steeply from the foot of the - hill and passes the church.</p> - - <p>The only building of which there are positive traces, beside the keep, - within the area, was a rectangular pile, built upon the curtain, - 60 feet long, and projecting 24 feet into the area. This is placed - opposite to and east of the mound, and the passage between the two was - only 15 feet broad. A part of the base of this building remains, and - shows a plinth and fragment of wall faced with squared flint. The work - looks many centuries later than the keep, and most certainly is not - Norman. There is no trace of a well.</p> - - <p>The parish church shares the protection of St. Nicholas, in common with - Old Shoreham. It is in substance Norman, probably rather later than the - castle, and was originally a cross church with a central tower. The - nave and central square remain, but the choir and transepts have been - removed, and the arches blocked up. The south door of the nave has a - plain billet moulding, but the original opening has been walled up, - and a smaller segmental doorway inserted. The cruciform plan seems to - have been much in use here. It is seen at Old Shoreham, Steyning, and - Broadwater.</p> - - <p>Bramber has little or no history. The lords were among the wildest, - most turbulent, and most unfortunate of the Norman barons. Their - founder, William de Braose, received from the Conqueror forty-one - lordships in Sussex, chiefly in this rape, and others in Dorset, Hants, - Berks, Wilts, and Surrey. He founded St. Peter’s Priory, at Sele.</p> - - <p>Philip, his son, adhered to Rufus, but was opposed to Henry I., and was - disinherited. He married Berta, daughter of Milo, Earl of Hereford, - with whom he had Brecknock, Gower, and other south<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">272</span> Welsh lordships, - and thus laid the foundation of much of the power and most of the - misfortunes of his race. He probably founded the strong castles of - Oystermouth and of Swansea.</p> - - <p>William, the grandson of the founder, recovered the estates. He founded - New Shoreham church and port. He also joined in the invasion of Ireland - with Henry II., and held the whole kingdom of Limerick in fee. He is - accused, though upon scanty evidence, of a wholesale massacre of his - Welsh neighbours at Abergavenny. His possessions in England, Wales, - and Ireland were enormous, and he also held the Honour of Braose in - the Bailliewick of Falaise, in Normandy, and a share of the Honour - of Totnes. He married Maud de Hayes or St. Valerie. For some reason - not very clearly ascertained, he became obnoxious to King John, and - their strife, much embittered by the outspeaking of his wife, led - in 1210 to his attainder and exile, and the death of his wife and - William their son, it is said of starvation, in the prison of Windsor - Castle. He himself died at Paris shortly afterwards, in 1212. He was - a considerable benefactor to the Church, and it is recorded of him - that he was careful to use God’s name with great reverence. The king - seized the Rape of Bramber, and granted the barony to Richard, Earl of - Cornwall. Giles, Bishop of Hereford, and Reginald de Braose, brothers - of the attainted baron, obtained after a time a share of the estates. - Bramber was granted to the bishop, who, however, died within the - year. Finally, in the reign of Henry III., Reginald recovered Bramber - and Knapp, and most of the rest of the property, and having married - Grecia, daughter of William de la Bruere, died 6th Henry III., and was - succeeded by William his son.</p> - - <p>William de Braose married Eve Mareschal, a co-heir of the great earl. - He fell into the hands of Prince Llewelyn, who accused him of too great - intimacy with his princess, and put him to death at Builth, it is said, - by hanging. He left four daughters co-heirs, whose descendants held the - greater part of the estates.</p> - - <p>There remained, however, an heir male, in John de Braose, by Maud de - Clare: he was the grandson by Maud de Clare of that William who was - famished with his mother at Windsor, and he recovered Bramber and - Gower. His son was William de Braose, who held Bramber and Gower, and - added considerably to the Sussex estates. He is said, in 1262, to have - raised a large sum of money from his tenants by foregoing his right of - murage. He died at Findon, 1290, 19 Edward I., and was succeeded by - John de Braose of Bramber, who married Margaret, daughter of Llewelyn, - Prince of Wales. He died at Bramber of a fall from his horse (16 Henry - III., 1232), and was succeeded by William, who died 19 Edward I. - William was a powerful baron, and active in the wars of Edward I. and - II. He was, however, extravagant, and reduced to sell Gower, which led - afterwards to disputes between the purchaser and the lawful heirs of - the vendor, of whom Aliva, his elder daughter, married John de Mowbray, - from whom<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">273</span> descended, in the seventh generation, Margaret de Mowbray, - who married Sir Robert Howard, whence comes the Duke of Norfolk, the - present owner of Bramber Castle. The barony is in abeyance. Probably, - with the failure of the elder male line of De Braose, the castle - ceased to be a residence, but in 1644 it was strong enough to be held - by Captain James Temple, for the king, against a strong Parliamentary - party, and it was probably in consequence that the keep was blown up, - and the castle reduced to its present condition. There is an engraving - by Hollar, taken 150 years ago, representing it very much as it now is.</p> - - <p>Another branch of the family of De Braose rose to the rank of Barons of - Parliament, and held large Sussex possessions. The last male of this - cadet branch, De Braose of Chesworth and East Grinsted, died in the - reign of Richard II.</p> - - <p>Bramber is, like Pontefract, Lewes, and Dudley, an example of a natural - hill, scarped and defended by art, and crowned with an artificial - mound; but, unlike those castles, it has both a mound and rectangular - keep, a rare combination, found also at Guildford and Christchurch. - A rectangular keep upon a natural isolated hill, unaccompanied by a - mound, though not usual, is not unknown. Examples of it are seen at - Hedingham, Corfe, and Bridgenorth. At Bramber, as indeed is the case - in many other sites of early fortresses, the original earthworks have - survived the Norman additions, and remain pretty much as they must have - existed before the Conquest.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BRIDGENORTH">BRIDGENORTH, OLDBURY, AND QUATFORD, IN SHROPSHIRE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE river Severn, in its course from Shrewsbury to Worcester, passes - for several miles down a deep and rugged ravine, within or near to - which lie the populous districts of Coalbrook Dale, Iron Bridge, Coal - Port, and Broseley, early seats of the iron manufacture, and evidences - of the wealth, though scarcely in harmony with the natural beauty, of - the country. The ravine commences a little below the ivy-covered ruins - of Buildwas Abbey, and terminates twenty to twenty-five miles lower - down, about Bewdley and Stourbridge, where it opens out into a valley - of a soft and smiling character.</p> - - <p>About half-way down, between Pendlestone rock and the incoming of - the Worf, the Severn receives upon its right bank the waters from a - short but deep and broad valley, which descends obliquely from the - north-west, and between which and the main valley intervenes the point - of a steep and narrow ridge of rock, rising about 200 feet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">274</span> above the - river, and upon the nearly level summit of which is placed the town and - what remains of the Castle of Bridgenorth. The rock is more lofty, and - the position far more striking, than that of Pontefract Castle, the - defences of which were also in a great degree natural, and in these - respects Bridgenorth may challenge comparison with Coucy, which it also - resembles in the relation of the castle to the town. In both places the - castle lay contiguous to the town, and their connected defences formed - the common <i>enceinte</i>, while the castle had besides a ditch proper - to itself.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow83" id="i274"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_274.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">BRIDGENORTH CASTLE.</div> - </div> - - <p>At Bridgenorth the castle occupied the apex and south end of the - platform, the broader and northern part of which was covered by the - town, and the town walls abutted against those of the castle, while - the castle ditch traversed the platform from one face to the other. - Of the defences of the town only the north gate remains, and that in - a very mutilated and disguised form, but the line of the walls may be - traced, partly by the inequality of the ground and the arrangement of - the streets, and partly by the existence of the cliff upon which they - in part stood. An ancient fortified bridge, standing when Grose visited - the place late in the last century, though now rebuilt, crossed the - Severn east of the town, and was approached from it by a steep and - narrow flight of rock-cut steps, and by a carriage-way cut in traverses - almost as steep. This bridge defended the passage of the river, and - connected the place with the suburb called the Lower Town upon the - left bank. It is this bridge which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">275</span> is supposed to have given to the - place its early name of Brug, or Breig, the distinctive “North” being - an addition, probably in the thirteenth century, when there is said - to have been an earlier bridge a little lower down. The town contains - several old buildings, and among them, near the bridge, a very fine one - framed with timber, in which was born Bishop Percy. There is also the - fine parish church of St. Leonard’s, which stands at the north end of - the town, east of the north gate, and just within the line of the old - walls.</p> - - <p>The castle platform is in plan somewhat of an equilateral triangle, - each side being about a furlong. Leland says its area is about - one-third that of the town. The two sides of this area were protected - by a cliff so steep as to render a ditch unnecessary, and the face of - which, where it needed support, was, and still is, revetted, the wall - and edge of the cliff having been, no doubt, crowned by a parapet. The - cliff rises out of a steep talus, or slope. The base of the area was - defended by a wall within a ditch, upon which was a great gatehouse, - standing in Leland’s time and for a century later. The ditch has been - filled up and built over, and the wall removed. Just within its line - still stands what remains of the keep, and a few yards to the east of - that was the castle chapel, now the church of St. Mary Magdalen, and, - until recently, a peculiar with a special jurisdiction. The chapel was - collegiate with an endowment for certain prebendaries, disendowed at - the Reformation. The present building, constructed in 1796, is a large - and distressing example of Telford’s church architecture, in what the - great engineer was pleased to regard as the Grecian style. The two - buildings stand on the highest part of the castle area, which falls 30 - feet to 40 feet towards the southern point. A modern wall has taken the - place of the old <i>enceinte</i>. The view thence is very noble, nor - does any town in England possess a finer promenade than that with which - corporate care has encircled the area.</p> - - <p>The fragment of the keep, long known as “the leaning tower of - Bridgenorth,” seems to be the only masonry remaining of the castle, for - the revetment wall of the cliff looks as though it had been replaced. - The keep was a regular rectangular tower of the usual Norman pattern, - but in dimensions very unworthy of the powerful earl who built it, - or of the celebrated fortress of which it was the citadel. It was - 45 feet square, and from 60 feet to 70 feet high to the base of the - parapet. On each face were two pilaster strips, 8 feet broad by 6 - inches projection, placed close up to but not covering the angles of - the tower, which are thus converted into nooks, or hollow angles, of - 6 inches in the side, and which, instead of, as usual, terminating - above and below in a flat square, end in a sloping surface, as though - to receive a column. The pilasters rise from a common plinth, and - ascend to the parapet. Whether they were continued upwards so as to - form the usual angle-turrets does not appear. Each had two sets-off on - the face and outer edge only, reducing the breadth to 7 feet 6 inches - and 7 feet. The sets-off were continued round the building. In the - west face was also<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">276</span> another pilaster of the same breadth and 15 inches - projection. This died into the wall some feet below the summit, and - seems to have been connected with the entrance door, which probably - opened in its face, for it is broken away below and a part of the rough - backing of an arch is seen. The walls at the base are 9 feet thick, - and about 7 feet at the summit. The building is of three stages, a - basement, at the ground level, 12 feet high; a first floor, 25 feet; - and a second floor rather more, perhaps 30 feet. The floors were of - timber. The first floor seems to have rested on a ledge, the upper and - the flat roof upon joists, those of the lower lying east and west; - those of the upper, north and south. The joist holes in the north wall - have been closed by early work, and above is a slight set-off or shelf - in the wall, as though the level of the floor had been altered. In the - west wall, also, new joist holes, smaller, have been cut above the old - ones.</p> - - <p>The original roof was very steep, having two slopes and a central - gutter, as at Porchester, and the reverse of the arrangement at Ludlow, - where the ridge was central, and the two gutters lateral. The weather - table remains perfect in the north wall, with a hole 2 feet high by 1 - foot broad, to carry the beam which supported the gutter and the feet - of the rafters. The table is seen continued horizontally upon the west - wall, where it was laid as a flashing to cover the upper edge of the - tiling. The walls were brought up to a level line all round, so as to - conceal the roof. This arrangement, as at Ludlow, Richmond, Porchester, - and the gatehouse of Sherborne, shows that there was no original - intention of using the roof as a platform for mangonels and such - like heavy machines. The flat roof, of lead, was apparently of later - introduction. No traces remain of any mural staircase in the north or - west wall, nor of any mural passages.</p> - - <p>The basement was, probably, a dark store or cellar, reached only by a - trap in the floor above. The entrance seems to have been on the first - floor in the west wall, in which also are traces of a loop or small - window. The north wall remains perfect. It was most exposed, and is - without openings of any kind. In what remains of the south wall is one - jamb of an original fireplace, of which is seen the sloping back, and - part of a lateral nook and Norman abacus above it. The flanking shaft - is gone. In the part of the east wall still remaining is the northern - half of a small full-centred window, deeply splayed inwardly. The east - and south walls above the first floor are gone. In the west wall, upper - floor, is seen the north jamb of a small full-centred window set in a - bold splay of hourglass section. North of it, in the same wall, is a - small recess, probably for a lamp, and which seems to have been round - headed. There, probably, was a fireplace in the south wall.</p> - - <p>Projecting from the outside of the south wall, bonded into, and of - the same age with it, is a fragment of curtain 7 feet 6 inches thick, - in which, as at Kenilworth, is seen the jamb of a doorway, defended - outside by a portcullis, the groove of which, square and 5 inches<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">277</span> deep - by 3 inches broad, shows that the grate was of iron. The groove, as at - Kenilworth, stops about 3 feet from the ground, the door having been - reached by steps. The groove is not open at bottom, but runs up behind - a covering wall, as usual, and was evidently worked from the rampart, - as is still seen at the Fishergate postern, at York. The door jamb is - about 6 feet from the keep. This was evidently the entrance into the - innermost ward, in which, or rather upon the wall of which, stood the - keep.</p> - - <p>A few feet to the west of the keep is a mass of masonry, clearly a part - of the forebuilding which covered the entrance. Its face towards the - keep is 13 feet long, and towards the south 16 feet. It varies from 3 - feet to 6 feet thick, and is at present about 10 feet high. At present - it is distant from the keep 3 feet 6 inches, but the two faces were - evidently once in contact, and were displaced by an explosion. The mine - by which the keep was destroyed seems to have been placed here.</p> - - <p>The material of the keep was rubble-stone faced with excellent - fine-jointed ashlar. The exterior face of the forebuilding seems to - have had a similar casing.</p> - - <p>It is not easy to obtain accurate measurements of the keep, so much has - been removed, so much injured, and what remains is so obscured with - ivy. Moreover, the interior is fitted up for two dog-kennels, kept in - a very filthy condition, and with putrid carrion suspended from the - walls. The ruins also stand in three distinct enclosures, all locked - up. A mine has been sprung between the keep and the forebuilding, and - the explosion has removed all the upper part of the latter, and so - tilted the keep that it leans at an angle of fifteen degrees eastward - from the vertical, and the upper part of the east and south walls are - gone. Moreover, the keep seems to have been lifted bodily about three - feet towards the east, and the north wall has a large open crack. About - fifteen yards from the south-east angle stands a huge ivy-covered mass - of masonry, probably the detached angle of the tower. What remains of - the keep is held together by the excellence of the cement. The ruin is - in a state of great filth and neglect, and it is much to be regretted - that the whole area is not converted into a public garden. Judicious - excavation would probably throw much light upon the details of the - keep, and show the line of its contiguous curtain wall.</p> - - <p>The masonry and details of the keep answer very well to the date - of 1101 to 1102, to which history assigns it. It is certainly not - earlier. The curtain of the inner ward was clearly of the same date, - and enclosed a court in the north-west quarter of the general area, - of which the keep probably formed the north-east angle, and which was - entered on the east side close south of the keep. All else is gone; - the “mighty North gate” of which Leland speaks is no more. The very - ruins have perished, and the last trace of them, a good Norman arch, - discovered while pulling down some houses in 1821, has since been - destroyed by local Vandals.</p> - - <p>The early history of Bridgenorth is exceedingly obscure. It is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">278</span> stated - in the Saxon Chronicle that when, in 896, Alfred stranded the Danish - ships in the Essex Lea, the Danes left them, traversed England, passed - the winter at Quatbridge on the Severn, and there threw up a work. - Three of the four original texts are thus rendered. The fourth makes - them rest at “Brygce,” or Bridge, on the Severn. Florence of Worcester - supports Quatbridge, and mentions the work or fortress. “Brygce,” in - the Chronicle, is thought to be an interpolation, both where appended - to Quat, and where it stands alone, it being probable that the Severn - was not bridged at that time. There are at present two parishes into - the names of which Quat enters on the left bank of the river, below - Bridgenorth, Quat and Quatford, and upon the river is Danesford. Quat - is regarded by Eyton as a corruption of the British “Coed,” a wood, the - whole district having been a forest.</p> - - <p>In the same Chronicle it is recorded that Æthelflæda, the great lady of - the Mercians, a mighty burgh-builder in her day, and called by Henry of - Huntingdon “Terror virgo virorum,” built, in 912, a burgh at Bricge, - to which Florence adds, “on the western bank of Severn.” Bricge could - scarcely be Bridgenorth, which is not even mentioned in Domesday. We - ought, however, to find near the river, about Bridgenorth, earthworks - thrown up by the Danes and by Æthelflæda, and it will be seen that - there remain at the least three distinct works, any one or all of which - may be of the ninth or tenth centuries. These are Oldbury, Quatford - Castle, and Quatford.</p> - - <p>Bridgenorth is not mentioned in Domesday. The Norman castle did not - then exist, and there is no reason, strong and tempting as is the - site, for supposing that it was occupied either by the Danes or by - Æthelflæda. Mr. Eyton is of opinion that the site of the later town - and castle is included within a certain two hides of land which in the - survey constituted the demesne lands of the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, - within his great manor of Morville. Quatford, not Quatbridge, is - mentioned in that record in conjunction with Ardintone. “Ibi,” that - is in Ardintone, “Molendinum de iij oris et nova domus et burgum - Quatford dictum nil reddens,” “there is a mill worth three ounces (5s. - per annum), and a new house, and the borough called Quatford, paying - nothing.” In 1085, therefore, it may be accepted that the earl had a - new house at Quatford, where, indeed, it is known that at the request - of his second wife Adelais, and in acknowledgment of her escape from - shipwreck, he founded, about 1086, a collegiate church. The foundation - charter of this alludes to the mount nigh to the bridge; the latter, - probably an appendage to the new house, the former possibly part of the - older earthwork of what is now known as Quatford Castle.</p> - - <p>Earl Roger was succeeded in his English Honour and estates by his - second son Earl Hugh, who was slain in Wales in 1098, and left the - succession open to his elder brother, Robert de Belesme, who had - already inherited his father’s estates in Normandy, and was Count - of Ponthieu in right of his wife. Robert, who thus became Earl of - Shrewsbury, though a cruel tyrant, was a man of great ability<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">279</span> and - energy, not only a great soldier, and “princeps militiæ,” or “Commander - of the Forces” to Rufus, but a great military engineer. He selected the - site and planned the works of the celebrated castle of Gisors on the - Franco-Norman frontier. His brother’s death found him beleaguered in - his castle of Balaon by Fulk, Count of Anjou, and the siege was raised - by Rufus, who granted him, or confirmed him in, his brother’s Honour. - When he came to England is uncertain, probably not before the end of - 1099.</p> - - <p>On the death, in 1100, of Rufus, Earl Robert took part with Duke - Robert, whose claims, however, were not at first brought forward. It - was probably while preparing for their open assertion that he decided - to fortify the strong position which rose unoccupied scarce a mile - from his father’s church and residence. His decision was prompt, and - followed at once by his acts. He transferred the “Burgus” of Quatford - to a new town on the hill, and with it his father’s house and bridge, - which he also rebuilt. The result was the borough town, castle, and - bridge of Bridgenorth, the latter structure giving name to the whole as - Bridge or Bruge, the distinctive “north” not being added till the reign - of Edward II. or III.</p> - - <p>With Bridgenorth, Earl Robert also founded the castle of “Caroclove” - in Wales, and such was his need that the works were carried on day - and night. He also fortified Arundel, Shrewsbury, and Tickhill. His - exertions in 1100 and 1101, when he seems to have built the castle, - must have been excessive. King Henry, however, was not less active. He - despatched Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, to lay siege to Tickhill, while - he himself, having commenced with Arundel, proceeded to Bridgenorth. - He took it, after a three weeks’ siege, in September, 1102, and this - brought to a close Earl Robert’s short tenure of power in England. The - earl fled to Normandy, his earldom of Shrewsbury was forfeited, and - Bridgenorth was after a time granted to Hugh de Mortimer of Wigmore, - the son of one of Henry’s most trusted supporters. In 1126, Waleran, - Earl of Mellent, was here imprisoned, as was Meredith ab Llywarch in - 1128. In 1130 wine was sent hither for the king’s use, so that Mortimer - was probably rather constable for the Crown than the owner in fee.</p> - - <p>Mortimer, in the new reign, took the part of Stephen, at whose death - he held both Wigmore and Bridgenorth. As he was in rebellion against - Henry II., the king took the field against him, and in April, 1155, the - castle a second time stood a royal siege. Cleobury, one of Mortimer’s - castles, surrendered in July, and Wigmore and Bridgenorth followed. - Henry was for some time before the place, and his charter to Stoneley - Abbey is dated “apud Brugium in obsidione.” It was at this siege that - Hubert de St. Clair is said to have stepped forward to receive the - arrow aimed at his sovereign, a romantic but unfounded tale. Henry - retained the castle for the Crown, and used it largely as a prison - for his Welsh hostages. In 1173–4, when Prince Henry rose against - his father, Bridgenorth was victualled at a cost of £22. 5s. 2d. In - 1175–6 the king dated a Wenlock Abbey charter from hence. The frequent - charges<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">280</span> for repairs between 1166 and 1189 show the importance attached - to this castle by Henry II. In 1176 the Pipe Roll gives a charge of 1d. - per day for the castle porter.</p> - - <p>King John was six times at Bridgenorth, passing there about fourteen - days. He confirmed a charter of incorporation to the town. Both he - and his predecessor, Richard, kept up the castle, as is attested by - frequent charges for repairs during sixteen years. In 1198 there was - paid 6s. 3d. for the hire of the barge in which the wife of Griffith - ab Rhys was conveyed from Bridgenorth to Gloucester. In 1203 John - presented to a prebend in the castle chapel. In 1209 a stag from the - adjacent forest entered the castle through a postern and was captured, - and no doubt converted into venison by the castellans. For this they - were prosecuted by the verdurers, and the proceedings imply that the - castle was then in charge of five persons only, of whom one was the - constable. No doubt in time of peace the royal castles were left almost - to themselves, and often not even kept in repair. When a war arose - they were repaired, garrisoned, and victualled in all haste. So far as - repairs went, Bridgenorth, however, seems to have fared well. We read - of repairs on the king’s house, on the basement of the castle, on the - “Barbe-kana et Pons-tornalis” or barbican and drawbridge; on the turret - of the outer wall, the chimney of the great chamber, the castle walls, - the tower, the well, the glass windows in the hall, the queen’s oriel, - and the chapel.</p> - - <p>These charges are continued through the reign of Henry III., and well - into that of Edward I., from 1218 to 1281. In 1232 the sheriff was to - cause to be repaired the castle stable, and the kitchen within the - barbican of the tower, and in 1244–5 was a charge for covering the - tower at Brug with lead. This was probably the keep. In 1267, Henry - III. and his queen were at Bridgenorth, and it would seem that the - Mortimers were still connected with the castle, for, in 1273, on the - death of Hugh de Mortimer, Edward I. continued his successor Ralph in - the offices of sheriff of the county and constable of the castle.</p> - - <p>In 1281 an inquisition was held upon the state of the building, which - had latterly been neglected. The timbers of the great tower were - rotten, the leaden covering having been carried away; also the castle - bridge was broken down, so that carriages could not cross it.</p> - - <p>In common with most other castles held by the Crown and therefore - not inhabited, Bridgenorth seems to have been allowed to fall into - decay from the reign of Edward I., so that probably little remained - beyond the walls. At any rate, it played no part in English history - until the great rebellion, when the town declared for the king, - for whom the castle was garrisoned. The tower was attacked by the - Parliamentary forces on the north side, and was entered by a breach - near St. Leonard’s Church. Upon this the town was burned up to the - castle, which still held out. The Parliamentary batteries are said to - have been posted upon the Oldbury earthwork, which is probable enough, - though there are no traces of parapets or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">281</span> breastworks of that date, - which, however, from the distance from the castle and the deep valley - between, were probably not needed. The garrison held out three weeks, - and capitulated on honourable terms. The castle was blown up, and the - materials probably sold.</p> - - <p>Any account of Bridgenorth Castle would be very imperfect that - did not take notice of the very remarkable earthworks seen in its - neighbourhood, and which are evidently connected with the events - referred to as of the ninth and tenth centuries. These are three in - number—Oldbury, Quatford Castle, and Quatford; and first of Oldbury.</p> - - <p>On the left bank of the Severn, about a quarter of a mile below and - south-west of the castle, and on the opposite side of the deep dry - valley that forms its western defence, the high ground of Oldbury is - broken by three deep combes which descend to the river, and between - which are two high ridges or knolls, steep towards the Severn and the - combe on either side, and on the west connected by a neck with the - higher land. The larger of these, that nearest the castle, is known by - the inelegant but most descriptive name of “Pan Pudding Hill.” It does, - in fact, much resemble in figure a beef-steak pudding just turned over - out of the pan in which it was boiled. Naturally oblong, it has been - scarped and rounded. The circular flat top is 150 feet diameter. In the - centre is a slight nipple-like mound 3 feet high, and a raised bank now - about 4 feet high crests its circumference. Towards the river the slope - is steep for 50 feet or 60 feet, towards the land it is protected by a - cross trench about 50 feet broad and 10 feet to 12 feet deep. Half-way - down the slope on the eastern side is a narrow ledge or path which may - have been protected by a stockade. Towards the south this ledge expands - into a stage or shelf from 90 feet to 100 feet broad, and which is - excavated so as to carry a ditch. The arrangements are very simple, - and the mound is mainly natural, though scarped and fashioned by art. - It was probably here that the Parliamentary guns were posted in the - seventeenth century.</p> - - <p>Close south of this hill is a second work, lower, smaller, and less - clearly defined. Its summit is also circular, and about 100 feet - diameter. These two works are of one general type, and probably of one - date, and if not the work of Æthelflæda are no doubt of her period. - They are either English or Danish, not British. That the main work is - older than the Norman fortress is evident from a document of 1299, in - which it is called “the old castle.” Moreover, it is the burgh which - gives name to Oldbury, the parish in which it is situated.</p> - - <p>Quatford Castle is on the left bank of the Severn, one and a quarter - miles below Bridgenorth, and a furlong from the river, the intervening - ground being a strip of meadow, while Danesford is still the name of - an adjacent ford and village. A short steep combe descends from the - high ground to the north-east, and, branching below, includes a knoll - of rock perhaps 150 feet above the valley and 200 feet above the - river. The soft red rock has been pared and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">282</span> scarped, and a part of - the material employed to give an artificial top to the hill. This is - somewhat of an oval, and seems to have had a sort of mound at its east - end, now occupied by a modern castellated house. The slopes are steep, - especially towards the west, and they are broken by narrow terraces, - now walks, but which may have been ditches. The approach is by a sort - of causeway on the north-east or least steep side. The summit and sides - of the work are converted into a house and gardens, but the general - arrangement of the original hill can readily be detected. It must have - been very strong, and resembles generally Devizes and similar works - of English origin. Probably this is the site of the “nova domus” of - Earl Roger, as it was the seat of his English predecessor. It is a - very curious work, and deserves to be surveyed on a large scale by the - officers of ordnance. It may be mentioned that in the courtyard is a - small passage cut in the rock, at an angle of forty-five degrees, and - which descends by ninety-four steps to a well, whence the house is - supplied. The passage is evidently an addition, the original well shaft - descending, as now, vertically from the surface.</p> - - <p>A little north-west of the castle, towards Bridgenorth, the tail of a - piece of detached highish ground has been cut off by a trench, near a - place called, in the inch ordnance, “Dog in the Wall.” It seems to have - been a light temporary work for the accommodation of a small body of - men.</p> - - <p>On the same road, two miles south of the town, is Quatford, close to - the parish church of that name, where the road crosses a steep ridge - in deep, but probably modern, rock cutting. The ridge abuts upon the - Severn, in a bold rocky promontory about 70 feet high. Upon it is - thrown up a mound about 30 feet high, and mainly artificial. It is - circular, and about 60 feet diameter on the top, which has been much - cut about, probably for modern purposes. The sides are steep, about - three quarters to one in slope. This mound is divided from the root - of the promontory by a trench cut in the rock about 12 feet deep and - 12 feet broad, which extends from cliff to cliff, and includes about - three-fourths of the mound. Outside this ditch and to the east of it - is an area of irregular figure, governed by the outline of the ground. - Its north and south sides are defended by a ditch, which to the south - is deep and wide. This probably included the east side, but is now - superseded by the hollow road. The area is not very large, and would - perhaps accommodate about two hundred men.</p> - - <p>West of and beyond the road is the church, a building with some Norman - remains. It stands rather higher than the camp, and its churchyard - would, with a little care, have formed a part of and doubled the area - of the camp. Whether it ever did so it is difficult to say, probably - not. The ford, which gives part of its name to the village, is still in - use when the river is low. It crosses the Severn below the camp.</p> - - <p>This camp is omitted in the ordnance map, and of the earthwork<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">283</span> of Burf - Castle, placed a mile and a half to the west on that record, but one - side remains.</p> - - <p>It may be observed that the character of the surface of the country - hereabouts is very favourable for the construction of these earthworks - with mounds. There are scores of natural rounded hillocks of red - sandstone that have an artificial aspect, and that, with a little - scarping, would be strong. There is one, especially, close east of - the road between Quatford and Dudmaston Park, that looks very like an - English earthwork, and wants nothing but a ditch to make it perfect. - Besides the earthworks above described are others in the district - which appear to be of the same type. Such are Castle Hill, nine miles - south-east from Bridgenorth, and the isolated knoll called “the Devil’s - Spittle Dish,” two miles south-east of Bewdley.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BRONLLYS">BRONLLYS TOWER, BRECKNOCKSHIRE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">BRONLLYS TOWER, on the left bank of the Llyfni, a tributary of the Wye, - is situate in the parish of the same name, close north of the town of - Talgarth, on the regular and ancient way between Hereford and Brecknock.</p> - - <p>The tower occupies the summit of a mound or knoll of earth, in great - part artificial, which crowns the steep bank of the adjacent river; - rising, perhaps, 60 feet above the stream, and 30 feet or so above the - ground to the west of and behind the building. The mound is placed at - the apex of an earthwork of rather a pear-shaped outline, of which - the river-bank forms the steep east side, while to its base, or north - face, has been applied a vallum nearly rectangular, and which may or - may not be a Roman addition to a Celtic camp. The mound, which has - borne the very considerable weight of the tower in safety, must be of - considerably earlier date; and altogether the work resembles much one - of those numerous instances in which advantage has been taken of an - earlier mound to give elevation to a Norman or early English keep.</p> - - <p>There are, however, it is said, remains of masonry, of the character - and probable age of the tower, still standing upon a part of the - vallum, and indications that, as is known to have been the case, the - tower did not stand alone, but was within a base court. These walls are - not now of any extent, and seem to be included within a modern house - built upon the old enclosure.</p> - - <p>This tower is at its base 37 feet in diameter, and batters inwards to - 12 feet high, when it is girt by a bold cordon or string-course, much - eroded, but apparently of a half-round section, with a water-groove - on its under side. Above this the tower is cylindrical, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">284</span> 34 feet - diameter, or very nearly so, to the summit, which is at present about - 60, and may have been 70 feet high. Besides the battering base there is - a slight rough set-off, apparently part of the foundation, above ground - on the southern face. Round the whole is a walk of about 18 inches - broad, so that the mound is about 40 feet across at its top.</p> - - <p>The tower is composed of a basement and three floors, above which was - the battlement, now completely destroyed. The basement within was - cylindrical, 18 feet diameter, with walls 9 feet 6 inches thick, and - covered by a pointed vault, the ridge of which runs about north-east - and south-west. This room was aired rather than lighted by a stepped - recess, terminating in a small loop or hole at a considerable height, - through which nothing could be seen. It was entered on the opposite - or west side by a trap door in the first floor, which lifted within a - window recess, and disclosed a flight of eight very steep stairs, 2 - feet 7 inches broad, terminating in a doorway rather above 7 feet from - the floor; below which, therefore, was probably a wooden ladder. The - rebate shows the door to have opened inwards, and to have had bolts on - its outer side. The floor is on the level of the top of the mound, and - in its centre is a depression which may indicate a well.</p> - - <p>Two openings have been broken into this chamber from the outside, on - the east and west sides. Why nine feet of masonry should have been - twice pierced, at immense labour, it is difficult to say; nor is there - any trace of door or loop which might have made the task easier, or - have suggested these openings. The broken walls do, however, show at - the very base of the structure, on each side, a horizontal or nearly - horizontal square drain, of very rough construction, in the substance - of the wall. These holes have been the subject of much speculation. - They were evidently drains from the upper floors of the tower, - collected to fall into one outlet. Such drains may be seen in the - heart of an overthrown solid tower at Corfe. It is not improbable that - one of the breaches may have contained a recess or garderobe, which - communicated with the drain, and suggested the penetration of the wall - in that direction.</p> - - <p>The first floor, of 17 feet 9 inches clear diameter, was entered by an - exterior door in the wall, at the level of the cordon, or 12 feet above - the ground, on the east side. There must have been exterior steps; - but they did not bond into the wall, and may have been of wood. The - door has 3 feet 3 inches opening, with a drop arch and plain chamfered - moulding. It was defended by an interior door; but there was no - portcullis or other defence. The door-recess is 4 feet broad, and has a - drop arch.</p> - - <p>This floor had two windows towards the north and south-west, the - openings of which are about 18 inches broad, with plain equilateral - heads. The former opens from a recess 7 feet 4 inches broad, having - stone side-seats; between which, in the floor, is the trap descending - into the dungeon. The other window has a recess 6 feet 10 inches broad, - with a stone seat on its left side. In its right, or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">285</span> west jamb, is - a door 2 feet 5 inches wide, square headed, beneath a drop relieving - arch; from which rises a mural stair 2 feet 5 inches broad, lighted by - two exterior loops, and with a flat covering, leading to the second - floor. The window recesses are segmental, and are formed of excellent - limestone tufa ashlar.</p> - - <p>The second story had a timber floor resting on twelve corbels, and is - cylindrical, like the first, and of the same diameter, but higher. - It was the best room. Besides its entrance door on the west, it has - on the south-west a fireplace under a flat segmental arch with plain - chamfer, above which are two slender octagonal corbels, which evidently - supported a hood, probably of timber. There are also two windows - beneath drop-arch recesses, towards the south-east and north-east. - The former has stone seats; and the latter a light 2 feet broad, with - a cinquefoil head, of which the central foil is an ogee. The head is - made of two stones only. The moulding is plain, having a shutter rebate - inside; and outside, rounded jambs in place of the usual chamfer. This - recess has a stone seat on the west side only. In the east jamb is a - small square-headed door opening upon a mural stair of 2 feet 5 inches - broad, of which nineteen steps remain, and which led to the third floor.</p> - - <p>The stair is lighted by a small hole below, and above by a - square-headed loop of 9 inches in a recess splayed to 3 feet 7 inches - opening. The loop, though about 60 feet from the ground, was closed by - one vertical and three horizontal bars. This floor may have been used - as a prison.</p> - - <p>The third stage has walls 8 feet thick, and had a wooden floor. The - stair from below opened into it on the south-east side, but seems to - have been continued in the south wall, so as to reach the battlement - platform, now entirely gone. This floor has a small mural chamber, no - doubt a garderobe, on its west side, the door into which is narrow, and - has an arch of two stones, which seems to be four-centred, or of Tudor - pattern. This door is placed between a window on the north-west, the - recess of which has a flat drop arch; and another on the south-west, of - which the recess is broken away. There is also a small fireplace on the - north side, and another window to the north-east.</p> - - <p>In the wall close south of the mural chamber are two small square - shafts, one of which was no doubt a chimney and the other perhaps a - garderobe vent from the battlements.</p> - - <p>Bronllys Tower presents divers peculiarities. Though of rude masonry, - its door and window dressings are excellent. In general design it - resembles early English work; but its doors, recesses, fireplace, - and corbels, seem of early Decorated, and perhaps, in parts, of - Perpendicular work. It is altogether superior in detail to Penrice, - which it resembles in dimensions, and it is inferior to Tre-Tower. The - walls may be safely assigned to the first quarter of the thirteenth - century; but it was no doubt inhabited as a place of defence, and - afterwards as a dwelling, for two centuries and a half after this; - and from time to time it received certain alterations,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">286</span> of which the - present fireplace-front, the cinquefoiled and other windows, and the - entrance to the mural chamber in the upper floor, may be cited as - instances. The vault of the basement is possibly original, but may be - an addition.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BROUGH">THE CASTLES OF BROUGH AND BROUGHAM, WESTMORELAND.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">“ANNE Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery,” Baroness Clifford, - Westmoreland, and Vesci, hereditary sheriff of Westmoreland, and Lady - of the Honour of Skipton, in Craven, was in every way a remarkable - woman: she was of high birth, held large estates, was the widow of - two considerable peers, and had received and largely profited by an - excellent education. To a strong and copious memory she added a sound - judgment and a discerning spirit. She was a person of great firmness - of character, and passed her life amidst events that exercised and - strengthened that quality. Among the many subjects upon which she was - informed, and which ranged, says Dr. Donne, from “predestination to - slea silk,” was included a very close knowledge of the particulars - of her own estates, and a very thorough determination to maintain - her houses and castles in good repair. She found the castles of her - Clifford and Vipont ancestors, Appleby, Brougham, and Brough, in ruins; - she restored and made them habitable, and, though time and the hand of - the spoiler have again brought two of them, Brougham and Brough, to - decay, their walls still exhibit much of the amending hand of the great - Countess, as well as of the original work of her remote ancestors.</p> - - <h3>BROUGH CASTLE.</h3> - - <p>Brough Castle covers the whole of a steep knoll which rises 60 feet on - the left bank of the Swimdale or Helle Beck, and is about 50 yards from - the water. The beck receives the Augill from the south-east, just above - the castle, and their combined waters, at times of considerable volume - and force, fall into the Eden about a mile and a half lower down. The - castle itself is 630 feet above the sea-level, and the encircling fells - of Westmoreland and Yorkshire rise to elevations of from 1,000 feet to - 2,000 feet. About five miles to the east are the sources of the Greta - and the Balder, and a little further off and towards the north the head - springs of the Lune, not the noble stream that gives name to Lancaster, - but a tributary to the Tees.</p> - - <p>Even in this wild and almost impenetrable country are traces of Roman - civilisation. The road from Lavatræ (Bowes) to Luguvallium (Carlisle) - ran through Brough, which is identified with the station Verteræ, and - by Appleby and Brougham, joining at Penrith the main road, the work of - the same people, from the south. Five and seven miles to the east of - Brough are two Roman camps, and there are others upon the same line of - road at Redlands and Kirkby-Thore, and a very perfect one at Brougham. - The Roman road at Brough runs generally east and west, and crosses the - beck at Market Brough, so called in distinction from Church-Brough, - which lies three furlongs to the south of the river, and contains - the castle. The collective parish is named “Brough-under-Stainmore.” - Verteræ, if identified with the existing camp and castle, stands off - the main road, and south of the river, as at Brougham.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i287"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">287</span> - <div class="caption"><span class="smcap sansserif">Brough Castle</span></div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_287.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">288</span></p> - - <p>Verteræ is represented by a rectangular camp, of which the castle - covers the northern and higher end, that next to the river. This camp - is 157 yards north and south, by 113 yards east and west, of which - the platform within the ditch covers 134 yards by 90 yards. Of this - area there is cut off at the northern end by a cross-ditch a plot, 90 - yards east and west by 50 yards, which is occupied by the castle. This - portion is further defended by some additional earthworks, perhaps - Norman, to the east and west. The southern fragment of the camp seems - to have been used as a sort of outwork to the castle, probably for the - protection of sheep and cattle.</p> - - <p>The castle was thus placed cross-wise in the camp, and parallel to - the river, the action of which has carried away the outer half of its - ditch, and converted the slope into a precipitous bank, at the top - of which is the curtain-wall. The eastern outwork is composed of the - end of the knoll, or ridge, on which the castle stands, and which is - scarped into a triangular platform, the base of which, 57 yards long, - covers the end of the fortress, and projects 38 yards. The ditch - cutting off this work from the body of the place is 23 yards broad, and - very deep. The earthworks westward are two banks and ditches, across - the tail of the knoll, one 57 yards long, and 47 yards in advance of - the main ditch, and the other 84 yards further in advance, and 94 yards - long. Both are intended to cut off approaches along the river bank. The - cross-ditch covering the south front of the castle is about 30 yards - broad, and up it, from the east, came the main approach. These ditches, - on the south-east and west fronts, are wholly artificial. There is also - a trace of a bank and ditch along the east front of the camp, about 30 - yards in advance of the main ditch, and about 60 yards long. A road, - which may be Roman, comes up from the south, and crosses the Augill by - a bridge, 250 yards above or to the east of the castle, to join the - main road over another bridge in Market Brough. Upon this stream is the - castle mill. The defences, in masonry, seem to have been confined to - the castle proper. There is no trace of such upon the outworks, which - probably were stockaded. The ditches were at far too high a level to - have been fed from the river; but the soil is retentive, and they seem - to have been filled with rain water.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">289</span></p> - - <p>The castle is composed of one ward, a trapezium in outline, the east, - north, and west sides being at right angles, and respectively 77, 90, - and 57 yards, and the south or oblique side, 94 yards. It is, in fact, - a right-angled triangle, with the acute angle truncated. The keep is - placed at the truncated end, and forms the south-west angle of the - ward, its south and west sides being exterior, and in the line of the - curtain. The domestic buildings were along the south side, and about - the south-east angle, and built against the curtain. Near the centre - of that side was the gatehouse, and attached east of it the hall, - beyond which a large three-quarter drum tower capped the south-east - angle. This and the gatehouse are the only mural towers. The kitchen - and chapel, and some later buildings, probably rested against the east - wall, and there are slight foundations between the gatehouse and the - keep. The north curtain, towards the river, seems to have been free - from buildings. Upon it are two buttresses, and in one a garderobe, - entered probably by a side door and passage in the wall. This curtain - is 3 feet to 5 feet thick, and from 12 feet to 15 feet high inside.</p> - - <p>The <i>Gatehouse</i> is placed near the centre of the south side of - the castle. It was an oblong building, and formed the west end of - a block, of which the hall and withdrawing-room formed the eastern - part and remainder. It was composed of a passage between two walls, - of which one remains, and is 6 feet 6 inches thick and 45 feet long; - the outer 10 feet being outside the curtain. The portal is gone, but - the spring-stone remains of the inner doorway, 3 feet 7 inches broad, - and recessed 8 feet 6 inches within the inner front. The vault of the - passage, about 10 feet long, rested upon three bold ribs, of which the - springing-stones remain, and beyond which was the outer gate, of which - a part only remains. There was an upper floor, and if the rubbish were - cleared away the plan of the gatehouse would be visible. The walls seem - Norman, but the ribs, vault, and fittings are probably insertions of - the Decorated age.</p> - - <p>The <i>Hall</i> was poor. It was on the first-floor level, and had - a floor above it, and, therefore, a flat ceiling. The basement - is composed of three vaults placed transversely, with flat, - slightly-pointed arches. The doors are towards the court, and one - chamber has a small Tudor fireplace, in a corner. Each had a loop in - the outer end, and in the ends of two are mural garderobes in the - substance of the curtain. The hall was not above 12 feet or 14 feet - high. In its north side is a round-arched recess, probably the original - entrance, by an outer stair; and near it a fireplace. In the south - or curtain side are two good late Decorated windows of two lights, - rather flamboyant in tone, with plain exterior drips. Above these is a - step, or ledge, for the floor of the upper room, and two windows, not - directly over those of the hall.</p> - - <p>There is no very decided evidence of a <i>Chapel</i>. The - <i>Kitchen</i>, probably, was near the north-east end of the hall, and - against the east end of the curtain. The withdrawing-rooms were at the - east end of the hall, and extended into <i>Clifford’s Tower</i>, a fine - bold drum of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">290</span> 30 feet diameter, which caps the south-east angle of the - ward. This tower seems to be of Decorated date, and the base and part - of the wall original; but it has been almost rebuilt, probably with - the old cut stones, in the Tudor period, to which belong its numerous - square-headed windows. Part of it was taken down in 1763. - </p> - - <p>The <i>Keep</i> stands upon rather the highest part of the enclosure. - It is rectangular, 43 feet east and west, by 51 feet north and south, - and stands upon the curtain, with which its west and south faces are - continuous. As it does not quite cover the whole end of the ward, - this is closed by a low curtain, 17 feet long and 3 feet thick, which - extends from the keep to the north-west angle of the ward. The keep is - composed of a basement and three floors, and is about 60 feet high. The - parapet is gone. It has a plinth only on the two exterior faces, where - the ground is low, and there are two sets-off which indicate the level - of the second and upper floors. At the end of each face is a pilaster, - 7 feet broad, and of 6 inches projection, and those adjacent meet and - form a solid angle. These pilasters rose clear of the wall to form - angle turrets, of which parts remain. From the upper set-off, on the - north and south faces, rises an intermediate pilaster, 3 feet broad. - The walls at the base are 10 feet thick, and, at the top, 6 feet. - The basement is at present nearly filled up with earth and rubbish, - concealing much of the east side. Part of the south-east angle fell in - in 1792, and obscures the details of the main entrance.</p> - - <p>The <i>Basement</i> is at present entered by a plain round-headed - doorway of 4 feet 7 inches opening, in the north wall near its - east end. This has a rebate for an inner door, but no groove for a - portcullis. The outer jambs are broken away. It is pretty clear, from - a comparison of its ring-stones with the original arches above, that - this entrance is an insertion, probably of the time of James I. or - Charles I. In the same side, near the doorway, is a very peculiar - air-hole, formed of two loops, 2 feet apart, which converge to a - single exterior loop. There are similar loops, of much later date, at - Caernarvon. Possibly the basement was divided into two chambers, and - one loop opened from each; but there is no trace of any partition. In - the west wall there was probably another loop, now converted into a - window of 2 feet opening, square topped, set in a bold splayed recess, - evidently an insertion of a period when security was no longer the - first consideration. The window opens in the line of the plinth, the - set-off of which is carried over its head as a square hood-moulding. - The south wall was blank, and so, probably, was that to the east. The - basement was 13 feet or 14 feet high, with a flat timber ceiling. - There certainly were no mural chambers, and no staircase in it. It was - probably entered from above by a trapdoor and ladder, and used as a - store.</p> - - <p>The <i>first floor</i>, about 13 feet high, seems to have had loops in - plain round-headed recesses in the north, south, and west sides, of - which the latter is broken away, and a two-light Tudor window inserted. - The northern loop has also been replaced by a similar window. In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">291</span> the - south wall the loop is represented by a small square opening. In the - ruins of the east side may be traced the remains of a doorway and - the base of a lobby and staircase in the wall. It is clear that the - external door was in this face, near the south end, and that it opened - direct into the first floor, while right and left, in the thickness of - the wall, was a mural passage, at its south end a mere lobby, but to - the north containing a straight staircase which rises 13 feet by twelve - steps, 4 feet 4 inches broad, towards the east angle, where was a small - lobby which opened on the second floor, and was lighted by a loop in - the east wall.</p> - - <p>Thus, the <i>second floor</i> was entered in its east side by a - direct mural stair, like those at Carlisle, at Chepstow, and at - Ludlow. In each of the sides, north, south, and west, of this floor - is an original round-headed recess, and in the east wall, over the - mural stair, are traces of a shorter recess, placed higher up, whence - seems to have been a passage into a mural chamber in the south-east - angle. The southern recess alone contains its original window. This - is a small coupled window of two lights, square headed, but within a - round-headed arch. The dividing shaft is decidedly Norman, as is the - whole character of the opening. The north window is also coupled and - round headed, but looks like a Stuart insertion. The east and west - windows are square headed, of Tudor date. In the north-west angle is a - mural recess with loops, possibly a garderobe, and in the north-east - angle a square-headed doorway opens by a lobby into a well-stair, which - commences at this level and ascends to the roof. It is 7 feet 6 inches - in diameter, and rises 31 feet by forty-six steps to the allure, or - rampart walk. This second was originally the principal and uppermost - floor, lofty, and with a high-pitched roof, the weather moulding of - which is still seen on the east and west walls. The roof ridge was at - the level of the rampart walk, and, as the north and south walls seem - original, there must have been a deep cavity on either side, with the - gutter in its bottom. Subsequently this roof was removed, and replaced - by a flat roof, at the rampart level, the line of which is marked by a - row of corbels in the north and south walls. The cause of this change, - common, probably, to all Norman keeps, was the superior convenience for - defence of a flat roof, rendered possible by the introduction of sheet - lead as a roofing material.</p> - - <p>The <i>third floor</i> was formed by dividing the height thus gained by - a floor laid at the level of the springing of the old roof, and thus - was created a second floor of 10 feet, and a third of 20 feet. In the - west wall was opened a square-headed window, in a splayed recess, and - close south of it is a small Tudor fireplace, the flue of which ascends - into the south-west turret. The east wall is less perfect, but still - shows the line of the old roof, and the jamb of a Tudor window. In the - north-east angle is the door from the well-stair.</p> - - <p>The floors of the walls were throughout of timber, the joists of the - first and second resting in the holes in the north and south walls of - the turrets; that at the south-west is probably modern. It contains - the flues of several fireplaces which appear to have been inserted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">292</span> - in the south wall, but which have fallen out. The keep probably had - originally no fireplaces. The north-east turret contains the head of - the well-stair. The other two turrets seem to have been mere shells, - having only the two outer walls. They all rose about 12 feet above the - rampart walk, and 5 feet or 6 feet above the crest of the parapet on - the outside of the east and south walls of the keep. Near the top are - ranges of triangular holes formed by thin tile-stones set on edge, and - looking much like pigeon-holes, which they probably were. The row in - the south wall has five holes, and in the south-east turret are three. - In the east wall are two sets, one of three holes, and one, imperfect, - of two. There is one hole in the north-east turret. They are evidently - original, and do not appear to communicate with the interior. There is - no trace of a regular forebuilding, for which the keep, like Goderich, - was too small, but there was probably an open stair, either of wood or - stone, ascending to the main door, which was about 12 feet from the - ground. The exterior of the keep was quite plain, and of rather rude - workmanship. The pilasters are of square stones, and the wall, in part - of similar material, and in part of stones of irregular shape, laid as - uncoursed rubble. There is no herring-bone work, and no visible trace - of Roman material worked up.</p> - - <p>The keep is evidently late Norman, and the walls are original, though - much pulled about, and with many insertions of the Tudor and Stuart - days. This is another example of the high-pitched roof, as at Richmond - and Bridgenorth, the whole roof having been concealed by the walls.</p> - - <p>Probably the founder of the castle built both the keep and the curtain - wall on the lines of the present curtain, and cut the cross-ditch which - isolates it from the rest of the Roman camp. The gatehouse and hall, - and the south-east tower were probably alterations and additions of the - Decorated period. The whole fortress was repaired by Countess Anne, - whose hand may be traced throughout the structure. The keep has been - split with gunpowder, probably by order of the Parliament, producing - fissures in its north and south walls.</p> - - <p>Robert de Veteriponte, or Vipont, the head of a great Westmoreland - family, to which the armorial bearings of the Musgraves and Lowthers, - the Blenkinsops and Hellbecks, show them to have paid early allegiance, - is regarded as the founder of the castles of Brougham and Brough, at - any rate in their Norman form. His immediate ancestor came over with - Duke William of Normandy, and the family first planted themselves in - the counties of Devon, Northampton, and York. Robert, the second or - third in descent, flourished in the reigns of Henry II., Richard, John, - and Henry III., dying in 1228, the twelfth of the latter sovereign. He - filled many posts of military trust, was custos of many castles, and - sheriff of many midland and northern counties. He was also a justice - itinerant, and of the Common Pleas. In 1203 (4 John) he had a grant - from the king of the Bailliewick of Westmoreland and the castles - of Appleby and Burg, at first during pleasure, but afterwards in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">293</span> - fee. Possibly the grant was connected with the fact that his mother, - Maud, was a member of the great Westmoreland family of Morville, and - probably a daughter of Hugh de Morville, one of Becket’s assassins. - Robert’s wife, Idonea de Buisli, was heiress of the castle and Honour - of Tickhill. He was a man of very great wealth and power, and likely to - have taken steps to secure his Westmoreland barony against its northern - neighbours. The grant mentions the castles of Appleby and Burgh; and - Burgh, that is Brough, was sacked by William of Scotland in 1174. - Probably, therefore, there already existed some kind of strongholds - at those places, founded, it may be, by the English on the Roman - stations. Moreover, the year 1204 is very late indeed for keeps of so - decided a Norman type, and it is no doubt possible that De Meschines, - or De Morville, the preceding lords of the fee, may have built both - castles.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - - <p>John de Vipont, son and successor, died 25 Henry III., in debt to - the king, who gave his estates in ward to the Prior of Carlisle, - who neglected the castles. In his time the keep of Brough was out - of repair, and the joists rotten. Lord John sided with the barons, - and died of wounds received at Lewes. His daughter, and finally sole - heiress, Isabel, was married to Roger de Clifford,—the Roger of the - inscription over the gate of Brougham,—and who was killed in battle in - Anglesea by the Welsh, in the reign of Edward I. Robert de Clifford, - their son, lord of the Honour of Skipton, of Appleby, Brougham, and - Brough, fell at Bannockburn. There were then two parks at Brough, a - mill, and the demesne land. The castle ditches let for the herbage at - 6s. 8d. per annum, and the constable had 40s.</p> - - <p>Roger, the next lord, was a great builder; he followed the fortunes and - shared the fate of Thomas of Lancaster. He is thought to have made the - additions to the eastern side of Brougham, where his arms and those of - his wife, Maud Beauchamp, were long to be seen. His successor was his - brother Robert, whose second and surviving son Roger, proved age 28 - Edward III., recovered the family estates which had been forfeited, and - kept his castles in repair. He died, 15 Richard II., seized of Appleby, - Burgham, and Burgh. The four following lords fell in battle: Thomas in - Germany, John in France, Thomas at St. Alban’s, and John at Towton. In - 4 Henry V., the castle of Brougham lay waste, and the whole profits of - the demesne were not sufficient to repair and maintain it. The next, - Henry, was the Shepherd Lord, who, in 1519, held a great feast at - Brough, at Christmas, which was followed, in 1521, by a severe fire, in - which the castle was burned to the bare walls, and long remained waste. - The succeeding lord and his son, both Henry, were the first and second - Earls of Cumberland, of whom the latter died at Brougham Castle about - 1560. George, the third earl, the admiral, who died 1605, was born at - Brough in the last year of Queen Mary, 1558. With his brother Francis, - the fourth earl, who entertained King James at Brough for three days - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">294</span>in 1617, the male line failed, and the estates and baronies came to - Countess Anne, the daughter of Earl George. This lady, who repaired - Brougham and Brough in 1651–2, was born at Brougham in 1589, in the - same room in which her father was born, her mother died, and King - James was received. Margaret, her daughter, by the Earl of Dorset, - carried the estates to the Tuftons, earls of Thanet, who also inherited - the hereditary shrievalty of Westmoreland, until their extinction in - the present century. They dismantled Brougham and Brough, and sold - the fittings in 1714. The present owner appears to be very attentive - to what remains of the two castles. Both are repaired in a very - substantial manner. - </p> - - <h3>BROUGHAM CASTLE.</h3> - - <p>This very curious pile stands on the right bank of the river Eamont, - just below the point at which it is joined from the south by the - Lowther, so that the combined stream covers the fortress on the north, - as do the two waters and the marshy ground between them on the west - front. The castle is placed but a few yards distant from and but a few - feet above the Eamont, and between it and the large rectangular camp - which marks the site of the Roman “Brovacum,” whence both castle and - township derive their names; such, at least, seems the most probable - etymology, though a claim has been set up for Burgham, which would have - been more tenable had there been evidence of the place having been an - English as well as a Roman stronghold.</p> - - <p>The Roman road from Brough and Appleby towards Carlisle and Penrith - skirts the north-eastern front of both camp and castle, and is carried, - by a modern bridge, across the river, a few yards below the latter. - Above the castle and upon the Eamont was placed the castle mill, the - weir connected with which still remains. The actual site of Brovacum - has been claimed for Brougham Hall, on the adjacent high ground; but, - however this may be, the camp below is undoubtedly Roman, and an - excellent example of the entrenchments of that people. A Roman altar - was found, in 1602, at the confluence of the two rivers. What earlier - name is embodied in the Roman Brovacum is not known, but “Bro” in South - Wales is the old Welsh word for “the hill country,” and is preserved - in Brocastle and Broviscin, in Glamorgan. The parish of Brougham is - large; the church is called Ninekirks, probably a corruption of St. - Ninian’s kirk. The parochial chapel, which stands near Brougham Hall, - is dedicated to St. Wilfrid.</p> - - <p>The camp is contained within a single bank and exterior ditch, both - very well marked, though in height and depth very much reduced. Along - the scarp or inner slope of the ditch are traces of a step or terrace, - as for a line of palisades, in front of and below the main defence. - The area within the ditch is 113 yards broad, and its length, now 134 - yards, was probably 198 yards, those being the proportions of the camp - at Brough. The ditch is about 25 yards<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">295</span> broad. The entrance is gone; - it was no doubt in the centre of the east side, that towards the road. - The angles are, as usual, slightly rounded. The castle stands a few - yards north of the camp, the adjacent parts of the latter having been - cut away and levelled in forming its outworks. The castle is, in plan, - a very irregular four-sided figure; the south and west sides meet at - less than a right angle, and are in length 80 yards and 77 yards. The - north side, at right angles to the west, and upon the river, is 50 - yards. The east side has been partly rebuilt, with a low salient angle. - It is in length about 40 yards. This area is the main, or rather the - only, court of the castle. The keep originally stood clear within the - court, near to its north-east angle; a large gatehouse now occupies - that angle, and much of the north front, and is connected with the - keep, which, therefore, is no longer isolated. The hall and domestic - buildings stand against the south wall, and are continued a short - distance along the east wall. A large square tower is placed at the - south-west angle, and covers a postern. The west wall is free, and - seems to have been low. The castle is about 50 yards from the river, - and 30 feet above it. The entrance was from the east, along the bank - of the river. A ditch, wholly artificial, and probably filled with - rainwater, protected the west, south, and east fronts. Towards the west - it is broadest and deepest, that being the exposed front. Towards the - river the natural fall and the marshy character of the ground were a - sufficient defence. The entrance is, and probably always was, in the - east wall, at its north or river end. This part of the <i>enceinte</i> - wall is built with a shoulder or re-entering angle, so as to command, - for some yards, the approach to the outer gate. The moat is now - traversed by a causeway of earth, replacing the earlier drawbridge.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i295"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">296</span> - <div class="caption"><span class="smcap sansserif">Brougham Castle</span></div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_295.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>The <i>Gatehouse</i>, rectangular in plan, and 90 feet long by 39 feet - broad, occupies the space between the keep and the north wall, and - extends either way beyond the keep. It is composed of two parts,—one, - a block of chambers, lodges, &c., forms, or rather abuts upon, the - curtain; the other, connecting these chambers with the keep, contains - the vaulted entrance. The entrance is broken transversely into two - parts, separated by a small open court. The outer passage, 34 feet - long, belongs to the outer gate; the other, 36 feet, to the inner gate. - The keep forms one side and the lodges the other. Thus, there are - really two gatehouses,—one abutting on the north-east, and one on the - north-west, angle of the keep, each with its own defences and gates, - the buildings on the north communicating with both. The exterior portal - is in the east wall. It has no flanking towers, being protected by the - curtain. The north-east angle is capped by a square buttress, placed - diagonally. The gateway has a plain, flat segmental arch over it. Upon - a stone are the words, “This made Roger,” and above are two tiers, each - of two good Decorated windows of two lights, with trefoiled heads and a - quatrefoil in the head, and divided by a transom. Between the two upper - windows are three bold corbels, intended to support a machicolation - resembling those on each face of the keep. It is said that formerly - the arms of Vaux, “checquy,” were carved over the entrance; but it - seems probable that they were the arms of Clifford, “chequy, a fess,” - or it may have been “a bendlet.” The passage within, 11 feet broad, - is vaulted. The first defence was a portcullis, of which the square - groove, 6 inches broad by 4 inches deep, remains. Within this is the - rebate for a pair of gates, and on the right the small door of a lodge. - At the inner end of the passage was a second pair of gates, opening - towards the first pair, and beyond them the open court, with the keep - wall on the left. Above this outer gateway is a large room, 21 feet - east and west, by 32 feet long. In its west wall is a fireplace, and - a door opening into the middle chambers. In its north wall a good - Decorated window looks upon the river; in the east wall are two windows - overlooking the outer gate, and between them, over the gate, a recess - for working the portcullis.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow58" id="i297"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">297</span> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_297.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><i>Ground Plan of Norman Keep. Brougham Castle.</i><br /><br /> - <span class="sansserif"><i>PLAN OF</i> BROUGHAM CASTLE</span> - </div> - </div> - - <p>Beyond the open court is the second part of the gatehouse, which - commences by a portcullis, backed by a pair of doors, within which - is a passage 20 feet long by 16 feet broad, vaulted in two bays with - transverse and diagonal ribs springing from six corbels. There are no - ridge ribs; the inner or further portal also had doors. The left-hand - lodge is a vaulted cell, 11 feet long by 3 feet 3 inches broad. On - the right the room is much larger, and leads to the north postern. - The exterior or north front of these two gatehouses forms a handsome - block, and is pierced by various openings at different levels. At its - north-east corner is an angle buttress; then follows one in section a - half square, set on diagonally; and west of this, again, is a large - square buttress, in one side of which is the north postern, a small - shoulder-headed door at the foot of a flight of stairs.</p> - - <p>The lofty tower at the south-west angle of the court is about 35 feet - square, with an appendage on the east face. It has thick walls and - mural passages, and projects but little from the curtain. It has a - basement and three upper floors. The first floor was entered by an - exterior flight of stairs, which also communicated with the rampart - of the west curtain. At its junction with the tower is the postern, - the approach to which is guarded by a loop, while nearly over the door - discharges the shoot of a garderobe.</p> - - <p>Along the south wall are the domestic buildings, of which the chief - was the chapel, about 35 feet by 20 feet. This was on the first floor, - with a timber floor and open roof. The chamber below was entered from - the court by a lancet door. The chapel had a large east window, of - which the jambs remain; and in its south or curtain wall are two long - trefoil-headed windows, splayed within. Towards the east end are three - sedilia, also with trefoiled heads and trefoils in the spandrels, the - whole beneath a flat top. There is also a piscina of late Decorated - aspect. Near the chapel, towards the south-east angle, the remains of a - large fireplace seem to indicate the kitchen, and along the east wall - are two windows, and traces of a fireplace between them, all which seem - to belong to the hall. At<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">299</span> the north end, also, on the first floor, - are remains of a handsome door in the Perpendicular style, with a - four-centred arch beneath a square head. The staircase may have been - exterior. Grose shows some walls here in 1775, which are now gone.</p> - - <p>The <i>Keep</i>, called in Countess Anne’s time “the Roman Tower,” the - only remain of the original castle, is 44 feet square, and, in its - present state, of unusual height. Its exterior plinth is confined to - the north side. The two western angles are covered by pilasters, 12 - feet broad and of 6 inches projection, one on each face, meeting so - as to form a solid angle. Two other pilasters, balancing these, cover - the east end of the north and south walls, but there are none on the - east side, that having been covered by the forebuilding. The south face - is prolonged eastwards 12 feet by a wall 5 feet thick, which rises to - the third-floor level, and formed the south end of the forebuilding. - The pilasters rise to the present summit of the wall, and terminated - originally in four square turrets, of which traces remain at the two - northern angles. The keep has a basement and three upper floors, of - which the uppermost, if not an addition, has been recast. The walls - are 11 feet thick at the base, and at least 10 feet at the rampart - level. The parapet is gone. There is no external set-off. In the - centre of each face, and near the top, are three or four bold corbels, - which evidently carried a short machicolation; and in the angles, near - the top, are several cruciform loops, slightly fantailed at the top - and bottom, and with lateral arms ending in oillets, much resembling - those at Kenilworth. Some of these are the lower half of those of the - turrets, which, with the parapet, were standing in 1775. At the upper - part of the south-eastern angle the wall is corbelled out 12 inches - for a breadth of 15 feet on the southern, and rather less on the - eastern, face. This is to give a little more space to a mural oratory, - which has a loop on the south face, and a small trefoil-headed window - towards the east, clear of the forebuilding. On the north face, near - the east pilaster, a vertical line of six loops shows the presence of a - well-stair from the first floor. The four lower loops have round heads; - the two upper have square heads, and are probably later.</p> - - <p>The basement is at the ground level. It has splayed loops to the - north, west, and south; and in the east side is a recess with parallel - sides, and a trace of a rebate of a doorway. This, if original, must - have led into a cell below the forebuilding, as at Rochester; but it - may be a Decorated insertion. It is nearly covered up with rubbish. - In the north-east angle, which has been filled up with a short wall, - is a small door opening into a bent passage, which now leads into - the open air, at where was the foot of the great entrance-staircase. - There may always have been a cell here, but the cross-wall and the - outer door are not original. In the west end of the north wall is - another recess opening into a garderobe chamber, 5 feet long by 3 feet - broad, and original. This basement floor has had a vaulted and ribbed - roof, springing from corbels at the angles, and from four others, in - the centre of each side. There was, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">300</span> 1775, a central pier. As at - Richmond, this vault was an insertion replacing timber. The basement - was about 13 feet high.</p> - - <p>The <i>first floor</i> is 23 feet square. It has round-headed - window-openings to the north and west, in round-headed recesses, with - beaded angles. In the south wall was a fireplace, probably a garderobe, - like that below. In the north-east angle, filled up like that below by - a short cross-wall, is a door opening on a well-stair, which occupies - that angle, and ascends to the roof. The east wall has been in some - measure rebuilt, recently. In it may be seen parts of a large Decorated - doorway, evidently inserted to give a direct entrance to the chamber. - This floor has had an arcade against its walls, of which traces - remain on the south and west sides. The arcade had slender piers and - trefoiled arches. It is unusual to find so ornate a room in the first, - or, indeed, any floor in a Norman keep: it must have more resembled a - chapter-house than a private chamber. The chapel at Castle Rising was - so arcaded, and those at York, and in the curtain at Richmond. This - floor was about 15 feet high, and was covered by the joists and floor - of the room above.</p> - - <p>The <i>second floor</i> has round-headed recesses, beaded at the - angles, for the windows, in the north and west sides; and a flue, now - laid open, occupies the south side. In the east wall is the original - entrance,—a plain round-headed arch of 6 feet opening, with a chamfered - rebate for an exterior door. There was no grate. Close north of this - is a small door entering an oblique passage, which opened, as at - Middleham and Rochester, upon the turret over the outer entrance of the - forebuilding. The well-stair has no direct opening into this floor, - whatever may have been the case before the alterations. There seems to - be, as below, a garderobe in the north-west angle.</p> - - <p>With this floor the original keep seems to have ended. There is now, - however, a <i>third floor</i>, which, if not altogether new, has been - remodelled. The walls are very thick, and the four angles within are - filled up with short walls, converting the chamber into an octagon, - or rather into a square with the angles taken off. One of these - fillings-up, that to the north-east, is carried down the whole way. The - other three are confined to the top floor, and rest upon brackets. This - floor had a large recess and a window in each of the four main faces, - of which that to the west is segmental and ribbed. These recesses are - now quite inaccessible; but it would appear, from the thickness of the - wall, and from certain square apertures outside, that they communicate - on the west side with mural chambers. In the north-west angle is a - very remarkable fireplace of about 9 feet opening, with a perfectly - flat platband, composed of thirteen stones joggled together. This is a - very fine example of this kind of work, and it stands quite unaltered. - In the opposite, or south-eastern angle, is a shallow-pointed recess, - and in it a square-headed doorway, which opens into the oratory. - The window recess in the south wall differs from the rest. Its arch - was high-pointed, and moulded with deep reduplicated bands, with - half-shafts with bell capitals;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">301</span> no doubt Decorated, but of Early - English character. From the east jamb of this recess a second passage - opens into the oratory, and this was probably the principal entrance - to it. The oratory is seen from below to be vaulted and groined. It - occupies the south-eastern angle of the building.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow68" id="i301"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_301.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">KEEP, VERTICAL SECTION.</div> - </div> - - <p>The east face of the keep was covered by the <i>Forebuilding</i>, - which evidently contained a straight staircase, which rose from the - north-east corner of the keep, and ascended to the main doorway on the - second-floor level. This doorway, as at Middleham, is near the south - end of the wall, but, notwithstanding, the steps must have begun above - the ground level, to reach, without undue steepness, so considerable a - height. The wall has been so much injured, and so freely repaired, that - the marks of the stairs are no longer visible, but a toothing and some - springing stones, as for an arch, seem to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">302</span> show that the staircase - rose from the north-east angle, under a covered way or low tower, the - battlements of which were evidently reached by the oblique passage - still seen above in the wall, as at Middleham and Rochester. Below the - level of the original doorway are traces of a larger and more lofty - doorway, in the ornate Decorated style,—evidently an insertion. This - would give direct passage into the first floor of the keep, and was - probably inserted when the arcading was introduced, and this converted - into the main apartment. There are other toothings and roughnesses in - the wall, indicating various alterations. The forebuilding was about 12 - feet broad, and contained a basement and two floors, as shown by the - openings in the south wall, which are, near the ground, a loop; above - it, a small window; and above that a garderobe, corbelled out upon - two heavy blocks upon the south wall. Above the line of roof of the - forebuilding is to be seen the east window of the oratory, and near it - a cruciform loop.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i302"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_302.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">KEEP, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.</div> - </div> - - <p>Unfortunately for the close examination of this very curious keep, the - upper part is inaccessible, and ladders of sufficient length are not - readily to be procured. The architectural history of the castle may be - inferred from its details, so far as these are visible. It is evident - that the original fortress was a late Norman keep, and it must have - been placed within an <i>enceinte</i> pretty closely corresponding to - that now seen, and which skirts the edge of the ditch. Of this supposed - original <i>enceinte</i> wall, as well as of the domestic buildings - and gatehouse, which must have been present in some form or other - within it, there remain no very certain traces. The keep, judging from - internal evidence, and probably the ditches were the work of Robert de - Vipont, very early in the thirteenth century.</p> - - <p>In the Decorated period the castle underwent great alterations. The - keep was probably raised a story, and an oratory included in the new - work. The basement was vaulted, the first floor arcaded, and the - forebuilding so altered as to admit of an entrance on that floor. All - the rest of the castle, gatehouses, domestic buildings, and the whole - of the <i>enceinte</i> wall belong to one general period, and are - probably the work of Roger de Clifford, the first of his race who held - this property, and the husband of Isabel de Vipont, its heiress, in the - reign of Edward I. Usually, when a Norman fortress was remodelled in - the Edwardian period, the keep was neglected, and left in its original - isolation; here, however, it was decided to turn the keep to account, - and to ornament its principal chambers, and connect them with the suite - of rooms in the upper floor of the gatehouse.</p> - - <p>The drawing represents a section of the keep east and west, looking - south. Something of the various additions is here shown, and the - springings of the vault of the basement.</p> - - <p>The exterior view of the keep is taken from the south-west quarter, and - shows, above, the projection for the oratory, and below and beyond it - the end wall of the demolished forebuilding. On the left is seen the - river gateway of the entrance.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">304</span></p> - - <p>There are some peculiarities of detail in this castle which need - further investigation. The large windows of the first and second - floors of the keep are original; but the half-piers and bell-caps in - the exterior jambs look much later, and may be a part of the Decorated - additions. It is said that the buildings against the east wall received - some alterations from another Roger de Clifford, grandson of the - former. It is curious that walls so thick as those of the keep, and - of such good material, should have been left solid, for the most part - unpierced by the chambers and passages so much affected by the Norman - architects. It is also to be observed that the curtain wall is but - scantily furnished with flanking defences. Countess Anne mentions “the - Tower of Leaguer,” and “the Pagan Tower,” and “the Greystoke State - Chamber,” in Brougham Castle.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="BUILTH">THE CASTLE OF BUILTH, IN BRECKNOCKSHIRE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE name of Builth, borne at this time by a considerable town, and - by a Hundred of the county of Brecknock, is very ancient. As, like - Brecon, the town is placed in an open valley, accessible without much - difficulty to an enemy from the east, it has suffered from invasion - from a very early period, and to these and similar attacks are to be - attributed various strongholds, both of earth and masonry, of which - the remains are abundant upon the marches of England and Wales, and in - such tracts of the latter territory as either Saxon or Norman, having - overrun, thought it worth while to retain.</p> - - <p>The construction of Offa’s Dyke, in the eighth century, must have been - preceded by many years of conquest, and the establishment of many - English strongholds throughout the annexed district, and probably also - beyond it. Nothing short of a present inability to rise would have kept - the Welsh quiet during the construction of such a work, or have forced - them to accept, even passively, a limit which cut off a large part of - their fairest territory. The fortresses of Builth and Brecon, which - resemble in general character those of known English origin elsewhere, - were probably advanced posts thrown up either during the wars which - preceded the dyke, or to aid the aggressions which followed it. The - plan of construction leads rather to the latter conclusion, and points - to the ninth or early part of the tenth century.</p> - - <p>However this may be, it is certain that when Bernard Newmarch invaded - Brecknock, towards the end of the eleventh century, he found the - earthworks of Brecon and Builth already existing, and occupied them, - as was usual, by works of a Norman character.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">305</span> Probably these were - at first of timber, for a structure of masonry required time and - peace, and generally tradition has imputed the oldest Norman military - buildings in Wales to the immediate successors of the conquerors, - rather than to the conquerors themselves. Where the age can be safely - inferred, either from the design of the building or from its ornament, - it is generally found to be of very late Norman, verging upon the early - English period.</p> - - <p>Newmarch was succeeded by Milo Fitz Walter, who married his daughter. - He was created Earl of Hereford by the Empress Maud, in 1140, and - received from her the moat, or more probably the “mote” and castle of - that city. His sons died childless, Mahel, the last of them, having - been killed by the falling of a stone from Bronllys tower. Builth was - inherited by his sister Berta, who married Philip de Braose, who, - indeed, is said already to have possessed himself of that territory, - and to have afterwards married its lawful heiress, as Newmarch had - married the Welsh Nest, by way of precaution.</p> - - <p>Their son, William de Braose, also a powerful baron in Devon, - flourished in the reigns of Henry II., Richard, and John, and died in - exile in 1210. His brother Giles, Bishop of Hereford, succeeded, and, - dying in 1215, was followed by his brother Reginald. In his time occurs - the earliest mention of the castle. In 1219, 4 Henry III., the Sheriff - of Gloucestershire is directed to give immediate aid to Reginald de - Braose “ad castrum suum de Buetto firmandum et fossatum et trencheyas - ibidem faciendas contra inimicos nostros.” Also 12 September, 1223, 7 - Henry III., the king directs all the sheriffs of England, excepting - those of Stafford, Salop, Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford, who - probably had already, being near, discharged their duty, to raise men - and march to Gloucester, the reason being the king’s sure information - that Reynold de Braose was besieged in his castle of Builth by Llewelyn - and a multitude of armed men. What the result was is unknown, but - some years later, in July, 1260, after De Braose’s death, when the - castle was in charge of Roger de Mortimer, it was besieged and taken - by Llewelyn. Roger was in London, and, as it was his duty to have been - at his post, he had a regular remission in form, stating that he was - attending Parliament by special precept. It is stated therein that - he held the castle “ex ballio” by deputation from Prince Edward. In - August, Llewelyn was still in possession, and there remains a precept - on the subject, directed to Richard de Clare and others.</p> - - <p>Reginald de Braose, who was lord during the siege of 1223, is generally - stated to have died in 1221, which seems disproved by Rymer’s record. - He died, however, about that time, and was followed by William his son, - who, in 1229, was hanged, according to the Welsh, by Llewelyn. On his - death, leaving only daughters, the Crown took the castles, and they - were granted to Prince Edward, who held them in 1254, when his father - renewed the grant.</p> - - <p>5 Edward I., some question arose about certain tythes held by the prior - and convent of Brecon under William, William his son, ... and Reginald - de Braose, Lords of Builth, and it appears from a later<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">306</span> entry, 13 - Edward I., that it was their duty to serve a chapel or chantry within - the castle, then called “the King’s Castle.” 25 Edward I., John Giffard - was custos, and his allowance was reduced by the treasury because it - was more than was usual.</p> - - <p>17 Edward II., 1324, a survey was taken of the castle for the Crown. - The castle yard and curtilage were worth per annum 12d., and there were - 40 acres in demesne of arable at 3d. per acre, total 10s. Also 10 acres - of meadow at 12d., total 10s. Also the “communitas patriæ,” hangers on - outside the vill, paid the king every second year, for all services - and annual rents, 10 cows or 20 marcs in money at the lord’s pleasure, - that is, £1. 6s. 8d. for each cow, its money-value at that time. Rents - of assize in Lanveir 70s., probably from 75 burgesses. A ferry 4s. per - annum. The land of Talevan, in the king’s hands, 2s. The land of Tyr - Maukyn, 2s. Pannage of hogs, 20s. The king had there four mills, each - at 10s. No villenage there. All pleas and perquisites of the court - merchant in Lanveir 57s. per annum. Pleas and payments of the courts - “patriæ,” 17s. Ammobrages, 13s. 4d. No royalties, villenage, demesne, - or other outgoings. No profits accruing to the king in Builth save the - above.</p> - - <p>Llanfair is the town of Builth, its Welsh name being - Llanfair-ym-Muallt, or St. Mary’s, Builth. Ammobrage is thought by - Spelman to be the same with Chevage, a poll-tax paid by villeins to - their lord. Jones, the Brecknock historian, gives it a Welsh etymology, - and makes it a sort of excise.</p> - - <p>The importance of these frontier castles naturally ceased after the - settlement of Wales by 3 Edward I., and the Crown no longer cared to - retain them. 9 Edward III., Builth Castle was vested in Eubolo le - Strange and Alesia his wife, and 14 Edward III. Thomas de Bradestan, - Banneret, had “Thlanver” Castle, probably “Blaenlleveny,” and the - Lordship of Builth.</p> - - <p>16 Edward III., 1342–3, Gilbert Talbot, Justiciary of South Wales, was - directed to raise levies in the divisions of Builth, Ewias-Lacy, and - Ewias-Harold, and similar precepts were issued in 1367.</p> - - <p>34 Edward III., 1360–1, Roger de Mortimer held the castle and cantred - of Builth, and 5 Richard II., Edward Earl of March and Philippa his - wife held Bewolthe or Beult Castle, as did Earl Roger, their successor, - 22 Richard II. On the attainder of the Mortimers the castle fell to the - Crown, and so remained till granted away by Charles II., since which it - has passed through many hands.</p> - - <p>Regard being had to the position of the castle upon an exposed and very - dangerous frontier, it is not surprising that its walls and towers were - planned with some skill, and executed with great passive strength. But - of the works in masonry, scarce a trace now remains above ground, and - the site of a fortress which could hold Llewelyn and his armed Welshmen - in check, probably for several weeks, is now indicated by heaps of - earth of a rather remarkable character, and which, from their position - and size, make a feature in the outline of the town from whatever point - beheld.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow68" id="i307"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_307.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attr">J. H. Le Keux, Durham.</div> - <div class="caption sansserif">THE CASTLE OF BUILTH.</div> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">307</span></p> - - <p>Moreover these earthworks, which have survived the masonry that for - so many centuries crowned their summits, are, it is evident, of far - earlier date than the Norman work, and have only in these latter times - resumed much of the appearance which they originally presented.</p> - - <p>For they resemble in their general features and in their details, - those earthworks nearer to, or within the English border, as Wigmore, - Richard’s Castle, Kilpeck, and Ewias-Harold, which again resemble those - of Warwick, Leicester, Bedford, and Towcester, the dates and authors - of which are on record, and all of which, wherever situated, are quite - unlike the grand hill-camps so common on the border, and usually - attributed to the British.</p> - - <p>Hence a peculiar interest attaches to works such as these at Builth. - Not only as regards the English part of the community is there the - presumption, amounting almost to demonstration, that they were the - work of their proper ancestors, but, what is of interest to all, it is - possible to fix an approximate date to their construction, which is by - no means the case with the larger and probably older hill-camps.</p> - - <p>The town of Builth stands in the north-eastern quarter of Brecknock, - in the Hundred of its name, just upon a bold curve of the Wye, which, - escaping from the deep valley in which it descends from Rhayader - Gwy, and about to plunge into that by which it reaches the more open - country near Glasbury and Hay, here traverses a broad expanse of mead - overlooked by the town, to which it not improbably gave origin.</p> - - <p>On the eastern edge of the town, and, like it, a hundred yards above - and as many distant from the river, is placed the castle. It commands - a considerable view towards the north, and was within an easy ride of - Payn’s Castle and other fortresses upon the middle Wye and the Usk. It - stands upon a bank falling steeply towards the north of the river, and, - though higher on all sides than the adjacent ground, is approached by - an easy ascent from the south, on which side was its entrance.</p> - - <p>The castle occupied a plot of ground nearly circular, being about - 180 yards north and south, by 190 yards east and west. Its principal - feature is a conical mound, table topped, wholly artificial, 60 - feet diameter at the top, 200 feet diameter from the centre of the - circumscribing ditch, and from the bottom of that ditch 60 feet high. - The ditch is carried all round from 100 to 120 feet broad, being - narrowest towards the north, the side naturally strong. For about - four-fifths of its circumference to the south, the mound is covered by - two curved platforms, convex towards the field, and concave towards - the rear. That on the south-east is the larger, and from 60 to 90 - feet broad and 400 feet long. That on the west is 30 to 35 feet broad - and 200 feet long. They are separated by a deep trench about 100 - feet broad, which connects the inner with the outer ditch. At their - other or northern extremities they end more gradually, but leave the - northern front of the mound uncovered. These platforms are in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">308</span> their - rear about 30 feet above the bottom of the ditch of which they form - the counterscarp, and consequently about 30 feet below the top of the - mound. They slope gently outwards. The western platform has along its - inner edge a narrow steep bank about 6 feet high. This could scarcely - have carried a palisade, there being no space for a walk behind it. It - looks more as though it had been thrown up during a siege, to cover - those who proposed to storm the mound.</p> - - <p>Outside and in front of these platforms is a ditch of from 70 to 100 - feet broad, and 15 to 25 feet deep. It covers the southern four-fifths - of the work, but, towards the north, where the platforms cease, it is - continued into and forms part of the inner ditch.</p> - - <p>Finally, encircling the whole, is a bank upon the edge of the outer - ditch, of variable height and thickness, sometimes narrow and from 5 to - 6 feet high, in other parts expanded into a platform of from 12 to 20 - feet. This bank subsides into the natural slope of the ground, which is - very steep towards the north only.</p> - - <p>Although but one small fragment of masonry remains above ground, - there are traces of walls where the foundations have been dug up, and - here and there are heaps which probably cover the remains of towers. - There was evidently a central tower or keep, circular or many sided, - covering the top of the mound, and probably, like Bronllys, of early - English or late Norman date. The north slope of the mound, covered - only by the ditch and bank, formed part of the <i>enceinte</i>, as - at Berkhampstead, and from the keep descended eastwards a curtain, - of which a part remains, which crossed the ditch, and evidently was - carried along the platform so as to include it. There are upon it two - small mounds, which seem to have been towers flanking the entrance. - How this curtain was continued, whether it was confined to the east - platform or whether it traversed the cross ditch, and included the west - platform, is uncertain. In either case it must have finally turned - inwards, crossed the inner ditch, and reascended the mound to abut upon - the keep tower. The castle seems to have been composed of a keep and a - single ward, and probably owed much of its strength against a sudden - attack to its contracted area. The ditches are far above any source of - water from adjacent ground. They seem, however, to have been more or - less wet, probably from the rain water. The cross ditch and adjacent - parts of the ditches are still boggy, and would form a small pool, but - for a drain which has been cut in the outer bank.</p> - - <p>The approach seems to have lain through the town of Builth along an - existing road, and to have reached the outer barrier where the ditch is - partially filled up on the eastern side; thence crossing the platform, - where there seems to have been a causeway across the inner ditch, and - no doubt from it a flight of steps led up the mound.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">309</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CAERNARVON">CAERNARVON CASTLE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">OF the three greatest military works executed by Edward I. in Wales, - Caernarvon is undoubtedly the chief; nor, indeed, is there any castle - in Britain laid out with greater uniformity of design, or in which - the resources of the military engineer are more skilfully set forth. - Moreover, it has suffered less than any other of equal magnitude from - violence, or natural decay, or the rapacity of local builders. Its - towers, walls, and gatehouses, stand as firm and free from injury as - when they came from the hand of the mason. Floors and roofs, indeed, - have been removed, and the interior lodgings, hall, and chapel, are - wanting, but their removal, if it took place, has been effected with - so much care that it is uncertain whether they were ever erected, - and whether the toothings and roughnesses of the contiguous walls - were not left with a view to their addition. In these latest days the - Crown, always the owner of the pile, has shown unusual zeal for its - conservation. Mr. Salvin, than whom no man could more skilfully restore - an ancient castle, was consulted upon its necessary repairs, and Mr. - Turner, as deputy-constable, watches over the fabric with no common - care.</p> - - <p>The castle and town of Caernarvon are placed upon the right or northern - bank of the Seiont, a river known to fame by the construction upon its - meadow of the Roman Segontium, at no great distance above the castle, - which, with the town, stands within the junction of the river with - the waters of the Menai Strait, so that two sides of the position are - protected, the one by the river, the other by the sea. Segontium, - or Caer Seiont, seems to have been succeeded by the Welsh camp of - Caer-yn-Arvon, so called from its position upon the shore of Arvon, - no longer “dreary Arvon,” but one of the most charming spots in North - Wales.</p> - - <p>The town, founded, with the castle, by King Edward, is somewhat of - a parallelogram in plan. It is contained within a curtain wall, - strengthened by ten towers, of which two form the east and west - gatehouses, and three cap the principal angles of the enclosure. They - are either cylindrical or half cylinders, open at the rear.</p> - - <p>The south end of the area is closed by the castle, of which the - principal face is thus towards and within the town. The opposite or - southern face rests upon the Seiont, as does the western, and did, - to some extent, the eastern end. Wilson’s picture, taken in the last - century, shows the walls rising almost from the water’s edge, and the - cross ditch before the Queen’s Gate still open, but at this time a - broad quay intervenes between the castle walls and the river, and of - the broad and deep ditch separating the fortress from the town only a - part remains. The ditch was, probably, deep enough to admit the tidal - waters.</p> - - <p>The castle somewhat resembles an hourglass in plan, its outline<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">310</span> being - governed by the rocky ridge on which it stands, and which lifts it a - few feet above the level of the town. It is in length about 100 yards, - and in breadth from 30 to 40 yards, the narrowest part being at the - centre. Its outline is polygonal, and on each angle is a tower, also - polygonal. Of these there are nine, two of which are double, and form - gatehouses. There are also two smaller towers, also polygonal, in the - centre of two of the curtains. The ground falls rather steeply from the - south-east end, but at its lowest is some feet above the water level.</p> - - <p>The main or King’s Gatehouse, a very noble structure, is in the centre - of the town front, and occupies a re-entering angle of the wall. It - is broad and high, with an unusually lofty and ornate archway, in - the upper part of which is a statue of Edward II., who completed the - castle, and below this the recessed gateway. Two bold half-octagons - flank the entrance, the approach to which was by a drawbridge, now - superseded by a work in masonry. The portal is broad and high, vaulted - and ribbed, with the usual portcullis grooves, rebates, and bar holes - for doors, and <i>meurtrières</i> in the vault. On either side is a - lodge, an unusually spacious chamber. Both of the flanking towers - are looped, and in that to the right is a mural gallery, with loops - completing the command of the approach. The rear of this right-hand - tower is prolonged into a square building forming the prison tower, - in one angle of which is a well staircase leading to the upper floor - of the gatehouse and its roof. At the foot of this staircase a small - portcullised doorway opens westwards upon the kitchen.</p> - - <p>From the Prison Tower a narrow building connected the gatehouse with - the opposite or Exchequer Tower, and thus divided the castle into an - eastern or upper, and a western or lower, ward. A handsome archway - pierced this building, and opened from one ward to the other. Building - and gatehouse are gone, but the jambs of one side, with two portcullis - grooves, show that the portal was strong and was ornate.</p> - - <p>Besides the King’s Gate the upper ward was entered by a second or - Queen’s Gate, a very remarkable structure, seeing that it is placed at - the highest part of the fortress, and that the cill of its entrance - is some 25 feet above the present ground, and must have been 12 feet - or 14 feet more above the bottom of the now filled-up ditch. How this - entrance was approached does not appear, if by a drawbridge the pier - on which it fell must have been a very lofty structure, and a sort of - viaduct must have led up to it. The portal is vaulted and ribbed, and - had a portcullis and gates, but the lateral chambers do not open from - it. The rear of the gatehouse seems not to have been completed, but - close to it, to the west, is the jamb of a small portcullised gateway, - with ornate mouldings. Into what it led is not very apparent.</p> - - <p>The towers, though differing widely in details, are all of one general - type, and probably designed by one hand. Each has a basement at about - the exterior ground level, damp and dark, and only to be reached by - a ladder from the floor above. Possibly these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">311</span> basements were not - intended to be used. They were not vaulted, and have no sewers. Each - tower has a first floor at the court level, and at this level, or a - few steps above it, the wall is pierced all round by a mural gallery, - looped to the field and connected with divers mural chambers and - garderobes. The second floor has windows of a larger opening, as has - the third or uppermost. Each floor has a fireplace, usually a mere - opening in the wall, and each is reached by a well staircase, which - begins at the first-floor level and ends in a tall turret which rises - some 20 feet above the roof. From the upper floor a doorway opens out - upon the rampart of the curtain. The floor was all of timber. The roof - was almost flat, having a very slight pitch to a central ridge, and was - covered with lead.</p> - - <p>The curtain, everywhere unusually thick and lofty, along the north side - was looped in two stages, showing that it gave support to long ranges - of buildings, probably barracks, with thick walls and very low-pitched - lead-covered roofs. These buildings are wanting, but the towers and - curtains are toothed, to give bond to their walls when built.</p> - - <p>The most remarkable part of the castle is the arrangement for the - defence of the southern or river front. On this face the curtain is of - immense thickness, extending from the Queen’s Gate to the Eagle Tower, - and including in that distance the Prince’s and the Exchequer Towers, - and two others of smaller dimensions. This wall, from the Queen’s Gate - to the Prince’s Tower, contains, at a little above the court level, a - broad and lofty gallery, which not only pierces the curtain, but is - continued through the walls of the towers, with an occasional vaulted - chamber or lobby, as a “place d’armes.” This gallery is looped towards - the field, and has an occasional window and door towards the court. It - descends by steps so as to preserve its level as regards the court, and - in its walls are several garderobes.</p> - - <p>Above this, of the same length and similarly constructed, is a second - gallery, also looped towards the field, but either the inner wall - and roof of this gallery have been removed, or, more probably, never - completed, for it now remains as an open platform. The thicker and - outer wall, however, is perfect, and carries what is still a broad - rampart walk, or allure, reached by occasional flights of steps in the - wall from the upper gallery. Thus was provided a triple line of loops, - and these loops are not, as was often the case, mere air-holes, but are - so contrived as to afford ample scope for the effective use of either - longbow or arblast. No body of assailants, however brave, unprotected - by armour or unsupplied with regular siege appliances, could have - withstood such a line of defence, manned, as it would be, with the - first archers in Europe, exposing those without, in front and flank, to - a shower of clothyard shafts and iron-pointed quarrells.</p> - - <p>The curtain, from the Prince’s to the Eagle Tower, though as thick as - elsewhere, is solid below, having only the upper gallery; neither does - it communicate with the Eagle Tower, which forms a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">312</span> sort of keep or - citadel, being in dimensions rather larger than, and in strength fully - equal to, any of the others. This tower, also, is of rather superior - and certainly more ornate workmanship than the rest. Its mouldings are - all of the best Decorated period, and it was evidently intended for the - reception of distinguished visitors.</p> - - <p>The Well Tower, that next west of the King’s Gate, contains a very - remarkable well. The well, with a pipe of 5 feet diameter, descends in - the thickness of the wall, in which also is the well chamber, whence - the well was worked. The whole, both well and chamber, are in excellent - order. Unlike the other towers, the basement of the Well Tower is - entered from the court by a steep direct flight of steps. The reason - of this is seen in a postern which opens from the floor of the tower - in the wall. It is 16 feet above the bottom of the ditch, serving, - probably, as an internal communication with the town. The great kitchen - does not now exist. It was of large size and rectangular plan, and - extended from the Well Tower to the King’s Gatehouse. At one end are - seen two curious stone circles, probably intended to carry large iron - cauldrons with a space below for a fire. In the side wall, or curtain, - are some mural chambers, and a trough with a stone pipe by which water - was conveyed from the well-chamber through the wall. There is also - the springing-stone of a moulded rib, showing that the kitchen had an - open roof. In this wall a straight staircase ascends to the gatehouse, - possibly to the cook’s bedchamber.</p> - - <p>Opposite to the kitchen a line of foundations shows the position and - dimensions of the great hall, 100 feet by 60 feet. It was built against - the south curtain, and extended from the Exchequer to the Prince’s - Tower, the latter being, probably, at the dais end. From the other end - of the hall, a straight staircase led to a postern which opened upon - the quay and the river.</p> - - <p>Caernarvon is mainly built of limestone. The stones are hammer dressed, - and roughly squared, and laid throughout in courses. Ashlar is very - freely used, and finely cut. The mouldings employed are characteristic - of the Decorated period, and the stone has preserved its surface and - arris uninjured.</p> - - <p>The absence of the hall and kitchen, the offices and barracks, and of - the cross building separating the two wards, gives an incomplete and - unfinished appearance to the interior of the castle, but this does not - affect its military details and those of its towers, gatehouses, and - curtains; these are very perfect and very curious. With the decline of - the Decorated period in architecture military defences also began to - decline, and the works of Edward III. and his successors, though often - palatial in their grandeur, are never of a purely military type, and in - this respect are never equal to those of the earlier Edwardian period.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i313"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">313</span> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_313.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><i>Caernarvon Castle.</i></div> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">314</span></p> - - <p>Caernarvon was begun in 1283, immediately upon the execution of David, - the last Welsh prince. The first work was that of quarrying the cross - ditch, and collecting materials and workmen, the latter being drafted - from the English counties. Caernarvon, Conway, Criccaeth, and - Harlech, were in progress together, and nothing short of the hope of - consolidating his kingdom could have induced so economical a sovereign - as Edward to incur expenses which, in one year, for Caernarvon alone, - amounted to above £3,000. The king was here for the first time in 1284, - in which year, April 25th, Edward of Caernarvon was born, probably in - the town. By 1295 so little progress had been made that the Welsh, - rising in local insurrection, succeeded in burning the town, and taking - what was then executed of the castle. How much was then built, or how - much they left standing is unknown, but from that time quicker progress - was made, and at Edward’s death the castle was certainly in a forward - state. The work was continued and completed by his son. The Eagle - Tower was covered in in 1316, and the king’s statue set up over the - great gate in 1320, and by 1322 the castle was completed for defensive - purposes. The chamberlain of North Wales seems to have resided here, - and the Exchequer Tower was so called because here were deposited the - financial returns for the northern counties, but it may be doubted - whether the grand accommodations designed by the original architect for - the visits of the sovereign were ever actually executed.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow86" id="i314"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_314.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><i><span class="smcap sansserif">Battlements—Eagle-tower, Caernarvon.</span></i></div> - </div> - - <p>The castle fell into the hands of Owain Glendwr, and was held - alternately by king and parliament during the Great Rebellion.</p> - - <p>One of the many valuable papers contributed by the late Mr. Hartshorne - to the <cite>Journal of the Archæological Institute</cite> contains an - excellent history of this castle; had that gentleman bent himself also - to the easier task of its description, this account would have been - uncalled for.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">315</span></p> - - <p>The larger of the accompanying illustrations gives a bird’s-eye view of - the castle from the north-west. In the front and centre is the King’s - Gatehouse, and next, on the spectator’s right, is the Well Tower, and - beyond it, the Eagle Tower. On the extreme left is the interior of the - Queen’s Gatehouse, placed between the Granary Tower on the left and - the Black Tower. Opposite to the King’s Gate is the Exchequer Tower, - and between it and the Eagle is the Prince’s Tower. In the lower or - right-hand court are seen the foundations of the hall; next on the left - of the King’s Gate is the Dungeon Tower.</p> - - <p>The smaller illustration shows the allure or rampart-walk of the - Eagle Tower. The rear wall, if it ever existed, has been removed. The - cut shows the merlon, with its contained loop, the plain flat-sided - embrasure, and the figures placed upon the ridge of the coping, one - of which gives name to the tower. The small, shoulder-headed doorway - opening from the tower upon the rampart is also seen.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CAERPHILLY">CAERPHILLY CASTLE, GLAMORGAN.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">CAERPHILLY is by very much the most extensive castle in Wales, and is - reputed to cover, with its outworks and earthworks, about thirty acres.</p> - - <p>The castle owes its celebrity to its great extent, and to the - peculiar manner in which one of its towers has been thrown out of the - perpendicular by the forces employed for its destruction. Its real - merits are of a less obvious but much higher character, and rest upon - the great military skill exhibited in its design and construction. It - possesses few associations with historical events. But one, and he a - falling, sovereign is certainly known to have visited it. It is not, - like Kidwelly or Cardiff, the head of a feudal honour or lordship, nor - is it surrounded by any franchise or barony. It has not even received - the barren dignity of conferring a title of honour upon any of its - numerous possessors. It has been celebrated by no bard, and even - mentioned only by one.</p> - - <p>Neither does Caerphilly possess many of the ordinary sources of - interest. It boasts not the architectural decorations of Caernarvon, - the commanding position of Conway, nor the picturesque beauty of - Raglan. It is simply a ruin of great extent, and possessing that sort - of rugged sublimity which is inseparable from an assemblage of lofty - walls and massive and partially overthrown towers, though neither - bosomed in woods, nor mantled, to any extent, with ivy.</p> - - <p>It is remarkable that this castle should have remained altogether - neglected, or very superficially noted by the historians of Wales. The - earlier authorities, Caradoc of Llancarvan and Giraldus Cambrensis, - flourished before the erection of the present edifice, but it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">316</span> is - singular that silence concerning so immense a structure should have - been preserved by Lloyd, and his commentator Powel, and transmitted - almost unbroken by the indefatigable, though credulous, author of the - “Munimenta.”</p> - - <p>It is not, however, difficult to divine the causes of the obscurity in - which the early history of Caerphilly is involved, and the absence of - any historical associations may perhaps be permitted to account for the - continued silence of modern writers.</p> - - <p>A castle of considerable magnitude had been erected soon after the - Norman invasion of Wales, at Cardiff; a position which, from its - proximity to the estuary of the Severn, and the mouth of the Taff, - from the fertility of its subjacent meadows, from the protection which - it reciprocally afforded to, and received from, the people of the - town, and from its greater distance from the mountains, and consequent - diminished liability to be surprised by their crafty and warlike - inhabitants, was invariably the chief residence of the feudal Lords of - Glamorgan; and from hence it followed, as a necessary consequence, that - Caerphilly, which, from its dangerous proximity, they were obliged to - retain in their immediate possession, fell into comparative neglect, - and, although very superior in magnitude to Cardiff, was considered - only as its dependency in importance.</p> - - <p>It was to the Lord of Cardiff that the feudatories of Glamorgan owed - suit and service, and it was to the castle court of that place that - they were bound annually to repair.</p> - - <p>The castle of Cardiff is mentioned as the residence of great Norman - barons; it was more than once honoured by a royal guest, and, even at - the far later period of the Parliamentary wars, its acquisition was - considered of great importance. Caerphilly, on the contrary, is rarely - mentioned by the chroniclers, and as a military post ceased to be of - importance upon the death of Llewelyn and the reduction and settlement - of the Principality by Edward. These considerations will explain the - little notice taken by contemporaries of this magnificent fortress, and - the consequent dearth of information respecting its fortunes.</p> - - <p>Caerphilly stands upon that wide tract of debateable ground between - England and Wales, which was so long contested by both nations under - the title of “The Marches,” and which, beneath the Normans, had its own - customs and its governors, known as the Lords Marchers.</p> - - <p>The castle, though in the Marches, is within the Welsh border, being - about a mile from the river Rhymny, the boundary between Monmouth and - Glamorgan, and, since the reign of Henry VIII., between England and the - Principality, in this direction.</p> - - <p>The Lordship of Senghenydd, within which the castle is placed, was - granted at the conquest of Glamorgan to Einon of Collwyn, a Welsh lord, - whose granddaughter, Nest, “verch Madoc ap Cradoc ap Einon,” married - Cadivor ap Cydrich, a grandson of Gwaethvoed, and the father of Ivor - Bach, who is described as [mesne] Lord of Senghenydd. Griffith, the - son of Ivor, married a sister of Rhys,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">317</span> Prince of South Wales, before - 1174, when he did homage to Henry II., at Gloucester. By this match - the influence of the family, already great, with the Welsh, was much - increased and became very great. They dwelt too near Cardiff actually - to organise insurrections, but they were always ready to promote them - at any favourable opportunity. Many such opportunities occurred during - the reign of Henry III., when the Earls of Pembroke wielded the power - of the infant lord of Glamorgan, and were continually at war with - Henry. Llewelyn, then Prince of Wales, was sometimes in alliance with - the earl, and sometimes harassed his rear, descending from the uplands - of Caermarthen and Cardiff, and bursting into Monmouthshire across the - unguarded pass of Senghenydd. It became the business of Gilbert de - Clare, on coming into his lordship, to bar this passage, and this he - effectually completed by the construction of Caerphilly. The name of - his architect or engineer is unknown to fame, but he was a deacon in - his craft, and the earl gave full play to his abilities.</p> - - <p>The castle is placed in the midst of a deep and broad hollow, open on - the east towards the Rhymny, and divided on the west from the valley of - the Taff by the mountain ridge of Mynydd Mayo. North and north-west, - at a greater distance, is the concave crest of Mynydd Eglwisilan, and - on the south, the long and well-known elevation which separates the - hill-country of Glamorgan from the plain, and is intersected by the - ravines of the Taff, the Rhymny, and the Ebbw. This ridge is locally - known as Cefn Carnau, and, on the road from the castle to the sea, is - crowned by the ancient stronghold of Môr-graig. The traveller, who - wishes to see Caerphilly to advantage, should descend upon it soon - after sunrise in autumn, from one of the surrounding heights, when the - grey towers of the castle will be seen rising out of an immense sea of - mist.</p> - - <p>The whole basin is a part of the Glamorganshire coalfield. The mineral - has long been worked on Caerphilly mountain, where it appears on the - surface, and the castle is chiefly constructed of the fissile sandstone - of the neighbourhood, which appears to have been quarried from a large - excavation by the roadside, near Chapel-Martin.</p> - - <p>Along the base of the mountains, and extending some way up their - skirts, here, as in all the valleys in the neighbourhood, lie vast - deposits of gravel and sand, composed in part of the <i>débris</i> of - the neighbouring rocks, but chiefly of rolled pebbles, brought down - from the northern hills by diluvial agency.</p> - - <p>Near the centre of the basin is a bed of gravel, of considerable extent - and thickness, the surface of which has been deeply wrought, by some - natural process, into a series of furrows and eminences.</p> - - <p>A narrow tongue of slightly elevated ground, the termination of a - low peninsula of gravel, projects eastwards, and, by its projection, - divides a swampy flat of considerable breadth into two portions. - These are contained within irregular gravel banks, similar to, though - somewhat higher than, the central peninsula. The southern is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">318</span> shorter, - and almost parallel to it; the northern is prolonged, and curves - around its point, until it is separated from the southern only by an - inconsiderable gorge. The swamp thus assumes something of the figure of - a horse-shoe.</p> - - <p>South of the peninsula, the Nant-y-Gledyr, a large rivulet, flows from - the south-west, across the swamp, through the gorge, to join the Rhymny.</p> - - <p>North-east of the peninsula a smaller spring, partly fed by the - Nant-y-Gledyr, flows across a part of the northern swamp; and, north of - this again, another spring contributes to the same. Naturally, these - waters seem to have found their way, by a depression or gorge, to the - north-eastward, into the lower part of the Nant-y-Gledyr, outside of - and below the upper gorge already mentioned.</p> - - <p>The tongue of land thus guarded was well suited for the purposes - of defence, supposing the peninsula to have been converted, by a - cross-trench, into an island. Water was abundant, pasturage at hand, - and the morass would form a secure front. There is, however, no - evidence that the spot was occupied by the Welsh, though it has been - supposed that the stronghold of Senghenydd was here situated.</p> - - <p>When the castle was constructed the surface of the ground underwent - considerable alteration. The first business of the Norman engineer was - to provide for the protection of his fortress by a large expanse of - water. To effect this, the bed of the Nant-y-Gledyr was dammed up at - one gorge, and the northern waters at the other, and the two divisions - of the swamp thus formed into lakes, the southern of about 13 acres, - the northern of about one or two.</p> - - <p>Advantage was taken of a narrow and curved ridge, which proceeded from - the root of the peninsula, to divide the northern water into two parts, - of which the one formed the middle, and the other the inner, moat.</p> - - <p>The inner moat communicated with the southern lake by two cross cuts; - one, the old natural termination of the peninsula eastwards, the other, - an artificial cut across it on the west; and thus the circuit of the - inner moat was completed.</p> - - <p>The island which was thus formed, and encircled by this moat, was - scarped into curtains and bastions, and faced with stone; and the - single cross-cut westward, not being deemed a sufficient defence, the - peninsula was divided by a second cross-cut further westward, and - the second island, thus formed, was converted into a sort of large - horn-work or demi-lune, covering the western approach. This also was - scarped and revetted.</p> - - <p>Thus, then, the principal features of the ground plan are—the end of - the peninsula converted into an <i>island</i>, and defended on the - north by the <i>inner north moat</i>, on the south by the <i>lake</i>, - on the east by the <i>inner east moat</i>, and on the west by the - <i>inner cross-cut</i>—the whole making up the <i>inner moat</i>. - </p> - - <p>Proceeding outwards, we have, as the boundaries of this moat—on the - west, the <i>horn-work</i>, prolonged on the north into the <i>curved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">319</span> - ridge</i> forming the counterscarp of the inner moat; on the east, the - natural bank occupied by the <i>southern half of the grand front</i>; - and on the south, the acclivity of the <i>bank of the lake</i>, rising - rather steeply. All these form the outer boundaries of the inner - moat. The second, or middle, line of defence is less complete, and - is confined to the west and northern sides. It begins with the outer - <i>cross-cut</i>, west of the horn-work, which communicates at one end - with the lake, and at the other with the <i>middle moat</i>. Beyond - this middle line of defence is, upon the north-west, a high knoll, the - summit of which has been carved into a <i>redoubt</i>; towards the - north the <i>northern bank</i>, which is protected westwards by the - <i>northern brook</i>, and thickened eastwards into a dam wall; and - towards the north-east, east, and south-east, by the continuation of - this bank, and the <i>northern half of the grand front</i>, built upon - it. - </p> - - <p>These defences are again strengthened—on the north by one division of - the <i>outer moat</i>, formed by the passage of the north brook, and on - the east by the other division extending in advance of the grand front, - and connected with the Nant-y-Gledyr, near the great drawbridge. These - moats are divided by a sort of <i>causeway</i> at the north-east angle - of the outworks, reserved for the passage of cavalry from a sally-port. - A part of the earth excavated from these outer moats seems to have been - thrown up outside, so as to form banks, one of which is occupied by the - main street of Caerphilly, the other by the Nant-Garw road.</p> - - <p>It is hoped that reference to the plan, and to the bird’s-eye view of - the lake, will suffice to render the above description intelligible.</p> - - <p>For the purpose of the description of the castle itself, the whole may - be considered as composed of five parts, each of which will be further - subdivided. These parts are:—</p> - - <p>I.—The <span class="smcap">Grand Front</span>. II.—The <span class="smcap">Horn-work</span>. III.—The - <span class="smcap">Redoubt</span>. IV.—The <span class="smcap">Middle Ward</span>. V.—The <span class="smcap">Inner - Ward</span>. - </p> - - <p>I.—The eastern or <span class="smcap">Grand Front</span> of Caerphilly is a very fine and - complete specimen of a mediæval line of defence. It is composed of a - long curtain wall of considerable height and thickness, strengthened on - the exterior by buttresses and buttress-towers, rising in the centre - into a broad and lofty gatehouse, and terminated, at either extremity, - by clusters of towers that protect its sally-ports, and prevent it from - being out-flanked. Before it is a broad and deep moat, supplied with - water, and crossed by a double drawbridge. In its rear is a second - moat, also crossed by a drawbridge. The length of the façade is about - 250 yards, the height varies from 20 to 60 feet.</p> - - <p>It is divided into the great gatehouse, the northern curtain and - postern, and the southern curtain and postern.</p> - - <p>The <i>Great Gatehouse</i> stands a little on the north side of the - centre. Its line of front is not exactly parallel to those of the - curtains, the plan being irregular.</p> - - <p>The <i>Gatehouse proper</i> is a lofty oblong building, 50 feet broad - by 35 feet deep, and about 60 feet high. It is perforated below by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">320</span> - portal, but rises above as a broad tower. Its lateral portions project - 6 feet beyond the portal, and form porters’ lodges.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i320"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_320.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attr">DELAMOTTE & HEAVISIDE SC.</div> - <div class="caption">CAERPHILLY.</div> - </div> - - <p>The portal, 10 feet wide by 20 feet high, was defended by gates, - portcullis, and stockade. It is guarded by loops on each side from the - lodges. Those opening from the portal, measure 20 feet by 10 feet, - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">321</span>have fireplaces, and were floored with timber. The walls are 9 feet - thick, and are looped in various directions for defence. - </p> - - <div class="figcenter illow86" id="i320fp"> - <div class="caption">Caerphilly Castle.</div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_320fp.jpg" alt="" /> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li><i>A Inner Ward.</i></li> - <li><i>B Middle Ward.</i></li> - <li><i>C Kitchen Tower and Water Gate.</i></li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li><i>D Outer Ward.</i></li> - <li><i>E Great Gatehouse and Pier.</i></li> - <li><i>F North Postern.</i></li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li><i>G South Postern.</i></li> - <li><i>H Sluice.</i></li> - <li><i>I Outer Water Gate.</i></li> - </ul> - </div> - - <p>Passing through the gatehouse, behind it is a broad platform, which - extends behind the southern curtain, and is scarped and revetted - towards the inner moat; on the right of this is a prolongation of - the gatehouse westwards, into the <i>gatehouse tower</i>. One of two - doorways leads up this tower by a hexagonal well-stair, 9 feet in - mean diameter; this opens upon seven apartments in two stories, and - terminates in a lofty quadrangular turret. In the first story are - devices for working the portcullis, and a small fireplace and oven, - probably intended to serve the purpose of a cooking-place for the - porter and his assistants. These rooms are vaulted. From this story - a passage opens upon the rampart of the northern curtain, and led, - probably by a temporary plank bridge, across an abyss in the thickness - of the wall, about 29 feet deep and 5 feet wide, and opening below - between the grates of a water gate. A passage, at the ground level, - leads from the platform through the gatehouse tower, across the ditch - or canal from the water gate, to the northern curtain, and was defended - by gates, portcullis, and drawbridge.</p> - - <p>From the gatehouse a <i>dividing wall</i>, 20 feet high and 6 feet - thick, extends westward 80 feet to the edge of the inner moat, and thus - cuts off the platform and the whole of the southern from the northern - curtain. Each face has been embattled, so that should either curtain be - taken, the other could still be defended.</p> - - <p>At the union of the gatehouse with the <i>northern curtain</i>, in the - latter, at the level of the water’s edge, is a low-browed archway, - which could only have been accessible by a boat, and is a water gate. - It is defended by two grates, and a cavity open above between them, and - thence a <i>covered way</i>, once probably a sort of canal, leads close - under, and north of, the dividing wall, to the edge of the inner moat.</p> - - <p>This curtain runs northward for 130 yards, and is strengthened - exteriorly by three <i>buttress towers</i>, quadrangular and solid - below, but hexagonal and chambered above. Each has a projection of 20 - feet; they are of unequal breadth. The chambers have each a loop in - front, and one at the junction of the tower with the wall on either - side. They were accessible only from the rampart.</p> - - <p>In the curtain itself are six loops, opening in pairs between the - buttress towers. The curtain ends, northward, in a pair of towers, - connected by the vault of a portal, the <i>north postern</i>, regularly - defended, and opening upon a plot of ground and causeway separating the - two parts of the outer moat.</p> - - <p>Behind, and parallel to this curtain, at a distance of 19 feet, was a - slight wall, 4 feet thick, which formed the back wall of a <i>postern - gallery</i>, leading from the gatehouse to the north postern, and - forming above a broad flat walk for the defence of the ramparts. This - gallery is said to have been fitted up as a stable.</p> - - <p><i>Southern Curtain.</i>—The general plan of this curtain is irregular; - it passes south-eastward from the gatehouse, forms a large semicircle,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">322</span> - and, passing off in a long straight wall, crosses the Nant-y-Gledyr, - and terminates in a <i>tête-du-pont</i> and a postern. This wall - contains a large mural garderobe tower at its angle, and is supported - exteriorly by seven quadrangular solid buttresses. In one place it - is perforated for the discharge of the waste waters of the mill, - and in another for the passage of the Nant-y-Gledyr, being, at that - part, where subjected to great pressure, 15 feet thick. This curtain - is accessible from the <i>tête-du-pont</i>; and upon it, through the - garderobe tower is a mural chamber, serving as a “place d’armes.” The - face of the wall, between the buttresses, is wrought into a concavity, - increasing towards the summit, so that any missile dropped from it - would be projected outwards. The soil of the platform behind this - curtain is 25 feet above the exterior level.</p> - - <p>The <i>Platform</i> is a large surface of sward behind the southern - curtain, between it and the counterscarp of the inner moat; upon it - stood the <i>mill</i>, and from it dropped the inner drawbridge. It - increases in breadth from the dam to the dividing wall, where it - measures 94 feet.</p> - - <p>The <i>Tête-du-pont</i> terminates the southern curtain. It consists - of a curve of the wall, westward, into a semicircle, with towers and a - postern gate, protected by a bifurcated wall, intended to prevent the - curtain from being outflanked. It rests upon the outer edge of the lake.</p> - - <p>In front of this great line of defence is a moat, about 60 feet wide, - and crossed by a double drawbridge of two spans of 18 feet each at - the great gateway, connected with a large pier in the centre of the - moat, capable of being converted into a sort of barbican. This moat - communicates with, and admitted of being filled from, the Nant-y-Gledyr.</p> - - <p>Such is the principal front and eastern line of defence, not only - calculated to withstand attacks from the front, flanks, or rear, but - also capable of being held out, the southern against the northern part.</p> - - <p>From the northern extremity of this front, at the northern postern, a - bank of earth, lined inwards, or on its southern face, by a wall, and - at one part thickened into a dam, divides the middle from the outer - moat, at present skirted by the Nant-Garw road. This is the <i>north - bank</i>.</p> - - <p>From the same front, from the end of the covered way, close to the - dividing wall, a second bank of earth is given off, and, passing - westwards to unite with the horn-work, divides the inner from the - middle moat, and forms a part of the northern defences of the - castle. Its inner face is partially lined by a wall, in which is a - sluice-tunnel. This is the <i>curved ridge</i>.</p> - - <p>II.—The <span class="smcap">Horn-work</span> covering the western front of the castle, - and placed between the middle and outer gates, is an irregular polygon - of about three acres, revetted all round with a wall of 15 feet high, - above which is a talus of about 8 feet more. From its south-western - face issues one of the feeding springs of the lake. On the eastern, - or longest face, is a semi-pier, to receive the drawbridge, of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">323</span> 20 - feet span, from the opposite gatehouse of the middle ward. On the - north-western face a similar semi-pier, between half-round bastions, - seems to have supported the drawbridge, also of 20 feet span, giving - access to the castle in this direction. Possibly each bridge was of two - pieces, one dropping from each bank upon a central tressel or timber - structure in the ditch.</p> - - <p>III.—The <span class="smcap">Redoubt</span> has already been mentioned as being formed by - scraping down a knoll of gravel on the north-west quarter of the castle.</p> - - <p>The body of this earthwork is quadrangular, capped at the three outer - angles by three bastions, and excavated in the centre into a sort - of casemate. The curtain, towards the castle, is intersected by two - trenches, separated by a mound or cavalier, and leading into the centre - of the work.</p> - - <p>Outside the redoubt, and following the curve of its bastions, is a - ditch, upon the outer three sides broad and deep, on the fourth side - but slightly marked.</p> - - <p>The ramparts of the redoubt are unprovided with either parapets for - canon or banquettes for musquetry, and the scarp is continued unbroken - to the rampart. Neither scarp nor counterscarp, though steep, has any - retaining wall.</p> - - <p>Beyond its main ditch is a spacious <i>glacis</i>, terminating in three - low bastions and a shallow ditch. Both ditches were probably dry.</p> - - <p>The whole work resembles much those thrown up in haste during the wars - between Charles I. and the Parliament, and has either been partially - destroyed, or, which seems more probable, has never been entirely - completed. No doubt it was stockaded.</p> - - <p>The inner and middle wards of the castle occupy the island, which has - already been described as formed out of the end of the peninsula.</p> - - <p>This island is scarped into a parallelogram, 111 yards east and west, - by 96 north and south. The four angles are capped by large bastions, - parts of circles. The intervening straight lines are termed, in - fortification, curtains.</p> - - <p>The sides or scarps of these bastions and curtains are faced with a - stone wall 30 feet high, and surmounted by a parapet of from 5 feet to - 12 feet more; and within this enclosure are contained the middle and - inner ward.</p> - - <p>The inner ward is formed by placing a second parallelogram, smaller - than the last, within it. This forms the inner, and the concentric - space between the two, the middle, ward.</p> - - <p>IV.—The <i>Middle Ward</i> thus presents four divisions, towards the - cardinal points, all forming terraces of from 16 to 20 yards broad, - and the opposite sides being of nearly equal length. Upon the east and - west are the gatehouses; on the south, offices, and a water gate; and, - on the north, an open terrace, overlooking the outer defences of the - castle on that side.</p> - - <p>The <i>Eastern Gatehouse</i> is formed of two low towers, with - half-round projections towards the moat, and a portal between the two. - The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">324</span> walls are thick, and there is a lodge on each side, lighted by - three loops. Above these lodges was the battlement. On the north side - is a square building, the use of which is unknown. This gatehouse was - connected with that of the inner ward, and between the two there seem - to have been side doors.</p> - - <p>One of these, on the south, led to the <i>Water-tank</i>, lined with - masonry, 50 feet long by 20 wide, probably a fish-preserve connected - with the kitchen.</p> - - <p>In front of this gatehouse, and dividing it from the platform of the - grand gate, the moat is about 45 feet wide. As there are no traces of a - central pier for the drawbridge which must have crossed this space, it - seems probable that it rested on an intermediate tressel of timber, as - at Raby and Holt, which admitted of being removed or destroyed in the - event of a siege.</p> - - <p>The <i>Western Gatehouse</i> is placed opposite to the horn-work, and - between them is a moat 60 feet wide. The portal is loftier, and the - front broader, than in the eastern gatehouse. There are two chambers - on either side of the portal, and above them a first story, with - fireplaces and chimneys.</p> - - <p>Between this gate and the north-west tower of the inner ward are some - later buildings, and a wall, which seems to have been intended to cut - off the communication between the gatehouse and the north terrace. On - the south side is a similar wall, shutting off the south terrace.</p> - - <p>The offices and water-gate passage occupy a part of the south terrace - of this ward.</p> - - <p>The <i>Water-gate Gallery</i> leads from the hall to the lake, and - is big enough to contain a boat. It is vaulted by a succession of - narrow arches, in steps, instead of by one sloping vault. Above it are - chambers, probably for cooks and attendants in the kitchens.</p> - - <p>Against this passage, upon its eastern side, is the <i>Kitchen - Tower</i>—a low tower of great strength, having the ground floor - vaulted, and recesses, apparently for boiling and stewing, on a large - scale. The fireplace is in the upper story.</p> - - <p>The kitchen communicated with the hall, and with a sort of yard - occupying the eastern end of the south terrace. A well-stair leads down - to the lower, and up to the upper, kitchen.</p> - - <p>In the yard is the oven, and a passage leading to the tank. Here, also, - against the south curtain of the inner ward is a low oblong building, - with one or two bows to the south, which seems to have been connected - with the kitchen, and, in modern days, would have been the still-room.</p> - - <p>V.—The <span class="smcap">Inner Ward</span> is a quadrangle, measuring 200 feet east - and west, by 160 feet north and south. It is contained within four - curtain walls, capped at the angles by four round towers, and broken on - the east and west sides by two lofty and magnificent gatehouses. The - south side of the court thus formed is occupied by the hall and state - apartments.</p> - - <p>Of the <i>Curtains</i>, those on the north and east, are about 30 - feet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">325</span> high, including the battlement. That on the south is higher by a - story, and the rampart walk is continued along it—below, as a vaulted - <i>triforial gallery</i> in the thickness of the wall, above, as an - open walk. The triforial passage in the southern curtain is called - the Braose Gallery, why, it is difficult to say, since the barons of - that name, though lords of Gower, had no property east of the Nedd, in - Glamorgan. - </p> - - <p>The four <i>Bastion Towers</i> which cap the angles of this ward are - very marked features in the appearance of the castle. They have a - projection, outside the wall, of three-fourths of a circle; are of - three stages, with timber roofs and floors; and measure, in exterior - diameter, 36 feet, and within, 18 feet; the walls being 9 feet thick. - Each story is lighted by loopholes, very large within, but appearing - exteriorly as a line. A well-stair leads to the summit of each. These - towers open into the court, and upon the battlements. Their type is - best seen in the north-west tower.</p> - - <p>The <i>Eastern Gatehouse</i> is a superb pile. It is oblong, and has - two half-round bows on its eastern side, and two round turrets, of - three-quarter circle projection, at the north-west and south-west - angles, within the court. The building is traversed by a portal, - entered between the bow towers. The arch is “drop,” and the entrance - is defended by gates, palisade, and portcullis. Above the opening into - the court is a shoot for dropping missiles upon those below. On each - side of the portal are lodges, and the second story is a spacious - hall or council-chamber, with a large fireplace, and two large and - handsome windows looking towards the court. Above this chamber is - the battlement. On the north and south sides of this gatehouse are a - number of small apartments, mostly vaulted, and some of them used as - portcullis rooms. Over the door leading to the ramparts, on the south, - is a small oratory or chapel, with a ribbed and vaulted roof, and two - Decorated windows.</p> - - <p>The <i>Western Gatehouse</i> is on the same plan, but rather smaller, - and without turrets towards the court, its staircases being contained - within the thickness of the wall. The lodges on each side of the portal - are vaulted and ribbed, with ornamental corbels. They open direct into - the court. The state chamber above is not so large as in the eastern - gatehouse. It rests upon a vaulted floor.</p> - - <p>The <i>Hall</i> is built against the south curtain. It measures 73 feet - by 35 feet, and was about 30 feet high. It is lighted by four large - and lofty windows towards the court, with ogee arches and reduplicated - bands of the ball-flower moulding; within are crocketed canopies, in a - somewhat stiff, but excellent, style. Between the windows is a broad - fireplace, and to the east of them a door, which was the principal - entrance on the south side. A door in the curtain leads down a long - vaulted passage to the water gate of the lake, and another door leads - to the kitchen and bakehouse, in the middle ward. A plain door at the - west end opens into some state apartments, and other doors, and a large - window at the east end, communicate with a cellar and the chapel.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">326</span></p> - - <p>The roof, of timber, sprung from fourteen short clustered pilasters, - resting upon heads as corbels, placed against the north and south - walls. The north wall is of dressed stone, and carried a stringcourse - with ball flowers, about 3 feet above the ground. On the east wall is - a stringcourse connected with the drip-stone of the chapel window. The - east, south, and western sides were plastered, and probably painted, or - hung with tapestry.</p> - - <p>The <i>Chapel</i>, east of the hall—evident from its position and - large east window—presents nothing remarkable. There are four <i>state - apartments</i> west of the hall, two on the ground and two on the - first floor. They are lighted from the north, and one of the windows - is of great length and cinquefoiled, with a quatrefoil in the head. - A staircase in the thickness of the curtain wall leads into the - Braose Gallery, as well as to the upper rooms, and to some appendages - connected with the sewage, and which seem to have been added.</p> - - <p>In the grand court, a little to the north of the eastern entrance, is - the well, about 4 feet diameter.</p> - - <h3>PRESENT CONDITION.</h3> - - <p>The castle, in its present condition, assumes a very different - appearance from that described as its original state, although enough - remains to bear out the description.</p> - - <p>The eastern, or main front, is in good preservation. The masonry of the - three northern buttresses is but little injured, although between them - and the curtain are deep fissures, evidently the work of gunpowder, - aided by the presence of a long window on either side. The mine was - evidently sprung at the gorge of these buttresses, but the quantity of - powder introduced has not been sufficient to overthrow them.</p> - - <p>Most of the smaller buttresses on the southern flank are unhurt, but - the two at the southern extremity are laid prostrate, with their - connecting curtain, 15 feet in thickness, forming a chasm, through - which the Nant-y-Gledyr takes its undisturbed course. The object of - this destruction, which was permanently to empty the lake, has been - gained. It is now a meadow.</p> - - <p>The lower story of the grand gatehouse, and the piers of its bridge, - are in tolerable order; but the upper chambers of the former are - much battered, and the staircases rendered inaccessible, above a - certain height, by the absence of the newels, and the fracture of the - stone steps. The great pier stands alone, but the outer semi-pier - is encumbered with cottages. The outer and eastern moat, now of no - great depth, is still marshy. At its northern end the sides are - cultivated; towards the southern, cottages are built in it. Between - these two portions, north of the pier, is the modern entrance, passing - through the water gate, now a battered hole 11 feet wide: near it a - door has been opened into a sort of cavity below the lower story of - the gatehouse, used as a cart hovel. The foundations of the southern - curtain, being in the moat, are tolerably perfect. Those of the - northern, elevated upon a bank of earth, are much battered.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">327</span></p> - - <p>The <i>tête-du-pont</i>, in which the southern curtain terminates, - has suffered considerably. The curvilinear wall between the towers is - levelled to a breastwork, and the side of the portal towards the lake - has been blown quite away, as has been also the entrance and part of - the floor of the neighbouring D-shaped tower.</p> - - <p>The northern limb of the bifurcated wall, proceeding from the postern, - has been blown out of the perpendicular; and, although there is no - great danger of its fall, the loose stones adjoining its fissure are a - source of danger to the antiquary who may attempt to scale it. Cottages - are clustered against the outside of this wall, and its re-entering - angle is occupied by a pigstye.</p> - - <p>South of the castle, west of the <i>tête-du-pont</i>, the land on the - back of the lake is partly in tillage, and partly occupied by cottages; - on the north, to the west of the sally-port, the wall between the - outer and second moat is reduced to a line of foundation. The peculiar - thickness of this wall, where it has served the purpose of a dam, is - well seen. The outer moat has, in this direction, been encroached upon - by the Nant-Garw road, which tops its counterscarp for about 100 yards. - The mill is levelled to the ground. A dry watercourse, and the tunnel - enlarged into a breach, still mark the ancient exit of its waters. The - drainage of the lake was, of course, fatal to the mill. The modern - miller of Caerphilly has removed to the outside of the great southern - breach, where he takes advantage of the Nant-y-Gledyr.</p> - - <p>The horn-work covering the western entrance remains in excellent - preservation, and its revetment, except where in part quarried, is - nearly as sound as ever, although its gatehouse and western pier, if - ever they existed, have been destroyed. They were probably of timber. - The moat, to the west of the horn-work, being still in wet weather the - channel of a rivulet, is overgrown with reeds and aquatic plants; to - the east or castle side it is swampy in wet weather; and on the south - is the bed of the ancient inundation, now a plain of sward, across - which a path leads to a spring.</p> - - <p>Along the exterior line of defence to the north-west, the redoubt, - fosses, and adjacent earthworks are obscured by young trees and - brushwood, by the effects of tillage, and by the buildings of the - castle farm.</p> - - <p>Entering the castle by the east water gate, the wall parallel to the - curtain which formed the back of the northern or stable gallery is seen - on the right, levelled nearly with the soil, and, consequently, all - regular access to the buttress chambers is thus cut off.</p> - - <p>The counterscarp of the inner moat is in ruins, choking up the moat. - All vestiges of the eastern drawbridge between the grand front and the - middle ward have disappeared.</p> - - <p>The flanking towers of the eastern gatehouse of the middle ward are - destroyed, that on the south completely, and that on the north very - nearly so, the ruins of the singular building attached to it having - prevented its entire destruction.</p> - - <p>At the opposite or western extremity of this ward, the gatehouse<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">328</span> is in - rather better condition. The portal has been broken away below, but the - hollow semi-piers connecting it with the horn-work remain. The front of - this gatehouse, of great thickness, is perfect, and is garnished with a - pair of chimneys; its inner part has been destroyed. The windows in the - front are the only vestiges of the upper story.</p> - - <p>On the north front of this ward the curtain is much shattered by the - fall of the inner towers, and, as all the bastions have been ruined and - blown up, their exact line of boundary is scarcely traceable.</p> - - <p>Upon the southern side, the wide lake and the strength of the - outbuildings have, in some degree, preserved the curtain, but the - doorway of the water gate, which opens in it, is much injured. A few - feet below its sill, a long black stain marks the height of the water - in former times, and gives about 9 feet as the average depth of the - lake.</p> - - <p>The gallery, kitchens, &c., which occupy this side, are much injured; - but in front of the great oven a portion of the parapet remains, here - about 12 feet high, and furnished with a loop.</p> - - <p>The tank remains, though nearly choked up with stones and brambles. - Since the fall of the adjacent wall of the bastion, its position has - been insecure. Recently its wall has cracked, and, unless repaired, it - may be expected soon to fall into the moat.</p> - - <p>Ascending from the eastern gatehouse, across a mass of almost - untraceable ruins, the central ward of the castle is entered.</p> - - <p>With the exception of a partial breach on the northern side, the - curtains of this inner ward have suffered but little, and the height of - the parapet and rerewall may still be inferred, by the projections at - its junction with the towers.</p> - - <p>The eastern gatehouse has been separated by a blast into two portions; - of which the inner, towering to a prodigious height, still remains - tolerably perfect; while the outer, broken into fragments, has crushed - the lower gatehouse beneath its weight, and still encumbers it with its - ruins.</p> - - <p>The western gatehouse has been more fortunate; the staircases, however, - are broken and irregular, and the vaulting injured. Through the floor - of its central apartment a hole has been broken into the vaults of the - portal, and of one of the lodges beneath.</p> - - <p>In the floor of the Braose or triforial gallery are two large holes - which open upon a staircase and passage below.</p> - - <p>The buildings within the court have suffered severely. The hall is - covered by a temporary roof, but the structure of its ancient roof - is apparent from the remaining corbels. The pavement has been long - removed: the sills of the windows have been cut away, and the tracery - and mouldings which adorned them are broken and defaced.</p> - - <p>A window and door at the east end have been shattered into one, and the - vaulted passage leading to the offices is a shapeless and rugged hole.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">329</span></p> - - <p>The vaulted roof of the kitchen is broken, but enough remains to - display its original structure. The steps of the water-gate gallery - have been removed, but the vaulted roof is but little injured.</p> - - <p>In the great court a depression in the sward indicates the ancient - well. It has lately been opened a few feet down, but nothing of - importance was discovered.</p> - - <p>The four bastion towers of this ward deserve special notice, since it - is the position of one of them which has conferred upon this castle - much of the notoriety it possesses.</p> - - <p>That these four towers have been mined and blown up with gunpowder, at - some period when the effects of that agent were well understood, is - evident on inspection. The mine has been sprung near the centre of each - tower, and has produced effects, differing in degree only, upon each. - That on the north-east is altogether levelled, on the outside, entirely - to the ground, crushing in its descent the very bastion on which its - foundation rested—on the inside, the door and a portion of wall, as - high as the curtain, only remain. The destruction of the north-western - tower has not been by any means so complete. Only a third of its outer - circumference has fallen, and the rest, deprived indeed of its floors, - remains as firm as ever. The portion which has fallen lies in fragments - upon the neighbouring bastion.</p> - - <p>At the south-western tower the mine has operated outwards; the whole - of the outer portion has fallen upon the bastion and into the ditch, - but the inner strip connecting it with the rest of the building, and - containing the entrances to the several stories, has been protected by - the outbuildings on its southern side, and is unshaken.</p> - - <p>The last, or south-eastern, is the celebrated leaning tower, the - obliquity of which has been much exaggerated, and absurdly accounted - for. In the case of this tower the mine has exploded in a contrary - direction from the rest, and the inner portion, with the adjoining - curtain, has been thrown into the court, while the outer portion - remains standing, although the force of the explosion has thrown the - mass out of the perpendicular, so that it overhangs its base, towards - the south-west, nine feet. The parapet at its summit remains quite - perfect, and is the only one in the castle that is so.</p> - - <p>The neighbourhood of these four towers, and the intervening gatehouses, - upon which the force of the gunpowder has been chiefly employed, is - a chaos of ruins; subverted masses of the gallery, staircases, the - vaulting of large portions of the chambers themselves, lie in confusion - upon the ground; and the thin mantle of vegetation which has enveloped - them, although it adds much to their picturesque beauty, increases - in no slight degree the difficulty of accurately comprehending their - original disposition.</p> - - <p>Throughout this immense building the iron work, even to the staples of - the doorways, has been removed; nor is there any lead to be found in - the sockets of the window-bars.</p> - - <p>The hewn stone forming the door-frames, window-cases, newels of the - well-staircases, and in some instances the stairs themselves, have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">330</span> - been rudely wrenched away, with damage to the walls, for the purpose, - probably, of converting them into lime.</p> - - <p>Portcullises, stockades, doors, with the roof of the hall, and every - particle of timber in the place, have long been removed. Every - staircase, gallery, and chamber is pervious to the rain, and exposed - to the pernicious force of the frost, yet such and so durable are the - materials, and so firm the mortar with which the whole is cemented, - that time and weather alone have produced but trifling injuries upon - the pile, compared with the wilful destruction of the hand of man.</p> - - <p>Before arriving at any general conclusion respecting the age of - Caerphilly, it will be proper to make a few remarks upon certain - details, on which those conclusions in some measure rest.</p> - - <p>And first of the doorways. With certain exceptions shortly to be - enumerated, the doorways throughout the building are of the same - general character. The arches are “drop,” that is to say, they are - obtusely pointed arches, whose centres lie below their spring. This - is obviously the best form of the pointed arch for the portals of a - castle, and it is that usually employed in the military structures of - the Edwardian period. With the same exceptions, the arch-mouldings - are composed of a five-sided rib, upon the front and widest face of - which a smaller rib, of the same figure, is placed. This pattern of - rib-moulding is also very commonly employed in castles.</p> - - <p>The principal portals, together with the doors leading from the first - story of the towers upon the ramparts, are defended by portcullises, - working in a D-shaped groove. This groove passes up as a chase or - slot into the chamber above; but there is no evidence of the sort - of contrivance employed in raising the portcullis. The portcullis, - however, might have been raised by mere manual exertion, and a bar - thrust across would be sufficient to retain it securely when raised. - The sills are destroyed, so that it does not appear whether the points - of the portcullis were received into, or had worn, small holes in them. - Besides the portcullis, the larger portals are provided with a chase, - but without side grooves, intended, as is presumed, to allow of the use - of a sort of wooden frame. Also, in the main portals are four or five - square holes or <i>meurtrières</i> in the arch, through which beams - to form a stockade might be dropped. It may be observed further that - although some of the portal passages are of considerable length, yet - the ribs of their vaults are all transverse, never passing diagonally - from an angle towards the centre, in the manner employed at Caldecot - and elsewhere, to vault a compartment of such passages.</p> - - <p>There appears to have been more than one kind of drawbridge employed - in this castle. In some places, as at the great gate, and at the - passage in its gatehouse tower, the bridge, when drawn up, fitted into - a depression, so as to lie flush with the upper wall, from whence, - therefore, its length may be inferred. In other cases it simply rested - against the wall, making a projection. It<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">331</span> seems always to have been - long enough, when up, to cover the gateway.</p> - - <p>The method of hanging the bridge also varied. On the sides of some - of the portals a stone has been inserted, into which the horizontal - pivots of the bridge (of iron, from the small size of the pintle or - hole) fitted; but, connected with the place for the gudgeon or pivot - is another groove, which passes up at an angle of forty-five degrees - for a few feet, and then passes on horizontally for a few more. It - appears as though this were a contrivance, when the bridge was raised, - for throwing its lower end upwards and forwards, so as more effectually - to shield the upper part of the door, to present an oblique surface - to missiles, and, by making the bridge lean back against the wall, to - remove the strain from its chains or ropes, and to prevent it from - falling, even should they be broken. It may be, however, that into - these grooves fitted some lever, or other contrivance for working the - bridge; where they occur, there are no holes above for the passage of - the drawbridge chains into the portcullis chamber. Similar grooves are - seen in the upper gatehouse at Chepstow.</p> - - <p>The defences of the great, or water, postern are singular. The grooves, - which in other cases form the portcullis slides, here stop abruptly - a little above the arch. They are too deep for the hinges of gates, - and were probably filled by a defence similar to a portcullis, but - which was received into a cavity below. Indeed, as there is only a - lofty wall, and no chamber above the postern, the regular plan was - inadmissible.</p> - - <p>There is a further contrivance for the defence of a gate, consisting of - a sort of shoot, opening obliquely downwards from the sill of a window, - employed in two places in this castle; one over the door of the eastern - inner gateway, and the other over the door of the north-west principal - bastion tower; in both cases evidently with a view to the defence of - the towers when the enemy had gained the inner court.</p> - - <p>The battlements and parapets throughout the castle are of a very plain - description. They are massy and flat topped, the coping being a rough - slab of sandstone. The height and thickness, together with that of - the rerewall and the width of the rampart walk, may be always deduced - from a careful inspection of the walls or towers against which they - terminate. The parapet and rerewall are usually of the same height, and - nearly as high as the top of the doors leading to them.</p> - - <p>The embrasures are contained within parallel sides, and bear a small - proportion to the merlons, which latter are each perforated by a loop. - These details may be seen upon the summit of the leaning tower, or, - more conveniently, upon the northern curtain, toward the north-west - bastion tower. It is evident, from the unfinished character of the - battlements, and the flat undressed coping, that they were intended - to be masked by an exterior gallery, or brattice of wood, resting on - the stone corbels which still remain.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">332</span> For this reason there are no - machicolations in stone, or devices for dropping missiles through the - floor of a projecting parapet—a contrivance which adds so materially - to the grandeur of the towers of Warwick, Raglan, and Cardiff. Over - the eastern middle gateway, the parapet has a false machicolation, or - slight projection, supported upon a table of corbel blocks, but without - apertures, or a projection sufficient to admit of any.</p> - - <p>The windows, with certain exceptions, are either loops, or, if larger, - of a very plain character. In the hall, however, and in the large - rooms of the two inner gatehouses, they are very wide and lofty, and - have been highly ornamented. The two latter rooms are so much injured, - and the windows so mutilated, that it can only be said, that what - little remains of ornament are seen resemble in style the more perfect - ornaments of the hall. The oratory attached to the eastern inner - gatehouse has a vaulted roof, divided into two square compartments, - supported by transverse and diagonal ribs. The two windows towards the - south are long and narrow, without a mullion, and trefoiled; their - mouldings are only an exterior chamfer. There are some other windows in - the gatehouses, looking towards the interior, which are much shorter, - but otherwise resemble this. The four hall windows are lofty and well - proportioned; they open to within four feet of the ground.</p> - - <p>The exterior moulding of the windows is completely gone; that of the - door was discovered by removing the grass about its base.</p> - - <p>The interior mouldings of the windows are extremely rich, owing to the - reduplication of the bands, to occupy the great thickness of the wall. - The angles of the mouldings are, at two depths, removed, and their - place occupied by a hollow groove, in which the pomegranate ornament - is placed at intervals, making up the circle by its projection. Beyond - each of these bands of pomegranates are pilaster strips, filleted at - their angles, and surmounted by small angular capitals: within is a - handsome ogee canopy, enriched with crockets and finials, in a very - pure style.</p> - - <p>The door has a good internal drip, but its inner moulding is composed - of only one band of ball flowers. The outer mouldings are rich. There - are three bands of pomegranates, which no doubt were continued, as in - the windows, round the arch; and between them are two rows of small - disengaged columns, with the circular concave pedestal. Of these only - the pedestal remains.</p> - - <p>The fourteen corbels upon which the beams of the roof rested are - composed of three short clustered columns, connected by their posterior - half, and separated by a fillet and bold hollow; above they are crowned - with a neat cap moulding, and below, they rest upon three projecting - busts, of which the central is the lowest and largest. A fillet runs - up the centre of each of these columns, and, pausing at the abacus, is - continued up the capital, and finally dies in the astragal. Corbels, of - somewhat earlier date, but in general appearance resembling these, may - be seen in the keep at Chepstow.</p> - - <p>There are no decorations remaining about the fireplace. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">333</span> plain - stringcourse along the east end of the hall, returned from the corbel - of the chapel window, is perfect. A base tablet is seen at the west end - of the north side, but it is destroyed along its length.</p> - - <p>A long window in one of the staterooms resembles, though on a much - larger scale, the windows of the oratory already described. It appears, - however, to have been trefoiled, with a quatrefoil above the head.</p> - - <p>There are two small polygonal apartments on either side of the inner - western gate, in the vaulted roofs of which a plain diagonal rib rises - from a corbel at each angle, and meets its fellow in the centre. The - corbels have three flat faces, and terminate in a point, which rests - upon some animal, in every case wantonly defaced. They appear to have - been lodges.</p> - - <p>Caerphilly presents as little architectural decoration, in proportion - to its extent, as any castellated building in Britain.</p> - - <p>Generally, its series of concentric defences, and the general - disposition of its constituent parts, resemble those of Harlech and - Beaumaris. The plan of these concentric castles is very peculiar. It is - unlike the earlier Norman castles, in which the keep was the principal - feature, and in which comfort was sacrificed to safety; and it is also - unlike the later castles, which possess not only large interior, but - large exterior, windows, as at Sheriff-Hutton, and in which there is no - building to which the name of keep could be attached.</p> - - <p>Nor is the style of architecture employed at Caerphilly less - characteristic of its age; the drop arch, the perfectly plain rib, - the general absence of decorations and armorial bearings, the plain - battlements, and the absence of machicolations, indicate generally the - same period.</p> - - <p>The columns of the hall doorway, the concave moulding of their - pedestals, the triple cluster of columns forming the corbels of the - roof, their bell capitals, and light cap moulding, are due to the Early - English style, which prevailed from 1189 to 1307.</p> - - <p>On the other hand, the pomegranate moulding, the rich, though chaste - and somewhat stiff, canopies of the door and windows, the little - pilasters in the windows with the pentagonal capitals, the ogee arches, - and the plain fillet running up the columnar corbels of the roof, are - marks all belonging to the Decorated style, which prevailed from 1307 - to 1377.</p> - - <p>The mixture of these two styles, very common in English buildings, - denotes a period varying according to the preponderance of either, and - in the present instance may legitimately be referred to the latter - quarter of the thirteenth century, when the Decorated style was - beginning to supersede the Early English. Instances of this transition, - and of the ball-flower, or pomegranate, moulding, may be seen round the - inside of the choir of Bristol Cathedral, and on the outside of the - south aisle of Keynsham Church.</p> - - <p>The earlier alterations at Chepstow, and more particularly the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">334</span> oratory - attached to Martin’s Tower, and the columnar corbels in the keep, may - be cited as of an earlier date than Caerphilly, having been evidently - placed there before the decline of the Early English style.</p> - - <p>The internal evidence of the building, which would place its date about - the end of the reign of Henry III., agrees with the evidence of records - cited hereafter, in which the castle is referred to, in the year 1272, - as having been lately erected by Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester - and Hertford.</p> - - <p>Before this period, mention is occasionally made of the castle of - Senghenydd, which, from its having been taken, retaken, and more - than once utterly destroyed, was evidently a place much contested, - but of no great magnitude or passive strength. After the erection of - Caerphilly, Senghenydd Castle is not again mentioned. It is therefore - not impossible that Senghenydd Castle was a rude fortification of - timber and undressed stone, upon the peninsula afterwards occupied by - Caerphilly.</p> - - <p>Caerphilly having then certainly been founded by Earl Gilbert a little - before 1272, the question arises as to whether the whole of it was then - built.</p> - - <p>The inner ward, its curtains, bastions, gatehouses, with all their - contents and appendages, are of one date. The south wall was always of - its present height, and therefore always intended to support the roof - of the hall, the walls of which are bonded into it. The gatehouses - are evidently part of the original plan, and the long windows of the - staterooms, and those of the oratory in the inner gatehouse are, in - their form and mouldings, precisely similar.</p> - - <p>It appears that the curtain connecting the north-west bastion tower - with the west gatehouse was originally as low as the northern curtain, - but that a sort of gallery, and its superincumbent rampart, have been - added. A cluster of buildings has also been added on the outside of the - south curtain, at the angle formed by its junction with the south-west - tower.</p> - - <p>The general design of the middle ward, and most of its buildings, are - clearly of the date of the inner ward. The western gatehouse, however, - appears to be of somewhat later date; the false machicolations, the - holes for the portcullis chains, the chimneys rising above the parapet, - and the less durable character of the masonry, seem to indicate this. - The walls, moreover, by means of which this gatehouse is connected - with the curtain of the inner ballium, though of the same age with the - former, are not bonded into, and are separated by fissures from, the - latter—a tolerably sure indication of difference of age.</p> - - <p>It is not improbable that the whole exterior line of defence on the - east, and the horn-work on the west, were the last parts of the castle - completed. They form, however, parts of the original design, since, had - the ground on which they stand been left unoccupied, the castle would - not have been tenable.</p> - - <p>With respect to the redoubt, it is perfectly evident, from its<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">335</span> - appearance, that it was thrown up, not only when gunpowder was in - general use, but when the science of fortification was pretty well - understood. It seems, like the earthworks at Donnington and other - castles, to be of the age of Charles I.</p> - - <p>The injuries received by this castle are similar to others at Corfe and - elsewhere, known to be referable to the same period of civil strife in - which the battle of St. Fagan’s, and the occupation of Cardiff, prove - the men of Glamorgan to have taken an active part. Nothing, therefore, - seems more probable than that the redoubt should have been thrown - up hastily by one party for the defence of the castle, and that the - dismantling of the whole should have been perpetrated by the other, - to prevent such a defence being practicable in future. Though history - has afforded no clue as to the one of the contending parties to which - either proceeding is to be referred, there can be no doubt but that the - blowing up of the towers was the work of the Parliament.</p> - - <p>There seems no reason to suppose that the works of Caerphilly were - never completed. The flanking towers on either wing rest upon the lake, - and the horn-work is a sufficient defence in the opposite direction.</p> - - <p>About three-quarters of a mile from Caerphilly, on the Rudry road, - are the ruins of the “<span class="smcap">Van</span>,” or “Ffanvawr,” the ancient and - very stately manor-house of the Lewis family, the direct descendants - in blood, and the heirs in heritage, of Ivor Bach, on whose land - Caerphilly was erected.</p> - - <p>Most of the outer walls of the house, and a curious old dovecot, - remain standing. They are of the age of Elizabeth or James, but much - of the hewn stone employed in the windows, doorcases, quoins, and - stringcourses of the lower story, are either of oolite or Sutton - stone, and are very evidently a part of the spoils of Caerphilly. Most - of these stones have been worked up, and their original ornaments - destroyed, but one long stringcourse of Decorated date, evidently much - earlier than the wall in which it is embedded, extends along the west - front of the house.</p> - - <p>These stones could not have been removed from Caerphilly earlier than - the reign of Elizabeth, in which reign, or rather in that of Henry - VIII., the castle was used as a prison. Probably the central parts were - so occupied, and the parts allowed to be spoiled were those connected - with the east front. In appropriating the stones of Caerphilly to the - erection of their manor-house, the Lewis family, from whom the ground - was originally wrested, may have committed a breach of taste, but none - had a better moral right to help themselves from that source.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">336</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CARDIFF">CARDIFF CASTLE, GLAMORGAN.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE castle of Cardiff, though not unknown to border fame, has been the - theatre of no great historical event, nor does it present any very - striking peculiarities of position, scenery, or structure. Its claim - to more than local interest rests upon the character and fortunes of - the great barons whose inheritance and occasional residence it was from - the 11th to the 15th century, from the reign of Rufus to that of Henry - VI. Probably a Roman castrum, and certainly a hold of the local British - princes, it was won, in 1090, by the sword of Robert Fitzhamon, lord - of the Honour of Gloucester, and by him constituted the “caput” of his - newly acquired seignory of Morgan and Glamorgan.</p> - - <p>Mabel, the heiress of Fitzhamon, conveyed his possessions, with her - hand, to Robert Consul, Earl of Gloucester, bastard son of Henry I., - and the reputed builder of the Norman parts of the castle.</p> - - <p>They were succeeded by their son William, Earl of Gloucester, who died - 1173, leaving daughters only; the inheritance was then for a time - held by King John, then Earl of Moreton, by marriage with Isabel, the - youngest co-heir; and on her divorce, soon after 1199, by Geoffrey de - Mandeville, Earl of Essex, who died, 1216. Isabel’s third husband was - Hubert de Burgh, she died childless.</p> - - <p>Upon this, Almaric d’Evreux, who married Mabel, the elder co-heir, - became Earl of Gloucester; but Mabel’s issue also failed.</p> - - <p>Amice, the second co-heir, had married Richard, head of the powerful - house of De Clare; and their son Gilbert, Earl of Hertford, thus - finally became Earl of Gloucester, lord of that honour, and possessor - of the castle of Cardiff. He died 1229.</p> - - <p>Four earls of the race of Clare possessed Cardiff Castle for nearly a - century; and though chiefly resident at Clare and Tonbridge, did much - to adorn the castle and consolidate the seignory.</p> - - <p>In 1320, Eleanor, the elder co-heir of the last De Clare, was married - to Hugh le Despenser the younger, the minion of Edward II. During the - minority or attainder of their son, Hugh d’Audley who had married the - second co-heir, had the earldom, and possibly held Cardiff at his death - in 1347. The Despensers then reappeared in the person of Thomas, son - of Edward, who was son of Hugh and Eleanor de Clare. This Thomas was - created earl of Gloucester in 1397, and attainted and beheaded in 1400. - His son Richard, who succeeded, died a minor and childless, in 1414.</p> - - <p>The earldom of Gloucester was not revived, but, including the first - Hugh, five members of this unfortunate race held the seignory and - castle for ninety-four years.</p> - - <p>Isabel le Despenser, sister of Richard, and the final heiress, was born - at Cardiff Castle, which she did much to strengthen and embellish. - She married the cousins, Richard Beauchamp, earl of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">337</span> Worcester, and - Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. The Earl of Worcester married - before 1415–16, and died about 1421, leaving a daughter, whose - descendants became barons Le Despenser in her right, but who did not - inherit Cardiff. Countess Isabel’s chief works at Cardiff were probably - executed after her second marriage, which took place before 1425. Her - charter to Cardiff, as Countess of Worcester, in 1423, confirms those - of her paternal ancestors. Her son, Henry, Duke of Warwick, succeeded - his father in 1439, and died in 1446. His heiress, Anne Beauchamp, - had but a brief and nominal tenure of the seignory, dying in 1449, an - infant of six years.</p> - - <p>The castle then descended to the representative of another Anne - Beauchamp, sister and heiress to the duke. She married Richard Nevile, - the great Earl of Salisbury and Warwick, who thus added Cardiff to his - already extensive possessions. One of the town charters, dated Cardiff - Castle, 12th March, 1451, was granted by Richard, Earl of Warwick, Lord - le Despenser, &c., and Anne his wife.</p> - - <p>Upon the earl’s death, in 1471, Cardiff Castle fell to Anne, his - younger daughter and co-heir by Anne Beauchamp, in whose right her - husband Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., became - lord of Cardiff Castle and the seignory, and in the latter capacity - granted various charters and confirmations yet extant.</p> - - <p>Upon the fall and death of Richard, the claims by heirship were set - aside and the castle and seignory escheated to the Crown. They were - subsequently granted to Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford; but on his - death, in 1495, again became crown property. The seignory, with its - “jura regalia” and prerogatives of marchership, was not again revived; - but Henry VII. and his son leased the lordship to Charles Somerset, - who was residing at Cardiff in 1513; and Edward VI. granted or sold - the castle of Cardiff, with much of the landed estate and the manorial - rights of the old seignory, to William Herbert, the first of the new - earls of Pembroke, in whose heirs general the whole has since remained.</p> - - <p>The history of this long succession of powerful lords, most of whom - set their mark upon the great transactions of their age and country, - has invested the castle with something of historical interest; which, - however, can scarcely be extended to the particulars of the building - itself, the subject of the present paper.</p> - - <p>The castle of Cardiff stands upon the broad gravel plain between the - rivers Taff and Rhymny, upon the left bank of, and two hundred yards - from the former stream, at about the lowest point at which, in ordinary - seasons, it is fordable.</p> - - <p>The position, having a river in front and rear, and the sea close upon - the southern flank, is such as would be selected by a commander skilled - in the art of war, and enclosed in an enemy’s country; and such as, - with disciplined troops, would be impregnable.</p> - - <p>These conditions, the name of the place, and its position upon the - well-known “via maritima,” are suggestive of a Roman origin; an - opinion, indeed, but moderately supported by scanty discoveries<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">338</span> of - Roman remains, but in unison with the form and character of a part of - the earthworks which enter into the composition of the present castle.</p> - - <p>These appear to have been a single lofty bank raised from an exterior - ditch, and enclosing much of three sides of a quadrangular space, of - which the fourth lies open towards the river; a practice by no means - unusual in Roman or “quasi-” Roman encampments. It is possible, though - scarcely probable, that the earthwork was once complete on the three - sides down to the river, and that the south-western part was destroyed - to form a very considerable mound, which still remains towering over - the banks of the enclosure, and is crowned by the shell of an early - multangular keep. Wallingford, Tamworth and Wareham are instances in - which a quadrangular earthwork has been in part retained and in part - removed by the builders of a Norman castle, and in each of which also - there is a mound.</p> - - <p>Whatever may have been its origin, the castle of Cardiff covers a - plot of ground nearly square in plan, being 200 yards east and west - by 216 yards north and south; and bounded on the north and east, and - partially on the south, sides, by banks of earth, and on the west and - remainder of the south side by a wall. The banks are about 30 feet - high, 90 feet broad at the base, and 12 feet at the summit, along - which runs a light embattled wall about 6 feet high and 2 feet thick. - This wall is mentioned by Meyric, in 1578, as in decay, and it was - rebuilt from its shallow foundation of only 2 feet in 1861. It cannot - have been intended as a serious military defence, and the recent - excavations did not reveal any traces of an older or more substantial - work. At the south-east, north-east, and north-west angles, the banks - are strengthened, possibly to carry towers, of which, however, no - foundations have been discovered. The earthwork is returned about 70 - yards along the south, and about 30 yards along the west, fronts, to - give support to, and cover the commencement of, the walls of those - sides which, with an inconsiderable exception, are evidently very - ancient, and were probably executed by Robert, Consul or Earl of - Gloucester.</p> - - <p>These walls are magnificent works, being 40 feet high and 10 feet - thick, and perfectly solid.</p> - - <p>The main buildings of the castle are in the line and form a part of the - west wall. In the centre of the south side is the gateway, once of the - outer ward, now of the general inclosure, a mere arch in the curtain, - and, in its present form, probably of the age of Henry VIII., whose - arms may have occupied a square stone frame remaining above and on the - outside of the gate.</p> - - <p>Close west of the gate is a lofty tower, apparently of early English or - early Decorated date, and restored by the late Lord Bute. This is the - black tower. Though so near the gate it is clear that it never had any - direct communication with it, nor was intended as a gatehouse. Meyric - describes it as a great tower, some stories high, and covered with - lead, with two chambers in each story, the lowest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">339</span> being prisons, known - as Stavell-y-Oged and Stavell Wen. One, the larger of these prisons, - now disused, has a pointed vault and a small loop, high up in the - east wall. This tower has four original entrances: one to each of the - basement prisons, one from the remains of the great curtain, and one - from the ramparts of the castle wall. All are on the north and western - faces, and there is no doorway opening towards the great gateway. It - is thus clear that this tower, though placed close to the gateway, was - never used as a gatehouse.</p> - - <p>The northern bank of the general enclosure presents a slight angle - outwards, and near the salient a tunnel has been cut through it. This - was done about thirty years ago, to give a carriage drive towards the - Senghenydd road.</p> - - <p>Outside, at the foot of the bank, along the north, south, and east - fronts, was a wet ditch, anciently fed by the Taff through the - intervention of the mill leat. This moat covered the three fronts, - extending as far as the north or Senghenydd gate of the town. In the - time of Meyric it was dry and silted up. More recently the eastern - portion has been to some extent superseded by the Glamorganshire - canal, and the northern, at a lower level, is now a part of the feeder - by which the river water is conveyed under the canal to the Dock - reservoir. The southern arm has been filled up and built over for - many centuries, and its existence is only known from the soft, black - soil found in occasional excavations. The mill leat which supplied - the lord’s mill, at which the people of Cardiff were bound to grind, - and which was occasionally used to flood the low ground for purposes - of defence, still runs along the west front of the castle. In the - reign of Elizabeth there were three grist-mills and a tucking-mill - dependent upon the castle, and one grist-mill was standing in 1660, - but was afterwards replaced by a tanyard, removed in 1861, when the - new lodge and town bridge were erected. The bridge then destroyed - was built about 1796, and replaced a structure of four stone arches, - probably of the age of Elizabeth (and referred to in certain Acts of - Parliament), placed rather above the castle; so that the high-road from - it, towards the west gate of the town, crossed the marsh by a causeway - and the leat by a bridge of three arches, and defiled close under the - main buildings of the castle. Part of the old gate of the town, with - its iron gudgeons, may still be seen in the brushwood a few yards in - advance of the great tower, showing how the road entered the town under - the castle wall. A small Tudor archway still remains on the right of - the old entrance, nearly in a line with the Red House, a building of - considerable antiquity, now much altered, and known as the Cardiff Arms - Hotel. Recently some excavations between this building and the castle - disclosed the foundations of the old town wall, and a large arched - passage which might be either a postern or a sewer. It was not followed - up.</p> - - <p>The area within the castle wall is about 10 acres, and within the - counterscarp of the moat about 13 acres.</p> - - <p>Within the great enclosure, near to, and a little west of, the centre<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">340</span> - of the north bank, is the Mound, a grand earthwork, which rises from - a circular base of 60 yards in diameter to a height of 32 feet above - the surrounding ground. Its summit is a platform, also circular, 36 - yards across, and crowned by the remains of the keep, called by Leland - the White Tower. This is a shell, or polygon of twelve nearly equal - sides, 80 feet in diameter, the wall being 9 feet thick and 30 feet - high, and constructed mainly of rolled pebbles. This wall is pierced by - the putlog holes, so common in the older masonry, especially of this - district; and in one of the eastern sides is a fireplace of enormous - dimensions, but the chimney of which appears as a mere recess in the - wall, with no present traces of a fourth side or front. Near it is - a sink, so that this was evidently a kitchen: a part, no doubt, of - the buildings which the wall supported. The walls have never been - strengthened by buttresses or pilaster strips; but the exterior angles - of the polygon are capped with ashlar quoins, which appear to be of - the date of the Beauchamp alterations, with some recent additions, one - of which may be the fireplace. The entrance was through a lofty and - strong gate-tower, duly portcullised on the south side, and of which a - part remains. The shell is probably the work of Robert Consul; but the - style and finish of the gate-tower testify to its being due to Isabel - Beauchamp, or her husband, of Warwick.</p> - - <p>This gatehouse was connected with a cluster of towers of great - strength, which occupied the southern slope of the mound, and - terminated below in a second gateway, which was the first or outer - entrance from the middle ward into the keep. Here, though in an older - structure, was the reputed scene of the barbarity practised upon - Curthose, and of his subsequent imprisonment. Meyric describes the - rooms in these buildings as “not so fair as strong.” They were probably - barracks. Much of this building fell down late in the last century, - and was removed. It was, no doubt, of Norman foundation, and probably - altered both by the De Clares and by Isabel Beauchamp.</p> - - <p>Since this account was drawn up, the ditch of the mound has been - carefully opened out, and once more supplied with water. This laid open - the piles of an early bridge, and the arch of a later one, probably of - late Norman date, with the base of a gateway at the foot of the mound, - and a well close to it. Also were laid bare parts of the steps by which - the mound was ascended, laid alongside of a cross wall as at Tickhill.</p> - - <p>The keep does not seem to have contained any central building. A plain - stone stair, of which traces remain against the wall, led to the - battlement, which was also accessible from the gatehouse. Probably an - interior lean-to or shed surrounded the court.</p> - - <p>On the face of the opposite fronts of the gate-tower of the keep and - of the Black Tower, are sections of the great curtain wall, which - extended from one to the other. This wall, thus seen to have been 7 - feet thick and 30 feet high, and embattled on each face, was probably - not the work of the founder of the castle. It was removed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">341</span> late in - the last century, but the foundations remain, and have been laid open. - From Meyric’s description, and an oil painting preserved in the castle, - it appears that it was pierced near its centre by a gateway, flanked - by one if not two semi-drum towers which projected towards the outer - ward, and which, in fact, formed the real gateway to the strong part - of the castle. There was a second smaller door, a sort of postern, in - the southern drum. The foundations corroborate this view. Probably the - curtain was an addition by an early De Clare, after, and probably in - consequence of, the well-known and successful attack of Ivor Bach.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow68" id="i341"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_341.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attl">G. T. Clark del</div> - <div class="attr">J. H. Le Keux sc</div> - <div class="caption sansserif">CARDIFF CASTLE LODGINGS.</div> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>A Outer ward.</li> - <li>B Site of Shire Hall.</li> - <li>C Site of Middle ward.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>D Site of inner ward.</li> - <li>E Keep.</li> - <li>F Lodgings.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>G Black Tower.</li> - <li>H Town Gate.</li> - </ul> - <div class="caption sansserif">CARDIFF CASTLE.</div> - </div> - - <p>For the completion of the defence it was absolutely necessary that - the great curtain should have been continued north of the keep. This - portion, however, has been removed. It certainly was never bonded into - the keep wall, but a corbel remaining on the north and outside of this - may have been connected with it.</p> - - <p>The lodgings, or habitable part of the castle, form a rectangular pile, - 145 feet long by 55 feet deep, which occupies about two-sevenths of the - western side of the court towards the southern end, and thus forms a - part of the outer line of defence. This pile is composed of a tower, - a central part or body, two main wings, and two lesser wings. All are - built against the great Norman wall; the tower and lesser wings outside - of it, the remainder inside.</p> - - <p>The tower is a bold and well-proportioned octagon of 10 feet in the - side, three faces of which project from the outer or west front, - while the remainder is incorporated into, and now forms part of, the - older Norman wall. It rises from a square base of 26 feet, passing by - broaches into an octagon, to a height of 75 feet, or 12 feet above the - contiguous buildings. It is boldly machicolated, having five corbel - arches on each face, and a lofty parapet above, with two embrasures - each way, the intervening merlons, eight in number, being pierced with - a cruciform loop or oillet. The four outer or western angles, at the - base of the parapet, are capped with bold grotesque heads of animals as - gurgoyles.</p> - - <p>The base is solid. About 6 feet above the ground it contains a rude - chamber, 13 feet square, having a barrel vault, slightly pointed, with - doorways, which seem to be original, in its northern and southern, or - gable ends. The northern door, now blocked up, was, as late as the last - century, a postern; and the chamber was a passage, and seems, from - traces of a wall, to have contained a sort of lodge, subdivided into - two cells.</p> - - <p>Above this chamber is the cylindrical interior of the tower, 13 feet - diameter, now a mere shell, occupied by a stair, and vaulted above. - There are six windows in two tiers, the lower 38 feet from the ground. - They are almost loops, small and square headed, but boldly splayed - within, so as to give light and air, and showing the great thickness - of the wall. Their arrangement proves the upper part of the tower to - have been occupied by two chambers. It is difficult to speculate on the - use of the lower part, which must always have been dark, and is rather - large for a newel staircase. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">342</span> present stairs and the groining above - are very modern, though the latter may cover older work.</p> - - <p>The shell is original and untouched. The material is lias ashlar, - backed with rolled pebbles from the Taff. The quoins and battlements - are chiefly of a white limestone, dressed with care. This tower gives - character to the whole mass of the building. It has been compared with - Guy’s tower at Warwick, which, though of smaller dimensions, it much - resembles; and it is, no doubt, the work of the same nobleman or his - wife, possibly of the same architect, and probably was built between - the years 1425 and 1439, during which period Richard, Earl of Warwick, - was lord of Cardiff.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Some of the prints of the last century show a - turret rising out of the Cardiff tower; but this seems to have been a - fiction, for no traces of such a turret are found, and in that position - it would have been inconsistent with the internal arrangements of the - tower.</p> - - <p>Immediately behind the tower is the central part, or body of the - building, about 70 feet by 30 feet, now composed of a dining-room and - entrance lobby on the main floor; a basement, with cellars and offices - below, and a range of bedrooms above. The tower is divided from this - building by the older main wall of the castle, 10 feet thick and 40 - feet high, which runs through the whole, and is much cut about and - mutilated by later communications.</p> - - <p>The present dining-room and lobby appear to have composed a hall, 62 - feet long by 18 feet broad and 13 feet high, having a flat ceiling, - probably like that of the hall at Warwick. A passage cut through the - wall leads from the lobby into the tower at the foot of the stair, and - is no doubt as old as the tower. In recent times, probably by the first - Stuart, the face of the great wall has been cut away 3 feet, from the - floor level upwards, to give a width of 21 feet to the dining-room. - Also, about five years ago, a passage 32 feet long and 3 feet wide, was - cut like a tunnel through the axis of this wall, to give a way from the - tower to the breakfast-room and offices beyond.</p> - - <p>The eastern front of this hall, which looks into the middle ward, forms - the centre of the present façade. It is divided into three compartments - by four octagonal turrets of half projection, about 4 feet in the side. - These rise to the roof. That to the south contains a stair, with an - original door from the court. The other three consist of two stages - of three windows in each, divided by a string-course. In the lower - stage the two central turrets are more ornate than the rest, and have - their angles capped with slender buttresses surmounted by pinnacles. - This tabernacle work is original in the southernmost of the two, but - was added to the other when the windows were pierced in it, and it - was cased, a few years ago. These turrets are battlemented and looped - above, and range with the regular parapet of the building, but they are - not machicolated, their structure being but slight. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">343</span> The stair-turret - is much older than the rest. The stair, 7 feet in diameter, rudely - restored upon an original newel, communicates with the basement as - well as with the court, and by doors, now closed up, opened into the - hall and bedrooms. It is from the position of these doors, and from - the turret windows, that the height of the old hall has been inferred. - The stair is lighted by square-headed windows, and above by a small - quatrefoiled opening. It leads up to the roof.</p> - - <p>The three curtains or wall spaces connecting the four turrets are - also pierced by two rows of single windows, six in all—the lower - range square headed, the upper pointed. All are of two lights, with a - transom. The turret and curtain windows are all alike, save that in the - former the lower tier are pointed.</p> - - <p>The present entrance door is modern, made by cutting down a window, - and probably all the windows have been renewed during the past - half-century. A drawing of this front in 1776 shows, however, windows - generally resembling the present, excepting that the turret second from - the north, like the stair-turret, has no large windows.</p> - - <p>Passing into the interior, the three turrets appear as bays from the - main and upper floors, the middle one opening by a sort of passage, as - though it had been once a mere dark closet, or perhaps a staircase: the - other two open by pointed arches with plain, bold, round, and hollow - mouldings. The wall is 5 feet thick, and the passage through it is - divided by three ribs into two panels, which are continued through the - soffit. The bays themselves, 8 feet wide, with walls only 18 inches - thick, have five faces, of which the two inner ones are blank, and - the three outer pierced by the windows already described. Each of - the six angles, and the centres of the two blank sides are occupied - by a slender pilaster shaft, rising from a tall octagonal base, and - terminating in a delicate cap, decorated with a sort of trefoil. These - shafts are arranged above with some ingenuity, so as to support the - sixteen ribs of a groined octagonal roof, meeting at a central boss. In - the two northern bays and those of the upper story, this boss is a mass - of foliage, probably a very modern restoration; but in the southern - bay of the three, that next the stair-turret, it bears an original and - elaborate armorial achievement. Within a wreath formed of a vine stem, - truncated so as to represent the well-known ragged staff of Warwick, - is a shield, set anglewise, of Newburgh and Beauchamp quarterly; and - in the centre, Despenser, on an escocheon of pretence. The helmet - has large tasselled lambrequins, and upon it is placed the Beauchamp - crest of the siren’s head, ducally gorged. The whole is painted in - colours, probably after the original pattern; and it is obviously the - achievement of Richard Earl of Warwick, and Isabel Despenser, who - therefore built these turrets, as is also evident from their style. It - is, however, probable, that the ribs and groining of the central bay - were copied from the others, and added when its windows were opened, - and its walls cased or reconstructed.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">344</span></p> - - <p>It appears from Meyric’s description, and the drawing, two centuries - later, by Grose, that the entrance to the hall in the sixteenth, - seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, was at its southern end, at the - south-eastern corner, near which were the kitchens. The turret-stair - seems then to have been either closed, or used only for communication - between the basement, bedrooms, and roof. Grose shows its outer door, - as now, partially below the level of the soil.</p> - - <p>At the upper or northern end of the hall, on the site of the present - drawing-room, was “a fair dining chamber,” and two other rooms; and, - above these, two other stories, this being the part of the castle in - which the lord and his immediate family and attendants were lodged. - It will be observed that all these arrangements, about the existence - of which there can be no doubt, leave the most highly decorated bay - window, or oriel, and the staircase, at the lower end of the hall. This - could never have been intended when the bay was constructed, and this, - therefore, indicates an earlier and reversed arrangement.</p> - - <p>It is well known that Earl Henry, son of the Herbert purchaser, made - considerable alterations in the castle lodgings; but what they were has - not been recorded, nor, as yet, inferred. It may, however, be safely - asserted that he actually reversed all the internal arrangements. It - is clear that in the hall of Richard Beauchamp, the south, with its - heraldic oriel, was the dais end; and this will account for the group - of buildings convenient to this end, which he raised outside of the - great wall; and thus, also, the entrance to the great tower would - open, as was proper, upon the lower end of the hall. Meyric says the - Herberts removed the flower-garden to the north from the south end of - the building, where, no doubt, it had been placed for the convenience - of the occupants of the dais. This also accounts for the turret-stair, - which gave a ready egress into the lord’s private garden, and an access - downwards into the cellar, and upwards into the first floor, where - naturally the safest and best bedrooms would be placed. Also, the - drawing of 1776 shows certain broken walls about the southern end of - the building, on the side of the modern offices, as though the entrance - of the Herberts had been accomplished by the incomplete removal of - old buildings, an inference which is strengthened by a tower shown - in the old oil painting in the castle. It is, therefore, I think, - incontestable that the dais of Richard Beauchamp, and probably of the - De Clares, was at the southern, as that of the Herberts was at the - northern end. The north wall of the former hall is modern, built by the - Stuarts; but the south wall is original, and, from the considerable - distance between it and the oriel, it is possible that there was a - small withdrawing-room cut off from the hall, into which the staircase - turret opened.</p> - - <p>The basement is composed of one spacious chamber, or cellar, 62 - feet long by 18 feet broad, and spanned by a rather highly-pointed - and four-centred vault, without ribs or groins, but of good - workmanship, and as perfect as when first constructed. This proves,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">345</span> - incontrovertibly, the dimensions of the ancient hall above it. It is, - of course, of Beauchamp date. At its north end is an original doorway - of 4 feet 6 inches opening, with irons for double doors, and holes, - showing that these doors were barred from within. One end, possibly of - the original oak bar, remains in its hole. There seems to have been a - similar door at the southern end; and it is evident from the old work - that the turret-stair opened into the south-west angle of this vault. - There are also two other openings, each in the old and enormously thick - wall, at the south-west angle, which may be original.</p> - - <p>The two greater wings are evidently the work of the first Stuart owner, - sixty or seventy years ago, when, no doubt, the central wall was first - cut into longitudinally. The northern wing is an entire rebuilding of - the Herbert residence, of which nothing now remains. The wall between - this wing and the central part was built with it, and replaces the - original northern end wall of the hall of the De Clares and Beauchamps.</p> - - <p>The southern wing is of the same Stuart date, excepting that the wall - between it and the central part is original. It is the southern end - wall of the old hall. The wing itself covers the old entrance used by - the Herberts, and stands on the site of a group of towers, shown in - the oil painting in the castle, and of which the entrance was a part. - Probably these towers were Clare and Beauchamp work, and demolished by - the Herberts. They are shown in the painting, but they are wanting in - the drawings of 1776.</p> - - <p>There remain to be noticed two lesser wings, or groups of buildings, - placed outside the great wall, one on each flank of the building, and - each connected with the central octagon tower by a sort of corridor.</p> - - <p>Of these wings, the southern appears to be coëval with the tower. Its - two lower stories, 14 feet square, are vaulted. The southern corridor, - which connects the wing with the octagon tower, communicates in its - first floor with the basement story of the tower, and seems to have - been the passage from the tower postern towards the interior of the - building. The present wall, however, is in part, if not altogether, - modern, and presents difficulties which have not as yet been cleared up.</p> - - <p>The northern wing and its corridor are Stuart work. This wing is - occupied, on the one floor, by the back drawing-room, to enlarge which - above 7 feet have been cut away from the face of the great wall.</p> - - <p>Seldom has an old wall been so severely treated, or stood the - mutilation so well. The gain, however, has been an excellent back - drawing-room and study, accessible, by means of these tunnellings, from - both the great drawing-room and the lobby.</p> - - <p>Altogether, notwithstanding many faults of detail, the general result - of the alterations and additions made since 1775 has been decidedly - successful. The great court has been cleared, and the keep, though - deprived of its ditch and lower gatehouses, still<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">346</span> presents a venerable - aspect, and in summer, when its surrounding thorns are in bloom, one of - singular beauty. The Black Tower has been restored nearly after the old - pattern. In the main building, the great tower which once capped the - north-western angle, has, by additions on the north, been placed in the - centre of its front; and within the court, the addition of the south, - and reconstruction of the north wing, and the opening of windows in the - blind turret, have added much to the completeness of the whole.</p> - - <p>In place of the old hall is an entrance lobby and a dining-room, which, - with a breakfast-room and drawing-room, all of large size and excellent - proportions, a back drawing-room, study, and some smaller apartments, - form a suite, quite equal to the aspects and pretensions of the - building. The antiquary, indeed, may be permitted to regret the extent - to which the internal features have been removed or masked by modern - plaster-work and upholstery.</p> - - <p>In speculating upon the age, absolute or relative, of the different - parts of this castle, our only guide, down at least to the age of - Elizabeth, is the internal evidence of its structure, and especially - the plans of its basement and main stories. From these it may be safely - inferred that the great west wall of the enclosure, the work of Robert - Consul or his successor, was originally continued in an unbroken line, - the Norman buildings having been in some other part of the court as - well as upon the mound. The castle of Robert Consul was probably a - rectangular enclosure, 216 yards by 84 yards, contained within three - very substantial walls, and possibly a wooden palisade, on the line - of which stood the mound and its keep; and east of this enclosure was - a second rectangular space, the outer ward, 216 yards by 116 yards, - contained within three banks of earth, strengthened by a moat on the - north, by a moat and the town gate on the east, and by a moat and the - town itself on the south, and perhaps further defended by a palisade of - timber or a mere breast-wall along the crest of the bank. The entrance, - even then, from the town was, probably, where it now is, by an archway - in the curtain opening into the outer ward; and that from the outer - into the middle ward was probably in the centre of the intervening - defence. There was certainly no tower at the south-west angle, and - probably none at the north-west; and the Black Tower also seems of - rather later date. The castle was, in fact, in two parts, the one a - mere enclosure of strong walls, and a palisade, with a circular mound; - the other, and larger part, an enclosure within earthworks.</p> - - <p>Such seems to have been the Norman castle, calculated from its enormous - passive strength to defy any military machines likely to be brought - against it by the Welsh. The next additions were probably the Black - Tower and the cross curtain wall; and the next, with a view to the - occasional residence of the De Clares, the older part of the present - lodgings, built within and against the western wall.</p> - - <p>The extent of this structure cannot now be determined; but it is - probable that it included the present front or east wall of the centre - of the building, the south or cross wall connecting this with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">347</span> - great wall, and a corresponding north wall, destroyed by the Herberts - or Stuarts, and rebuilt by the latter. There would thus be a clear - space of about 61 feet by 18 feet for the hall; and no doubt there were - besides kitchens at the northern, and some additional buildings at the - southern end. This would give a moderate hall and lodgings, and, with - the Black Tower and the keep, afford very fair accommodation for a - baron and his train. The southern stair-turret was, probably, an early - addition to this work.</p> - - <p>Whether the great curtain wall which divided the castle proper from the - mere earthen enclosure be regarded as coëval with the outer wall, or of - later date, the gateway in it, with the drum towers, of which a sketch - and the foundations remain, were evidently later, and probably De Clare - insertions.</p> - - <p>The extinction of the De Clares, the division of the inheritance, - the construction of Caerphilly, and the gradual pacification of the - country, were causes which, with the long-continued misfortunes of the - Despensers, no doubt led to the partial neglect of Cardiff, or at any - rate, for a time, checked any additions to its buildings. Caerphilly, - however, once so magnificent, seems to have been found too heavy a - burthen, and to have been neglected, and the heiress who closed the - line of Despenser was born at Cardiff. Probably this fact, and the - ambitious designs of the Beauchamps, led to the partial reconstruction - of the castle; which, moreover, had, no doubt, suffered from Owen - Glendower. Richard and Isabel Beauchamp evidently built the great - octagonal tower, bonding it securely into the old wall. Connected with - this, and at the same time, they added, also outside of and bonded into - the wall, the southern lesser wing, or that towards the town gate. - Within the court they probably remodelled the lodgings, constructing - a grand vault below the hall. Also, they added three turrets to the - east wall, groining the interior of, at least, two of them as bays from - the great hall, and embellishing with their armorial shield that which - opened upon the dais. A tower, containing retiring-rooms at the south, - and probably kitchens at the north end seem also to have been additions - of the same epoch.</p> - - <p>Within the court, upon the line of the eastern curtain, and up the - slope of the mound, the Beauchamps also seem to have constructed or - reconstructed the cluster of buildings of which a fragment only is - left. This is that ruined tower which rises considerably above every - other part of the enclosure, and adds as much to the picturesque - appearance of the castle as it formerly did to its material strength.</p> - - <p>The Herberts, in their day, made considerable changes. They seem to - have pulled down the kitchens, or whatever buildings existed at the - north end of the lodgings, and to have replaced them by an Elizabethan - building with large mullioned bay windows. They also pulled down the - buildings on the south, and established a kitchen garden on their site. - It is probable that the Herbert work was of a much less solid character - than that which preceded it, since it has all disappeared.</p> - - <p>Towards the close of the last century, in 1778, soon after the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">348</span> Stuarts - came into possession, under the advice of “Capability” Brown they - pulled down the Herbert buildings, cleared the great court, filled up - the moat of the keep (then called the Magazine), constructed the two - wings, modernised the interior of the lodgings, and left everything, in - general features, as lately seen.</p> - - <p>It is singular, that in so important a castle as Cardiff no traces - should remain of a regular gatehouse. Leland speaks of two gates, - the Shire Hall and the Exchequer; of which the former was, no doubt, - the present gate, and the latter, probably, that from the outer to - the middle ward. That the present occupies the place of the original - entrance is pretty certain. Where else could it have been? If cut - through the earthworks, or through any other parts of the wall, traces - would certainly remain. Probably, therefore, as already stated, and as - was sometimes the case, the entrance was a mere gateway in the curtain; - and the real barrier was that from the outer into the middle ward, - which was certainly of great strength. The outer ward must have been a - place of common resort for exchequer and other public business; and the - knights’ lodgings were occupied regularly by some persons, though not - usually by the owners. The traffic attendant upon this state of things - would have made the formalities of gates, portcullis, and drawbridge, - inconvenient, and may have been a reason for the usual regular defences - of the gateway having been dispensed with. The foundations of these - buildings, public and private, have been laid open in the great court.</p> - - <p>The only remaining difficulty relates to the defences of the - circumscribing embankment. Buck’s general view, published in 1748, and - an engraving by Ryland, show an extensive wall, covering the great - wall and the earthwork at the north-west angle, and prolonged upon the - present course of the feeder. This can scarcely be one of Buck’s common - errors in perspective, since he shows also the present wall capping the - earthen bank. It is, therefore, possible that there was, on the north - front, a wall between the bank and the moat. But, however this may be, - it must be remembered that the enemy who surmounted the earthworks - still had before him a fortress which for thickness and height of wall - was equalled by few in Britain. The chapel of the castle, the Shire - Hall, and the knights’ houses stood in the outer ward, and might be - burned or destroyed; but the knights themselves, and their followers - and effects, would take refuge and be in absolute security in the - interior parts of the castle.</p> - - <p>Rees Meyric, writing about 1578, has left a minute, and, on the whole, - a very intelligible account of the castle as restored by the Earls of - Pembroke for their occasional residence, before the building of Wilton. - From his description it appears that the principal entrance was from - the town by “a fair gate,” having the Black Tower with its prisons - on the left, and opening into the outer ward. This ward occupied the - eastern part of the general enclosure, being separated from the inner - and middle wards by the mound and the strong curtain that extended from - the Black to the White Tower or keep.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">349</span></p> - - <p>In this outer ward Leland saw the lodgings of the twelve knights of - Glamorgan who held their lands by the tenure of castle-guard and the - payment of ward silver. In Meyric’s time there remained but one, held - by Sir Edward Mansell, and which had belonged to the Bassetts. Here - also, near the north-eastern corner, as drawn by Speed and seen by - Meyrick, stood the lord’s courthouse, used as the Shire Hall, and in - which the lord’s court for the borough was held until late in the last - century. This was protected by a special wall, upon which the knights’ - lodgings stood and formed a part. A small chapel completed the group. - This chapel was granted, with the parish church of St. Mary in Cardiff, - by one of the early Norman earls to the monastery at Tewkesbury, and is - mentioned in a general charter of confirmation by Nicholas, Bishop of - Llandaff (“Dug. Mon.,” ii. 67). The space between the Shire Hall court - and the adjacent bank was occupied by gardens and orchards.</p> - - <p>The middle ward was entered a little north of the centre of the curtain - wall, by a gateway between two drum towers, with a postern in that on - the left.</p> - - <p>Entering the middle ward, in front was the lord’s lodging, and on the - left a stair led to the battlement, and a roadway to the Black Tower, - which road was divided by a wall from the woodyard, which, as now, - occupied the south-east corner of the court.</p> - - <p>On the right, a way, rising rapidly, led to the keep across the ditch - of the mound and up its side. This way passed through, and was defended - by, two gatehouses duly portcullised, and was further protected by - the great curtain, under and along the rear of which it ran. The - correctness of this description has been proved by recent excavations.</p> - - <p>The middle ward occupied all the space south of the mound, a cross wall - dividing it from the inner ward. Its west side was chiefly occupied - by the lodgings. The original plaisance, or lord’s garden, was in the - south-west corner of this ward, and was by the Herberts converted into - a kitchen garden.</p> - - <p>The inner ward lay next, north of the middle ward, communicating with - it by a door in the cross wall. This ward was also bounded by a part - of the ditch of the keep; but it seems to have been of small area, and - not to have extended to the north outer wall, but to have been limited - by a wall which extended from the north-west angle of the keep, down - the slope, towards the north-western angle buttress of the general - enclosure. This ward contained the Herbert flower-garden, no doubt - placed there for privacy, and to be under the windows of the private - apartments, with which it seems to have been connected by an ornamental - stone staircase shown in one of the drawings of the last century. A - postern opened from this garden, through the great west wall, just - outside of the west gate of the town, and not far from the postern of - the octagon tower.</p> - - <p>The narrow space north of the mound must have been shut off in some way - of which there are now no traces.</p> - - <p>The main building in Meyric’s time looked, as regards its central<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">350</span> - part, much as it did ten years ago. The south wing and the present - kitchens were wanting, and the entrance was up a few steps and by - an open terrace to the south-west corner of the pile. Entering, the - visitor stood in the hall, 61 feet long by 18 feet broad, and 13 feet 6 - inches high, with a flat ceiling. On the right was a door opening into - the stair-turret; on the left another, opening through the great wall - into the Beauchamp lesser wing. Walking up the hall, the fireplace was - on the left, and beyond it a passage leading into the Beauchamp tower; - on the right, two bay windows and three ordinary windows lighted the - room, and near the centre was a closet occupying the middle turret. - At the upper or north end of the hall, doors led into the private - rooms, of large size, on both the hall and upper floors, and lighted - with large mullioned windows, looking north into the garden, and - west through a bay cut in the outer wall. In a second floor were the - bedrooms, and, above all, a flat leaded roof, commanding one of the - most lovely prospects in Britain.</p> - - <p>This description was drawn up in 1861. Since that time the castle has - undergone great alterations; several new towers have been added, and - the interior has been completely remodelled. Over the vault of the - basement is the library, and above that the hall. The details are in - that semi-Italian style in which Burges was so great a master, and - all that a very refined taste, on the part of both the owner and the - architect, could devise, has been executed in a manner and with a - profusion which more than rivals Alnwick.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CARLISLE">CARLISLE CASTLE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE city of Carlisle appears first early in the ninth century, in - the history of Nennius, as Cair-Luadiit, or Luilid, or the Castra - Luguballia, one of the “octo et viginti civitates ... cum innumeris - castellis ex lapidibus et lateribus fabricatis,” enumerated by that - respectable authority. The fame of Carlisle, however, is due neither - to this early mention, nor to the subsequent gift of the place by King - Ecgfrid to St. Cuthbert, but rather to its name as a centre of the - early cycle of Arthurian romance, well supported by its subsequent - celebration in Border tales and ballads. Indeed, whether in fable or - in fact, Carlisle enjoys no mean reputation. It played a part in the - British, Roman, Saxon, and Danish occupations of the island, and, after - having been held as a frontier fortress, by the Scots against the - English, became, in its turn, the great stronghold of northern England - against the Scots, and the scourge of the wild tribes of the debatable - land.</p> - - <p>City and castle are naturally strong. The castle occupies a bluff, - projecting towards the north, in a position which no doubt created its - early, and caused its long-continued importance. Across its front<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">351</span> - flows the deep and rapid Eden, here seven miles from the sands, and a - score from its final disappearance in the Firth of the Solway. Above - the city, and covering its eastern flank, the Petterill comes down to - reinforce the Eden, which river, close below the city and beneath its - walls, receives, by two branches, the waters of the Caldew, which thus - covers the flank of the post towards the west.</p> - - <p>The city, so protected on the three sides on which it was most liable - to be attacked, is built upon ground about 60 feet above the Eden, - and which, slightly rising, terminates to the north in the prominence - occupied by the castle, and which no doubt is the site of the “Caer,” - whence, whether of British or Roman origin, the city derives the first - half of its name.</p> - - <p>Luguballia, or Caer Luel, does not stand upon, but about a mile within, - the line of the Roman wall. This great work, coming from the direction - of Wallby, and in the line of Linstock and Drawdykes, passed by - Stanwix, across the river, to terminate on the Solway, at Dykesfield, - near Burgh-upon-Sands.</p> - - <p>The castle occupies the northern, highest, and strongest part of the - city, about 60 feet above the river. It is built upon the New Red - Sandstone rock, and to the east, north, and west the slopes are very - steep towards the meads, which fringe to a considerable breadth the - left bank of the Eden, and the right of the Caldew. In plan the castle - area is nearly a right-angled triangle, of which the right angle is to - the south-west, and the long side, somewhat convex, and 256 yards in - length, is presented towards the north and east. Of the other sides, - that towards the city on the south is 200 yards, and that to the west - 143 yards in length. The space within the walls is rather under three - acres.</p> - - <p>The outer defence towards the city is an artificial ditch, 240 yards - long, 30 yards broad, and about 10 yards deep, cut across the high - ground from slope to slope, and stopped at each end by the wall - connecting the city with the castle, which thus, though an independent - work, is made to form part of the general <i>enceinte</i>. Between - the castle and the city is an open space, about 78 yards broad, which - contains the ditch and a broad glacis, and which, with the castle, - lies outside the municipal boundary. On the west side, about 45 yards - within this boundary, is Irishgate Brow, the site of the Irish gate of - the city. The Scottish gate stood on a somewhat similar position on the - east side; and the third or English gate, guarded by the citadel, was - at the opposite or south end of the city.</p> - - <p>The castle is composed of an outer and an inner ward, the keep standing - in the latter. The inner ward forms the eastern end or apex of the - area, of which it occupies about a fifth, and it is divided from - the outer ward by a cross wall, 90 yards long, upon the low salient - of which is the inner gatehouse. The other sides of this ward are - the east, 96 yards, and the south, 73 yards. The keep stands in the - south-west angle, about 20 feet from the two adjacent curtains, of - which the south is thrown out about 18 feet to gain space, and to form - a shoulder flanking the outer gate.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">352</span></p> - - <p>The main entrance is from the city in the middle of the south front, - 40 yards west of the keep, through the great gatehouse. The drawbridge - across the ditch was removed in the last century, and is replaced - by a bridge of stone, which crosses the ditch and leads up to the - <i>gatehouse</i>, called John de Ireby’s or Irby’s tower. It opens into - the outer ward. - </p> - - <p>The plan of this gatehouse is peculiar. It may be conveniently - described as a plain structure, 44 feet square and of 20 feet - projection in front of the line of the curtain. It is composed of a - basement and upper floor, but the entrance, instead of passing, as - usual, through the centre of the building, is at its east end. The - south-east angle of the building is hollow, forming a nook or recess - of 18 feet each way, the two outer sides being walls 6 feet thick, and - about half the height of the main building. These walls are provided - with parapets, front and rear, so as to form a covered way, which - communicates with the east curtain. In front of this inclosure is - the outer gate, of 11 feet opening, with a drop-pointed arch, placed - in a sunk square-headed panel, intended to lodge the drawbridge when - lifted. This entrance leads into an open chamber 12 feet square, - commanded by its outer walls. It is, in fact, a barbican, niched in - a hollow angle of the gatehouse, with outer walls the height of the - curtain. The barbican leads to a second archway, with a portcullis in - a square groove, and a gate. Then follows a vaulted passage ending in - another gate which opens into the ward. In the passage, on the left, - is a lancet doorway opening upon a rising well-staircase, and beyond - it a drop-arched door opening into the lodge. On the right hand is a - shoulder-headed door, which leads, or did lead, into a staircase. In - the front wall of the gatehouse are two corbels, which seem to have - carried a small oriel or bartisan, commanding the approach. Appended - to the east side of the gatehouse, but entirely within the ward, is a - smaller building, fitted on obliquely, as though an addition.</p> - - <p>Entering the outer ward, the well is seen at 40 yards’ distance. The - buildings within the ward are modern, of various degrees of ugliness, - and painfully substantial. Some are detached and harmless; others are - built into the old curtain, so as to conceal and more or less injure - it. The curtain, which is extremely curious, and most of it original, - is best seen from the outside. Besides the gatehouse, it carries but - one mural tower,—an original one, open in the gorge, in the centre of - the west front.</p> - - <p>The <i>gatehouse</i> of the inner ward is placed upon the salient - and central point of the cross curtain. It is called the Captain’s - Tower. It is rectangular, or nearly so, about 32 feet each way, with a - projection from the curtain of 18 feet. There is one floor above the - portal, which is central. The gateway is a low drop arch, flanked by a - pair of buttresses. The passage is vaulted, and has a door at each end, - and at the inner end also a portcullis. Over the outside of the inner - gateway is a ring of tracery, unusual, but effective. Much of this - gatehouse is Decorated, but the buttresses seem Norman.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow95" id="i352"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_352.jpg" alt="" /> - <ul class="small"> - <li>A. Keep.</li> - <li>B. Inner Gate-house.</li> - <li>C. Outer Gate-house.</li> - <li>D. Queen Mary’s Buildings.</li> - <li>E. Norman Tower.</li> - <li>F. Wells.</li> - <li>G. Ditch.</li> - <li>H. Richard the Third’s Tower.</li> - </ul> - <div class="caption">CARLISLE CASTLE.</div> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">353</span> There was originally a ditch in front of - this wall, and a gate with a drawbridge, all now gone. In later days, a - small half-moon battery was thrown up about 8 yards in advance of this - gate, and protected by a ditch of its own. This battery was connected - by a light field-work, which extended from it to the outer gatehouse, - laid in a zigzag form, so as to cover and protect a communication - between the two gates, supposing the outer ward to have been breached - and entered from the north-west side. These works have been removed and - the ground made level.</p> - - <p>The cross wall of the inner ward is original, strong, and well built, - and backed by a ramp of earth and masonry, containing casemates, one of - which has a Perpendicular doorway. These were no doubt added, perhaps - by Henry VIII., to enable the wall to carry cannon. In the front of - this wall, a little north of the gatehouse, is a large pointed arch of - late Norman aspect, now walled up, and which may have been the original - entrance.</p> - - <p>The <i>Keep</i> is rectangular, 66 feet north and south, by 61 feet - east and west, and at present only 68 feet high. It is very plain. - There is the common high and stepped plinth, from which rise pilasters, - 12 feet broad and 1 foot projection, two on each face, meeting at and - covering each angle, which is solid. The walls do not batter, but are - reduced slightly by one set-off, at a different level on each face. - The window-cases, though in the original positions, are not original. - The parapet has been removed, and the summit thus lowered, vaulted and - converted into a platform for guns laid <i>en barbette</i>. The south - wall is 8 feet thick, the west rather more, and the east and adjacent - part of the north wall, 15 feet. The interior contains a basement and - two upper floors. It is divided by the usual cross wall, laid north and - south. The presumption is greatly in favour of this wall being a part - of the original design; it has, however, been so much altered that it - is difficult to speak positively as to its age or original height. The - entrance is at the ground level, at the north end of the east face. - It has a portcullis, probably the work of Edward I.; from its jamb on - the left, a straight stair ascends in the east wall to the south-east - angle of the first floor, as at Chepstow and Ludlow. The basement has - been subdivided into four compartments, which are vaulted in stone. One - is a passage against the north wall, terminating in a well-stair in - the north-west angle. This stair, now disused, is original, and led to - the first floor, but probably no higher. From the passage doors open - on the left into two vaults, parted by the cross wall of the building. - The east vault is one chamber; the west subdivided by a cross wall - into two, the inner entered through the outer. The vaulting is a plain - pointed barrel, very evidently an insertion. In the smaller vaults are - late stone seats. One of the doorways is of Perpendicular date. These - vaults were evidently prisons, intended no doubt for the custody of - Border reivers, and probably a late addition. In the north wall is a - recess connected with the well.</p> - - <p>The first floor, about 16 feet high, is vaulted in modern brick, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">354</span> - used as a mess-room. In its north side was a very large fireplace, - flanked by Norman columns; but this is now walled up. This floor is - now entered solely from the south-east angle, but formerly had also a - door near the north-west corner, from the well-stair. There is also a - door near the south-west angle, which opens into a second well-stair, - which probably led to the upper floors and the battlements. This is now - closed, and there is no direct way from the first to the upper floors.</p> - - <p>The second floor is reached, at this time, by an exterior door in the - west wall, approached by an exterior stair on the north face, and from - the rampart on the east. This door is not original, and has been broken - through at the place of a recess, probably looped, which led from the - second floor into a mural chamber and garderobe in the east wall, and - which are seen on the right hand of the door on entering. This second - floor is about 16 feet high, and has a timber ceiling. In the east - wall, over the present entrance door, is a mural chamber, on the walls - of which are some curious carvings by prisoners. One represents the - Percy crescent and fetterlock, and another a coat of arms. From this - floor a ladder leads through a trap into the upper floor—a modern - arrangement.</p> - - <p>The third or upper floor is vaulted in modern brick to support the gun - platform above. This platform is formed of large slabs of stone, laid - down in 1812, which may also be the date of the vault. The walls above - are 11 feet thick all round.</p> - - <p>The well of the keep is reputed to be Roman, though this is quite as - likely to be true of the larger one in the outer ward. When the keep - was built, the well, whether new or old, was included within the north - wall, between the doorway and the north-east angle, and its pipe was - carried up in the wall, no doubt with a lighted chamber at each floor, - as indicated by a line of loops still seen in the wall. To make the - well available when the keep was shut up as a prison, a hole was cut in - the outside of the north wall, near the ground level, into the pipe of - the well, and through this the water is still drawn up. The well is 78 - feet deep, and its present cill is 92 feet above the sea level.</p> - - <p>A curious external stair, probably Edwardian, has been built against - the north face of the keep, and leads up, by the well, to the ramparts - of the curtain, and so to the door of the second floor of the keep. No - doubt its original use was to lead to the ramparts only.</p> - - <p>The keep, though much disfigured to make it carry artillery, and much - obscured by its conversion into prisons, a mess-room, and store-rooms, - is for the most part original, and if cleared, as it should be, of the - vaultings of the upper floors, would be a tolerably perfect specimen of - a Norman keep, with a full share of mural chambers and appendages.</p> - - <p>The hall and other domestic buildings, including what was called Queen - Mary’s Tower, most of which were standing at the close of the last - century, were ranged at the south-east angle, upon the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">355</span> adjacent walls, - as shown in Grose’s view. All are now gone save a fragment of panelled - work, part of the shell of a grand staircase of early Edwardian date, - which led to the chief apartments.</p> - - <p>It appears that in the east wall, near its south end, and, therefore, - under the midst of these apartments, was, in the last century, a Norman - postern with chevron mouldings and a portcullis groove, leading from - the inner ward into the field, independent of the city. These details - are shown in some of the late views of the castle. Grose, in 1774, - shows, obscurely, the position and size of the gateway, and the Norman - pilasters by which the adjacent wall was strengthened. The upper part - of this curtain seems to have been Early English. All about this angle - is now modern.</p> - - <p>The space between the keep and its adjacent curtains has been filled up - with earth, kept off from the keep by a sort of area wall, and thus the - ramparts here, as well as along the cross wall, are made wide enough - for cannon. The upfilling is modern, and should be cleared out.</p> - - <p>A walk, called the “Castle Walk,” or Castle Bank, has been laid out at - the foot of the curtain outside, whence its details may be conveniently - studied. The south-east angle, as has been said, is modern, but - proceeding north and westward the old Norman part comes into view, - and on the north side of the inner ward the Norman pilasters are seen - rising from a plinth, but partly concealed by six enormous stepped - buttresses of great projection, and Decorated or Perpendicular date, no - doubt a great support to the wall and very curious, but, in a military - point of view, very much in the way.</p> - - <p>From near the centre of the north front there was a spur work, composed - of a strong curtain wall, carried down the slope and ending in a - round tower. This was of course intended to annoy the enemy should he - attack on the west side. The whole is now removed: possibly it was an - Edwardian addition. The north face of the curtain and its north-west - corner have been much restored in the Decorated period, but most of - the west wall is original. Near its centre is a small tower, like the - Alnwick Garret Tower, 28 feet broad by 18 feet deep, and about 9 feet - projection, and open at the gorge. It is wholly Norman, of the date of - the keep. It has a stepped plinth about 10 feet high, with six sets-off - of 2 inches each, and on the front face is a central pilaster, dying - into the wall at the base of the original parapet. In its north face, - high up, is the shoot of a garderobe flush with the face of the wall, - and lower down a stone water-spout. About 10 yards south of this tower - are traces of a small postern. The wall connecting the castle with - the city on this side is of Norman origin; but has some buttresses - apparently Edwardian, in one of which is a garderobe shoot, similar to - that of the garret tower. Upon this wall, south of the ditch, is King - Richard III.’s, or <i>Tile Tower</i>, 26 feet broad by 20 feet deep, of - no internal projection. This looks Edwardian, but probably is altered - from Norman. It stands about 30 yards north of the city boundary.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">356</span> It - is said that a few years ago a subterranean passage was discovered - between this tower and the keep, and was at once closed up. This is - stated in the “History of Carlisle, 1838,” and should be true, but it - seems improbable, for the passage must have dipped deep to pass under - the ditch.</p> - - <p>The south wall of the castle is for the most part original, the Norman - pilasters being seen east and west of the gatehouse. East again of - these, as far as the keep, the wall seems Edwardian, but beyond that, - where it belongs to the inner ward, it is Norman.</p> - - <p>The wall between the south-east angle of the castle and the city, about - 90 yards long, is mixed Norman and Edwardian, and as it crosses the - ditch it makes a zigzag or shoulder, in which is a large round-headed - postern gateway, either original or in the place of an original - opening, intended, probably, to allow of cattle being driven on to - the esplanade and ditch from the meads on the approach of an enemy. - Probably there was a way from this gate along what is called the Lady’s - Walk, at the foot of the south wall, as far as the great gate. South - of this postern, near what is called the city stone, are traces of a - large bastion, probably a part of the city defences. The postern is now - walled up, and a bank of earth raised against it behind.</p> - - <p>The <i>enceinte</i> wall of the castle, being built against the natural - slope, is outside about 28 feet and inside 18 feet high. It varies from - 8 feet to 10 feet thick.</p> - - <p>The plan of the castle—a headland converted into a detached camp by - a cross ditch—may be British or English, but the general outline of - the masonry, which follows the line of the earthworks, is Norman. The - Norman engineer evidently built the <i>enceinte</i> wall along the edge - of the slope, and planned the inner and outer ward, and the keep. The - castle is generally attributed to William Rufus, who was here in 1092, - when Carlisle, from a Scottish, became an English frontier place. The - see was created by Henry I., and the first bishop consecrated in 1133, - when probably the city wall, of which a part may still be seen below - the deanery, was built. Carlisle was taken by the Scots, and besieged - by Stephen and by John. The latter sovereign was here four times in the - years 1201–6-8, and 1212. In 1204 the constable of Chester was ordered - sixty marcs for fortifying the castle. In 1205 certain grass cut in - the neighbourhood was to be stored there. In 1215 Robert de Ros was - custos of the castle, but in 1216 Robert de Vipont seems to have been - in charge of the repairs and the garrison.</p> - - <p>In 1222 Henry III. ordered the houses within the castle to be repaired, - and two ballistæ of horn and two of wood were to be sent there. Walter - Mauclerc was in charge. In 1222 the garrison was continued, and in the - king’s pay.</p> - - <p>Edward I. used Carlisle in the Scottish wars, and was here in 1293, - after the great fire, which much injured both city and castle in the - preceding year. Between 1293 and 1307, he was here seven times, often - for many days. He kept his last birthday here in 1307, and went forth - hence to die in the immediate neighbourhood. To<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">357</span> his reign are to be - attributed most of the Edwardian additions, repairs of the wall and - keep, the gatehouses, and the domestic buildings, of which only traces - remain. In 1302, Bishop Hatton, then governor, expended £275. 4s. 11d. - in works. The Great Hall, supposed to have been then erected, needed - repairs in 1344.</p> - - <p>Camden says that Richard III. repaired the castle, and the six - marvellous buttresses may be of that date, though they look earlier. - Henry VIII. appears to have much altered the castle, probably to make - it carry artillery. He built a block-house or citadel at the south - end of the city, and armed it with cannon, and he repaired the city - walls. His work was probably done in haste, for, in 1563, the whole was - in great decay, as appears from a survey made by the queen’s order, - printed by Grose. Three sides of the keep were in a dangerous state. - The Captain’s Tower wanted parapets, as did much of the inner curtain, - and all the glass of the great hall and great chamber was decayed. In - the outer ward was an open breach, 70 feet long, where the wall had - fallen in 1557. The result of this survey was the building a chapel and - barrack, and no doubt the reparation of the wall and keep.</p> - - <p>Mary Queen of Scots found some sort of accommodation here when she fled - from Scotland, and gave name to the lodgings lately pulled down. The - castle suffered somewhat during the great rebellion, but escaped being - dismantled. It was battered from the west, and taken by the Duke of - Cumberland in 1745.</p> - - <p>Probably the greatest and most destructive changes are those of modern - date. The hall was taken down in 1827, and the chapel and other - buildings in 1835.</p> - - <p>There are traces of two light field-works in the meads north of the - castle, the smaller in the rear of the other, evidently prepared for - the reception of the Scots, in 1745, as they approached over the brow - at Stanwix.</p> - - <p>The castle is far too confined and too much a part of the city for the - purpose to which it is applied. The military should be removed, the - modern buildings cleared away, the keep restored, and the area laid out - for the pleasure of the people of Carlisle, and so as to show off the - remains to the greatest advantage.</p> - - <p>In the neighbourhood of Carlisle are other military works deserving - notice. Such is, at Hayton, Castle Hill, a mound 12 feet high, and 100 - feet diameter at the top. Linstock Castle was built before 1133, but - is now little more than a farmhouse, into which it was converted in - 1768. Scaleby Castle was built by Robert de Tilliol, who had licence - to crenellate it in 1307. It was largely repaired in 1596, but retains - much of its original character, and has always been inhabited. Naworth - Castle was the chief seat of the English Barony of Gillsland, at the - Conquest granted to Hubert de Vaux, from whom it descended through the - Dacres to the Howards. The present structure was the work of Ralph Lord - Dacre, in 1335, and is a good example of the quadrangular castles of - that date. Rose Castle was in the Barony of Dalston, and is attributed - to 1336,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">358</span> when Bishop Kirby had a licence to crenellate. It was also a - moated quadrangle. Highhead Castle, on the Ive, is drawn by Buck. Here - was a castle in 1326, but the licence is dated in 1342. The castle was - rebuilt in 1714. Dalston Hall is a castellated house, probably of the - middle of the fourteenth century.</p> - - <p>The Roman wall may be traced at various points, both east and west of - the passage of the Eden. It is well seen in a field close to Drawdykes, - a stiff, square farmhouse, built on the site of a Roman Castellum. The - inscription “Diis Manibus,” built into its walls, is said to have been - dug up in Carlisle, near the old citadel.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="COCH">CASTELL COCH, GLAMORGAN.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE river Taff, from its origin under the Brecon Beacons, after a - course of about 26 miles through the northern and mountain district - of Glamorgan, escapes by a deep and narrow ravine across the last - elevation, and rolls its course, unfettered, to the Bristol Channel.</p> - - <p>The ridge which it thus finally cleaves, and which divides the hill - country from the plain, is part of the great southern escarpment of - the coal basin of Glamorgan, supported there by the mountain limestone - rising from below, and in its turn reposing upon the old red sandstone, - the denuded surface of which forms, under the later horizontal rocks - and drift gravel, the basis of the plain. The escarpment, extending for - many miles along the contiguous counties of Monmouth and Glamorgan, is - traversed, in this immediate neighbourhood, by the three passes of the - Ebbw, the Rhymny, and the Taff. The heights bounding the latter river, - though in actual elevation below some other parts of the chain, produce - a very striking effect, from the abruptness of their rise from the - plain.</p> - - <p>These heights, on each side of the pass, must always have been regarded - by the inhabitants of the country as places of great security. On the - right bank of the river, the huge lumpish sandstone mass of the Garth - rises to 981 feet above the sea, and is crowned by two remarkable - tumuli, well known as landmarks in the vale, and visible even from the - distant shores of Somerset. The lower Garth, which rises to the front - of the great Garth, opposite to Castell Coch, forms the right bank of - the pass.</p> - - <p>The elevation on the left bank, though lower, is more precipitous. - It presents, in the lichen-stained crags about its summits, and the - rich verdure which clothes its sides and base, all those features so - well known to geologists as characterising the scenery of the mountain - limestone.</p> - - <p>Nature has rendered the west and south sides of this height— <span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">359</span>those - exposed to any foe from beyond sea—nearly inaccessible. Across the - north-eastern side, lines of circumvallation have been hewn out of the - rock, the dimensions of which show the value attached to the place, as - a fortress, by the Cymry.</p> - - <p>There was reason in the choice. From hence the long ships of the Danish - rovers could be seen while yet distant from the shore, and timely - notice be given, and protection afforded to, the people of the plain, - should the ravagers extend their sweep far inwards from the coast. A - beacon fire upon the headland of Penarth—celebrated in Anglo-Norman - verse for its ancient oak, and long marked by its white church—answered - here, or on the opposite Garth, would be repeated from the summits of - the distant mountains of Brecon and Caermarthen, and would at once - spread the tidings of invasion over the whole of the southern coast.</p> - - <p>The Normans, within a century and a half after the conquest of - Glamorgan, had completed a chain of castles along the plain country, - from Chepstow to Pembroke, and were only exposed to the invasions of - the Welsh from the mountain tracts upon the north. To check these they - threw up a number of fortresses, either upon, or within the verge of, - the hill country, of which Morlais and Castell Coch may be cited as - examples.</p> - - <p>The site of the Cymric camp was far too difficult of access to allow of - the ready transport into it of provisions, or munitions of war, or of - a constant and rapid communication with the chief castle at Cardiff. - Lower down the scarp, though still high above the plain, the Norman - engineer selected a natural platform on the limestone rock, separated - from the main scarp by a natural depression, and sufficiently removed - from the summit to be out of the reach of any military engines with - which the Welsh were likely to be acquainted, or which they were likely - to be able to bring, with their forces, against the castle. There - is an easy approach to this platform from the east, which probably - communicated with the old road, called Roman, and no doubt Cymric, - which leads direct from Cardiff to Rubina, and close upon which is - the low circular mound, which was the site of a tower of the time of - Henry III., at Whitchurch, and the Celtic tumulus of Twmpath. Upon this - platform was erected the fortress which is here to be described.</p> - - <p>Castell Coch, so called from the red tint of its materials, is, in - general plan, a triangle, each angle being capped by a drum tower. Its - general divisions are the <i>south</i>, <i>east</i>, and <i>northern - towers</i>, the <i>gate tower</i>, the <i>curtains</i> and <i>hall</i>, - and the <i>outworks</i>.</p> - - <p>The platform occupied by the whole is about 200 yards long by 70 yards - broad, and the principal works of the castle occupy its west end. - The south face is, in part, precipitous, and from 20 feet to 30 feet - high. The north face, towards the upper hill-side, is deepened into a - formidable moat, and the east end was defended by a fosse, cut deeply - across the rock, and beyond this by two towers, connected by a curtain - wall.</p> - - <p>The <i>North Tower</i> rises from a square base to a cylindrical - super<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">360</span>structure, the north and south angles terminating in buttresses, - each the half of a pyramid cut vertically and diagonally across, after - a fashion very common in Welsh castles, and well seen in Marten’s tower - at Chepstow. The cylinder is 40 feet in diameter. It contains three - stories, of which the middle one is on a level with the inner court, or - <i>terre-plein</i>, of the place. - </p> - - <p>The lower story may have been a cellar. It is vaulted, and has two - great cross-springer ribs, and two windows opening high above the - floor. A narrow passage, vaulted, with steps, leads into it from the - court. Its internal diameter is 18 feet, its walls upwards of 10 feet - thick. The windows were mere loopholes.</p> - - <p>The middle story is also circular and vaulted, with similar ribs. Here, - however, the windows open nearly on the level of the floor, though also - loops. There is a fireplace, with a flue carried up in the wall. The - flue is backed with stone. The entrance to this chamber is also from - the court, and, on the east side of the vaulted passage, a gallery - passes off in the thickness of the wall, and leads to what was a small - garderobe, occupying a square projection on the east side of the tower, - at its junction with the curtain. The general dimensions of this story, - and the thickness of the walls, correspond with those of the room below.</p> - - <p>The upper story contains one chamber, the south and east sides of which - are flat, the rest circular. Here are no less than three fireplaces, - each of large dimensions, with funnels in the thickness of the wall. - It contains also two small recesses, one a sort of sink, and has two - windows. There are also two doors, one, on the south side, opening upon - the roof and ramparts of the hall and west front, the other, eastwards, - leading to the ramparts of the great or northern curtain. Access to - this chamber, from below, seems to have been obtained by an exterior - stair between the tower and the hall. This story, within, is about 26 - feet mean diameter, and the walls vary from 2 feet 3 inches to 4 feet - thick. It was roofed flat, with timber, and above were ramparts and a - parapet, probably reached by means of a trap-door in the roof. It was - evidently the kitchen, here, as at Morlais and Coningsburgh, placed in - an upper floor.</p> - - <p>This tower is the most perfect of the whole, and in tolerable - preservation, although the lower chamber is half full of rubbish; the - small apartment connected with the middle story is broken down, and the - roof and ramparts are wanting on the summit. This tower, however, is - evidently the type of, and has served in the present instance as a clue - to, the original plan of the others.</p> - - <p>The <i>South Tower</i> corresponded nearly to the last, and, like - it, appears to have contained three chambers, and at its junction - with the west curtain, a square projection, containing in the middle - story a small garderobe, and in the upper, probably a communication - with the battlements of the hall. The lower chamber is entered by a - vaulted passage, down steps, from the courtyard. The middle or main - chamber probably was entered on the level, by a passage<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">361</span> from the - courtyard, and a mural gallery seems to have led from this passage to - the window or opening in the south end of the hall. The upper chamber - was accessible from the hall battlements, as it probably also was from - those of the gateway curtain. It is uncertain whether this tower rose - from a square base—probably it did. Its upper part was cylindrical, - 40 feet diameter. The walls are 8 feet thick, and the chambers do not - appear to have been vaulted. This tower is in a ruined state. The two - outer thirds of its circumference have been blown away by a mine, but - the part connected with the hall, including a door below, two windows - in the lower and middle story, and the small chamber in the wall, - remain tolerably perfect, and remove all doubts as to the original - elevation and particulars of the whole.</p> - - <p>The <i>East Tower</i> corresponds in altitude and general arrangements - to the other two, like them containing three stories. It is cylindrical - from the base, and 40 feet diameter; but, towards the courtyard, it - presents a flat face, with two shoulders projecting at its junction - with its curtains. Like the other towers, it has a square projection - for a small chamber, here found at its junction outside with the great - or northern curtain. The lower story, like those of the other towers, - is below the level of the court, but instead of being entered directly - by a distinct staircase, a gallery branches off from the passage to the - middle chamber, and descends, winding in the thickness of the wall, - to a vaulted prison below. This lower chamber is filled up, but its - existence is evident enough, and the staircase is seen through a great - rent in the wall. The diameter is 18 feet 4 inches, and the thickness - of the wall 10 feet 10 inches.</p> - - <p>The first floor is entered by a passage from the court, on a level. - This chamber had two loops. There is no fireplace, and no trace of a - vault, although the walls are above 10 feet thick. On either hand, - opening out of the passage leading to this chamber, are galleries in - the wall, that on the right descending to the chamber below, that on - the left running on a level, to open into a small chamber in the square - projection between the tower and the great curtain. Here seems to have - been the well. The upper chamber appears to have been entered from the - ramparts by a long pointed doorway in the gorge; and over the lower - door, leading from this, on the right, a passage leads to a spiral - stair in the wall, which evidently gave access to the battlements of - the tower. This tower has been rent asunder by a central explosion, but - the outer part has only shifted a little.</p> - - <p>The <i>Hall</i> stands upon a vaulted chamber, now filled up with - rubbish. It occupies the space between the north and south towers, - which it connects, its outer wall forming the curtain between them. It - is rectangular, 30 feet 8 inches by 17 feet 8 inches, vaulted, with - a pointed arch, and having its outer wall 7 feet, and its inner wall - 6 feet, thick. In the former are three loops, splayed towards the - interior, and having pointed heads. They are high above the base of the - wall, and command a fine view. The door was near the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">362</span> north end of the - opposite side, and possibly there may have been a fireplace on the same - side with the door. At the south end is a window, which opens into a - sort of gallery in the south tower.</p> - - <p>Above the vaulted roof was, probably, a platform, with a low battlement - towards the court, and a high one towards the exterior of the castle. - This platform communicated with the north and south towers directly, - and with the court by a narrow stair, already noticed as leading to the - upper chamber of the north tower. The hall is now much mutilated, the - vault and part of the east wall being destroyed.</p> - - <p>The great curtain is a large irregular segment of a circle, about 80 - feet exterior face, and with a chord of about 60 feet. It originally - was a wall 3 feet thick, which appears to have been found of - insufficient breadth for the use of military engines on the north and - north-east battlements, upon these, the weakest sides of the fortress; - wherefore a parallel wall was built within and against it, 6 feet - thick, extending the whole way from the north to the east tower. The - old wall contains seven loops at the courtyard level, and to preserve - these an arch, 6 feet diameter, is turned in the new work, opposite - to each. Above, there is, of course, a rampart walk of ample width, - entered from the tower at either end. The exterior of this wall, below - the level of the court, is strengthened by a stone facing, forming the - scarp of its moat. This curtain remains tolerably perfect. There is a - breach near its junction with the north tower, and the new and inner - wall is wanting opposite to the four loops, though traces of it are - discernible in the mortar upon the old wall.</p> - - <p>The <i>Gatehouse Curtain</i> is much less perfect. It appears to have - been slightly convex in plan towards the exterior, and about 28 feet - in length between the south and east towers, from both of which its - ramparts were, no doubt, entered. It is about 5 feet thick. One loop - remains, about 6 feet above the courtyard level, which could only have - been used by means of a platform, perhaps of timber. Twenty-one feet - from its junction with the east tower, a small half-round tower seems - to have projected from the curtain, serving, no doubt, to defend the - gateway, which seems to have lain between this and the south tower, and - probably consisted in a simple archway and passage, with a portcullis - and doors. That the entrance was here, and between these towers, is - certain from the causeway leading to it, but the gate-tower, and most - of the curtain, are utterly gone.</p> - - <p>Thus much of the castle. We next reach the <i>Outworks</i>.</p> - - <p>The south and north tower, and the hall curtain, needed no exterior - defence. They rise from a very steep bank, and their foundations are - of scarped rock and solid masonry. They are quite unassailable from - below. The other two sides are more exposed. In front of the south - tower is the commencement of the moat, broken by a causeway opposite - to the inner gateway, and leading from it to the outer court. Beyond - the causeway the moat deepens, and is carried round the east tower and - great curtain, steep and deep, and hewn in the rock, so as to render - this, the naturally weaker<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">363</span> side, very strong. The moat, which must - always have been dry, ends, opposite to the north tower, in a curious - excavation, resembling a water-tank, which, however, it could scarcely - have been.</p> - - <p>The outer court of the castle occupies the remainder or east end of the - natural platform. Its dimensions are about 100 feet long by 40 feet - wide. Its southern side, a continuation of the line of the same face of - the castle, was defended by a precipice, partly natural, partly scarped - by art, though now broken down and filled up. There are no traces of a - wall on this side, but probably there was a parapet.</p> - - <p>The opposite, north, or landward, side, is defended by a branch from - the moat, which, after being interrupted and traversed by a causeway, - sweeps round the east end of the works, and terminates in a deep and - broad excavation, which is carried to the brink of the cliff, and thus - defends also the east end of this outer court.</p> - - <p>The west end of the platform, or that towards the castle, is cut off - from that building by its proper moat, traversed, as already mentioned, - by the causeway leading to the inner gateway. There is no evidence of - any walled defence to this court, and yet, without such, the moat on - the land side would scarcely have been sufficient to delay an enemy, so - as to expose him to the fire from the east tower and gateway curtain, - upon which the defence of this side depended.</p> - - <p>As the principal object was to command the regular approach from the - eastward, the defences were prolonged in this direction. Outside, and - on the counterscarp of the moat of the outer court, and 6 feet from the - edge of the south precipice, there are traces of a <i>tower</i>, about - 30 feet diameter, with what may have been a sort of buttress on its - southern side, extending to the precipice. Opposite, on its northern - side, and at its junction with a lower curtain, is what appears to have - been a well-stair, or the foundation of a distinct turret. There is no - moat to the east of the tower, but the ground falls in a natural scarp.</p> - - <p>This <i>Lower Curtain</i>, indicated, like the towers, by a mound of - earth only, sweeps round, so as to cover the counterscarp of the outer - moat, and ends in the <i>roadway tower</i>, about 40 feet diameter, the - foundations of which are very distinct, and which must have completely - commanded the approach, at a point much in advance of, and below, the - outer causeway and the eastern tower. The regular approach, it is - clear, lay from the east, and between the precipitous height crowned - by the old Cymric camp and the level platform of the castle, and, - approaching it by the side least strongly defended by nature, would, - at 150 yards from the body of the place, be flanked by the fire of - the lower tower, then of the lower curtain, and then of the roadway - tower. Supposing these silenced, and the outer causeway reached, the - besieger came directly below the east tower, and a part of its adjacent - curtains; and as he crossed the outer court, and reached the second - causeway, he would be opposed by a fire from the east and south towers, - their curtain, and the gateway tower.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">364</span></p> - - <p>Even if the place were surprised and entered, each of the three - towers, and the platform of the hall, admitted of being defended for - a few hours, until aid had been signalled for, and sent from Cardiff. - No doubt, before brave men, all defences fail; and the Welsh, who - certainly were not wanting in courage, did, according to tradition, - more than once take this castle, probably by surprise and escalade; - nevertheless, it was a very strong fortress, both by nature and art, - and must have been a sore thorn in the side of the mountaineers of - Glamorgan.</p> - - <p>The present condition of each part of the castle has already been - described. It may be added, generally, that the whole is very thickly - grown over with brushwood and weeds, so much so that it is difficult to - make out the details of the plan of the building. Although no ornaments - remain, yet it is clear from the general plan, and from the doorways, - that no part of the castle is in the Norman style. It is, probably, - Early English, and may very well be of the reign of Henry III., and - probably a little earlier than Caerphilly.</p> - - <p>Here and there, especially in the outer court, are some handsome Scotch - firs, and a number of venerable beeches, the peculiar green of whose - foliage marks, from a great distance, the line of the old approach. - These, of course, with the wood clothing the hill side, and the ivy - upon the walls and towers, should be left untouched; but it is much - to be wished that the castle itself, and the works of the Cymric camp - above, were cleared of timber and underwood, and a little care taken to - encourage fair greensward in their stead.</p> - - <p>This castle has descended with the rest of the De Clare estates, and is - now the property of the Marquis of Bute.</p> - - <p>There are various traditions concerning it, but a great deficiency of - recorded information. Being the key of the upper country, it must have - witnessed many an inburst of the native Welsh, from the Norman Conquest - to the days of Owen Glendower, who is supposed to have descended by - this pass when he burned the episcopal palace of Llandaff, and ravaged - Cardiff.</p> - - <p>Since this account was written the castle has been cleared of rubbish, - and completely restored, so as to be again habitable. A well has - been discovered in one of the towers, and cleared out, as has also - been a very strong dungeon. The restoration is very complete indeed, - in excellent taste, and in strict accordance with what has been - ascertained of the original structure.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="RISING">CASTLE RISING, NORFOLK.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">CASTLE RISING, probably so called from its position on ground that is - high or rising compared with the low levels of the district, stands - about two miles from the estuary of the Wash<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">365</span> upon its eastern or - Norfolk shore. Half a mile north of the village a large tract of low - land is traversed by the Babingley river, and it is evident that before - this part of the country was drained and reclaimed by tillage, the - approaches to the village upon at least three sides, the north, west - and east, must have been almost impracticable. These considerations - probably governed those who chose Rising as a residence. The soil is - light and sandy, like that of the Dunes of Holland, but contains just - enough of vegetable mould to support a growth of turf. The trees are - chiefly ash and willow of very large size, and upon the slopes of the - castle are some noble and very ancient thorns. The richness of the - vegetation in and about the village is in favourable contrast with the - dreary and barren heath land by which it is surrounded.</p> - - <p>The earthworks are on a large scale, and probably the remains of a - great English residence, the centre of a large estate; circumstances - which no doubt led to the adaptation of this position for the Norman - fortress whence the village has derived the prefix to its more ancient - name.</p> - - <p>The central and principal division of the fortress is composed of an - irregular oval area about 67 yards east and west by 80 yards north and - south, contained within a broad and lofty bank, which, in its turn, is - surrounded by a very formidable ditch. Outside this ditch, covering the - east face, is a subsidiary work, also within a bank and ditch. It is - in form nearly a parallelogram, but its sides are somewhat irregularly - convex, and its angles rounded. Its north end is about 60 yards and its - south 70 yards broad, and its length of front 90 yards; but the ends - are inclined, so that where it abuts upon the main ditch it is about 80 - yards.</p> - - <p>This is balanced by a corresponding earthwork on the west point of the - central work. This earthwork is about 100 yards north and south by 30 - yards broad, and is also contained within a bank and ditch. The ditches - of these earthworks do not actually run into the main ditch. A narrow - causeway of earth is left between them. The whole exterior girth of the - ditch is reported to be 10,803 yards. The central earthwork is about 30 - feet high from the inclosed area, and outside is about 60 feet above - the bottom of the ditch. It is about 15 feet wide at the top, and, - being composed of light soil, has a considerable slope. The banks of - the outworks are not so high, being about 20 feet inside and 40 feet - outside. Those to the east are, however, higher, and at the points - nearly as high as those of the centre. The westward work is altogether - of a lighter character, though still of great strength. The works cover - about 13 acres. They are wholly artificial.</p> - - <p>The main entrance was from the north, along the edge of the - counterscarp of the main ditch, and it thus entered the eastern - outwork. Near its centre the road crossed the ditch by a bridge, and - entered the central ward by a notch in its eastern bank. The western - outwork seems to have been entered from the central ward by steps up - and down the bank, connected probably with a light bridge over the - ditch. It may be that it was only used for cattle.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow65" id="i366"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">366</span> - <div class="caption">CASTLE RISING KEEP.</div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_366.jpg" alt="" /> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>A. Prison.</li> - <li>B. Main entrance.</li> - <li>C. Well.</li> - <li>D. Vestibule.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>E. Entrance.</li> - <li>F. Hall.</li> - <li>G. Gallery.</li> - <li>H. Kitchen.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>I. Ante-chapel.</li> - <li>K. Chapel.</li> - <li>L. Upper part of forebuilding.</li> - </ul> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">367</span></p> - - <p>It has been thought that these earthworks are of somewhat different - dates, and that the central is the oldest. The circle, or irregular - oval, with a bank and ditch, with or without a mound, is a not uncommon - form of earthwork in England, and is probably the work of the English - in the seventh and eighth centuries. That is to say, where the work is - on a low site, and the form not governed, as in British works, by the - outline of the ground. These English enclosures rarely stand alone. - Usually there were one or more appendages outside, and abutting upon - the main ditch, as at Laughton and Kilpeck, probably additions, but - not much later than the main work. They were usually also at no great - distance from the parish church. From the tendency of the outworks at - Castle Rising to the rectangular form, they have been supposed, by good - authority, to be Roman, and the Romans had no doubt a settlement at - Brancaster, about fifteen miles to the north. But Roman works seldom - are composed of earthworks of this magnitude, the Roman custom, where - great security was needed, having been to build a wall. Also, if the - outworks only be Roman, the central work must be British, which is - scarcely consistent with what is known of the defences of that people. - Most probably the central is an English work, and the outworks either - of the same date, or early additions by the same people. But, be the - principal origin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">368</span> what it may, it is clear that here, as at Norwich, - Clare, Hedingham, and Castle Acre, the Norman invader, having grasped - the estate of the English lord, proceeded, as in Normandy, to combine - the new fashion of castle-building with the old defences.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow60" id="i367"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_367.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">UPPER FLOOR</div> - </div> - - <p>The keep, the chapel, and the gatehouse, the only parts in early - masonry of which anything now remains, were probably among the works - earliest executed. The <i>Keep</i> is a very noble example of the - rectangular Norman type. Not that its area, still less its height, - would place it in the first rank, but to considerable dimensions it - adds a degree of ornament rarely bestowed upon military buildings, and - though a ruin, its parts are unusually well preserved, and excellent - both in materials and workmanship. Like Hedingham, it stands within, - but not in the centre of, the inner ward. It almost touches the slope - of the western bank, and is about thirty yards from the gatehouse - and the eastern bank. Between the north and south banks it is nearly - midway. It is in plan rectangular, measuring at the base 75 feet east - and west, by 64 feet north and south, and, to the rampart walk, 50 - feet high. Each face is flanked by two pilasters, 7 feet broad by 6 - inches projection. These meet at, but do not cover, the angle, and the - nook so formed is occupied by a shaft, not quite detached, and similar - shafts take the place of the other angles of each flanking pilaster. - Intermediate, on the north and south faces, are three pilasters of 3 - feet breadth, and there is one on the east face, all dying into the - parapets. The west face is of a complex character. Upon it are two - large recesses, 9 feet broad and 2 feet deep, of which one is arched - over the near parapet level. There are, besides, four recesses, each - of 4 feet opening, by 2 feet 6 inches deep, arched over a little below - the first-floor level. All these five recesses have their soffits - pierced by the vents of garderobes. The wall has only one slight - set-off near its summit. The flanking pilasters have none, the others - mostly two, but very high up. There was a square turret at each angle, - now nearly gone. At the base of these turrets, the nook-shafts ceased, - and the turret angle was solid. The parapet is gone. Considerably - below its base were round holes, apparently to take off the water. The - walls at the base are, the north and east sides, 7 feet, the south - 6 feet 6 inches, and the west 6 feet thick, and this thickness is - preserved to the top, or very nearly so. The east face is covered by - the forebuilding, here very perfect. This prolongs the north front - by 20 feet, and the south by 9 feet. The keep has a basement at the - ground level, and a first floor. At two points, however, the upper - floor is subdivided so as to give a partial second floor. Part of the - forebuilding also, as at Rochester, has a second floor. The entrance - is in the south end of the building, in which a straight stair rises - to the main door of the keep, which is at the first-floor level. There - are well-staircases, 7 feet diameter, in the north-east and south-west - angles of the keep, ascending by seventy-six steps from the base to - the summit, and communicating with the first floor. It is, however, - to be observed that the base of the well-stair is about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">369</span> 4 feet above - the ground-level, so that it is entered by a stair of five steps, - projecting into the rooms. This seems to have been the case at Dover, - before the floor was raised. It is difficult to discover the reason for - it.</p> - - <p>The keep is divided into a north and south chamber by a cross-wall, 6 - feet thick, which ascends to the roof. The two chambers are 58 feet - long; the north 25 feet, and the south 16 feet broad. The <i>north - chamber</i> was again divided, equally, longways, by an arcade of four - lofty arches, of 11 feet span, springing from corbels in the wall, and - from three square piers, 3 feet broad by 4 feet. The spandrel walls - of this arcade supported the joists of the floor above. The three - eastern arches and their two piers are gone. The western pier gives - off two lateral arches north and south, dividing the end bay into two - square spaces, which are vaulted and groined and carry upper chambers, - shortening by so much the upper great room or hall. This lower room is - aired rather than lighted by three loops in the north and two in the - west wall, placed high up and in splayed recesses, round-headed. There - is also in the north wall a small lobby at the foot of the well-stair, - from which there seems to have been a passage rising 3 feet into a - mural chamber 8 feet above the ground. In the west end of the great - chamber an interior door at the ground-level has been broken. It has - a pointed head, and is an insertion. Probably it represents a loop. A - round-headed doorway of 4 feet aperture opens in a segmental recess - in the cross-wall into the south chamber. The door opened towards the - north, and was barred on that side. The recess is groined. The well is - in the floor of the north chamber, between two of the piers, under the - second arch from the east. It is 4 feet diameter, with a pipe of ashlar - rising about 3 feet above the ground-level.</p> - - <p>The <i>south chamber</i> was crossed by three plain broad arches, - springing from corbels high up in the wall, and carrying the joists of - the floor above. The eastern bay, however, is vaulted and groined, and - supports the chapel. The other two arches are broken away. This chamber - has four loops to the south and one to the west. Its well-stair also - has a small lobby in the wall, 5 feet above the floor. In the east end - of the south wall is a door ascending four steps, which opens into - the staircase of the forebuilding. Although this door, in its present - state, appears not to be original, it may be really so. There is one in - a somewhat similar position at Dover.</p> - - <p>The first floor is also divided into two main chambers by the - cross-wall, and each is shortened by the rooms cut off, from one at - the east, and from the other at the west, end. The great chambers are, - the north, 47 feet by 23 feet, and the south, 42 feet by 15 feet. The - north room was the <i>hall</i>. It was entered from the vestibule of - the forebuilding by a handsome main door, of 6 feet opening, near the - north end of the east wall. Close to it, in the same wall, is a second - round-headed door, which descends by ten steps upon the staircase of - the forebuilding. This door is evidently an insertion in the place - of a loop. A third and small door, segmental, opens into a narrow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">370</span> - mural passage leading over the middle gate of the fore-building, and - by a branch into the chapel. In the cross-wall, a door opens into the - south chamber, and near it is a deep round-headed recess, 5 feet from - the floor, perhaps a cupboard, and again a recess, 8 feet broad and 5 - feet deep, at the floor-level, possibly for a brazier of charcoal, but - without a flue. Near the east end of this same wall is a small window, - a Decorated insertion, and near it a segmental door, both opening - into the ante-chapel. The north wall is pierced by a gallery, 3 feet - 6 inches broad, of five bays, between each of which is a plain arch, - reducing the way to 2 feet 9 inches. Two of these bays have coupled - exterior windows, one pair square-headed, the other round-headed and - trefoiled, and on each cusp a disc, as in the recess at Coningsburgh, - producing a heavy effect. The fifth bay has a loop. Four of these bays - open by large arches, at the floor-level, into the great chamber, of - which this gallery thus formed a part. The eastern bay communicates - with the well-stair. It is groined, and its side towards the chamber - seems to have been partially closed, and there are three small shafts - which seem to have opened into the mural chamber below. They cannot be - for garderobes, and their use is obscure. This bay has a very handsome - window, of two lights, coupled, and the shaft common to the two is - worked in a rather remarkable fret or knot. These windows had shutters. - There is no trace of glass. The gallery, which is 62 feet long, has a - loop at its west end, and a rude opening, probably once a window, of - three small lights, near that end in the north wall. The north-west - aisle is occupied by a cylindrical shaft, 5 feet 6 inches diameter, - which commences with the floor-level, and is open like a fireplace. - At the roof-level it is gathered in with brick, and ascends as a - chimney-shaft. In its sides are four loops, in two tiers, besides six - small round-headed niches higher up, probably for the escape of smoke - and steam. At this end the gallery opens into a lofty vaulted chamber, - in the east wall of which an opening has been broken into the hall, - and in the south wall is a curious low segmental recess, of 10 feet - span and 3 feet rise, partly walled up, and in the upfilling some small - niches. The great height of this chamber, the vaulted roof, the shaft - and steam-holes at one corner, the niches round it, and its position - next to the hall, point it out as the kitchen.</p> - - <p>In the west end of the hall a door leads into a room corresponding - with the kitchen, to the south of it. This is 8 feet by 12 feet, and - has three niches in its west and two in its east wall. In its north - and south walls are arches of relief, like that of the flat recess - in the kitchen. The reason for these three arches, turned in three - parallel walls, is not apparent. Two of these might serve to direct - the weight of the wall above from the vault below upon the piers, but - the third is in the cross-wall, which is solid. The south room had a - timber roof, and was probably a sort of still-room, for light cooking - or pastry. Between these two rooms a door from the hall opens into an - <b>∟</b>-shaped vaulted passage, ending in a mural vault, 10 feet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">371</span> by 5 - feet, in the west wall of which are two loops and two double garderobes. - </p> - - <p>The roof of the hall was of timber, resting on six pairs of principals, - of which the corbels that carried the hammer-beams remain. Some are - carved as male or female heads, and one represents an animal. The pitch - of the gable is marked upon the east wall, across which, at the level - of the corbels, is a bold band of chevron work, and upon this rests a - window of 2 feet 6 inches opening, which gave light from an upper mural - gallery into the roof. In this gable a second opening, 7 feet wide, has - been made into the same gallery. This larger window cuts the chevron - band, descending somewhat below it. It was evidently an insertion to - give more light to the hall, and is opened on one side instead of in - the place of the small window, in order that it may be clear of the - forebuilding.</p> - - <p>The <i>south chamber</i> was entered from the hall by a doorway 5 feet - broad, placed in a large recess 5 feet deep. In the south wall are two - round-headed windows, trefoiled, with discs on the cusps, and between - them a fireplace and chimney-shaft have been inserted, probably during - the Tudor period. There is also a sort of cupboard in this wall, and - a door opening into a lobby 7 feet by 3 feet 4 inches, which opens - upon the south-west well-stair. In the east wall is a small door, - a Decorated insertion, opening into the chapel. In the north wall, - besides the door from the hall, are a cupboard and a small segmental - door, opening into a mural garderobe in the west wall. In the west - end are two small doors opening into mural chambers, each containing - a garderobe lighted by a loop. It will thus be seen that all the - garderobes are upon the west front, and there seem to have been others - in the battlements above them. The south chamber had a lofty open roof - like that of the hall, but high up in its west gable a window has been - opened as though to suit an added interior gallery or balcony at the - level of the room above the chapel at the opposite end. This window, - however, is the only indication of such an insertion, nor are there - any other windows or any traces of floor-joists, only below the window - are some joist-holes. This window is of two lights, lancet-shaped and - trefoiled. In the central spandrel is a peculiar ornament composed of - four loops, which outside are replaced by a small circle. This window - stands in a full-centred recess which may be original, but the window - itself is an insertion.</p> - - <p>Walled off at the east end of the chamber is the <i>ante-chapel</i>, 9 - feet by 13 feet, and vaulted. It is placed partly in the cross-wall and - partly in the south chamber. It has a door and window into the hall, - of which the latter seems an insertion. Also are seen a door and two - loops, of hour-glass section, in the opposite or south wall opening - into the chapel. In the east wall is a door, whence a narrow passage - leads upon the roof of the forebuilding over the middle gate.</p> - - <p>The <i>chapel</i>, which could be entered from the hall either through - the ante-chapel or round it by a mural passage, has but one original - door, which is in its north wall. A second door has been opened,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">372</span> in - the early English period, in the west wall. The chapel is 13 feet east - and west by 14 feet, and has a flat timber ceiling. The southern side - has a deep recess, let into the wall of the keep, and in it are the - remains of a triple window, probably formed of three loops. In the two - jambs of this arch are side recesses. High up in the north wall are - the two hour-glass loops from the ante-chapel. The chapel has been - much injured; but there are remains of a handsome arcade with detached - shafts upon the lower half of the west and north walls, and in the - south is what seems to have been a coupled window. In the east wall is - a handsome arch of 7 feet 6 inches span, with shafts in front of the - piers with carved caps. This opens into a sort of chancel, 5 feet deep - by 9 feet wide, with nook-shafts. It is vaulted, groined, and ribbed. - There is no boss, but about the intersection of the ribs is some rude - carving, from which a lamp seems to have been suspended. There is a - window to the east, now broken down, but which was probably composed of - three coupled lights, and in the south wall is a recess with a loop. - An attempt has been made, apparently in the Tudor period, to insert a - fireplace in the north wall.</p> - - <p>From the first floor the south-west well-stair leads to the roof - only; but the north-east stair, in its way to the roof, has two side - openings, of which the first, 2 feet 4 inches wide, leads by a narrow - passage up fourteen steps towards the ramparts of the vestibule tower. - This is now blocked by the inserted vault, with which that building is - covered in. Eight steps above this lower opening a second leads into a - gallery in the east wall. Above this opening, seventeen more steps lead - to the ramparts of the keep, which are 22 feet above the level of the - first floor. The eastern gallery is vaulted, and 32 feet long. From one - side of it a door enters the second floor of the forebuilding tower, - and beyond it, also in the east or outer side, is a loop. In the west - side are two openings, already described, which open into the gable - end of the hall roof. At its south end this gallery makes a turn at - right angles, and ends in a small bedchamber, 18 feet by 14 feet, which - is over the chapel, and has a window to the south. As the parapets - are gone, and the ramparts not accessible, the roof above the kitchen - cannot be examined; but there does not appear to have been any second - floor in that quarter.</p> - - <p>The <i>forebuilding</i> is a very perfect and a very good example of - this peculiar appendage to a Norman keep. It is composed of three - parts,—a lower staircase, an upper staircase, and a vestibule tower. - At its south end is the outer gateway, at the ground-level, in line - with the southern face of the keep. The portal is full-centred, and - flanked by two columns beneath a plain abacus, from which springs - the arch with a bold roll-moulding. There is no portcullis. The door - opened inwards, and was strongly barred. The wall is 6 feet thick, and - the vaulted passage through it, inside the doorway, is segmental and - groined. Within, the passage is 8 feet wide, and contains the lower - staircase of fifteen steps. In the inner face of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">373</span> wall, over the - doorway, is a large, deep recess, probably to lighten the weight on the - entrance arch. On the right or outer wall, high up, is a loop, and on - the left, at the fourth step, a large door, already mentioned, opens - into the southern chamber. It seems to be of late Decorated date, and - probably represents an original loop, or it may be a doorway. At the - head of this first staircase is the middle or second doorway, of 5 feet - opening, also full-centred, with flanking columns. The head, also, has - a bold roll-moulding. The wall in which it is placed is 4 feet thick, - and the landing 5 feet deep. The portal is recessed, and in the soffit - in front of it is an opening, 2 feet broad by 6 inches deep, a shaft or - <i>meurtrière</i> from the top of the wall, where is a walk. This seems - to have had high parapets, and a loop looking down the staircase. The - opening was for the defence of the portal. This door also was barred. - Within it rises the second staircase, in the same line, of nineteen - steps, 8 feet wide, and ascending to the upper and inner doorway, the - door of the vestibule. On the right is a second loop, on the left a - clumsy doorway ascending to the hall, already mentioned, and evidently - an insertion. The staircase is solid, containing no vault or chamber - below. It was roofed with timber, at two levels, of a low pitch, - divided by the wall of the middle gate, and leaning against the keep - wall. - </p> - - <p>The doorway at the stairhead much resembles those below. It is set in a - deep recess, has flanking shafts, and a roll-moulding round the head. - There is no portcullis. The doorway opens into a chamber 14 feet by - 15 feet, which is the vestibule to the main entrance of the keep, and - at the level of its first floor. It has two windows to the north, two - to the east, and to the south the staircase door and a window, which - rakes the exterior of the outer wall of the staircase. These windows - seem to have been of 12-inch opening, but have been enlarged. They are - placed in deep recesses, as in an arcade. In the west wall is the great - entrance—a noble archway—deeply recessed, and flanked with four shafts - on either side. The exterior arch is 10 feet span, the doorway itself 6 - feet. The plinths are unusually high, being 3 feet. The caps are fluted - and cushioned. The outer arch is full-centred, the actual doorway - segmental. The arch bands are worked in chevron and other mouldings. - Close north of the great entrance a plain narrow door opens into the - adjacent well-stair, but this is clearly an enlarged loop, which was - intended to light the staircase. The original covering of this room, - like its present floor, was of timber, but this has been replaced by an - ill-executed vault of the early Decorated period. It is arranged in two - bays, the dividing rib springing from pilasters let into the north and - south walls. Each bay is crossed diagonally by two ribs, springing from - corbels of half-octagon figure. The vaulting obscures and spoils the - old Norman details of this very handsome chamber.</p> - - <p>Below the vestibule is the ground floor, probably a prison, a mere pit, - 14 feet by 16 feet, and 21 feet high, aired by two loops very high up - in the east wall, and possibly by a third in the south wall.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">374</span> In the - west wall, the wall of the keep, is a lofty recess beneath the keep - entrance, within which a hole has been broken. At present this chamber - is entered by a door at the ground-level in the south wall, but this is - certainly an insertion. The original entrance must have been by a trap - and ladder from the vestibule floor.</p> - - <p>The second floor of the vestibule tower was 16 feet square, and had - four round-headed windows of 2 feet opening, now converted into - shoulder-headed windows. There are two in the north, two in the east, - and one in the south faces, each in a plain flat-sided recess, 3 feet - broad. In the west wall, where is the entrance from the mural gallery, - is a recess, 12 feet broad and 2 feet deep, above the grand entrance - of the keep. Its angle is replaced by a nook-shaft, the particulars of - which show that though the walls and the position of the windows are - original, the floor-level has been raised, and a fireplace inserted in - the south wall. Like the vestibule, this room has had its flat timber - roof replaced by a high-pitched vault in two bays, groined and ribbed, - and with a dividing rib. All the ribs spring from semi-octagonal piers - inserted into the old walls. This vault appears outside in the form of - a high-pitched roof. It is of the age of that below.</p> - - <p>The material of this keep is, in substance, flint rubble, coursed, - but it is faced largely with ashlar; and far more attention has been - paid to ornamentation than is usual with military buildings. The - forebuilding is faced wholly with ashlar, and richly ornamented. - Over the outer portal are broad bands of hatched and chevron work, - filling up an arcade of two arches, above which is a circle, with a - centre carved as a head. The south-eastern angle is occupied by a - nook-shaft. The east front, the wall of the staircase, is even more - richly wrought. Here are two arcades at different levels, corresponding - to the level of each staircase roof, and above is a line of circles, - with centres carved as heads. There is a notion that the mural passage - over the middle doorway ended in a postern high up in this wall, - whence a ladder could be dropped; but there seems no ground for this - improbable opinion. Had there been such a postern, the two loops on - the stair would have been arranged for its defence; whereas they are - too high up to be used, save for light and air. It is curious that - the forebuilding should be so much more ornate outside than the keep; - whereas at Dover and Rochester, where also it contained a chapel, - its outside is remarkably plain. The subordinate staircases, that - is, those at the two angles, are clumsily arranged, and there is no - arrangement by means of a landing to suit the steps to the level of the - floors supplied. No doubt the main stair was that chiefly in use. The - keep bears a close resemblance to that of Norwich, especially in the - position of its kitchen, north gallery, and chapel. The forebuilding - also is on the same plan. The arches generally are full-centred, though - a few of the doorways are segmental. Where the mural galleries are at - all expanded in breadth, and in the door recesses of the cross-wall - and of the outer entrance, the vaulting is lightly groined; and this, - which occurs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">375</span> also in the Tower of London and at Rochester, produces a - good effect, and takes off from the sameness of the barrel-vault. In - the kitchen are piled up a heap of fragments of carved stones found in - or about the castle. They are in all the styles—Norman, early English, - Decorated, and a few Perpendicular. Probably some came from the chapel - of St. Nicholas; many of them can scarcely have belonged to the keep. - If Castle Rising was built by the architect of Norwich keep, it must - be early Norman, for Norwich was besieged 1076, at the revolt of - Earl Guader, and Harrod supposes the present keep to have been then - standing; but the ornamentation of Castle Rising looks much later, and - on the whole there is no reason to refuse assent to the tradition which - attributes it to William d’Albini, who died 1176. As usual, there are - no subterranean chambers. Though the three doorways of the forebuilding - had not, as at Dover, each a tower, each had a distinct defence, the - outer from the battlement over the portal, the middle also from a - battlement pierced by a shaft, and communicating with the keep, and the - inner as a part of the vestibule tower.</p> - - <p>The <i>gatehouse</i> stands near the centre of the east side of the - keep ward, in the earth bank which has been cut away to allow it to be - built. It is 325 yards from the north-east angle of the keep, and of - the same age. It is of the usual Norman pattern, a rectangular tower - pierced by a passage, with an arch of 12 feet opening at each end, set - in the walls, of which the outer is 6 feet, and the inner 5 feet thick. - The arches are quite plain, without rebate or chamfer. The passage - between the two is also 12 feet wide and 13 feet long, and had a flat - timber roof, the floor of the chamber above, now removed. The outer - arch has a portcullis groove, 3½ inches broad by 4½ inches deep, and - square. In the north wall are two shallow recesses, of 4 feet span - by 1 foot 10 inches deep. In the south wall is one similar recess, - and a door of 2 feet 6 inches opening, which seems to have led into a - well-stair in the south-west angle of the building. In front of the - outer gateway the approach, 15 feet wide, lies between two walls, of - which the southern still projects 15 feet. They probably protected the - drawbridge, and between them was the bridge-pit. Beyond these walls - is the great ditch of the place, here about 80 feet broad and 30 feet - deep, crossed by a bridge in masonry, of two arches, of which the inner - one is walled up. The open arch seems of Tudor date, but the piers look - original. The outer end of the bridge rests upon the counterscarp of - the ditch, about the centre of the eastern ward.</p> - - <p>The gatehouse stood on the ground level, and, therefore, lower than the - curtain of the <i>enceinte</i>, which was built on the crest of the - earth bank. The original curtain, if one there was, as is probable, - is entirely gone, and has been replaced by a brick wall of the age of - Henry VII., also nearly all gone. Of this wall there remain, on the - south side of the gate, about 12 yards. It is 2 feet thick, but within - was lined by an arcade 3 feet thick, which carried the rampart walk, - as at Southampton. These arches are 8 feet span, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">376</span> four-centred, - with piers 3 feet broad, and within each arch or recess was a loop. - There remain three arches and a half. Besides this there is a fragment - of curtain south-west of the keep, and traces of foundations along the - bank.</p> - - <p>In the central ward, a few yards north of the keep, is a well, and - further north are the remains of the great chapel. This was composed of - a nave, choir or presbytery, and apse. The nave is about 12 feet broad - and 25 feet long. The arch into the presbytery was 5 feet broad, and - across it is the base of a stone screen with a door of 3 feet. There - was a south door and a north window. The font stood in the centre, - near the west end. The presbytery was 8 feet long by 9 feet broad, - with a loop to the south, and an arch of 6 feet opening into the apse. - The apse was rounded, and 8 feet broad by 9 feet long, and had loops - splayed internally to the north and east, and probably to the south. - It is said that the very early Norman font, now in the parish church, - came from hence. The masonry of what remains of this building is of - a rude character, and it is probably older than the keep. This is - supposed to be the chapel of St. Nicholas mentioned in the records. At - present its remains are niched into the bank, and it has the appearance - of being the older of the two, though this can scarcely be the case. - The sand of the bank is liable to be shifted by the wind, and as late - as the commencement of the present century the central ward was much - encumbered with it, and the keep more or less buried, so that this is - probably the cause of the half-buried condition of the ruins of the - chapel.</p> - - <p>The keep, chapel, and gatehouse are the only remains of Norman masonry - at present seen above ground. The inner ward must have contained - domestic buildings on a large scale, fit for the reception of royalty, - but the foundations which remain on the south of the keep seem very - late, probably of the Tudor period. They are said to be those of the - constable’s lodgings. There is no trace of masonry of any kind in the - two outer wards.</p> - - <p>The parish church, standing in the village of Castle Rising, is a fine - example of the late Norman style. Its west front, especially, is very - rich, and it has a good central tower. The chancel is rather later. The - font is very massive. Its square bowl is covered with carvings of an - early character, and it stands upon a plain cylinder, properly copied - from the original support. The bowl is said to have come from the - castle.</p> - - <p>Rising, or rather Snettisham, in which manor it is contained, was a - part of the estate of Edwyn, a Dane, and a follower of Canute. So says - Dugdale. In Domesday it is entered as a “bervite” of the manor of - Snettisham. “<i>Huic manerio jacet una bervita Risinga.</i>” It had - belonged to Archbishop Stigand, and, on his forfeiture, William gave it - to Bishop Odo, then Earl of Kent. After Odo’s fall, Rufus granted it to - William d’Albini, the royal “pincerna,” or butler, son of Roger, and - whose younger brother Nigel was ancestor of the great house of Mowbray. - The son of William was “William<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">377</span> with the Strong Hand,” the celebrated - Earl of Arundel, and Lord of Buckenham, in Norfolk, who married Adeliza - of Louvaine, the Dowager Queen of Henry I., and is the reputed builder - of the keep before 1176.</p> - - <p>Their son, a third William, died 1190, leaving a fourth William, who - died 1221, and whose eldest son, a fifth William, died childless in - 1224, when Rising came to his brother Hugh, who left four sisters, - co-heirs, of whom Cecily had Rising, and married Roger, Lord Montalt. - Their eldest son, John Montalt, died childless, and was followed by his - brother Robert, who died 3 Edward I., leaving Roger, who died childless - 25 Edward I., and Robert, who succeeded. This Robert de Montalt was - a very considerable person, both as a warrior and a statesman. He is - locally celebrated for the winning of a very important law-suit against - the corporation of Lynn for the tolls of that port and market in the - reign of Edward II. Having no issue, he, in 1 Edward III., sold the - reversion of Castle Rising to the Crown, for the benefit of Queen - Isabella, the “She-Wolf of France,” with remainder to John of Eltham, - the king’s brother. In 1331 Isabella came into possession, and here - lived in retirement to within a year of her death, which occurred at - Hertford in 1358. Edward, with his queen, here visited his mother, in - the fourteenth year of his reign.</p> - - <p>John of Eltham having died childless, the castle came to the Black - Prince, and became part of the duchy of Cornwall, and so descended to - Richard II., who exchanged it with John, Duke of Bretagne, who held it - in 1397, and occasionally resided there. It was afterwards recovered - by the Crown, and granted to Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, from - whom it passed to Edward IV., who again annexed it to the duchy, but - the castle was probably then in a ruinous state. In the time of Henry - VII. it seems to have been repaired. The roof of the keep was then - covered with tiles, with great gutters of lead. In the reign of Henry - VIII. it was again in decay, and the keep and gatehouse were roofless, - and it would seem that the constable’s lodging was the only habitable - part. Finally, the king exchanged the castle manor and chase of Rising - with Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, and in 1693 it came to another - Thomas Howard, ancestor of the Earls of Suffolk and Berks, one of whose - descendants still holds it. As late as the 31st of Elizabeth there was - a curtain-wall upon the bank which was in danger from the burrowing of - the conies, and there was also a gatehouse and a bridge 90 yards long - and 7 yards broad. Under the castle, by the tenure of castle-guard, - were held the manors of Hunstanton, Reydon, and the Wottons.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">378</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="GAILLARD">CHÂTEAU-GAILLARD, ON THE SEINE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">CHÂTEAU-GAILLARD, though a French castle, is here introduced as being - the work of an English king, and a very remarkable example of the - military architecture of the close of the twelfth century.</p> - - <p>Château-Gaillard, the “Saucy Castle” of Cœur-de-Lion, the work of one - year of his brief reign, and the enduring monument of his skill as - a military engineer, is in its position and details one of the most - remarkable, and in its history one of the most interesting of the - castles of Normandy. Although a ruin, enough remains to enable the - antiquary to recover all its leading particulars. These particulars, - both in plan and elevation, are so peculiar that experience derived - from other buildings throws but an uncertain light upon their age; - but of this guide, usually so important, they are independent, from - the somewhat uncommon fact that the fortress is wholly of one date, - and that date is on record. Moreover, within a few years of its - construction, whilst its defences were new and perfect, with a numerous - garrison and a castellan, one of the best soldiers of the Anglo-Norman - baronage, it was besieged by the whole disposable force of the most - powerful monarch of his day; and the particulars of the siege have been - recorded by a contemporary historian with a minuteness which leaves - little for the imagination to supply, and which, by the help of the - place and works, but little changed, enables us to obtain a very clear - comprehension of the manner in which great fortresses were attacked and - defended at the commencement of the thirteenth century.</p> - - <p>Château-Gaillard crowns the almost precipitous head of a bold and - narrow promontory of chalk, which, isolated on either hand by a deep - valley, stands out from the broad table-land of Le Vexin, at a height - of 300 feet above the deep and rapid Seine, which washes and has for - ages threatened to undermine its base.</p> - - <p>The course of the Seine through Normandy, from below the conflux of the - Epte to the sea, is one rapid succession of bold and graceful curves, - the concavities of which, bluff and precipitous, are attacked by the - advancing stream, in strong contrast to the opposite banks, which, - deposited and encircled by it, are low and fertile, and studded with - ancient villages, churches, and manor-houses, rising through a mantle - of rich, smiling verdure.</p> - - <p>At the bottom of one of the grandest of these reaches, on the margin of - a vast amphitheatre, stands the saucy boast of Cœur-de-Lion. Right and - left are the bold bluffs of the chalk range, masked with turf, green as - that of Sussex or Kent, varied by the occasional protrusion of a cliff - of chalk, and relieved by a band of vegetation covering up the foot of - the steep, and intervening between the high ground and the river. In - front, beyond the innumerable islands of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">379</span> the Seine, is the tongue of - rich low land known as the peninsula of Bernieres, a village, which, - with Toeni and Venables—names familiar in Anglo-Norman history—is seen - in the foreground. The valley on the right, or east, and immediately - below the castle, is that of the Gambon, upon which are the towns of - Great and Little Andelys; the former the birthplace—or within a mile of - the birthplace—of Nicholas Poussin and Brunel; the latter half-a-mile - lower down, upon the junction of the stream with the Seine, and - under the immediate command of the castle, and contemporary with its - foundation.</p> - - <p>Château-Gaillard is composed of two principal parts, the castle proper - and the outwork: the one covering the whole head of the promontory, the - other occupying the only level ground, being the root of the ridge, - from which the fortress could be attacked on equal terms.</p> - - <p>The castle proper is composed of a keep; an inner ward, of the - <i>enceinte</i> of which the keep forms a part, and which has its own - ditch; and an outer ward, within which the inner ward is placed, the - two uniting, or nearly so, at the north end. This division of the - fortress is therefore concentric. The outwork, in advance of the ditch - of the outer ward, has a ditch of its own, and presents its salient or - strongest part towards the south. - </p> - - <p>The keep is a tower of which one half, in plan, is round, and the - other projects into the ward as a right angle, or spur—a form of tower - well known in French castles. It is 48 feet in diameter, or 55 feet - taken at the spur. The walls are 11 feet thick, at the spur 18 feet, - and the circular interior is 26 feet. At this time it is composed of - a basement and a first floor; nor does there appear to have been a - second below the ramparts. In the basement is one window towards the - west, or exterior, and a rough aperture towards the east, or the inner - ward. There are marks as though this had been a door of 4 feet 6 inches - opening; but if so, it was doubtless not original. This keep is not - likely to have had an entrance on the ground floor.</p> - - <p>The first floor has two windows towards the west, and a door to the - north. The windows being on the cliff side, and inaccessible, are - moderately large. They are of two lights, flat-headed, beneath an - equilateral arch. Their internal recesses are slightly pointed. The - doorway, also flat-headed, occupies the space of a window-light. In - the other space is a loop, commanding the approach. Both are beneath a - round-headed arch, the tympanum being closed.</p> - - <p>There are neither mural chambers nor a staircase within the keep. The - floors and stairs were of wood. There is no fireplace, nor visible - garderobe, and no well. The spur is solid.</p> - - <p>The exterior is very peculiar. The lower two-thirds batters - considerably all round, so as to add strength to the base, and cause a - missile dropped from above to be projected outwards upon an assailant. - About half-way up this slope there commences from corbels a series of - buttresses, which expand laterally as they rise,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">380</span> but have vertical - faces. They are, in fact, machicolations, but commencing low down; and, - like ordinary machicolations, are connected by a series of arches, - carrying the parapet, behind which was a passage for projectiles, - as, for example, at Avignon. These exaggerated machicolations give a - considerable increase of space to the top of the keep, but they are - confined to its inner two-thirds, the outer side being sufficiently - secure without them. As the upper part of the keep has been removed, - the arches are gone, and only the buttresses remain. One of these - defences overhung the entrance.</p> - - <p>From a curious representation of the castle in stone in the church - of Great Andelys, there is evidence that the keep was surmounted by - a second and smaller tower within the rampart walk, and this again - by another within that, rising like the tubes of a telescope. These - probably were of timber.</p> - - <p>A narrow flight of steps, commencing at the ward level, and carried up - the outside of the keep, ascended, with two turns, to the entrance. - Part of this narrow and dangerous staircase remains. There are also - traces of a lean-to building on the east side of the keep, probably an - addition.</p> - - <p>The material of the keep is flint rubble, grouted in a copious bath of - mortar, and faced inside and out with ashlar. The stones are about 1 - foot 6 inches long by 6 inches high, and are a hard and durable variety - of chalk, with occasional flints. The material is probably local. The - workmanship, though plain and without ornament, is good. The joints are - moderately open, enough to admit an ordinary lead-pencil.</p> - - <p>The inner ward is something of the shape of the human ear, the keep - standing in the west or hollow side, and the lobe being to the north or - north-east. This ward measures about 200 feet north and south by 100 - feet east and west. Its <i>enceinte</i> wall is one of the curiosities - of the castle. It is in girth about 500 feet. Of this the keep, a round - tower, and an intermediate building, occupy about one-third on the - north-west quarter, and the remaining two-thirds includes some plain - wall, a gateway, and seventeen segmental buttresses of 9 feet in the - chord, placed upon the curtain 3 feet apart. The wall, about 8 feet - thick, is plain within. By means of this arrangement great strength was - given to the wall, and a series of flanking defences provided on the - only face on which the ground admitted of any attack being directed. - This part of the wall was probably about 30 feet high, and stood upon - a vertical scarp of about 20 feet more. The battlements are gone, so - that it does not appear how the wall was crested. A wall similarly - buttressed, and of rather earlier date, existed at the Castle of - Cherbourg, and there is something a little like it at Caerphilly.</p> - - <p>The keep has already been described. It stands in the line of this - <i>enceinte</i>, on the west side, which it protects. Annexed to the - keep, on the north side, and also a part of the <i>enceinte</i>, is - a rectangular building, probably the lodging of the castellan. It is - about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">381</span> 30 feet wide, and 40 feet long, having a basement excavated in - the chalk rock. It is of two floors, with fireplaces and segmental - arches, and has an appendage on the north, perhaps for offices. It has - windows in the curtain looking over the cliff towards the river. Stairs - from hence descend to the postern, and the keep stair lies between this - building and the keep. - </p> - - <p>At the northern point outside of, but engaged in, the wall, is the - foundation of a round tower, now included in a square bastion, - belonging rather to the outer ward than to this.</p> - - <p>The postern is common to this and the outer ward, or rather at this - point the two run into one, and the postern pierces the common wall. It - is a narrow door having a flat top supported by two brackets, and above - a round-head arch with closed tympanum. It opens in a re-entering angle - of the wall, covered by the bastion, and upon the scarp, so that it - must have been reached by a shifting bridge or ladder, the arrangements - for working which seem indicated by some recesses for bars just within - the portal. There is no portcullis; the defence was a barred door. The - cill of this postern is about 30 feet below the base of the keep. It is - reached by steps cut in the chalk rock, and but little worn.</p> - - <p>The great gateway of this ward opens in the curtain to the east, - and had a gatehouse almost entirely within the wall. This gate is - considerably below the level of the ward. A steep descent leads to - it, and the portal vault has three hanging ribs or arches, with a - portcullis inside them, with a square groove. The inner half of the - portal is gone; probably there was a second vault and portcullis, and - an open space between. The face of the porter’s lodge is gone, but the - lodge is seen to have had a plain segmental vault. Outside the gate is - a curious square groove as for a portcullis, but it is stopped, and - does not descend below the springing level of the gate arch.</p> - - <p>This gate opens upon the ditch. The base of the scarp-pier of the - bridge remains. The counterscarp has tumbled in. There was, probably, - a central pier in the ditch. The present bridge is not original. The - approach to this gate left by Cœur-de-Lion was a causeway, formed by - leaving the rock uncut. It was over this causeway that the inner ward - was stormed and taken.</p> - - <p>Just within this gate was a well 270 feet deep, now blocked up.</p> - - <p>Outside the <i>enceinte</i> is the ditch, about 20 feet deep, and - 30 feet wide at the gate, and along the south front, with vertical - sides, but running out to nothing on the steep ground as its ends pass - northwards.</p> - - <p>This ditch is, in fact, in the <i>outer ward</i>, which envelopes the - inner ward. This ward is oblong, about 325 feet north and south, and - 200 feet east and west. Its northern half is of an irregular oval form, - following the rock, and terminating in two large rectangular conjoined - bastions upon the precipitous north end. The southern half is nearly - rectangular; having a straight south face 125 feet long, flanked by - two drum towers. From these pass off the lateral curtains, forming the - east and west front, and ending in two other drum towers, of which - that to the east, nearly opposite the inner-ward gateway, is gone. The - curtain, from this tower northwards, is also gone. On the opposite or - west side it is a mere parapet, cresting the precipice and following - its outlines. From the manner in which the inner ward is placed in - this ward it occupies nearly all its northern end, but leaves to the - south a platform, outside the ditch, of about 140 feet by 100 feet. - Here is a rectangular foundation, about 40 feet broad by 60 feet long, - and divided lengthways by a wall. Its length is north and south, but - here is said to have been the chapel, probably built across one end. - It was the work of King John, placed upon a substructure of cellars, - and in close contiguity to the castle garderobe in the west wall. - “Juxta foricas, quod quidem religioni contrarium videbatur,” says the - chronicler. The end walls and the east side are faced with ashlar, but - there is now nothing like a chapel. Here, however, it appears to have - been, and its roof was visible above the wall. These foundations are - interesting, since it was here, through a window in the contiguous - wall, that the ward was entered and surprised during the great siege.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i382"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">382</span> - <div class="caption">PLAN OF CHÂTEAU-GAILLARD.</div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_382.jpg" alt="" /> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>A. Inner Ward and Keep.</li> - <li><i>a.</i> Postern.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>B. Middle Ward.</li> - <li><i>b.</i> Cellars.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li><i>b′.</i> Chapel.</li> - <li>C. Outer Ward or Ravelin.</li> - </ul> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">383</span></p> - - <p>No regular gateway remains in this ward. There is an opening in the - south curtain which led to the great outwork, but which could scarcely - have been the regular entrance. Neither could this have been on the - west or north fronts. Probably, therefore, it was to the north-east, - where the wall is now wanting. It is said not to have been opposite the - inner gateway. At best the approach must have been little suited to - wheel carriages. There was a well in the east quarter of this ward.</p> - - <p>Mention has to be made of some curious chambers cut in the chalk of - the escarpment of the ditch, from which at this time they are entered. - There are three or four of these, about 80 feet in length and 7 feet - high. They are carved with a sort of rough regularity, with pilasters - left against the wall, and bands representing segmental arches. One - large octagonal pier has a cap and base, and the latter has the - water-bearing hollow of the Early English style, and is evidently - original. It is probable, from what is said of these places in the - account of the surprise of this ward, that they had a door towards the - ditch, but they seem to have been also entered by a round hole, 4 feet - across, in the roof, as was the case with the dungeons at Coucy.</p> - - <p>The outer ward has its proper ditch, cut with vertical sides across - the ridge in front of the south wall, between it and the rear of the - outwork. This ditch is about 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep, but runs - out to nothing when it reaches the steep ground.</p> - - <p>The outwork, ravelin, or outer ward, is an antemural work, intended to - cover the only side upon which the castle was open to an attack from - level, or rather rising, ground, and to occupy what would otherwise - have been a very dangerous platform.</p> - - <p>It is in figure an isosceles triangle, having a base of 125 feet, and - sides of 175 feet. Each of the three angles is capped by a round tower - of 35 feet diameter, having walls 11 feet thick, and which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">384</span> seem to - have been at least 40 feet high. Besides these, in the side walls, - 60 feet in rear of the front tower, are two subordinate towers, also - round, of 25 feet diameter; and again, a few feet from these, the - curtain is slightly bent, so as to present an obtuse salient to the - field. The work, therefore, though in general plan a triangle, has - really five angles and as many towers. The front tower has a well-stair - at its junction with its western curtain. The curtain is much broken - down, but must have been at least 30 feet high, and, near the front, - about 12 feet thick, and elsewhere 8 feet.</p> - - <p>The rear or gorge wall is not exactly a curtain to the flanking - towers. It is placed a little outside of them, on the edge of the - ditch; and between it and the east tower was the gateway, the special - and independent entrance of the outwork. The north side is gone, but - the other side shows the springing of the portal arches and a square - portcullis groove. In this gorge wall, not far from the gate, is a - large arch, corresponding to that already mentioned in the outer-ward - wall. This was, no doubt, a way of communication between the castle - and the earthwork. This ditch was crossed by a wall at the east end, - which connected the two works and protected the bridge. The west end is - filled with ruins. There are now no traces of buildings in the outwork.</p> - - <p>The towers of the outwork are of great strength, and have been faced - with ashlar. The front tower especially is strong, and does not appear - ever to have been mined or breached. Also the rock beneath it is - undisturbed. Possibly the breach spoken of at the siege was in the - adjacent curtain on the east.</p> - - <p>In the rear of this work is the ditch already described, and along its - front and flanks is another ditch, proper to the outwork, and the most - formidable of all the defences. It is above 30 feet wide, and at the - advanced point, where the ground rises, above 40 feet deep. The scarp - and counterscarp are vertical.</p> - - <p>Besides these regular works are others of a less regular but very - formidable character, on the west side. This face of the rock towards - the Seine, steep naturally, has been scarped and defended by art. - Half-way down the slope is a round tower, connected, it is said, with - the work above, by a gallery cut in the chalk. From the tower a wall - descended to the river, so that the approaches on this side and the - road between the hill and the river were effectually commanded. This - wall seems to have terminated on the river bank, in a pier of which - traces remain, and which supported one end of a strong dam or weir of - piles, which extended across the river, and was part of the original - work of Cœur-de-Lion. Several other works were stepped into the rocky - slope, and especially covered the west side.</p> - - <p>The weir crossed above the island, called formerly D’Andelys, upon - which was the octangular fort, erected also by Richard, and of which - traces remain. The bridges from this island, either way, to the banks, - were of timber, and have left no trace behind.</p> - - <p>Finally are to be mentioned the fortifications of the lesser Andelys, - now destroyed, and the lake, fed by the waters of the Gambon, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">385</span> - which washed the walls of Great Andelys, and completely enveloped the - lower town. These additional defences are now destroyed and the lake is - drained and filled up, but indications remain sufficient to verify the - detailed description of Guillaume le Breton, and to justify M. Deville - in his description, and M. le Duc, in his restorations, advanced under - the excellent articles “Château” and “Donjon” in his “Dictionary.”</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHRISTCHURCH">THE CASTLE OF CHRISTCHURCH, HANTS.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE town, castle, and priory of Christchurch are placed upon the - south-eastern point and edge of a tongue of moderately-high ground, - which intervenes between the Stour on the west and the Avon on the - east. The two rivers of Dorset and Wilts meander like their prototype,</p> - - <div class="center-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i0">“. . . . toties qui terris errat in isdem,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <p class="noindent">and flow across broad and marshy tracts of land to unite below - Christchurch in a spacious inlet of the bay which is formed, and on - the south-east protected, by the headland bearing the suggestive - name of Hengistbury. The position is thus strong and convenient: - unapproachable, by reason of the marshes, on the east and west; - presenting to the north a narrow and defencible front, and placed upon - a harbour in former days very suitable for small vessels, sheltered - from the prevailing west wind, and having a narrow and easily-guarded - entrance from the adjacent channel. Such a position was not likely to - be neglected by any people, even in the rudest age, and accordingly the - Britons seem to have fortified the headland: and those who drove them - out not only gave to that headland its present name, but, finding the - inner position better suited to their habits, fortified it with bank - and ditch, and within the area so enclosed threw up the usual mound, - or burh, the ordinary indication of the residence of an early English - chieftain.</p> - - <p>The remains of the British period are confined to the double banks - and ditches, which still crown the headland, and to the names of the - rivers, which there unite. Of a British town or church, Aberdour, as - such would have probably been called, no traces are to be found.</p> - - <p>The earliest mention of the place in Anglo-Saxon records is in the - Chronicle in <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 901, where it is recorded, that on the - death of Alfred and the succession of Edward the Elder, Æthelwold, - his uncle’s son, seized the vill at “Winburne and that at Tweoxneam,” - but on Edward’s marching to Badbury, and threatening an attack on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">386</span> - Winburne, now Wimborne, he fled into the North. This statement is - repeated by Florence of Worcester, with the additional information that - Tweoxneam was a royal vill. The place, under its better-known name of - Twyneham, occurs in a charter by Athelstan, dated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">387</span> April 23rd, 939, in - which, among other lands, he, the “king wielding all Britain,” gives - to God and St. Mary, to St. Michael, St. Sampson, and St. Branwaladre, - lands on Avene at Twynham. The character of a royal vill was long - sustained, and from Domesday it appears that it had belonged to the - Confessor and did then belong to King William. Long before that time, - however, a religious house had been founded there, and the canons of - Tuinham, or of the Holy Trinity of Thuinam, appear in the Survey as - tenants-in-chief. The foundation was probably an early one. Twynburn, - or Winburn, on the same Stour a few miles higher up, was founded - before 705, and Wareham before 876. In the Confessor’s time, there - were twenty-four canons and a dean; and in the reign of Rufus, the - latter post was filled by Ralf Flambard, who is said to have rebuilt - the college, which was practically re-founded by Richard de Redvers, - Earl of Devon, in the reign of Henry I., and whose son, Earl Baldwin, - obtained the conversion of the seculars into regular canons of the - order of St. Augustin. The mill is recorded in Domesday. In all these - transactions there is no mention of the castle.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i386"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_386.jpg" alt="" /> - <ul class="small"> - <li>A BURH AND KEEP</li> - <li>B HALL-HOUSE</li> - </ul> - <div class="caption">THE CASTLE OF CHRISTCHURCH.</div> - </div> - - <p>The castle, however, though possibly not a structure in regular masonry - until a century later than the Conquest, was certainly a burh long - before that event, and probably at least as early as the ninth century, - preceding, no doubt, and being the cause of, the vill, or collection - of houses. It stands upon the right or west bank of the Avon river, - immediately below the ancient bridge which carries the high road across - it. Its eastern front stands about 16 yards from the river, and rises - out of, and forms, the bank of the Mill Leat, which intervenes between - the castle and the Avon. The leat commences about three quarters of a - mile higher up, and terminates at the ancient Priory Mill, now called - “Place Mill,” 500 yards lower down, where, having started from the - Avon, it falls into the Stour. As there seems to have been but one - mill, it is to be supposed that the lay and spiritual lords were in - accord upon the very interesting topic of multures. At any rate, it lay - with the former to cut off the supply of water.</p> - - <p>The area of the castle was roughly rectangular, about 110 yards - north and south, or parallel to the river, and 150 yards east and - west,—dimensions which include the ditch, now filled up, but of which - there are indications, with a breadth of 20 yards, along the north - and west fronts, now Castle and Church streets. The line of the ditch - along the south, or Priory, side is not traceable. The old Priory wall - is wanting there, and the ground has been levelled and cultivated as - a garden for above a century. Probably the ditch communicated at each - end with the mill-stream, and was filled from it, involving at the - deepest part not above 12 feet to 15 feet of excavation. No doubt there - was a bank within the ditch, thrown up from it, and which has since - been employed to fill it up. On the water front no earthworks were - necessary. The leat is 25 feet broad, and the river expands suddenly - below the bridge to 130 feet in width.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">388</span></p> - - <p>In the highest and north-western quarter of the space thus enclosed is - the burh, attributed by Norden, with great probability, to Edward the - Elder, after the suppression of the rebellion of Æthelwald in 901. This - is an oblong mound, wholly artificial, and composed of chalk-gravel. It - measures about 160 feet north and south by 150 feet east and west, and - has a table summit about 120 feet by 90 feet; it is about 20 feet high. - This mound and base court, with the circumscribing bank and ditch, - and the watercourse, with, no doubt, a strong palisade, formed the - original fortress, which, side by side with the Priory, afforded to the - contiguous town temporal and spiritual protection. Here, upon the old - site, Richard de Redvers, having before obtained a grant of the manor - from Henry I., erected a castle such as was then in use. He walled in - the area, placing probably his curtain along the crest of the bank and - upon the edge of the mill leat. His keep he built upon the mound, and - the hall and domestic buildings upon the line of the wall, along the - edge of the water. He is said also to have walled the town. The masonry - remaining is but scanty and confined to some fragments of the keep and - the hall-house, both of which appear to be original.</p> - - <p>The keep is peculiar both in position and in its details. It is, or - has been, rectangular, and it stands upon the summit of the mound. It - is very unusual, for obvious reasons, to find rectangular keeps placed - upon artificial earthworks. At Guildford, where this appears to be the - case, it is only partially so, the tower being built on the slope of - the mound so that at least one half of it descends to the solid. It is, - no doubt, possible that here, the mound being of but moderate height, - the foundations may be laid below it; but more probably this is not the - case, and the engineer trusted, and securely, to the immense breadth - of his masonry to spread the weight and thus avoid unequal settlement. - Usually, when keeps are erected on artificial mounds, they are of the - shell type, as at Arundel.</p> - - <p>This keep is also peculiar in its details. It was a rectangular - tower, 50 feet north and south by 46 feet east and west. Its walls - were fully 11 feet thick. There are no traces of pilasters, and the - angles are chamfered off, the face of the chamfer being about 6 feet. - At present only the east and west sides are standing, to a height of - nearly 30 feet, and it is difficult to make out from them what were - the arrangements of the building. In the west wall is one opening; on - the east are two, flat-sided, 8 feet wide, about 18 feet high, and - descending to the ground-level. They are closed above by very flat - segmental arches—in fact, plat-bands—relieved by obtusely-pointed, if - not round-headed, arches of construction in the work immediately above - such details, so far as they can be seen or inferred. The low and - large openings, the chamfered angles, and the absence of pilasters are - utterly unlike what is usual in a Norman keep; though, from the great - mass and general figure of the building, it can scarcely be other than - Norman. Mitford, in Northumberland, though differing in detail from - the present tower, differs quite as much from the ordi<span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">389</span>nary type, and - that certainly is of Norman date. The work of this keep is a sort of - coarse ashlar, rough, but of good quality. Perhaps more details might - be discovered but for a thick drapery of ivy, which, in this stage of - its decay, serves to protect the building.</p> - - <p>The hall, called the Constable’s House, is a rectangular building, 80 - feet north and south by 35 feet east and west, placed on the margin of - the leat, and rising out of it, so that its broadside forms a part of - the outer line of defence towards the east. At present it is detached - and stands alone, but it probably ranged with the curtain wall, of - which, however, there are now no traces. There seems to have been a - building connected with its south-west angle.</p> - - <p>The building was composed of a basement and a first floor. At each - end was a high-pitched gable, of which the southern only remains. - The walls are 5 feet thick, and the interior dimensions therefore 70 - feet by 25 feet. The basement is at the ground level and about 1 foot - above the top water of the leat, the height of which is regulated by - hatches. The entrance from the castle was in the west side, 16 feet - from the north end. The doorway, of 5 feet opening, seems to have had - a segmental head, but the ashlar has been roughly removed. In the two - ends were loops: that to the south has long been closed. In the east - side, towards its north end, are two loops. All these loops are mere - rectangular slits, evidently intended for air, not defence. Each is - placed in a splayed recess, 4 feet 6 inches wide, with a segmental - head. Also in the east wall, 4 feet from the south end, is a similar - recess, opening into a small door, which led into the garderobe turret. - Next, north of this, 12 feet from the south end, is a door opening on - the water, 7 feet wide, with a very flat arch, evidently original. The - jambs are of ashlar, and they have capitals of a peculiar character. - This was evidently the watergate for the admission of stores from - the river, here a few yards beyond the leat and a few feet below it. - The garderobe turret is a projection, 12 feet square, from the east - wall at its south end, standing in the leat, and pierced below by a - round-headed arch, or culvert, 4 feet broad, through which the water - flows freely, and into which the garderobes discharged. This basement - was evidently a store. It is said to have been crossed by a wall. Of - this there is now no trace.</p> - - <p>The first floor contained the hall, which occupied its whole area. The - main entrance was at the south end, near the south-west corner, by a - segmental-headed door; in the north wall is a window of two coupled - lights, each under a segmental head, with exterior drips, and the whole - placed within an exterior round-headed recess, the sides of which - contain flanking shafts, nooked. Above, not quite over the centre, - is a corbel carved as a human head. The arch-head and tympanum are - highly enriched with varieties of the chevron moulding, and upon the - chamfers of the lesser drips are rosettes carved with great delicacy. - Though heavily draped in ivy, enough is seen of this window to show - that it is late Norman, and of great beauty. There are windows similar - in type, but less rich in ornament, in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">390</span> side walls, two in each, - and probably there were three, indicated by notches in the ivy. In - the east wall, 20 feet from the north end, are the remains of a large - fireplace, of which the convex back and the upper part of the circular - tunnel remain, and above is a tall cylindrical chimney-shaft, probably - original. A door from the south end of this wall led into the garderobe - turret, which had a loop to the east. There is also a round-headed - window in the south gable, which opened into the roof. There was no - vaulting; the floor and roof were of timber, the latter open.</p> - - <p>The view in Grose, taken in 1783, shows the garderobe turret to the - full height of the side wall, and the great chimney-shaft unincumbered - with ivy. It also shows the north-east angle unbroken, within which - was then contained a well-stair. This angle has now fallen away or - been removed, and its broken parts are so encumbered with ivy and - rubbish that nothing has been ascertained as to what may remain; but - no doubt the staircase ascended from the basement to the main floor - and thence to the roof or to the ramparts of the curtain. In Grose’s - time, the north wall was encumbered by a cottage and some chimneys and - other additions in brick; these have now been removed. The garderobe - turret was wilfully pulled down when the castle changed hands towards - the end of the last century. There is a letter in the <cite>Gentleman’s - Magazine</cite> complaining of this, and which possibly put a stop to - further injuries.</p> - - <p>It is remarkable that a building closely resembling this is found at - Desmond’s Castle, at Adare, near Limerick. That castle is late Norman, - with a rectangular keep, though not on a mound, as the ground is - naturally high; and just below the keep, upon the bank of the river, - is placed the hall-house. It has a basement on the ground level, - evidently a store, with a separate entrance, and above is the hall, - with a boarded floor and open roof. The garderobe turret is built out - into the stream, has a culvert below, and is nearly perfect. The keep, - hall-house, and gate-house are there preserved, and if, as is probable, - the entrance at Christchurch was near the river at the foot of the - bridge, the relative position of the buildings would be the same. An - excellent plan of Desmond’s Castle will be found, with much else of a - valuable character, in Lord Dunraven’s “Memorials of Adare.”</p> - - <p>Christchurch Castle has not been the scene of any remarkable event, - nor does its name occur with any prominence in the history of the - country, or even of the county. The manor was first alienated from the - Crown by Henry I. in favour of Richard de Redvers, whom he created - Earl of Devon. In the “Monasticon” (vi., 304) is printed a grant - or confirmation by this earl to the canons of Christchurch of the - “Terram usque in aquam de havene, quæ est inter cimeterium et fossatum - castelli, messuagium supra ipsius castelli fossatum, quod habent ex - dono Gamelini.” This is the first mention of the castle, and would make - it earlier than 1137, in which year Earl Richard died. As the masonry - of the castle looks twenty or thirty years later, the allusion may be - to the earthworks, or older castle;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">391</span> and the present building may be - the work of Baldwin, the second earl, who granted a charter to the same - effect with that of his father, confirming lands between the churchyard - and the ditch of the castle (<i>ibid.</i>, vi., 303). Earl Baldwin died - 1155. In the rolls of Parliament, mention is made of John Randolph, - a former justice, as having been warder of the castle in the time of - Henry I. Baldwin’s son and successor was Earl Richard, who confirmed - his gifts, and died 8 Henry II., 1161, leaving Baldwin, the fourth - earl, who died childless, and was succeeded by his brother Richard, - fifth earl, who also died childless. The heir was William, called De - Vernon, sixth earl, brother of Richard, the third earl, and uncle to - the two last earls. He flourished during the reigns of Richard I. and - John. Probably during these transitions the Crown stepped in as custos, - for in a plea before the Curia Regis, in 1194, a certain Roger Waspail - affirms that seizin of certain lands was given to him by Earl John “in - werra sua dum fuit in Castello de Cristescherche.” A little later, - when Earl William was in possession, the king (2 John) confirmed a - settlement made by William de Vernon, Earl of Devon, by which Plympton - Castle, the caput of that honour, was to pass to his elder daughter, - and Christchurch and the Isle of Wight to Joan, the younger. John was - at Christchurch, either the priory or the castle, December 13, 1201. - Probably this deed was drawn up before the birth of Baldwin, the earl’s - son, or when it was supposed that Baldwin would die childless. As it - was, it did not take effect, for though Baldwin died before his father, - he left a son, Baldwin, seventh earl, who was also Earl of the Isle of - Wight.</p> - - <p>In 1210, 11 John, the king was again at Christchurch, on his way - from Clarendon to Canford. Baldwin died 1245, leaving a son, another - Baldwin, eighth and last earl of the House of Redvers. He died 47 Henry - III., 1262–3, and is described as Baldwin de Lisle, Earl of Devon, and - he died seized of the manor of Christchurch. It appears from the “Testa - de Nevile” that he held that manor “de veteri feoffamento,” by what - service is not recorded.</p> - - <p>The earl’s heir was his sister Isabel, who married William de Fortibus, - Earl of Albermarle, who died in 1260. Isabel succeeded to the whole - estate, with the reversion of Christchurch, which was held in dower by - Countess Margaret. Countess Isabel died before 1269, leaving one child, - Aveline, who married Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III. She died - childless, having inherited Christchurch on the death of the Countess - Margaret in 20 Edward I., in which year she also died, having granted - or bequeathed Christchurch and some other parts of the earldom to the - king, by whom, in 1299, 27 Edward I., the “Castrum de Cristeschurche de - Twynham cum burgo et Manerio de Westovre et Hundredo de Cristeschurche” - were assigned as part of the dower of Queen Margaret. These - possessions, as part of the earldom of Devon, were claimed, in 1315, - 8 & 9 Edward II., by Hugh de Courtenay, as heir-general of Countess - Isabel, but without success. The castle descended to Edward III., who - placed Thomas West in it as custos.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">392</span></p> - - <p>In his third year, the king granted to Sir William de Montacute, - afterwards Earl of Salisbury, the castle and borough of - Christchurch-Twynam, the Manor of Westovre, and the Hundred of - Christchurch. The earl died so seized, and his will is dated at - Christchurch-Twynam, 20th April, 1397. With the exception of a short - forfeiture by Earl John to Henry IV., the castle remained in the - Montacutes until Earl Thomas, who died in 7 Henry V., and left it to - his daughter and heiress, Alice, who married Richard Nevile. Probably - it was regarded as a male fief, for in 32 Henry VI. was a grant of a - lease for twelve years of the manor, borough, and hundred, to Richard, - Earl of Salisbury, in right of the Lady Alice, his wife, at the rent of - a red rose. The leasehold appears to have been extended, and eventually - converted into a freehold, as the Christchurch estates were held by - the son of Richard and Alice, the king-maker Warwick, and descended - to his elder daughter and co-heir, Isabel, who married George, Duke - of Clarence. Their son, Edward, Earl of Warwick, held Christchurch - till his forfeiture and death, after which (5 Henry VIII.) his estates - and the title of Salisbury were allowed to his sister Margaret, - executed 1541, and who at her death or forfeiture held the manor, - castle, borough, and hundred of Christchurch, which then escheated - to the Crown. It is by descent from Countess Margaret, through her - granddaughter Catherine Pole, that the inheritors of the Hastings - baronies are now claiming the chantry erected for their Plantagenet - ancestress in the priory church. They, no doubt, are the heirs-general; - the heir male is the Earl of Huntingdon.</p> - - <p>From Henry to James, Christchurch remained in the Crown. The latter - sovereign granted it to trustees for the benefit of Prince Charles, - whence it passed by sale through various hands, and finally was - purchased by Sir George Rose in 1790. It is now the property of Lord - Strathnairn.</p> - - <p>The Priory buildings stood to the south of the church, and but - scanty traces of them remain. There are considerable fragments of - the containing wall to the south and east, and the fragments of two - mural towers and the gateway. On the low ground on the Stour to the - south-west, on the edge of the wet land called “<span class="smcap">QUOMPS</span>,” are - traces of a large fish-pond. Beyond the mill are the “convent meadows.” - On the corbel shields terminating the drip-stone of the west door of - the tower, are, dexter, what appears to be a “cross patonce” for de - Fortibus; and, sinister, Montacute quartering Monthermer.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">393</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CLIFFORD">CLIFFORD CASTLE, HEREFORDSHIRE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">CLIFFORD CASTLE is the most westward of the fortresses by which the - line of the Wye is protected in its passage across the county of - Hereford, and which appear to have been constructed, some long before, - some shortly before, and others shortly after, the Norman Conquest, for - the defence of that fertile acquisition against the ever-aggressive - Welsh of Brecknock and Radnor.</p> - - <p>As early as the first quarter of the ninth century, the Saxons, under - Egbert, had reduced Wales to a nominal subjection. And that great - prince, having conquered Mercia, and exercising power over all England, - is not unlikely to have strengthened the Mercian frontier and the Saxon - acquisitions generally on the Welsh side; and to this period may be - due, not improbably, such earthworks as those at Cardiff, Caerleon, - Shrewsbury, Old Radnor, and Builth, and, now partially destroyed, - at Hereford, and wholly so at Worcester: earthworks which, in their - main features, resemble those thrown up early in the tenth century at - Tutbury, Tamworth, and Leicester by Eadward the elder and his sister, - Æthelflæd.</p> - - <p>But, whatever may then have been done, it is very certain that during - the reign of the Confessor several of his Norman favourites settled - in England, and that, among them, Richard Fitz-Scrob had lands in the - north of Herefordshire, and there set up and gave name to Richard’s - Castle. As this castle was a great cause of offence, it probably was - something different from the fortified timber houses of the English - Thanes, and may well have been of stone, after the rising Norman - fashion. It was certainly a place of considerable strength, and was - useful during the invasion of Prince Griffith, in 1052. The fashion, - probably, did not extend among the English, for when the same prince - invaded Archenfield, and burned Hereford city, in 1055, he entered, - apparently without much difficulty, the strong place, or Gaer, by - which it was defended, and of which no doubt the banks and ditches, - yet remaining, and the mound, known to have been removed, were parts. - Harold retook and fortified the city in 1056.</p> - - <p>Herefordshire was at that time, and long afterwards, one of the most - valuable and most threatened of the English acquisitions on the Welsh - border. Before the Norman Conquest, it was under the vigorous sway of - Earl Harold, who beat back the Welsh from Rhuddlan to Gloucester and - Chepstow, although he was unable to prevent Caradoc ap Griffith from - destroying the hunting-seat in course of construction for the Confessor - at Portskewet. That Harold encouraged fortified places on these - marches is pretty certain, seeing that of the small number of castles - recorded in the Domesday Survey no less than ten are named as standing - in the marches of Monmouth and Hereford: namely, Wigmore, Clifford,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">394</span> - and Chepstow, of which Wigmore is reputed one of the oldest Honours - in the kingdom; Monmouth; Ewyas, founded before the Conquest, and - repaired before Domesday, by Alured de Marleburgh; Avretone; Caerleon, - famous for its Roman walls and its mount; Ferrars Castle; Herdeslie; - Waterleye. These and several others not mentioned in the Survey, but - existing at the time, were strengthened and held by the Norman invaders.</p> - - <p>Clifford Castle stands on the right bank of the Wye, at the bottom of - one of those short, sharp bends so frequent along the course of this - river, and which add so much to its beauty. It crowns a red sandstone - cliff about 150 feet above the stream, and close to it. The scarp, - naturally steep, has been recently made steeper by art, to allow of - the passage of the Brecon and Hereford Railway between the castle and - the river. The cliff is part of a knoll of high ground, about half a - mile long, and cut by the long-continued action of the river into a - semilunar figure. The highest part of this knoll is converted into a - narrow tongue by a broad and deep ravine, which descends from the north - nearly parallel to the Wye, and terminates in the river bank. A long, - tapering ridge is thus isolated between the ravine and the river, and - upon this stands the fortress. The ravine bounds the ridge on the south - and east, and a natural depression of no great depth crosses the latter - at the broad north end. The intermediate part is traversed by two - artificial cross ditches, which run from the river to the ravine, about - 100 feet deep, but still considerably above the level of either.</p> - - <p>The central and highest part thus isolated contains the inner ward; - south of this a very small but strong division constitutes the outwork; - and on the north is the lower but broader expanse of the outer ward, - the three being thus in a line.</p> - - <p>The inner ward, of which alone any buildings remain, is roughly - quadrangular, about 100 feet square. Along the west or river front are - the hall and withdrawing-room. On the south front is a half-round tower - and a curtain. The east, or ravine, side is destroyed to the ground - level, as is nearly all the north end, in which was the gate-house. - The hall, 20 feet by 40 feet, was on the first floor. There was a - store or cellar under it, of which the east and south walls are gone. - Its entrance, and any light it may have had, were probably given on - the court or east side. The hall had a timber floor. It was lighted - by three windows in the west or river wall. Of these, the recess of - one remains, with a rather low, pointed arch. A door in the north wall - led into the withdrawing-room, and one at the south end into the mural - tower. The east and south walls are gone. The withdrawing-room occupied - the curved angle of the ward between the hall and the gate-house; - beneath it was a ground-floor. The south end of the hall, like the west - side, was an outer curtain. It abutted against a half-round tower, 30 - feet diameter, with walls 9 feet thick, and a gorge wall, 5 feet thick, - flush with the inner face of the curtain. This tower seems to have had - an under ground-floor, now filled up. The basement has a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">395</span> door from the - court, in the gorge; another door on the west side, probably a postern, - and two loops with wide recesses, opening towards the field. The upper - floor also had two loops to the field, a window in the gorge, and on - each side a door, one leading obliquely into the hall, and the other - into a mural chamber within the curtain, and containing a garderobe, - double. The floors were of timber. There is no staircase nor fireplace.</p> - - <p>The curtain breaks off towards the south-east angle, where it seems to - have expanded and probably abutted against a tower. In it is a mural - chamber, a garderobe, single, on the first floor level, and which - evidently opened from the destroyed tower. The two garderobes mentioned - open by oblique shoots in the wall, about 5 feet from the ground, - without any projection. As the whole east or ravine front is gone, - it is difficult to say whether there were towers at the south-east - and north-east angles; probably there were, and round ones. In the - north front are two circular depressions, evidently the place of the - two towers of the gate-house, and between them is the entrance. This - leads from the outer ward, and crossed the ditch upon a causeway of - earth, about 6 feet broad at the top, and the ascent up which from the - counterscarp of the ditch to the portal is very steep. The causeway - appears to be original, and has been pitched with stones on edge. At - the end of this ditch, where it opened on the river bank, it is crossed - by a curtain, 6 feet thick, intended to prevent enemies from crawling - up the river bank and surprising the adjacent gateway. This curtain is - now about 6 feet high, and probably was 25 feet or 30 feet.</p> - - <p>The outwork, south of the inner ward, and divided from it by a very - narrow but deep ditch, is not easily to be explained. It is the - extremity of the ridge, of a triangular figure, 60 feet on a side, - and level, showing no trace of earthwork or masonry of any kind. The - three scarps are very steep indeed, and quite sharp and clean cut, the - soft rock being covered with excellent firm turf. This outwork is so - dangerously near to the inner ward, and at so high a level, that it - must have been occupied, probably by a stockade or timber structure. It - is a very curious work.</p> - - <p>The outer ward, at the north end or root of the ridge, is 60 feet or 70 - feet lower, and much broader than the inner ward. Its defence on the - south is the cross ditch, over which passes the causeway to the inner - ward; on the west is the river-cliff, 80 feet to 90 feet high; and on - the east and north a steep scarp, partly of red rock, partly rivetted - in masonry, and from 10 feet to 20 feet deep. Beyond it is the upper - part of the ravine, and the natural depression connecting the ravine - with the river bank. This ward is something between a square and a - circle, and about 300 feet in diameter. It has evidently been defended - by a curtain, probably a low one, on the east and south, or exposed, - sides, and the ground, usually level, rises in a sort of ramp to what - appears to be the remains of the wall. This ramp is wanting on the - river and south faces, which, being covered by the river and the river - ward, were probably palisaded only. About the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">396</span> centre of the east front - is a low mound, apparently the foundations of a round mural tower.</p> - - <p>The depressed ground in the centre of the south front indicates that - the outer entrance was there; and midway between this and the causeway, - leading to the inner ward, are two long heaps of earth and stone with - a passage between them. They much resemble the remains of a long - gate-house, between the outer and inner gate; but if so, this must have - been in the middle of a wall dividing the outer ward into two, of which - no trace remains.</p> - - <p>This outer ward, never very strong, was evidently intended for the - reception of villagers and cattle during the inroads of the Welsh. The - earthworks, though deeper and broader than the Normans usually gave - to so small a fortress, have nothing of the character of British or - Saxon work, and are probably not older than the Conquest, or the reign - preceding it. But of the existing masonry none can be safely called - Norman. The walls are of inferior and rudely-coursed rubble; no ashlar - remains, save a bold cordon or bead, which runs along the top of the - lower or battering part of the wall, and this is not carried all round. - The arches of the mural tower are flat-pointed. On the whole, the - general appearance of the buildings points to the reign of Henry III., - and none of it seems of older date. Certainly no decidedly Norman work - is seen.</p> - - <p>The ditches were substantially dry, though they may have received and - retained more or less land-water.</p> - - <p>At the base of the slope of the outwork the ravine has been deepened - for a rectangular pond, probably a fish-stew, and an early drawing - shows water here collected.</p> - - <p>Looking from the inner ward upon the river, there is plainly seen, just - above the castle, the line of the old mill leat, now a green ditch, and - the small eyot upon which must have stood the castle mill. A ripple on - the river, here somewhat expanded, shows a ford; and opposite, on the - edge of a broad expanse of low, level mead, is the village of Cabalva, - said in Welsh to mean a horse-ford. Thus is seen at one view the cliff - and the ford which, under the Saxon sway, gave its appellation to the - parish, and from which one of the most celebrated of the great English - families derived its name.</p> - - <p>Clifford, though the cradle of a great race, could have been valuable - only while Herefordshire was an unsafe possession. With the settlement - of the country under Edward I., it probably fell into disuse and decay. - It is far too small and too inconvenient of access to be held, except - for safety; and such history as it has is confined to a very early and - warlike period.</p> - - <p>The castle is reputed with Striguil or Chepstow, Ewyas, and Wigmore, - to have been founded by William Fitz-Osborn, one of the companions - of the Conqueror, and the first Norman Earl of Herefordshire. He was - killed in 1070, and his third son, Roger de Bretuil, who succeeded to - his English lands, had forfeited them before the Domesday Survey, when - the castle was held by Ralph de Toni, who, by Dugdale, is said to have - married Alicia, one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">397</span> Roger’s daughters. However this may have been, - he possessed Clifford Castle at the time of the Survey, and died 1102.</p> - - <p>How the castle passed from De Toni is unknown, but here Simon, son - of Richard FitzPons, was seated, and founded a priory, and he and - his brother Richard are said by Dugdale to have adopted the surname - of Clifford. Walter de Clifford, son of Richard, was a great Marcher - Baron, and living in 1165. His son, Walter the second, was a still - more powerful Baron. He died 1222, having married Margaret, daughter - of Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, and was father of a third Walter, and of - Roger, ancestor of the great house of Clifford, Earls of Cumberland. He - may well have been the builder of the existing castle.</p> - - <p>Walter, who died 1263, closed the elder line. Maud, his heiress, is - said to have married, first William de Longspée, Earl of Salisbury, - and, second, John Giffard, of Brimmesfield, who held, probably during - her life, Brunless Castle, the manor of Glasbury, and the manor and - castle of Clifford, being seized of them at his death, 27 Edward I. - Maud’s daughter by Longspée married Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, and - probably upon her mother’s death she obtained her heritage, for in the - inquisition held upon De Lacy and his wife, 4 Edward II., the manor and - castle of Clifford are included. The castle had probably now ceased - to be of importance, for it does not again occur in the inquisitions. - It is not usually regarded as having been the caput of an Honour; but - Giffard’s inquisition mentions its tenants by knights’ service, and - John de Solars, 4 Edward II., holds Paunteleye manor of the “Honour of - Clifford,” in the county of Gloucester, which in those days was not - always distinguished from other parts of the march.</p> - - <p>The Church of Clifford throws no light upon the architecture or owners - of the castle. The tower, of considerable size and solid aspect, may be - moderately old, but the rest of the building has been rebuilt in the - churchwarden manner prevalent in 1836, the roofs, however, having been - preserved. Also, from the old building, are preserved a good coffin-lid - cross in a circle, placed most unwisely as a cill to the north door; a - font, or rather the octagonal bowl of one, probably of Decorated date; - and in the chancel, loose on a shelf, a very fine life-sized effigy of - an ecclesiastic, robed and tonsured, boldly designed and excellently - executed in wood, and which deserves better care.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CLITHEROE">THE KEEP OF CLITHEROE, LANCASHIRE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE castle of Clitheroe, the chief seat of an ancient and extensive - honour, though one of the smallest, is perhaps the strongest, the - oldest, and from its position one of the most remarkable,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">398</span> of the - fortresses of Lancashire. It is placed upon the left, or eastern, bank - of the Ribble, here the boundary between Yorkshire and Lancashire, - three quarters of a mile from the stream, and about 130 feet above - it. It occupies the summit and upper part of a limestone crag, which, - precipitous in parts, and very steep on its northern flank, falls, - according to the dip of the rock, less steeply towards the south or - south-west. Hence, the northern point was selected for the keep and - upper ward, and for the lower ward and approaches the shoulder and - slopes upon the south. The Roman way from Manchester, by Skipton to - York, ascends the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">399</span> dale about half a mile east of the rock, which could - scarcely have been neglected as a military post by any people who held - the district in other than very peaceful times. The town of Clitheroe - has sprung up at the foot of the rock upon the north-east.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow83" id="i398"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_398.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>The keep stands within, but close to the east side of, a small rounded - area of about 80 feet by 90 feet, contained within a curtain wall, - which skirts the edge of the rock. This curtain is 6 feet thick, 12 - feet high inside, and from 14 feet to 20 feet outside. The circuit, - which has, no doubt, been complete, is broken for about 70 feet on the - southern side. This is the breadth of the neck by which the upper ward - was united to the lower, and the curtain at each end of the gap is - extended southwards and south-eastwards down the steep to include the - latter. Thus, what is wanting is none of the exterior<span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">400</span> curtain, only - the interior and cross wall between the two wards. The open space is - a steep of rugged, broken rock. Probably there was a cross wall and - doorway above, and a narrow flight of steps leading to it from below.</p> - - <div class="figcenter90" id="i399"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_399.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>The keep is of rough rubble masonry, with ashlar quoins and dressings. - It has neither plinth, set-off, nor string, and preserves its exterior - dimensions to the summit. Each angle is capped by two pilasters of 9 - feet breadth by 11 inches projection. They unite at the angles, which - are solid. The two southern angles are supported by extravagantly-large - low buttresses, of modern addition, but it is said they were preceded - by buttresses somewhat similar, though of much slighter character.</p> - - <p>The keep is 33 feet square and about 43 feet high. The walls are 8 feet - thick at the base, and consequently enclose a chamber 17 feet square. - This is the basement floor, and at the ground level. It is 9 feet high, - and the floor, which covered it above, and is now gone, rested upon - nine beams, and was therefore immensely strong. The north, south, and - west walls are each pierced by a loop, set in a round-headed recess, - 5 feet broad and 5 feet high to the springing. Two of these loops - have been converted into open breaches, and the third, to the north, - has been walled up and the recess covered with a flat lintel. This - floor must have been entered from the room above by a trap and ladder. - It was, as usual, a store, the value of these strong small towers - depending upon their being well provisioned.</p> - - <p>The first floor rested upon a set-off of a foot, and is therefore 19 - feet square, with walls 7 feet thick. It is 23 feet high. It has in the - north and south walls small square-headed loops, placed in round-headed - recesses of 4 feet 6 inches opening. In its west side, close to the - north end, is a doorway 2 feet 10 inches broad and 8 feet high, - round-headed. In the north wall, on each side the loop, is a door. One - of these, flat-topped, of 2 feet 6 inches opening and 6 feet high, - leads through a small mural lobby, 4 feet 8 inches by 3 feet 2 inches, - into a well-stair, 7 feet diameter, which occupies the north-east - angle, and commencing at this level, ascends to the battlements by - fifty-four steps. The other door, of 2 feet 11 inches opening, 8 feet - high, and round-headed, leads by a passage bent at a right angle and - having a barrel vault, into a plain mural chamber, 7 feet by 5 feet, - also barrel-vaulted, and which, no doubt, had a loop in its west wall. - This wall, however, is now broken away, so that the chamber has much - the aspect of an entrance-lobby, which it certainly was not.</p> - - <p>The second, or uppermost, floor rests upon a set-off of 2 feet, and is - therefore 23 feet square, with walls 5 feet thick, and at present 11 - feet high. Singularly enough, it shows no trace of any wall-opening - whatever, as though it had been added in modern times for effect only, - which, however, does not appear to be the case. The staircase, however, - has certainly been repaired, and no doubt originally opened into this - floor. The wall at the interior angle is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">401</span> thickened somewhat to give - space for the stair. The walls may have been a foot or so higher, but - scarcely more. The parapet is gone, and was probably another 5 feet. - The north-east angle seems to have ended in a small square turret.</p> - - <p>The principal entrance was evidently on the first floor, in the - east wall, reached by an external stair built against the wall, and - ascending from the south end. This is clear from the position and - dimensions of the doorway, and from the absence of a loop on this side - of the basement, where it would have been covered by the staircase.</p> - - <p>The small door of the west wall of the same floor seems to have led - upon the rampart of the adjacent curtain, here only 11 feet from the - keep. There is such a door at Arques and at Rochester, and also at - Helmsley and Adare. This keep contains no fireplace nor garderobe, nor - ornament of any kind.</p> - - <p>The lower ward has been so altered for domestic purposes, and is so - built over, as to be very obscure. It was at least eight or ten times - the area of the upper ward, and descended 280 feet down the slope, with - an extreme breadth of 150 feet. The modern dwelling-house is built upon - the south-east curtain, and no doubt represents, and probably contains, - part of the old domestic buildings. Buck gives a view of the southern - front of this ward, and shows a large round tower upon one of the - angles not now seen.</p> - - <p>A convenient ascent skirts the foot of the west curtain, or rather of - the cliff upon which it stands, and enters at the upper end of the - lower ward, just below the keep. This, however, is probably modern. The - old way seems to be represented by the road from the town, which rises - on the other or eastern side.</p> - - <p>About a furlong to the south of, and much below the castle is a steep - straight bank of earth with an exterior ditch, probably an outwork - covering the foot of the hill.</p> - - <p>The castle is the property of the Duke of Buccleuch, whose steward for - the Honour of Clitheroe resides here, and allows visitors to enter the - keep unchallenged. The chief rents and royalties of the Honour are - vested in the Duke, and are said to be valuable. All is neatly kept, - and is in as substantial repair as becomes a ruin; but his Grace’s - most commendable zeal does certainly a little obscure the fabric it - preserves, and it is to be regretted that the new work was not made - more clearly distinguishable from the old.</p> - - <p>The name of Clitheroe, though evidently old, and said in part to be - British, does not occur in Domesday. Whittaker is of opinion that the - place is included in Bernulfeswic, now Burnoldswick, a parish about - six miles north-east of the castle, and that it is referred to as the - Castelry of Roger of Pictavensis or of Poictou. It is stated that “in - Bernulfeswic Garnel held twelve carucates, paying geld to Berenger de - Todeni. The manor is in the Castelry of Roger the Poitevin.” Usually - Roger is identified with the Castle of Lancaster, but at that time - Lancaster Castle was not built, and that lordship did not belong to - Roger. Roger was a large tenant in chief<span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">402</span> in the shires of Chester, - Derby, Notts, and Lincoln. In Yorkshire and Lancashire he then held - but little. The mesne lord, De Todeni, was one of the family who had - Belvoir; Dugdale says, the son of Robert de Todeni, who built it. He - does not again appear in connexion with this part of England.</p> - - <p>Roger is thought to have granted the fee to Roger de Buisli, from - whom, or from Albert Greslei, it came to the De Lacys of Pontefract, - lords of Blackburnshire, of whom Robert de Lacy is said to have held - it under De Buisli. This De Lacy, whose history belongs to Pontefract, - is the reputed founder of Clitheroe keep in the reign of Henry I., and - certainly the building is not of later date. From that time Clitheroe - shared with Pontefract the honour of being the seat of the De Lacy - power, and so remained until their estates merged in the earldom and - duchy of Lancaster, and this again in the Crown. The founder probably - also endowed the chapel of St. Michael within the castle, probably - in the lower ward, and which is mentioned in the reign of Henry I. - A claim, however, to represent this chapel is set up for the parish - church, though this building could never have been within the castle.</p> - - <p>Clitheroe, like other strong places in Lancashire, was held for the - king in the Parliamentary struggles, and in 1649 the castle was ordered - to be dismantled.</p> - - <p>Charles II. granted the castle and honour to General Monk, whose son, - Christopher Duke of Albemarle, left it to his wife, Lady Elizabeth - Cavendish, who again left it to her second husband, Ralph Duke of - Montague, from whom it has descended to the present owner.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CLUN">THE CASTLE AND BARONY OF CLUN, SHROPSHIRE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE church, village, and castle of Clun are situated near the centre - of a spacious amphitheatre of lofty but fertile hills, the summits - and upper slopes of which are covered with young and luxuriant - plantations, while in the lower parts are occasionally single trees, - chiefly oak, elm, and beech, of vast size and great age, the reliques - of an ancient demesne, and still standing out and to be distinguished - amidst the denizens of the hedgerows, which, though often of large - size, all belong to the period of enclosures and cultivation. Across - this rich and smiling land, amidst hamlets, churches, manor-places, - farmhouses, and cottages, with frequent orchards and gardens, green - pastures and root crops, and waving corn-fields, the river Clun pursues - its sinuous course, giving life and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_403">403</span> fertility to the scene, which, - indeed, is throughout imbued with an aspect of peace and—perhaps rather - indolent—prosperity.</p> - - <p>The ancient forest of Clun covered a large tract of upland, extending, - with a radius of about five miles, to the north and west of the seat - of the barony. Its border is that of the county of Salop, and runs - along the elevated ridge which, from Bishop’s Moat, on the east, to - Castell-cefn-fron, on the west, divides that county from Montgomery, - and the water-shed of the Clun from that of the Hafren or Upper Severn. - From this latter river the ridge is distant about five miles, and the - intervening country is mountainous and broken. The natural division - is, in part, strengthened by an artificial work, known as Saeson bank, - and placed considerably to the west of Offa’s Dyke, which, here very - perfect, runs north and south about three miles west of Clun, and thus - bisects the forest and the barony. Which of these earthworks is the - earlier is doubtful, but probably the Dyke. Connected with the Saeson - bank, and at right angles to it, are two short spurs, the age and - object of which are not very evident.</p> - - <p>The forest was never very thickly wooded in its upper and more exposed - parts, but that it was always scantily inhabited is evident from the - fact that it contains but one parish church, that of Mainstone, which - stands on the very line of the Dyke, about six miles north of Clun, on - the edge of a small brook—the Ffridd. From its singular position may be - drawn the inference that it is later than the Dyke.</p> - - <p>The water-courses of the forest contribute to form four rather - considerable streams, which finally unite to become the river Clun, - which thence descends eastwards down a deep and rather narrow valley, - by Clunton, Clunbury, and Clungunford, to Leintwardine, where, after a - course of about twelve miles, it joins the Teme, the river of Ludlow, - and of Tenbury.</p> - - <p>The Barony of Clun, called also the Honour and the Hundred, was more - extensive than the forest, and included lands of a more settled - character to the east and south. Obley, Pentrehodre, Hobendrid, - Hobbaris, Larkenhope, Eileston, and Manulton, were members of the manor - of Clun, which was co-extensive with the Hundred; and in the “Welshery” - attached to it were the hamlets of Aderdely and Bickton, Hodicote, - and Newcastle. It appears, in the twelfth century, to have contained - five vills and sub-manors, the borough town of Clun, and the manor of - Tempsett. Clun was also an ecclesiastical centre. Its noble parish - church of St. George was set over the chapels of St. Thomas of Clun, - St. Mary of Waterden, St. Swithun of Clunbury, St. Mary of Clunton, St. - Mary of Opperton, and the chapels of Edgton and Sibdon. The whole were - attached to the great abbey of Wenlock. Many of these chapelries have - become independent parishes, and the Hundred of Clun has disappeared as - a county division, being absorbed in that of Purslow. In 1837, 8,600 - acres of the old forest were enclosed by Act of Parliament, and in - 1869, 1700 more.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">404</span></p> - - <p>About a furlong below the point at which the collective waters from the - forest combine to form the Clun, that stream, there of considerable - volume, makes a sharp and sudden bend, in the hollow of which, upon its - left or convex bank, is placed the castle. The space thus partially - enclosed and protected by the river is about 600 yards in length, and - is occupied by a cluster of knolls or tumps of a soft, friable rock, - which has been carved and scarped for the purposes of defence, so as - to present, with its decomposed and grass-grown surface, much of an - artificial aspect. Amongst these knolls stands out one higher and of - even a more artificial appearance than the rest. It forms a conical - mound, about 40 yards in diameter at its table top, with very steep - sides, and in height above its surrounding ditch about 60 feet; and the - ditch, again, is about 30 feet above the bed of the river. The ditch - covers the mound upon its southern and eastern sides, but to the north - and west the slope descends direct to the river level, presenting a - very formidable appearance. The more exposed part is further protected - by three works in earth, beyond the ditch; of which the larger, to the - south-west, is of irregular figure, and about 40 yards deep by 70 yards - broad, having four irregular sides, of which the inner is concave, - and forms the counterscarp of the main ditch. Towards the river this - platform is scarped towards the mound and the adjacent platform; its - protection is a ditch, about 7 yards deep by 16 to 18 yards broad. The - top is level, save that along the edges of the three outer sides is a - narrow bank—a sort of parapet, on which was probably a stockade. At one - point, where the platform approaches the mound, is a small spur, as - though the ruin of the pier of a bridge, and which was evidently the - main entrance to the keep or principal mound. The road to this bridge - ascended the platform from the village on the south.</p> - - <p>To the east of this is a second platform, of the same height, and about - 14 yards deep by 30 yards broad, its larger face being concave, and - applied to the main ditch. Its top is level, and has no trace of bank - or parapet.</p> - - <p>The third earthwork, of no great size, stands to the east of the keep - mound, and abuts upon its ditch to the west, and on the river to the - north. These two sides are prolonged, and the fork or hollow angle - between them is occupied by a depression, formerly a large pool, having - a sluice-gate towards the river. Between the bank of this pool and the - southern platform is a ditch, which seems to have been used as a hollow - way leading to the river front of the mound.</p> - - <p>Between the mound and west platform and the river are two lunated - patches of meadow about 90 yards deep, the one 70 yards and the other - 140 yards long; they were probably employed as a safe pasture in - ordinary times for the garrison cattle, which, in case of attack, could - readily be taken up the platforms, or driven along the castle ditches - into the precincts of the town.</p> - - <p>Such are the earthworks as they are now seen, and in general features - much, no doubt, as they were seen when the Norman Picot<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">405</span> took - possession of his dangerous grant. They belong to the class known as - burhs, or moated mounds, and date from the ninth or tenth century. By - whom they were thrown up, or, rather, carved out, is unknown; but it - may safely be asserted that they represent the chief residence of one - of those Englishmen who invaded and settled upon the Welsh territory, - and whose duty it was to defend the western and often-attacked border - of the Mercian kingdom. The occupant of such a position must have been - a bold and powerful leader; though whether he lived before or after the - formation of Offa’s Dyke is doubtful. Possibly a careful examination - of the Saeson bank ridge, where it is crossed by the Dyke, might throw - a light upon this point, and the researches should extend to Crugyn - or Castle Hill, on Bishop’s Castle racecourse, to Bishop’s Moat, - Caer-din, Tomen, Castell-cefn-fron or Bryn Amlwg, and some other camps - and tumuli on each side the border. Besides these are others, both - camps and tumuli, and a remarkable upright stone or maenhir within the - forest, all, no doubt, of British date. It must be borne in mind that - Clun, though an exposed part of the Mercian territory, was covered to - the north-west and north by the English settlements along the Upper - Severn, of which there are ample traces from Kerry to Welshpool, on - both sides of the Dyke. Looking at the extension of the barony of Clun, - westward of the Dyke, to a natural boundary, it seems probable that the - barony was founded when the Dyke was no longer the Mercian border, and - the English had pushed their settlements up the valley of the Severn. - This also would be more consistent with the figure of the earthworks - of Clun and of the adjacent district, which resemble those thrown up - by Æthelflæda and Edward the Elder early in the tenth century, and of - which Wigmore is a recorded example.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i404"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_404.jpg" alt="" /> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>A. Great Mound.</li> - <li>B. Little Mound.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>C. Keep.</li> - <li>D. Second Platform.</li> - <li>E. Third Platform.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>F. The Pool.</li> - <li>G. Ditches.</li> - </ul> - <div class="caption">THE CASTLE OF CLUN.</div> - </div> - - <p>The position and estate of Clun, like those of many similar domains in - England and within the Marches, were at once taken possession of by - the Norman followers of the Conqueror, and held by Picot de Say as a - military fief dependent upon Roger de Montgomery at Shrewsbury. Whether - De Say or his immediate successors fortified the mounds with masonry - after the manner then coming into use in Normandy, or whether they - contented themselves with such defences, probably of timber, as they - found ready to hand, is not known, but if they had at once built a keep - and walls in the Norman manner, it is exceedingly improbable that no - trace of works usually so substantial should even now remain, and still - more so that they should have been decayed by the middle of the twelfth - century, which is probably the date of the older part of the masonry - now standing, and which it will be proper next to describe.</p> - - <p>The <i>Keep</i>.—This is a large rectangular tower built on the lower - edge and up the eastern slope of the mound, and therein resembling - Guildford. Its dimensions are 42 feet north and south by 68 feet east - and west, and the walls at the base are about 11 feet thick, and rise - to about 6 feet at the summit. It is of three stages; the first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">406</span> - resting on the basement, with its sill about 5 feet below the top - level of the mound. The floors are of timber, resting upon sets-off in - the side walls. The whole tower is about 80 feet high, its base being - about 30 feet above the river. The west wall is entirely gone. The two - eastern angles are capped each by two pilasters, 14 feet broad and - 1 foot projection, meeting at a solid angle, and carried up without - break or diminution to the summit, where they may have supported square - turrets. The eastern curtain, between them, has a battering base, and a - plain cordon at the first-floor level. The walls are perfectly plain, - of coursed masonry, the stones probably hammer dressed; but, being - of a perishable character, they are much blistered and decayed. The - basement, 40 feet by 45 feet, has a floor about 20 feet above the outer - ground level, now covered up with rubbish. There is a small window to - the south, and a small square air-hole to the north, high up, as from a - dungeon. In the same side, near the middle, is a full-centred doorway, - 2 feet 2 inches broad, once closed by a stout door, and opening upon - the slope of the mound. It leads into a passage 3 feet 6 inches broad, - which entered the chamber, but had on its left a mural staircase of - sixteen steps, which led to the first floor. Many of the steps remain, - but the inner wall, and most of the hanging arches of the vault, are - gone.</p> - - <p>The first floor, 23 feet by 45 feet, had two windows to the south, one - to the east, and to the north two, with a fireplace between them. The - windows are broken into mere apertures, but the recesses are 5 feet to - 6 feet broad. The fireplace has a round back and a vertical tunnel. The - hood is broken away. There are no mural chambers, but outside, on each - face of the eastern angles, are two sham loops.</p> - - <p>The second floor has also five windows above, rather larger than those - below, and a fireplace in the same position. In each jamb of the east - window recess is a small door, which, by a passage, leads into a mural - chamber in the two eastern angles. Each, on each of its two outer - faces, has a small window.</p> - - <p>The third floor has two windows to the north, one to the east, and - two to the south, but here the position of the fireplace is between - them. From the east window recess are two passages, opening into two - chambers, each with two small windows above those of the second floor. - The second floor was the stateroom, and the third apparently bedrooms - belonging to it. The staircase may have been in the west wall. Of - the window recesses, some have arches obtusely pointed, others are - segmental. No doubt there was a door in the west wall, opening from the - mound. The recesses of the windows of the second and third floors had - each an ashlar rib, the only sort of ornament now visible. The keep, - though of large size and substantially built, suffers in appearance - from the badness of the material, its rough workmanship, and the very - sparing use of ashlar in its details.</p> - - <p>The summit of the mound was encircled by a curtain wall, of which the - upper part of the keep formed a part, so that with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">407</span> rectangular - seems to have been combined a sort of shell keep, a most unusual - arrangement. Of this shell there remain two fragments; one, a - considerable one, towards the north-west, is composed of two nearly - half-round towers, or rather bastions, with their converse faces - outwards, and a short curtain connecting them, which seems to have - been the end of a hall, and to contain some later insertions. The - bastions are, no doubt, later than the keep. The other fragment is to - the south-west, about 12 feet long by 6 feet thick, and 20 feet high. - This also formed part of the general <i>enceinte</i>, but connected - with it is a small circular mound, thrown up on the edge of the greater - one, and wholly artificial. It is about 21 feet across at the top, - and 12 feet to 13 feet high, and possibly carried a small tower; near - it a depression seems to indicate the position of the well. The whole - surface of the mound is rough and scarred, as though the area had been - covered with buildings, as at Tamworth, and of which the foundations - had been dug up.</p> - - <p>The entrance to the mound could only have been on the western side - ascending from the south-west. All the other sides are absolutely - impracticable, and this has been so cut about that every vestige of a - road is gone. On the platforms are no traces of walls. They may have - had gatehouses of some sort, but the outer defences were probably - always of timber.</p> - - <p>The greater part of the borough, town, or rather village of Clun, is - placed to the east—that is, in the rear of the castle; but there are - houses on both banks of the river, which is spanned by an ancient - bridge of five ribbed arches, with recesses above over the projecting - piers. In this direction, a furlong from the castle, is the fine and - mainly Norman church of St. George, with a western tower, strong - enough to stand a siege, and in pattern resembling those of More and - Hope-Say. About a hundred yards beyond or south of the church is a very - remarkable ravine, natural, but which has, at that point, been scarped, - and the earth thrown inwards to form a bank. This ravine commences some - way above the church, and, becoming deeper and more steep, conveys a - considerable brook into the Clun, a little below the town. This ravine - adds immensely to the strength of the place.</p> - - <p>Clun is a borough by prescription, having two bailiffs and a recorder. - Recently it possessed a Hundred court for the recovery of small debts, - and a court leet. The bailiffs also held a civil court. The Fitz-Alan - charter, recognising its prescriptive rights, dates from the reign - of Edward II. In the town is an ancient almshouse, founded by Henry - Howard, Earl of Northampton, in 1614; and below it, upon the river, the - traces of a very considerable millpool, now dry.</p> - - <p>Clun is entered in Domesday as held by Picot. Edric had held it. Picot - held large possessions (twenty-seven mansions) in the then Hundred of - Rinlau, besides Conodovre, Basecherc, and Lentevrde, under Earl Roger - de Montgomery. It appears from Mr. Eyton’s researches that Picot was - a to-name, and that the grantee,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_408">408</span> as Robert de Say, with Adeloya his - wife, and Robert and Henry, his sons, is named in a charter relating - to St. Martin of Seez, of the probable date of 1060, and is there - described as “Robertus de Sai qui cognominabatur Picot.” Sai was a vill - near Exmes, the chief seat of the Norman viscounty of Earl Roger, who - was the patron of the house of Seez.</p> - - <p>That which in 1060 was a cognomen, in 1086 had become a nomen. In 1074 - Odericus refers to him simply as Picod, one of the five whom Earl Roger - placed over his new earldom of Shrewsbury, and again as Picot de Sai, - when, in 1083, the Earl vowed to found Shrewsbury Abbey. Edric, Picot’s - predecessor at Clun, was, without doubt, the Edric Silvaticus, or the - Wild, so well known on the Welsh marches. Picot lived till about 1098, - and was succeeded by his son, Henry de Say, who flourished in the reign - of Henry I., and seems to have been alive as late as 1129–30. In his - time, or that of his successor, and probably son, Helias de Say, Clun - and Obley were eliminated from Ringau, and erected into an independent - Hundred and Honour; becoming, in fact, a marcher lordship, such as - Oswestry. Helias left a sole child, Isabel de Say, Lady of Clun, who - married—first, William Fitz Alan; second, Geoffrey de Vere, when the - barony contained 11¾ knights’ fees; and third, William Boterell, in - whose time it seems to have been that the castle was stormed and burned - by Llewellyn and his Welshmen.</p> - - <p>William Fitz Alan was the son of Alan, son of Flaald, who obtained from - the Conqueror the manor of Oswaldestre or Blancminster, which in 1148 - had belonged to Meredith ap Blethyn, a somewhat singular instance of a - Welsh landholder so far to the east of Offa’s Dyke. Meredith built a - castle there, which, on Fitz Alan’s death in 1160, was in the custody - of the sheriff, who sank a well there, and provided it with stores and - palisades for defence. William Fitz Alan’s next brother, Walter, was - ancestor of the House of Stewart. William’s first wife was a niece of - Robert Earl of Gloucester. His second was Isabel de Say, by whom he - left—</p> - - <p>William Fitz Alan, who inherited Clun and Oswestry. He obtained an - annual fair from King John for Clun. It seems probable that the Castle - of Clun burned by the Welsh was the timber structure inhabited by - Edric, and that it was replaced by works in masonry, including the - existing keep, by this William, who, dying, 1210, left</p> - - <p>William Fitz Alan, who died at Clun about 1215, and was succeeded by - his brother,</p> - - <p>John Fitz Alan, Lord of Clun and Oswestry, who held the barony but not - the castle of Clun, and who died about 1243, leaving a son,</p> - - <p>John Fitz Alan, who acquired Arundel Castle from his mother, and died - 1267, leaving—</p> - - <p>John Fitz Alan, Lord of Clun and Oswestry, and Earl of Arundel, who - died 1272.</p> - - <p>It was upon his death that an inquisition was ordered into the - condition of Clun Castle, which was reported to be small, but pretty - well built. The roof of the tower wanted lead, and the bridge to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">409</span> - repaired. Outside the castle was a bailey, enclosed with a fosse, and - a gate not yet finished. In the bailey stood a grange, stable, and - bakehouse. In the town were 183 burgages. The tenants held by castle - guard, each finding a serviens and horse for forty days at 4½d. per - day. The burgesses were to provide twenty men when the lord hunted.</p> - - <p>In 1293, Richard Earl of Arundel received £200 from his Welsh tenants - in Tempsett for a charter. At his death in 1301, Clun Castle was worth - no more than the expenses of its maintenance, or £20 per annum. There - were two water-mills.</p> - - <p>Clun continued to be held by a long succession of Fitz Alans, few of - whom were likely to have resided, until, the male line failing, Mary, - daughter and co-heir of Henry Fitz Alan, married Thomas Howard, Duke - of Norfolk, and carried the earldom of Arundel and the barony and - castle of Clun into that family in the person of her son, Philip Earl - of Arundel, who died 1595, under an attainder. Thomas, his son and - successor, was restored in blood, but only partially in property, so - that, though titular lord of Clun and Oswaldestre, he never possessed - the estates, which were granted by King James to his grandfather’s - brother, Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, who founded the almshouse - at Clun. From Henry Howard, Clun and Oswestry passed by will to his - nephew, Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, whose younger son, Sir Robert, - has a monument in the church of Clun, and by whose descendants the - property was sold.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="COCKERMOUTH">COCKERMOUTH CASTLE, CUMBERLAND.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THIS castle occupies the point of a steep and, in part, rocky knoll - which intervenes between the confluence of the Derwent and the Cocker, - two rivers of Cumberland, the one, on the north, flowing immediately - at the foot of the rock, the other, on the south and west, separated - from it by an irregular strip of land from 50 yards to 70 yards broad, - of uneven surface, and covered by a part of the town which shares its - name with the castle. It is not until 120 yards below the castle that - the actual meeting of the waters takes place. Two of the sides of the - position are thus fortified by nature; the other, the root of the - promontory, has no such protection. It seems to have been covered by an - artificial ditch, connecting the cliff of the Derwent with the sloping - bank of the Cocker. This, however, has been filled up, and all that - remains of it is a tradition, confirmed by slight depression in the - soil.</p> - - <p>The castle, following the outline of the rock, is triangular in plan. - Its north and south sides face towards the Derwent and the Cocker, and - are in length 110 yards and 120 yards. They crest the slope at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">410</span> about - 36 feet above the level of the water, and are connected by a base line - of 76 yards, in which is the entrance, facing towards the east. The - castle commands much of the town, and is placed outside of it to the - north and east. The parish church stands within the town upon a height - opposite to, and south-west of, the castle, the Cocker in its narrow - valley flowing between them.</p> - - <p>The curtain within which the castle is contained, is about 30 feet - high, and is capped at its western or acute angle by a half-round - tower, and at the two angles of the base are two rectangular towers, - that to the north-east being the gatehouse. Between them is a small - buttress turret, solid, and 8 feet square. There are also two rather - large buttresses, additions upon the south curtain near the east end, - and three small flat ones upon the older front of the wall, at the west - end. On the exterior of the north wall are seven buttresses of various - dimensions and dates.</p> - - <p>The triangular interior of the castle is subdivided by a cross line of - buildings, about 60 yards from the base, into two wards, the lower or - eastern, four sided, being the larger, and the upper or inner being - a small triangle. Where the cross wall unites at its south end with - the curtain is, upon the latter, a small square tower, called the - “Bell Tower,” and at the north end a much larger tower, containing the - kitchen. Between these, on the cross wall, is the inner gatehouse. - The level of the upper ward is about 6 feet above that of the lower. - This gatehouse is not central, being 34 yards from the north, and 19 - yards from the south curtain. It is rectangular, or nearly so, and in - plan a capital <span class="symbol">T</span>, the outer portal being in the centre of the - cross head, the inner one in the foot, and a large chamber in the stem - between them. The head is 36 feet broad, with a projection of 18 feet, - and the gatehouse is 60 feet deep. The cill of the outer entrance being - 6 feet above the outer ward, must have been approached by some kind - of bridge or inclined plane, of which all traces are now gone. The - outer arch is lofty and segmental, of 9 feet opening. It supports a - screen parapet, embattled, behind which is an opening or machecoule 9 - feet broad and 4 feet deep. Behind this is an equilateral arch opening - into a passage 10 feet deep, vaulted and ribbed from the four angles, - the ribs meeting at the centre with two ridge ribs, the central point - of the eight being without boss or circle. Beyond the passage is a - second arch of 8 feet opening, and beyond it a sort of vaulted passage - or vestibule splayed and 9 feet deep, opening into the interior of - the gatehouse at the first-floor level. Beyond and right and left of - this inner vestibule are two doors of 2 feet opening, one segmental - and one shoulder headed. These open each into a small acutely vaulted - prison, about 8 feet by 16 feet, lighted by a small loop. From each - there opens, in the outer wall, a small door into a mural garderobe. - In the centre of each prison is a small square trap, which is the only - entrance into the lower prison or dungeon, which is of the size of and - vaulted as the upper one, but without any other opening. Two holes in - the upper vaults seem intended to carry a horizontal bar<span class="pagenum" id="Page_411">411</span> from which - a prisoner or his food might be lowered through the trap. These prisons - are placed on each side of, and parallel to, the gateway, in the thick - cross head of the <span class="symbol">T</span>.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i410"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_410.jpg" alt="" /> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>A. Lower Ward.</li> - <li>B. Upper Ward.</li> - <li>C. East Tower.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>D. Flag Tower.</li> - <li>E. Gate House.</li> - <li>F. Kitchen.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>G. Hall.</li> - <li>H. Inner Gate-house.</li> - <li>I. Bell Turret.</li> - </ul> - <div class="caption">COCKERMOUTH CASTLE.</div> - </div> - - <p>The basement of the gatehouse-chamber, 21 feet broad by 29 feet deep, - and about 10 feet high, is quite plain, and without loops. It is - entered in the west wall, from the upper ward, by a flight of twelve - steps, beneath a lancet doorway. The covering of this room was the - timber floor of the gatehouse. The first floor, also 21 feet by 29 - feet, has in its side walls two doorways, of 3 feet opening, and - acutely pointed, which led into the lateral chambers. In its west wall, - but near the north end, is the inner gateway, piercing a wall 9 feet - thick, and opening into the upper ward. This passage is vaulted. It - has no portcullis, and but one rebate for a door. In the north side of - the passage a narrow, shoulder-headed door leads into a small vaulted - lodge, looped towards the upper ward.</p> - - <p>Entering this ward, on the left, is the door descending to the - basement, and further on, right and left, are two doors, each lancet, - and at the top of flights of twelve steps, which descended into the - basements of the lateral chambers. The gatehouse had an upper floor, - now mostly gone.</p> - - <p>There were two lateral chambers on each side of the gatehouse, parted - by an east-and-west cross-wall, now destroyed. The large spaces thus - formed are not quite rectangular. That on the north averages about 26 - feet east and west by about 35 feet north and south; and that on the - south is a mean square of about 35 feet. Of the four chambers by which - these spaces were occupied, the basements of the two next the gatehouse - were covered with a pointed vault. Except these, the floors above - were timber. The walls of the southern rooms are mostly destroyed, - those of the northern are tolerably perfect, and show the windows and - fireplaces of a first and second floor, with small mural chambers in - the north-east angle. The southern chamber abutted upon the curtain, - in which is seen a rude round-headed arch, now a postern, but which - has a Norman aspect, and looks as though intended originally for the - recess of a loop. The small square bell-turret, of about 18 feet by 10 - feet, at the south-west angle of this chamber, stands upon and slightly - projects from the exterior of the curtain. The basement looks of the - age of the curtain; the superstructure, of that of the cross buildings - and inner gatehouse.</p> - - <p>At the other or north end of the cross buildings is the kitchen tower, - a very remarkable structure. In plan it is nearly rectangular. It is - composed of a basement and a first floor. The basement is reached from - the upper ward by fifteen descending steps, down a vaulted passage in - the wall, at the head of which is a round-headed door of Decorated - date. The chamber is about 30 feet square, having a central octagonal - pier without base or cap, whence spring eight ribs meeting eight other - ribs which spring from corbels in the angles and form responds in - the centre of each face. Each of the four bays thus formed is again - spanned by ribs springing diagonally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_412">412</span> from the responds. There are - no ridge-ribs, and the vaulting spaces are filled up with rubble. - The arches are pointed, and the vault about 20 feet high. In the two - eastern spaces are square-headed loops, opening on the lower ward - and now concealed by a modern building. In the north wall is a small - water-drain. This chamber was probably a cellar, introduced and vaulted - to place the stone floor of the kitchen on the level of the hall. It - is called a chapel, but bears no indication of having been intended or - ever used as such.</p> - - <p>Above the cellar is the kitchen, the floor of which is level with that - of the hall, and about 10 feet above that of the upper ward. In plan - it is rather rhomboidal than rectangular. The two eastern angles are - right angles, that to the north-west acute, and that to the south-west - obtuse. The north and east sides measure 35 feet and 37 feet, and the - opposite sides 29 feet and 38 feet respectively. In the south wall are - two fireplaces, 11 feet broad by 2 feet deep, with remains of stone - hoods, and with square vertical funnels running up a common shaft at - the inner end of each fireplace. The funnels also receive those from - the fireplaces in the rooms to the south, the whole forming one stack. - Over these fireplaces, high up in the south wall, is a large long loop, - square headed, and about 2 feet wide. In the east wall are two other - loops of the same width, and about 24 feet long, crossed by a transom, - square headed, but placed within shoulder-headed recesses. These - openings are clearly intended to carry off the vapour. North of these - loops is a small door, whence a narrow mural stair ascends 10 feet to a - second door that opened upon a gallery along the north wall.</p> - - <p>In the centre of the north wall is a bold pier, 7 feet wide by 4 feet - deep, from which spring laterally two pointed arches, thus forming two - recesses. The soffits are ribbed, one with two and one with three ribs, - plainly chamfered. In each recess is a loop, square headed, and opening - on the curtain, and above, 10 feet from the floor, is a string which - supported the floor of a timber gallery, which ran along this north - side, and was carried out in front of the pier, and thus overlooked - the culinary operations. It was entered at the east end from the door - already mentioned. In its west end was another door, opening into a - mural chamber, not now accessible, but which may have communicated with - the hall. Above the gallery were two other loops. At the gallery level - the pier is pierced by two narrow passages, with round-headed doors, - which lead to a small chamber in the curtain, probably a garderobe. - Below, the lateral faces of the pier are hollowed, as for cupboards.</p> - - <p>The west wall of the kitchen is now chiefly occupied by a large lofty - arch, of 15 feet span, and about 30 feet high, evidently a modern - insertion together with the wall above, and opening into what was - the hall. On the south side of it are traces of a part of the old - buttery-hatch. To the north is the only door of the kitchen, 4 feet - broad, and shoulder headed, and which opened from the lower end of - the hall. It is curious that so large a kitchen should have had no - other outlet. Grose gives a drawing taken in 1774, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">413</span> shows this - west wall of the kitchen before the great arch was inserted. The wall - contains an immense hole or gap, above which, on the outside, is the - weather moulding of the high-pitched roof of the hall. The kitchen was - very lofty, and had an open timber roof the corbels of the hammer-beams - of which remain. Above was the parapet, one side of which belonged to - the outer curtain.</p> - - <p>Abutting from the west wall of the kitchen, in the rebuilding of which - the moulding showing the pitch of the hall roof has been removed, was - the east, or lower end of the hall, a building 30 feet wide by about 50 - feet long, of which the curtain formed the north side. The south wall - is levelled nearly to the ground, but its foundations show its exterior - buttresses, and the place of the door in the basement near the east end - of the wall. The western wall, dividing it from the withdrawing-room, - is gone. The basement below the hall seems to have been about 10 feet - high. It was covered by the timber floor. The entrance was in the south - wall, close to the east end, probably by an interior stair. One jamb - of the doorway remains, richly moulded in the Decorated style, though - much decayed. The hall had three large windows in the north wall, which - is strengthened outside by three buttresses, evidently added to the - older wall when the hall was built. The windows are of the fashion - so common in the halls of Decorated castles. They are of two lights - trefoiled, with a transom, and in the head a quatrefoil. That next - the east end has a stone window-seat, and the others may have been so - provided. Outside, the windows have a good drip-stone. Probably the - fireplace was in the south wall. In the east wall, near the south end, - is a large plain trefoil-headed recess, not even chamfered, resembling - a large piscina, with a stone shelf. It was possibly intended to place - the dishes upon when received from the adjacent buttery-hatch. South - of this a small door leads into a well-stair, which led to the roof, - and is lighted by a small and very neat foliated circle. The cant or - filling up of the adjacent angle of the kitchen is produced by this - staircase. The hall had an open timber roof, some of the corbels of - which remain.</p> - - <p>The rooms west of the hall extend to and include the western or angle - tower. The room next the hall had two large Tudor windows in the - curtain; they are flat topped, of three lights, with a transom, and - within flat-arched recesses; they are evident insertions. The interior - of the west tower is roughly four sided, and the gorge wall is gone. - It had a basement with three loops, with large splayed and pointed - recesses, and above were three floors, each with an excellent one-light - trefoiled window of Decorated date; the two lower are towards the west; - the upper, a marked feature in the view of the castle from the town, - is towards the south. In the north wall a straight stair leads up to - a mural garderobe, the opening of which is projected upon two corbels - high up at the junction of the curtain with the tower. The lower part - of this tower seems original; the upper part has been rebuilt, no doubt - in the Decorated period. Twenty-two feet in the rear of the tower - remains the base of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_414">414</span> doorway which led into these chambers from the - upper ward. The well was a yard or two from the entrance to the room - below the hall. Its place is now marked by a pump.</p> - - <p>The <i>Lower Ward</i> is much obscured by the erection against the - north curtain of a dwelling-house, and against the south, of stables, - both modern. A building has also been placed against the east wall, - connected with the gatehouse. The south-eastern angle is formed by the - <i>Flag Tower</i>, 32 feet square, and projecting outwards about 9 feet - upon the two curtains. It has a basement and two upper floors, each - entered from the court, and the two latter by external separate stone - stairs. A third stair, also exterior, ascends from the east curtain to - the battlements. The arrangement is altogether peculiar. Moreover, the - roof of the tower is high pitched, having the south gable stepped in - the Scottish fashion, flush with the outer wall, while the north gable - is set in about 3 feet so as to allow of a rampart walk along three - sides of the tower. The tower is occupied, and locked up. - </p> - - <p>The tower corresponding to this, and forming the north-east angle of - the ward, is the gatehouse. It is rectangular, 50 feet broad by 22 feet - deep, and pierced by the gateway passage, with spacious rooms on each - side and above, all inhabited. The outer gateway is round headed, and - rather less than half a circle. The passage is vaulted, and has rebates - for a central and two outer doors, of which that next the entrance - seems to have been inserted to replace a portcullis. Over the front, - beneath a long flat label, are five shields of arms: 1. What seems to - have been a cinquefoil within an orle of crosslets flory, Umfranville. - 2. Barry of 6, Multon. 3. Three luces haurient, Lucy. 4. A lion - rampant, Percy. 5. A saltire, Nevile. The gatehouse has two floors over - the gateway in the Perpendicular style, and later than the lower part, - which is Decorated. To this has been added an upper story, built into - the battlements of that below, which appear in the face of the wall.</p> - - <p>The portal is flanked by two flat pilasters, which have been partially - concealed by the addition of a <i>Barbican</i>, composed of two - lateral walls of 18 feet projection, and 7 feet 6 inches thickness, - terminating in square piers, which supported a cross arch of entrance, - over which was a parapet, now gone. These walls were about 12 feet - high, parapeted, and the ramparts reached by two lateral straight - stairs niched in the wall. There was no doubt originally a drawbridge - to the main gate, which may have been moved forward when the barbican - was added. Grose’s drawing shows a sort of ravelin of earth in front - of this outer entrance, which probably was thrown up during the - Parliamentary struggles. All this front, outside the walls, has been - levelled and converted into a garden and approach. Outside the north - and south curtains, between the wall and the top of the slope, is a - walk of about 9 feet broad.</p> - - <p>The accounts of this castle claim for it a very remote origin, and - describe the knoll upon which it stands as artificial. This, however, - is not the case. The knoll is evidently natural, and the point of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_415">415</span> - tract of high land which is bounded by two rivers. The position is not - the less strong, and is such as either Britons, Romans, or Saxons might - very well have availed themselves of. There is, however, no positive - evidence that they did so, and nothing now seen is of necessity older, - or as old, as the Conquest. The foundations of the western tower, and - of the greater part of its contiguous curtains, so far as they contain - the upper ward, are probably Norman, and may be the work of William de - Meschines, in the reign of Henry I. As the works could scarcely have - been confined to so small an area as the present upper ward, it is - probable that the whole of the present area was included in the Norman - castle, and that the cross ditch was then excavated. How the area was - then occupied, where was the hall, where the kitchen, does not appear; - probably not on the present site, seeing that the windows are evident - insertions in, and the buttresses additions to, the north curtain. - Moreover, no part of the line of buildings dividing the upper from the - lower ward shows any trace of Norman work. Whatever or wherever were - the Norman buildings, they probably stood until the Decorated period, - or early in the fourteenth century, when the present cross buildings, - the kitchen and the hall, seem to have been erected, and much of the - curtain rebuilt or strengthened.</p> - - <p>The outer gatehouse and the south-eastern tower are not unlikely to - be of the same date, though there have been large additions to, and - alterations in, the former building, in the Perpendicular period, - when the barbican was added. The Tudor windows in the upper ward - are the only traces of still later alterations. The effects of the - Parliamentary strife upon the building, beyond the removal of the - roofs, do not appear to have been serious; and, as the gatehouse seems - always to have been inhabited, no doubt some sort of attention was paid - to it, and to the flag tower. More recently, a dwelling-house has been - built within the area, within one window of which hangs a curious relic - of the past, in the shape of an escutcheon of Percy and Lucy quartered, - in old stained glass.</p> - - <p>The remodelling of the Norman castle in the Decorated period was - probably the work of Anthony de Lucy, who held the lordship from 2 - Edward II. to 17 Edward III., and was an active soldier, a great - military chief in the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, and - likely enough to put into the best possible order a castle important - both to his own estates and to the national frontier committed to his - charge.</p> - - <p>The Perpendicular additions, including the armorial shields over the - gateway, must have been later than 22 Richard II., when Maud, the - Lucy heiress, carried Cockermouth Castle to Henry Percy, who agreed - to quarter her arms. The Umfranville shield commemorates Maud’s first - husband, Gilbert, Earl of Angus. The Nevile shield is that of Henry - Percy’s first wife, who was a daughter of Ralph Lord Nevile. As this - Henry was a very considerable person, and survived till 1408, it is - probable that he built or rebuilt the upper part of the gatehouse - between 1388–9 and 1408.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_416">416</span></p> - - <p>Cockermouth Castle has but a scanty history, which perhaps accounts for - the perfect condition of its outer walls. In 1221 Henry III. ordered it - to be laid siege to, and, if taken, destroyed; but this fate it either - escaped, or, if carried out, it was restored a century later with great - completeness. It makes no figure in the Wars of the Roses, nor does it - appear to what extent it shared in the vicissitudes of the house of - Percy. The town seems to have been taken by surprise in 1387 by a band - of Scottish marauders. Mary of Scotland rested here, no doubt on her - way from Workington to Carlisle, after her landing in Cumberland. In - August, 1648, the castle, held for the Parliament, was attacked by the - Royalists of the neighbourhood, and held out a month, till relieved - by the Parliamentary General Ashton. It seems to have been spared the - usual fate of English castles of that period at the hands of one or the - other party. In 1688, the only habitable parts were the gateway and the - courthouse, probably the adjacent building.</p> - - <h3>DESCENT.</h3> - - <p>Cockermouth was the “caput” of the barony of Allerdale, usually called - in the Inquisitions the Honour of Cockermouth. There is no collected - list of the lands held of the Honour, but they seem to have been - extensive, and are specified in divers inquisitions from time to time, - with the names of their holders. The original grantee seems to have - been William, brother of the well-known Ranulph de Meschines, Earl - of Chester. He received, either from the Conqueror or from Henry I., - the territory of Copland, between the Dudden and the Derwent, and was - probably the founder of the castle of Cockermouth, as he was of the - Monastery of St. Bees. His son Ranulph died childless, and his heir was - Cicely, who married Robert de Romilly, Lord of Skipton. Cockermouth - came to Alice, their third daughter and co-heir, who married William - FitzDuncan, Earl of Moray, in Scotland, nephew to King Malcolm. Amabel, - their second daughter and co-heir, had Egremont, and married Reginald - de Lucy, living 20 Henry II.; while Cicely, the elder daughter, married - William le Gros, Earl of Albemarle, who died 1179. Their second - daughter, Hawise le Gros, married, first, William de Mandeville, Earl - of Essex, and secondly, William de Fortibus, in her right Earl of - Albemarle, and who (1215) had restored to him by King John the manor of - Cockermouth, and (1216) certain confiscated lands held of the Honour. - In February, 1221, King Henry ordered the Sheriff of Westmoreland - to summon his forces to lay siege to, take, and utterly destroy the - Castle of Cockermouth; but later in the year the manor was granted - again to the Earl. It is said that this Earl held half the castle, - which escheated to the Crown, and was granted in 1323 by Edward II. to - Anthony, Lord Lucy, who held the other moiety. The descent, however, is - exceedingly obscure. It appears that Richard de Lucy, Amabel’s son, had - Egremont, and died about 15 John, leaving Amabel and Alice. His wife, - Ada de Morville,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">417</span> married secondly, Thomas de Multon, and left issue, - while Multon’s two sons by a former wife married—1. Lambert de Multon - to Amabel; and 2. Alan de Multon to Alice, the co-heirs.</p> - - <p>Lambert’s great-granddaughter, the heiress of Egremont, married Thomas - de Lucy, and Alan’s son, Thomas de Multon, took the name of Lucy, and - died 33 Edward I., and probably held the Castle of Cockermouth. He - was followed by his sons, Thomas, who died childless, 2 Edward II., - and Anthony de Lucy, a great baron and military leader in the Western - marches. He died 17 Edward III., leaving Thomas de Lucy, who died - seized of Cockermouth Castle and Honour 39 Edward III., having married - his remote cousin, Margaret de Multon, the heiress of Egremont, and - thus reunited the whole inheritance, the second moiety of Cockermouth - having been acquired by his father.</p> - - <p>Thomas and Margaret had Anthony de Lucy, aged twenty-four, 39 Edward - III., and Maud. Anthony had Joan, who died young, 43 Edward III., - seized of the castle and Honour, when Maud became the heiress. She - married Gilbert de Umfranville, Earl of Angus, who died 4 Richard - II. They had but one son, Sir Robert, who predeceased his father, - childless. The earl died 4 Richard II., seized of the castle and - Honour, and Maud then, 8 Richard II., married Henry de Percy, Earl - of Northumberland. The inheritance, failing the heirs of her body, - was settled upon the heirs male of her husband, who were to bear the - arms of Percy and Lucy quarterly. This remainder took effect, and - Cockermouth passed to the descendant of Percy by his first wife, - Margaret, daughter of Ralph Lord Neville, whose arms appear over the - gateway of Cockermouth, as do those of the Earl of Angus.</p> - - <p>Earl Henry was slain at Braham Moor, 1408. Hotspur, his valiant son, - fell at Shrewsbury. Henry, the next earl, and lord of Cockermouth, - fell at St. Alban’s, 1455, as did his son Henry, at Towton, in 1461. - Henry, the next earl, met a violent death in the Tower in 1489, being - the fifth lord of Cockermouth of that brave, brilliant, and unfortunate - race. Henry, the next earl, died a natural death in 1527, as did his - son Henry, childless, in 1537. The next inheritors were his nephews, - sons of his brother, Sir Thomas; the earl Thomas, who was beheaded, - leaving an only daughter, 1572, and Earl Henry, who died 1585. Henry, - the next earl, died 1632, and was followed by Earl Algernon, who - died 1668, whose son, Earl Jocelyn, was the last male of the ancient - race, his son Henry having died young. Elizabeth, Baroness Percy, the - daughter and sole heir, married Charles Seymour, Duke of Somerset. - Algernon, their son, created Earl of Egremont and Baron Cockermouth, - died 1750, and was father of Elizabeth, the Seymour-Percy heiress; but - Duke Algernon had also a sister, Katherine, upon whose son, Sir Charles - Wyndham, the earldom and barony, and the castle of Cockermouth, were - settled, and so descended to George, the last earl, who died without - a successor in 1845, bequeathing Cockermouth to his natural son. - Cockermouth Castle, therefore, having<span class="pagenum" id="Page_418">418</span> descended through the houses - of De Meschines, De Fortibus, Multon, Lucy, and Percy, can boast a - connexion with some of the most celebrated of the northern barons. It - has, however, another, and certainly not less brilliant, association. - In the adjacent town was born William Wordsworth, and the green - court, flower-crowned walls, and gloomy dungeons of the castle are - commemorated in one of the sweetest of his sonnets:—</p> - - <div class="center">FROM THE SPIRIT OF COCKERMOUTH CASTLE.</div> - - <div class="center-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i0">“Thou look’st upon me, and dost fondly think,</div> - <div class="i1">Poet! that, stricken as both are by years,</div> - <div class="i1">We, differing once so much, are now compeers,</div> - <div class="i1">Prepared, when each has stood his time, to sink</div> - <div class="i1">Into the dust. Erewhile a sterner link</div> - <div class="i1">United us; when thou, in boyish play,</div> - <div class="i1">Entering my dungeon, didst become a prey</div> - <div class="i1">To soul-appalling darkness. Not a blink</div> - <div class="i1">Of light was there; and thus did I, thy tutor,</div> - <div class="i1">Make thy young thoughts acquainted with the grave,</div> - <div class="i1">While thou wert chasing the wing’d butterfly</div> - <div class="i1">Through my green courts; or climbing, a bold suitor,</div> - <div class="i1">Up to the flowers whose golden progeny</div> - <div class="i1">Still round my shatter’d brow in beauty wave.”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="COLCHESTER">THE KEEP OF THE CASTLE OF COLCHESTER, ESSEX.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">WHEN Hubert of Rie, standing at early dawn between the church and his - castle,</p> - - <div class="center-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="i0">“Entre li mostier e sa mote,”</div> - </div> - </div> - </div> - - <p class="noindent">welcomed, harboured, and under the escort of his three sons, sent - forward his hard-bested lord by the road still known as “Le Voye le - Duc,” he probably little thought that the incident would become matter - of history, and still less could he have anticipated the splendid - reward, for this and other faithful services, his sons were to receive, - twenty years later, from that same sovereign in a foreign and then - unconquered land. Whether Hubert himself took part in the conquest - is unknown; he certainly did not desert his mote and mostier in the - Cotentin for any English possessions, but of his sons, Ralph and - Adam received lands as under tenants in the counties of Nottingham, - Derby, and Kent; and Eudo, called by Dugdale the fourth son, but the - principal representative of the family in England, appears in the - Survey as tenant in chief of sixty-four manors in the counties of - Beds, Cambridge, Essex, Hants, Herts, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Norfolk, - Northampton, and Suffolk.</p> - - <p>Of these manors twenty-five were in Essex, in which county Eudo,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_419">419</span> - entitled from his office “Dapifer,” resided, and his possessions there - lay in twelve of its twenty hundreds. In Colchester the lordship and - demesne of the town were held by the king. Eudo’s interest there was - but moderate, consisting of five houses, 40 acres of land, and a claim - to the fourth of certain lands held “in elemosina Regis.” How he - maintained his military position we are not told, or why he settled in - Colchester. The only Essex castle mentioned in Domesday is Rageneia or - Ralegh. “In hoc manerio fecit Suen suum castellum,” nor do any of the - old mottes, of which there are several, as Bures, Great Birch, Ongar, - Plessy, and Stansted, appear to have belonged to Eudo. His office of - Dapifer or Sewer he held under the Conqueror and his two successors, - and he so witnessed a charter by William at Honfleur in 1074, and - others by Rufus in 1093, and by Henry I. Though described as “Dapifer - Domini Regis totius Angliæ,” he seems to have belonged to the ducal - not the royal court, for the sewer of England, according to Spelman, - was the brother of Robert Fitz Hamon of Morganwg, who appears in the - Survey in Colchester and elsewhere as “Hamo Dapifer.” It is related - that in consequence of the high character borne by Eudo the burgesses - of Colchester moved William Rufus to place him in charge of their town. - That he was so placed appears from a document quoted by Dugdale, and - his connexion with the place is shown by the Pipe Roll of 31 Henry I., - in which, among other entries relating to Colchester, are items for - “the lordship of the king’s ploughlands of the land of Eudo Dapifer, - 8s. 10d.,” and from “the farm of his land, paid into the treasury, - £91. 3s. 0d.” This was after Eudo’s death, when Hamo de Clare was in - charge. As the crown held the lion’s share of the town, Eudo’s position - there must have been supreme. His first step was probably to build a - castle, and upon his own land, for when in 1096 he founded St. John’s - Abbey, one of its endowments, specified in the foundation charter, was - “omnes proventus capellae, in castello de Colcestria,” which endowment - is described in a confirmation by Richard I. (1 R. I.) as “capellam - castelii Colcestre, cum decimis et obventionibus,” explained by Morant - to have consisted in tythes of certain lands in and about the town.</p> - - <p>Eudo’s rank, as an Essex and Colchester land owner and the king’s - representative in the town, might very well induce him to erect a - castle there. The position was a good one for a district destitute - of any very striking inequalities of surface. It was within the - Roman area, and covered on two sides by the Coln. The ancient wall, - originally Roman, had been repaired by Edward the Elder, and included - the town and the proposed site. A legendary document, quoted in the - <cite>Monasticon</cite> [i. 724], states that Eudo built the castle on King - Cole’s foundation; “in fundo palatii Coelis quondam regis,” which may - be taken to show that there was an older building on the spot. If so it - must have been Roman. Most of the chief towns in England contained a - castle constructed long before the arrival of the Conqueror, though not - a building of stone, and of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">420</span> these strong places the king or some great - Norman baron usually availed himself, substituting, as occasion served, - Norman masonry for the earlier and less perfect defences. Sometimes the - castle was within the circuit of the town, as at Chichester, Chester, - Leicester, and Lincoln, Roman cities with English additions; sometimes - it was outside the town wall, but abutting upon it, as at Carlisle, - Warwick, and Winchester. In each case the castle had its own proper - defences, so that while, on the one hand, it could be held with the - town against a common foe, on the other it could be held against the - town, and used to overawe the citizens. Here the castle was placed - within the Roman area, in its north-eastern quarter, and stood, not - improbably, on the site of some considerable Roman building, to which - the existing, but not accessible, sewers are thought to have belonged. - </p> - - <p>Eudo died in 1120 at his castle of Preaux in Normandy, and was buried - here at St. John’s. He lived, therefore, twenty-four years after - his religious foundation, and somewhat more than that time after - the construction of his castle. He was also the founder, some time - in the reign of Henry I., of the hospital of St. Mary Magdalen, in - the suburbs of Colchester. He married Rohaise, whom Dugdale in his - <cite>Baronage</cite>, citing Will. of Jumièges, calls the daughter of Walter - Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, and widow of Fitz Gilbert, an error which, - admitted into the earlier, is corrected in the later edition of the - <cite>Monasticon</cite>, whence it appears that Rohaise was the daughter of - Fitz Gilbert and a preceding Rohaise, and was married to Eudo in her - nonage, “ante habiles annos nupta est.” She laid the second stone of - St. John’s, Eudo himself laying the first. The issue of this marriage - was Margaret, Eudo’s sole heiress, who married William de Magnaville, - and was mother of Geoffrey Earl of Essex, and in her right seneschal or - sewer of Normandy. Geoffrey, who played his cards to great advantage - between Stephen and the Empress Maud, received from the latter the - lands of Eudo Dapifer in Normandy, with the office of Dapifer, and an - option, under certain circumstances, of the lands of which Eudo died - seized in England. These, however, he does not seem to have obtained; - in the contemporary Pipe Rolls they are accounted for as in the Crown, - and they do not appear in the Inquisitions on Geoffrey’s descendants. - </p> - - <p>The castle, which from the endowment of its chapel must certainly have - belonged to Eudo, came into the possession of the Crown. Morant cites - a grant of it by Maud to Alberic de Vere, from an early edition of the - <cite>Fœdera</cite> (xiii. 251), but there is no such deed in the later or - the latest edition. He also cites a deed in his own possession, of the - reign of Richard or John, showing that with other demesne manors the - castle of Colchester and the Hundred were in the king’s hands, and in - the custody of the sheriff of Essex. In Stowe’s <cite>Annals</cite> mention - is made of a certain Hubert de St. Clare who warded off an arrow from - Henry I. at the siege of Bridgenorth in 1165 at the cost of his own - life, and whom Stowe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">421</span> calls Constable of Colchester, and adds that - the king gave his daughter to William de Lanvalai. William, who was - an Essex baron, certainly obtained the Constableship from King John - (2 John), by a payment of 200 marcs. He died 12 John, leaving William - his son, who was made Constable 17 John, but soon after joined the - rebels. His daughter Hawise was afterwards given in wardship to Hubert - de Burgh, who married her to his son John. King John visited the castle - six times, in 1203, 1205, 1209, 1212, 1214, and 1216, staying three - days during his two penultimate visits, and eleven days during his last - visit. In 1214 Stephen Harengot was in charge in succession to Matthew - Mantell; also Hugh de Albemunt, carpenter, had an order for 23 marcs - for work done, to which, in 1215, 20 marcs were added for repairs, - and the burgesses were informed that Harengot was responsible for the - king’s rents. In April of that year Harengot was to have timber from - a wood near the town, for its defence, “ad illam claudendam,” and - Hugh de Neville was to permit the same. In July, John’s suspicious - character led him to substitute for Harengot William de Lanvalai, who - had married, as already stated, the daughter of a previous Constable. - In this year the castle was besieged and taken by Saher de Quincy, who - also burned the town. Both were afterwards recovered by King John. - </p> - - <p>In March, 1216, is recorded a list of one hundred and thirteen persons, - knights, squires, and attendants, cross-bowmen and foot-soldiers, from - their names probably French mercenaries, to whom the king gave a safe - conduct for a passage from the castle of Colchester to London. In April - Harengot was again in charge, and in August he had a credit for 100 - marcs out of a fine due of a thousand. This was for the payment of the - garrison of the castle. In November, 1217, Richard de Mont Fitchet was - ordered to give William, Bishop of London, seizin of Kingsworth wood - belonging to the castle of Colchester, and to remove thence his own - servants. In July, 1218, the king’s bailiffs of Colchester were to - respond for the farm of the town to the bishop, as they had used to do - when Harengot held the castle. The bishop was at that time negotiating - for the king with the French invaders, who for a time actually held - the castle. After John’s death the bishop (October, 2 Henry III.) had - a credit on the farm of Colchester for £20 expended “in waristura” - (munition) for the castle. In 1222 the sheriff of Essex, then in - charge, was to transport certain timber, cut by the Constable of Dover - Castle, to the port of Colchester. In January, 1223, the bailiffs of - the town had credit from the Exchequer for 100s. advanced by them to - the Constable of the castle. The Exchequer seems to have guarded the - revenue closely, for in 1224 the Bishop of London is called upon to - refund £20 paid to William, late Bishop of London, for the repairs - of the king’s castle of Colchester. In April, 1225, the Prud-hommes, - “probi homines,” of Colchester are to hand over the farm of the town to - the Constable for the repairs of the castle. The Bishop of London seems - occasionally to have had charge, for in 1227 he is ordered to send to - the king some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_422">422</span> person who may be trusted to deliver over the castle - from the bishop to the king.</p> - - <p>Hubert de Burgh seems at one time, with the wardship of Hawise de - Lanvalai, to have held the Constableship of the castle; so that though - not actually hereditary, some regard seems to have been had to descent. - De Burgh was dispossessed in 1232, and was succeeded by Stephen de - Segrave, and he by Thomas de Clare, who was Constable in 1265–6, when - 12 June, 1256, Henry III. granted the castle and the fee-farm of the - town to Guy de Montfort for life, he maintaining the castle in repair. - He was one of Henry’s unpopular foreign favourites, and was deprived - in 1258. William de Wayland followed, who, 18 December, 1273, resigned - it to John de Burgh, the last who held the office with any shadow of - hereditary claim. In 1275 it was held by Richard de Holebrook, and - immediately afterwards the castle became the county prison, in charge - of the sheriff, and ceased to possess any military value. In 1347 some - of the prisoners taken in France were lodged at Colchester; no doubt in - the castle.</p> - - <p>The Constable of the castle was also steward of the hundred of - Tendring, and bailiff of the same, holding courts for the several - manors composing it. The castle was perfectly independent of the town, - and like most castles so situated was extra-parochial, and had a - separate jurisdiction. Seventeen manors were appendant to it, and paid - suit and service at its court. In matters spiritual it was connected - with St. John’s. It appears from an Exchequer judgment in 1290, that - the abbots of St. John, who received the tythes forming the endowment - of the castle chapel, were wont to provide a chaplain, who celebrated - the offices three days in each week, either in St. Helen’s Chapel or in - the King’s Chapel in the castle, as the Constable might direct. Long - afterwards the abbot was fined 12 marcs for having neglected this duty. - St. Helen’s Chapel stood, and indeed, though desecrated, still stands - about 100 yards north-east of the keep, and just outside the line of - the castle wall.</p> - - <p>As the castle ceased to possess any military value it was from time - to time granted away to various persons. Henry Duke of Lancaster, son - of Henry IV., had it in 1404. Henry VI. gave it to his queen, and Sir - John Howard had it for life from Edward IV. In those days about 160 - acres of land passed with the castle. In 1496–1509 it was held by John - Earl of Oxford. Its final alienation was by James I., who gave it in - fee, in 1629, to Hay, Earl of Carlisle. The immense thickness of its - wall and its central position led to its being held for Charles in the - war with the Parliament, when its commander was Sir Charles Lucas, a - member of a local royalist family, and the descendant of the grantee - of St. John’s Abbey lands. The siege and capture by Fairfax and the - subsequent military executions are well-known matters of history. The - <i>enceinte</i> wall was probably then pulled down, and the castle - rendered untenable. Soon afterwards what remained was sold to a person - named Wheeley, who attempted to pull down the keep, with only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">423</span> partial - success. Since then it has been in the Gray and Round families, and has - been properly cared for, as indeed it still is. - </p> - - <h3>DESCRIPTION.</h3> - - <p>The keep, the only remaining portion of the castle, is a peculiar - and, in many respects, a very remarkable structure; remarkable for - the unusually large area which it covers; for its want, even in its - original state, of a proportionate height; for the arrangement and - design of its parts and details; for the materials of which it is - composed; and for the workmanship by which they are put together. - Not only is its origin disputed, but the purpose for which it was - constructed is still the subject of a controversy, the settlement of - which can only be effected by the internal evidence afforded by the - building itself, the minute details of which possess on that account - peculiar interest.</p> - - <p>It is in plan rectangular, and, at its interior ground-level, which is - also, very nearly, that of the top of its exterior spreading plinth, it - measures, exclusive of its six projections, 152 feet north and south, - by 111 feet east and west, and with its projections 171 feet by 146 - feet. The two northern angles are capped by two rectangular turrets, - of which the north-west is on the west face 29 feet broad with 8 feet - projection, and on the north face 30 feet with 8 feet projection. The - north-east turret is 29 feet on the east and 27 feet on the north face, - with projections of 8 feet. The south-west turret projects from the - south end of the west wall 14 feet, and has a breadth of 40 feet. The - south-east turret occupies a similar position on the east front, but - is in plan a half-circle with a diameter or breadth of 50 feet, and a - projection of 25 feet. The south wall has a buttress on its face at - each end. That at the east end is 20 feet broad by 8 feet projection, - and that at the west end 12 feet broad by 8 feet projection. This - latter protects the entrance.</p> - - <p>On the longer or east and west faces are two intermediate pilasters 8 - feet broad by a foot projection, and on the north face one pilaster 8 - feet broad by 18 inches projection. Against the semicircular turret are - placed four pilasters 4 feet 10 inches broad by a foot projection, and - at the springing two half pilasters 2 feet 5 inches broad. Turrets, - buttresses, and pilasters, with one exception, rise to the present - summit unbroken by set-off or string-course. The exception is the - north-west turret, which, at the first-floor level, is reduced on its - north face from 30 feet to 24 feet, the 6 feet forming a shelf or - landing for an entrance door. The plinth is carried round the building - and capped by a plain chamfer. Below this the walls spread laterally - inside and outside, until at a depth of some 30 feet they have a base - of about 30 feet. The part above ground was cased with ashlar which - has been stripped off. This excessive depth and breadth of foundation - is very unusual. The two northern turrets are solid to the first-floor - level, as are the two southern buttresses, one indeed being solid - throughout. The south-west<span class="pagenum" id="Page_424">424</span> turret contains a well-staircase which - ascends from the basement to the summit. The south-east turret contains - a crypt at its ground-level.</p> - - <p>The space within the walls, measuring 126 feet by 87 feet, was - unequally subdivided. A portion, in width from 36 to 40 feet broad, - was walled off at the south end and occupied as an entrance passage, - a well-chamber, a prison vault, and the crypt beneath the chapel. - The space northwards was again subdivided into an east, west, and - middle compartment by two walls running north and south. The eastern - compartment, 91 feet by 22 feet, was aired rather than lighted by three - loops in the east and one in the north wall. One of these loops was in - the last century converted into a door, but has since been walled up. - The central loop is now a door. In the south end a small doorway leads - into the crypt. This compartment was entered by a doorway in the cross - wall, 3 feet 9 inches broad, but having a rebate for a door. The wall - is 7 feet thick. The middle compartment was 80 feet long by 15 feet - broad, but its western wall, which was 7 feet thick, was removed, it is - said, in 1683. A trace of it remains at the south end, and at the north - end a projection in the wall shows that the door of communication was - at that end. This compartment has a single loop in its north end, and - in its south end a doorway leading into the prison vault.</p> - - <p>The western or larger compartment from which the others were entered - was 90 feet long by 36 feet broad. It had a loop in its north end, - and three in its west side. In its south wall was probably the inner - doorway corresponding to the main entrance. It is said that there - exists a pit or drain beneath the floor of this chamber, a sewer - from which, of Roman construction, passes westward through the wall - towards the river. The loops throughout this ground floor are of - one pattern. They are round-headed, 6 inches wide, in the end of a - splayed recess which opens by a set-off into a flat-sided recess 7 - feet wide and 3 feet 6 inches deep. These recesses are round-headed, - and rise from the floor-level about 12 feet. The recess and the arched - head are constructed mainly of tiles. The set-off or reveal is of - ashlar. All the arches throughout, of both doors and recesses, are - round-headed. The three compartments were covered in with whole timber - joists supporting the floor of the upper chamber. The ground floor was - about 15 feet high, and, save the vault and crypt, seems to have been - intended for stores.</p> - - <p>The main entrance is on this floor, at the west end of the south side. - A doorway of 7 feet 7 inches opening was flanked on each side by two - niched columns with plain bases and capitals, with stiff foliage of - Norman character. Above the capitals is a plain chamfered abacus. The - head is composed of three members, each a bold roll or bead. The two - inner members spring from above the capitals, the outer member, with a - dripstone worked in two bands of half-circles, springs from the abacus - alone. The abacus is stopped within the portal by a square groove for a - portcullis, probably of iron, behind which is a rebate for a door with - a hole for a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_425">425</span> stout wooden bar. Five or six steps, now concealed or - gone, led up to this doorway, nor are there any traces of a drawbridge. - Within the portal, in the wall, here 14 feet thick, on the left, is a - small round-headed niche, the flat sides and back of which are carved - with low bas-reliefs of certain bishops and saints, including St. - Christopher. They are fairly executed, and probably the work of some - ingenious porter.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow60" id="i424"> - <div class="caption sansserif">COLCHESTER CASTLE.</div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_424.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attl">Wyman & Sons, Gᵗ. Queen Sᵗ. London.</div> - </div> - - <p class="clear">The door opens into a lobby or entrance passage 12 feet broad by 36 - feet long. The right-hand wall is an open arcade, modern, but probably - representing an older wall, shutting off the well-chamber. The south - end is now open, but was crossed by a wall 10 feet thick, which no - doubt contained the inner door leading into the great ground-floor - chamber. On the left is first the door of the great staircase, then a - niche 8 feet broad and 9 feet high and 7 feet deep, and semi-domed. A - short passage, vaulted and groined, leads into the great staircase, a - cylinder 16 feet diameter, with a newel of 2 feet. It has loops to the - south and west, and forty-seven steps lead to the present summit. At - the twenty-third step a passage with three steps branches off to the - first floor.</p> - - <p>The well-chamber, 15 feet by 26 feet, contains the well, now closed - by a pump. It is 5 feet diameter and 65 feet deep, and was lined - with ashlar, of which the upper part has been stripped off. The - well was discovered in the last century. It is said that in it was - observed a lateral culvert, intended as a waste-pipe to carry off - any overflow that might otherwise injure the foundations. In the - south wall was a recess 8 feet broad and 7 feet deep, round-headed - and semi-domed, now a window. Probably the buckets stood in it. Here - also a modern stair descends to the vaults. The well-chamber is not - vaulted. Next east, separated by a wall 9 feet thick, is the prison; - this is a barrel-vaulted chamber 15 feet by 30 feet, entered from the - middle compartment by a doorway of 3 feet opening; it supports the - ante-chapel. East again of this vault a wall, 13 feet thick, divides - it from the crypt. The western part of the crypt, the cross limb of - the <span class="symbol">T</span>, is rectangular, 14 feet by 28 feet, vaulted and groined, - and entered from the eastern compartment; it has a loop in its south - wall. The stem of the <span class="symbol">T</span> is the crypt proper, 31 feet long by 14 - feet broad and 14 feet high to the crown of its barrel vault. Its east - end is semicircular and semi-domed. A loop in the centre of the apse - has been converted into a window. In this crypt is said to be a drain - falling southwards towards the river. This completes the account of the - ground floor.</p> - - <p>From the staircase a door opens into the lobby above the entrance - passage, and which was probably of the same size. At present the east - and north walls are modern. The south end of this lobby is occupied - by a flat-sided and flat-backed recess, 10 feet broad, 10 feet deep, - and about 12 feet high, which has a chink or chase in its floor for - the passage of the portcullis. As the recess is wider than the grate - there are no lateral grooves. Above is a cavity where was inserted - the ring or hook whence the grate was suspended. On the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_426">426</span> left of the - staircase door is a smaller door, which opens into a garderobe which - shares the turret with the staircase. It is 15 feet 6 inches long by - 10 feet 4 inches broad, barrel-vaulted, with loops to the west and - north, and beneath each a seat and a shoot in the wall. The loops have - been enlarged into windows, and the chamber is used as a record-room. - Outside, in the north wall of the turret, close to its junction with - the curtain, is a bold deep bracket, composed of seven stones and a - tile, at the top projecting about a foot, which may have supported the - shaft of a garderobe from the battlements, or may have been connected - with some sort of bretasche or timber erection. Its use is not clear. - The east wall of the lobby divides it from the modern library, which - stands over the ancient ante-chapel, and was probably the principal - private apartment in the keep. It had three recesses, no doubt with - loops, in its south walls. Two are now windows, and one a fireplace. - Outside this chamber, to the north, is a modern corridor, the space of - which was apparently a part of the ante-chapel. In its east wall is - a round-backed niche 10 feet broad, through which a passage has been - broken, most injudiciously, into the chapel. From the ante-chapel a - lofty round-headed doorway opened into the west end of the chapel.</p> - - <p>The chapel is composed of a nave and apse, and of four lateral recesses - or side chapels. It is in length 45 feet and in breadth 15 feet, and - 17 feet 6 inches high to the crown of its barrel vault. The apse is - semicircular and semi-domed, of the same height with the nave. The - westernmost pair of recesses are 14 feet wide and 12 feet deep, with - semi-domed ends. The eastern pair are 11 feet wide and 11 feet and 14 - feet deep, and both semi-domed. In the east wall of the south recess is - a niche as for a side altar. The lateral vaults are accommodated to the - main vault. The groins or lines of intersection are plain. The apse has - a central recess, now a window, and two lateral smaller recesses with - loops, unaltered. As the walls are everywhere very thick and the five - original apertures could not have exceeded eight inches, the chapel - must have been more than usually dark. It contains no ornamentation - of any kind, not even an abacus or plinth. The masonry appears to be - rubble of a very ordinary character. It is thickly plastered. This is a - very curious and rare example of a castle chapel.</p> - - <p>The first floor, north of the chapel and the entrance lobby, is divided - into a larger west and a smaller east chamber. The eastern chamber - is 21 feet by 88 feet, the western 61 feet by 100 feet, the increase - of size over the lower area being due to a slight reduction in the - thickness of the walls.</p> - - <p>The eastern chamber is entered from the western by a doorway in the - dividing wall. In its north end is a loop, in its east wall two - fireplaces; north of the one are two loops and one south of the other; - between them is a fourth loop and a mural garderobe. This chamber, 3 - feet 6 inches by 9 feet 3 inches, has an eastern recess 3 feet wide, - and in it a small loop beneath which is the seat, and a shoot opening - in the wall. There are two doors opening from the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_427">427</span> main chamber 3 - feet 3 inches apart. It is probable that the chamber was divided by - a partition of wood, so that there was a fireplace in each room, and - the garderobe was common to the two, with a door opening from each. - The north-east turret here contains a vaulted chamber, 13 feet by 10 - feet and 16 feet high. It has one loop to the north and two to the - east, now broken into one. In the west wall is an indication either of - a fireplace never completed, or of one walled up. This was probably a - bedchamber.</p> - - <p>The western chamber may possibly have been subdivided, like the lower - floor, by a wall raised upon that now removed; and an unequal space - between the loops in its north wall favours this view. More probably, - however, the wall was not so raised, and the irregular space may be - caused by a wish to keep the loops clear of the external pilaster. - The chamber, supposing it to have been of the full breadth, had four - loops in the north wall, and in the west wall two fireplaces, having - two loops between and two beyond each, six in all. The fireplaces are - spacious, round-headed, with rounded backs set with tiles on edge - in herring-bone pattern. They stand in a broad pilaster of a foot - projection, and are quite plain. They are of tile, of one pattern - throughout, and at a height of about 14 feet the flue is stopped, and - divides into two branches which open in the face of the wall, one on - each side of the pilaster, in the hollow angle, as at Rochester and - in the Tower of London. These fireplaces do not seem to have had any - hood. Over one of them is a sort of weather moulding of tile, which - looks as though part of a hood, such as is still seen over the west - door of St. Botolph’s Church. There is, however, a second fragment on - the jamb of the fireplace, which could not be part of a hood. These are - probably the remains of the weather mouldings of the roofs of cottages - built within the area of the keep after the whole was gutted and laid - open. The loops of this floor, like those below, are of one pattern. - A recess, 7 feet wide, flat-sided and round-headed, commences at the - floor-level and rises about 14 feet. At a depth of 3 feet 6 inches is - a rebate or reveal, from which commences a splayed recess, ending in a - loop eight inches wide.</p> - - <p>In the north wall, at its west end, is a plain doorway, and a recess - corresponding to a doorway in the outside of the wall, which opened - upon the shelf already mentioned, as in the east face of the north-west - turret. This shoulder formed a landing, 6 feet by 8 feet, whence a - staircase descended by a face of the wall to the ground. The walls - show where the staircase was let into it by the discontinuance of the - regular coursing, but this also shows the staircase to have been an - afterthought. The original staircase was probably of wood. The door - has evidently been walled up from an early period. In the west side - of this doorway is a smaller lateral doorway opening into a groined - lobby, which leads into a staircase and a garderobe, which occupy the - north-west turret. The garderobe is 7 feet by 2 feet, with a loop to - the east and the seat and drain to the west, and in the north wall a - recess as for a lamp. A few feet south of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">428</span> the seat and its shoot a - second shoot is seen in the outer wall. This probably belonged to a - garderobe in the battlements, now gone. The staircase is a well, 6 feet - diameter, of which twenty-four steps remain. It evidently led from - the first-floor level to the summit. The fragment of the turret seems - to show that the original height of the wall was about 32 to 36 feet. - This and the main staircase are cut short by the removal of the upper 5 - feet or 6 feet of the wall. They open upon the present top of the wall, - which has been levelled, and a slight battlement and rear wall built to - make the walk safe. There does not seem to have been a second floor.</p> - - <p>Many years ago, about 1683, the then proprietor of the castle, - ignominiously known as having removed the upper part of the walls and - gutted the interior of the building, discovered that a part of the - ground floor rested upon vaults. These he opened and examined, and - they are still accessible. The vaults are two in number, built side by - side, each 22 feet wide and 96 feet long. They are crossed by a wall - 6 feet thick, and thus formed into two vaults of 60 feet and two of - 30 feet. The wall between them is 8 feet thick. When discovered they - were full of earth, so full that it was evident the contents of the - foundations had been heaped and used as a centring, the arch being - turned upon the earth or the stones laid upon it. Of one vault the roof - is flat, held up by the mere cohesion of the masonry. These vaults - had no original entrance, and were evidently works of construction - only, not intended to be used. Several breaches were made, so that one - vault can be entered from the other; and a breach was also made in the - north wall of the keep below the exterior ground-level, through which - a good deal of this soil was removed, and thus the cavities admit of - a partial examination. The masonry is wholly rude rubble, composed - of large pebbles and boulders and fragments of stone, uncoursed, and - with a very free use of mortar. The vaults are described as pointed, - but the excessive rudeness of the work and the nature of the centring - would account for any irregularity in the figure of the arches. To the - eye they appear rudely semicircular. That these vaults are of the date - of the keep is evident from their relations to the other walls, part - of which rest upon them. The present entrance is in the floor of the - well-chamber.</p> - - <p>For some reason, possibly from an apprehension of defective foundation - in a wet sandy soil, it seems to have been thought necessary to take - extraordinary precautions against an unequal settlement of the parts of - the keep. Hence probably the extensive area, the low altitude of the - walls, and the excessive breadth of their foundations. Hence, also, - probably, the decision to elevate the floor of the interior above the - exterior ground, by the use of vaulting. If such was the cause of these - unusual precautions, the result has been perfectly successful, for - there is no mark of subsidence anywhere to be seen.</p> - - <p>Although a main entrance at the ground-floor level is by no means - unknown in Norman keeps, and is found at Carlisle, Ludlow, and - Bamborough, it was not usual, and an examination of the pre<span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">429</span>sent - entrance at Colchester leads to the conclusion that it was not - originally so here. It is evident not only that the present ornate - doorway is an insertion, but that the outer part of the wall above has - also been taken down for a considerable height, and clumsily rebuilt. - This was done to allow of the insertion of a portcullis. Without this - it would have been sufficient to remove the lower masonry only, but the - grate required head-room when raised, and to gain this a more extensive - alteration was necessary. Immediately above the dripstone are a few - courses of ashlar, derived, no doubt, from the old work; but above this - the wall is of very inferior uncoursed rubble, very different from the - regular courses of stone and tile seen in the wall on either side. When - the outer door case was inserted the wall within was also lined with - ashlar, and the ring stones of the inner arch and of the entrances to - the great staircase were also so cased. Above, the recess into which - the portcullis was lifted is of tile, and evidently original; but the - floor with the aperture or chase, and the flat back of the recess are - later. In all probability there was originally a recess with perhaps a - loop where the great doorway now is, and there was certainly a recess - above, with probably a loop also. When this door was opened, in the - latest Norman period, the original entrance on the first floor, in the - north front, was probably walled up, as it still remains. It has been - suggested that the great doorway replaced a postern, but posterns in - Norman keeps were very unusual indeed, especially at the ground-level, - and there seems no reason for supposing one here. Probably when the - keep was constructed there was no <i>enceinte</i> wall, but when this - was built, the keep became far more secure, and as it was convenient to - have an entrance from the town side, the change was made.</p> - - <p>There is something to be said for the pertinacity with which this - keep has been asserted to be a Roman building. Not only is its design - peculiar, but this is also the case with the material employed, and - in some degree with the workmanship. The walls, though cased with - ashlar on the plinth, and though ashlar is largely employed in the - quoins up to the first floor, contain great quantities of the large, - square, thick tile so characteristic of Roman work. Moreover, these - tiles are mostly whole, as though they had not been employed in an - older building, and they are laid in bonding or chain courses, single, - double, triple, and even in four courses, with intervening bands of - cement stone in small rudely-squared blocks. Sometimes the tiles are - laid on edge, sometimes slightly inclined, with here and there a - tendency to herring-bone, and the greater part of the interior dividing - wall is regular herring-bone, and a very fine example of it. Most of - the recesses within the walls were not originally looped, and are - round-backed and semi-domed, which is unusual in Norman keeps. Outside - the building, high up in the walls, are traces of a number of apertures - or perhaps only sunken spaces, about 2 feet 6 inches square. One of - these is shown in an early drawing as containing a sun-dial, no doubt - an insertion. It<span class="pagenum" id="Page_430">430</span> has been supposed that these represent tablets with - an inscription, but there is no evidence for this. What they were for - it is difficult even to guess.</p> - - <p>All these features, and some others not actually present, have been - adduced to justify the opinions of General Roy, King, and others, in - favour of the Roman origin of the building, which is asserted to have - been constructed to contain and guard the shrine of a Pagan deity, and - afterwards to have been converted by the Normans into a fortress. Such - conversions of Roman buildings into mediæval fortresses were, no doubt, - common enough in Italy and France, and not unknown in England, as at - Pevensey and Porchester, but nevertheless there scarcely seems ground - for supposing this building to be Roman, or other than a Norman keep.</p> - - <p>The combination of the rectangular plan with angle turrets and - intermediate pilasters of slight projection is distinctly and - peculiarly Norman. As to the unusual dimensions of the building, in - size and height Norman keeps varied considerably, from Clitheroe and - Goderich up to Norwich or London. The projection of the turrets also - varies from mere pilasters as at Bowes and Scarborough to regular - turrets as at Dover and Kenilworth. The half-round projection and - the chapel within are indeed rare, being confined to Colchester and - London, but no one conversant with the smaller Norman churches could - hesitate to class these among them. The spreading plinth is also a - Norman feature, and is seen at Norham and Kenilworth. Thick and solid - walls at the ground floor are also common. One of the most usual Norman - arrangements was to place at one angle a well-staircase communicating - with each floor and with the roof, while at another angle was a similar - staircase commencing at the first floor.</p> - - <p>The Norman entrance, though sometimes on the ground floor, was more - usually, as originally here, on the first floor. Neither was it always - protected by a forebuilding. Neither Goderich, Clitheroe, nor Chester - were so protected. The well in Norman keeps, though often in the wall, - was also found in other situations. At Norwich and Castle Rising it - was within the area, and at Bamborough. Mural chambers, especially for - garderobes, are common in Norman keeps, especially at the first-floor - level. Here are three, and a larger chamber, besides the chapel and - ante-chapel. The shoots of Norman garderobes usually open on the face - of the wall, the lower stone projecting a little to keep the filth - clear of it, as at Ludlow and Carlisle. The opening of the flues of the - fireplaces upon the face of the wall, close to a pilaster, is a purely - Norman device. The use of loops on the first floor, though with large - splayed recesses, is also Norman, and a part of the jealous system that - pervaded those keeps. Usually it was only at the second floor that the - loops became windows. In Norman keeps the floors were almost always of - timber, the joists being supported, when necessary, by posts or props, - as seen at this day in the Tower of London.</p> - - <p>As to material the use of new and clear and unbroken tiles by no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_431">431</span> means - shows a work to be Roman. Those of St. Botolph’s Priory Church were - evidently never used before. The only conclusion is that they were - manufactured in imitation of those introduced by the Romans. Neither - is the mortar that usually described as of Roman composition. It is - decidedly white or light in colour, with a great preponderance of sand, - so much so as in some parts to have prevented its setting. Where the - mortar is in masses it may contain fragments of tile or stone, but - there is no trace of pounded brick in its composition. It is generally - ill-mixed, and contains large fragments of sea-shells. The putlog holes - in size and position are such as are usually observed in buildings of - the eleventh and twelfth centuries, though probably not confined to - them. The soffits of the vaulting of the staircase and mural chambers - everywhere are impressed deeply with the figure of the boards used as - centring, or what is called technically lagging. The carpenter’s work - in Norman keeps seems to have been very rudely performed, and the rough - boards were spread over thickly with mortar to bring them to a surface. - This is well seen at Colchester.</p> - - <p>Taking all these features into consideration there ought to be little - doubt that Colchester keep is a Norman structure, built probably about - the close of the eleventh century, by one of the sons of Hubert de Rie.</p> - - <p>The keep is the only part of Colchester Castle now standing. The - wall <i>enceinte</i> has long been removed, probably about 1650, but - its general line to the east, north, and west is indicated by three - earthbanks. To the south the ground has been levelled. The entrance - from the town was on this side. This was the main gate, but there was - also a second. The area thus enclosed appears to have been rather above - three acres. Various Roman remains have been discovered within and - about this area.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CONISBOROUGH">CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">CONISBOROUGH, or, as it was anciently and more correctly called, - Coningsborough or Coningsburh Castle, is one of the most remarkable - of the strongholds in the North of England, standing high above the - bank of “the gentle Don,” about half-a-mile below its reception of the - Dearne, in the midst of a grand sylvan amphitheatre. Its name declares - it to have been a seat, and its position to have been a fitting seat, - of Saxon royalty; and the mighty earthworks which constitute its most - ancient defences, proclaim the value of the possession and the power - of the founder: moreover, the great enchanter of romance has thrown - a charm over the scene and invested it with an interest not the less - deep that it is wholly fictitious. Those, and they are many, who - ascend the guarded mount, care little for the great Norman Earl who - raised its tower; to them it is peopled with the creations of Scott. - The chamber remains, though roofless, in which he places the funeral - banquet of Athelstan, and the oratory is still unaltered within which - Rowena poured forth her very mingled devotions. The present view must - necessarily be of a more prosaic character. It must take notice of - the great earls whose tower stands almost unrivalled as an abiding - evidence of their feudal magnificence and constructive skill. Although - Conisborough may not be compared to Coucy in dimensions, and the power - even of the House of Warren pales before that of its more than royal - Sires, the lesser but older tower is not inferior to its great rival in - position, excellence of material, or delicacy of workmanship.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i432"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">432</span> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_432.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attr"><i>A·S·Ellis<br />Sept. 81.</i></div> - <div class="caption">CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.<br /> - <i>GENERAL PLAN of the CASTLE & EARTHWORKS.</i> - </div> - </div> - - <p>He who selected the hill of Conisborough as the site of a stronghold, - if not, as King James said on visiting a similar position, a thief in - his heart, must have thought security of the first importance, and have - been prepared to expend a vast amount of human labour in obtaining it. - What he had to deal with was an isolated knoll of rock and gravel, - rising at about 400 yards from the bank of the river to a height of - about 175 feet, naturally steep on every side, though rather less so - to the south-west, where the exterior ground is somewhat higher. On - this side, distant about a furlong, stands the ancient church of St. - Peter, and about it the village of Conisborough. The top of the knoll - has been levelled and trimmed into a platform of a rounded outline, 90 - yards north-east and south-west, by 60 yards in the cross direction, - thus enclosing about three-quarters of an acre. From this summit the - slopes have been scarped steeply down to the bottom of an immense - ditch about 60 feet below the crest. The outer slope or counterscarp - of the ditch varies in height, or rather depth, according to the - character of the ground, and for about two-thirds of its circumference - is crested by a steep bank, which gives the ditch a depth of from 18 - to 25 feet, and the exterior slope of which dies away into the natural - fall of the hill-side. Towards the south-west, or town side, where - the ground occupied by the church is about 25 feet higher than the - <i>terre-plein</i> of the castle, the intervening hollow is occupied - by a large outwork, resting upon the main ditch, a branch from which - embraces and separates it from the town, and thus is formed an outer - ward, convenient either for the lodgment of troops or the secure - pasture of cattle. The principal approach must always have been on - this side and across this earthwork. At no other point could so safe - or so convenient an approach have been contrived; scarcely, indeed, - one practicable for a horse with a rider on his back, still less for - a litter or a vehicle on wheels. Such, as regards the earthwork, was, - and still is the original fortress, the seat and stronghold of the king - from whose office the borough was named, and, supposing the walls and - keep to be removed, and the crest of the platform, the counterscarp - of the ditch, and the outer edge of the earthwork to be palisaded, - the place<span class="pagenum" id="Page_434">434</span> would still be one of great strength and equal to the - accommodation of even a royal following. - </p> - - <p>When Earl Warren, soon after the Norman Conquest, visited his - newly-acquired lordship, he must have been struck with the general - analogy of its chief seat to the strong places he had left behind him. - The mound or motte, here natural, the circular ditch around it, and - the entrenched outworks covering the weaker side, resting upon the - ditch and protected by a branch of it, were features as well known in - Normandy as in England. No doubt he intended to add to the fortress - those works in masonry that were just then become popular upon the - Seine and the Orne; but the internal evidence of the oldest remaining - work in stone, the encircling wall, shows it not to have been his - work. Probably he found the works required at Lewes, Ryegate, and - Castle-acre, quite enough to occupy his means, and was obliged to be - content with such defences as he found already to his hand, and to - his son or grandson is to be attributed the earliest extant masonry, - the older part of the curtain, and a part of the outer gatehouse at - the foot of the hill. There is no reason to suppose that there ever - was a Norman keep. Probably the whole inner ward, as at Exeter and - Restormel, was regarded as a shell keep. The present tower is certainly - a rather later addition. The view here given shows the ascent from the - gatehouse. On the left is seen the exterior of the curtain of the main - ward.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i434"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_434.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>The castle, as now seen, is composed of a keep, an inner and an outer - ward, and the steep slope between them. The <i>Outer Ward</i> is the - earthwork on the western side. There are no traces of the gateway by - which this must have been entered, nor of any curtain wall surrounding - it, or buildings within it. Probably its defences were always of timber - placed upon the earthbank which crowns the scarp of the ditch and must - have been thrown up out of it.</p> - - <p>Crossing the centre of the earthwork, the way into the castle reaches - and traverses the main or inner ditch by a modern causeway of earth, - replacing the ancient drawbridge, and reaches the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_435">435</span> base of the hill - between two thick and lofty walls, parallel, and 10 feet apart, like - those at the entrance to Berkhampstead. The cross walls which connected - them at each end, and were perforated by the portal arches, are gone. - The gatehouse thus formed had probably a timber covering, and perhaps - an upper floor above the entrance passage, with an embattled platform - above all. The lateral walls are, or have been, continued up the hill. - That on the left on entering was carried straight up the slope till - it abutted upon, and was united to, the curtain of the inner ward. - The wall on the right hand springs from a small, solid, round turret - which flanks the inner end of the gatehouse. It is carried obliquely up - the slope, gradually approaching the upper entrance, which it reaches - at a right angle towards the middle of the southern front. This wall - protects the roadway from the lower to the upper gate; and is itself - commanded from the curtain wall above. It may be said to traverse - the <i>Middle Ward</i>, if that term be applied to the slope of the - hill between the ditch and outwork below and the containing wall of - the inner ward above. It is, in fact, the glacis of the inner line of - defence.</p> - - <p>Of the <i>Inner Ward</i> there is at this time no trace of an exterior - gatehouse. Probably the entrance was a mere archway in the curtain, - as at Bridgenorth and Kenilworth, or Cardiff, flanked in addition by - a projecting shoulder of the wall which still remains. An exterior - gatehouse, though not an unknown, was not an essential feature in a - Norman castle. Entering the inner court, the wall to the left shows - abundant traces of buildings attached to it. It is evident that here, - right and left, were the principal structures for domestic purposes, as - the hall, kitchen, and probably the chapel, attached to and with walls - bonded into the curtain. The rectangular space between these buildings, - 14 feet by 24 feet, may have been, as it was at Tickhill, a gatehouse - with a portal opening into the inner ward.</p> - - <div class="figright illow35" id="i435"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_435.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption center">PILASTERS AS SEEN FROM OUTSIDE.</div> - </div> - - <p>The inner ward is somewhat of an oval figure, but contained within a - wall of many straight lengths, in fact a very irregular polygon, fitted - to the natural outline of the ground. The older part of this curtain - is, in substance, of good coursed rubble, from 6 feet to 7 feet thick, - and from 30 feet to 35 feet high. The outer face was of ashlar, and - much of it remains, either perfect, or with marks showing where the - stones have been stripped off. The angles were quoined with ashlar - blocks inside and outside, and there are several exterior pilasters, - locally called “pillars,” broad, of slight projection, and with one - or two sets-off, being of a late Norman character. In the north-west - angle, high up in the wall, is a round-headed arch which probably - opened into a tower, capping the angle, but now gone. A part of the - west wall seems to have been rebuilt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_436">436</span> when a new hall and kitchen were - required, and in it are the remains of a large fireplace, and corbels - either for a lean-to roof, or for an upper floor. The battlements - are everywhere gone. The north and west walls are tolerably perfect, - and much remains of the east, but towards the south the wall is - broken down. This part seems the latest, and to have been rebuilt in - a slovenly manner. Upon the wall are five small half-round turrets, - solid, like those at Knaresborough. The curtain has no bond into the - keep, which has been built into its line, so as to form a part of it. - At this part, the north-east of the <i>enceinte</i>, in a salient of - the curtain, is a small staircase and passage in the wall much blocked - with rubbish. King calls it a postern, but it was very evidently a - garderobe. The area of this inner ward has been cleared out and the - buildings removed, all except the keep. The only traces of walls in the - court are along<span class="pagenum" id="Page_437">437</span> its north, west, and south sides, showing that there - were buildings against the curtain 310 feet in length by 22 feet in - breadth.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow55" id="i436"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_436.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">DETAIL OF THE BASE OF ONE OF THE BUTTRESSES OF THE KEEP.</div> - </div> - - <div class="figcenter illow65" id="i437fp"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_437fp.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.—VIEW OF THE KEEP AS AT PRESENT.</div> - </div> - - <p><i>The Keep</i> is the glory of Conisborough, and though inferior in - size to Cæsar’s or Beauchamp’s Tower at Warwick, is more than their - equal in its masonry, and more complete, inasmuch as it is a keep, - and those are subsidiary towers. It stands nearly at the north-east - extremity, and at the highest part of the inner ward, actually upon - the line of the curtain, of which two of its buttresses and the - intermediate wall form a part. It is constantly described as standing - upon an artificial mound, which is certainly not the case. Indeed, - no artificial mound could bear so concentrated a weight. It stands - upon the natural surface, here a rock. It has no special ditch, and - the ground shows that it never had any. There was, indeed, no need of - the usual ditch, which was represented by the natural steep, and the - exterior ditch at its base.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow60" id="i437"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_437.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">KEEP, FROM OUTSIDE THE CURTAIN.</div> - </div> - - <p>The tower is a cylinder, resting upon a bold spreading conical base. - Against it, at equal intervals, are six bold, massive buttresses, - having flat faces, but slightly tapering in plan so as to be - half-hexagons with two long sides and a short face. They rest upon - bases which expand outwards, but very little laterally. The tower<span class="pagenum" id="Page_438">438</span> - at the ground-level is 66 feet diameter, from which its buttresses - project 9 feet more, so that it covers an interrupted circle of 80 - feet. Where the buttresses spring from, or are united to, the tower, - they are 15 feet 6 inches broad. They taper in plan 6 feet 6 inches, so - that the face of each is 9 feet broad. At 20 feet from the ground the - battering base ceases, and the tower is there 52 feet diameter, and the - buttresses project 8 feet, while their taper is represented by a base - of 14 feet 6 inches, and a face of 9 feet. This is at the first-floor - level, and here the walls are 14 feet 11 inches thick.</p> - - <p>The exterior of the tower from this level is vertical, being in fact - a cylinder, and without any string moulding or set-off above the - chamfered top of the base. Inside, the walls are reduced in thickness - by three sets-off or ledges, corresponding to the four floors, each - floor resting upon a ledge. The wall is thus reduced to 12 feet 6 - inches in thickness at the summit. The tower is now at one point 90 - feet high, and was originally probably about 120 feet to its conical - top. The buttresses, when complete and battlemented, were about 94 feet - high. The whole structure is built of a fine-grained light-coloured - limestone, in blocks about 12 inches high by from 1 to 3 feet long, - laid in courses, not regularly sorted, though the largest stones are in - the base. Both inner and outer faces, staircases, and mural chambers, - are also of excellent ashlar. The joints generally are rather open, the - horizontal joints varying from half-an-inch to one-and-a-half inches, - the vertical joints rather closer. The vaulting is mostly sound rubble. - The mortar has fallen out of the joints of the ashlar, but the stone - is fresh and sharp, and there are no settlements. The courses are all - well defined, and may be counted both within and without. Outside, the - base is composed of eighteen courses, and the cylinder of sixty-one, - from which the buttresses rise seven courses more. Inside, the first - floor contains nineteen courses, the second twenty-five, and the third - nineteen, being sixty-three for the whole cylinder. The fourth floor is - gone, or nearly so. The exterior of the building is perfectly plain, - save the two small circular lights of the oratory, which have a sort - of ball moulding. There are several loops, but in the whole building - but one exterior doorway, and two main windows. All the arches are - full-centred; no trace of a pointed arch, and all is of one date. - Nothing can be more substantial, plainer, in better proportion, or - better suited to the purpose for which it was built.</p> - - <p>The interior is divided into a basement and four stages, of which - the uppermost was in the roof, and at the battlement level; all are - cylindrical. The basement is a domed vault, of which the floor is the - natural surface of the rock. It is 22 feet diameter. The walls to the - springing are 10 feet high, and both dome and walls are perfectly - plain. There are no loops, or even holes, or lateral recesses, or - openings of any kind: no seats, no vents, no sewer, so far as can be - seen. In the centre is the well, lined with ashlar, and rather above - 2 feet diameter. It is said to be 105 feet deep, but is now partially - choked up. It must have been sunk as a larger shaft, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_439">439</span> then lined - to its present diameter. Exactly above it is a ragged hole, which - represents the only entrance to the basement, and which must have been - provided with a ladder. It is evident that this vault was a cellar or - store, and by no means a prison. Space here, as indeed in most other - keeps, was too valuable to be employed, save in some manner likely to - be of use during a siege.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow68" id="i438"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_438.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.—THE KEEP.</div> - </div> - - <p>The entrance to the tower is at the first-floor level, on the - south-east side, at the top of the base, and therefore 20 feet from - the ground. The doorway is 4 feet 9 inches wide, quite plain, and flat - topped, but the lintel is composed of five stones joggled together - as a platband, and above is an arch of relief, the tympanum of which - is formed of two large stones, divided vertically. There was no - portcullis, only a stout single door of one valve, stayed by two bars, - the holes for which, 7 inches square, are in the right or hinge-jamb 9 - inches deep, and in the lock-jamb 6 feet. In the joints near the cill - are two holes, evidently for the iron gudgeons of a small drawbridge, - so light as to be worked from within the doorway. The present exterior - stone staircase is modern, but the original stair was probably much of - the same character, only the support must have been separated from the - tower by the length of the bridge, probably about 7 feet, or a foot - longer than the height of the doorway. It is singular that there should - be no portcullis, since it could have been worked conveniently from - the window recess above, and its presence would have made the tower - absolutely impregnable.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i439"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_439.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attr"><i>A·S·Ellis<br />-Sept. 61.</i></div> - <div class="caption"><i>FIRST FLOOR PLAN.</i></div> - </div> - - <p>From the doorway a vaulted passage, expanding from a breadth of 5 - feet 3 inches to 6 feet 3 inches, leads direct into the first-floor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_440">440</span> - chamber. Where this vault terminates in the inner wall it is worked in - a curve so as to coincide or be flush with the inner face. This was to - be expected, but this is the only arch so terminating. All the others, - whether of doorways or window recesses, end square, so that while the - central part coincides with the curved face of the inner wall, the - ends, or springings, are recessed from 3 to 4 inches, according to the - span of the arch, and the appearance is clumsy. This is not so where - the opening is square-headed, there the lintel is cut to a suitable - curve. It is remarkable that there is no rebate or provision for a door - where the entrance passages open into the first floor, and that floor, - though 22 feet diameter, and 16 feet 6 inches high, is entirely without - any air or light, save what it might receive when the outer door was - open. Possibly there was a central hole in the floor above, as in the - dome below. There is no drain or fireplace. This, therefore, also was a - store.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow70" id="i440"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_440.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><i>SECOND FLOOR PLAN.</i></div> - </div> - - <p>In the right wall of the entrance passage, on entering the tower, is a - side doorway whence a staircase ascends, winding with the walls to the - second floor. The doorway of 4 feet 1 inch opening, has a rebate for a - door opening inwards into a small lobby 5 feet 11 inches deep by 4 feet - 8 inches broad, whence rises the staircase of the same breadth. The - staircase, of twenty-five steps, winds with the wall, which is 4 feet - 2 inches thick on its inner, and 6 feet 2 inches on its outer side. - In the latter is a loop. The vault is full-centred, broken by hanging - ribs, of a bold square section; it ends above in another lobby, 8 feet - deep by 4 feet 8 inches broad, whence a round-headed door-way opens - into the second floor. The lobby is lighted by a loop.</p> - - <p>The second, or state floor, is 25 feet diameter, having a set-off of - about a foot all round to carry the floor-boards, which were further<span class="pagenum" id="Page_441">441</span> - supported by joists resting upon plain corbels a little below the - ledge. This chamber is 20 feet 4 inches high. It is lighted by one - large window of two lights, each 4 feet 4 inches high by 1 foot 10 - inches broad, flat-headed, and having an intermediate mullion 2 feet 5 - inches broad, in which is a sort of stone staple, containing boltholes - for the shutter fastenings. There are also lateral barholes in the - walls. The window is placed in a broad and lofty full-centred recess, - ascended by two steps from the floor, and having side seats. The lines - of the steps are concentric with the wall of the chamber. Outside, - the window lintel is composed of stones joggled together, forming and - filling up the pediment of a round-headed arch. This window is placed - over the entrance door.</p> - - <div class="figright illow47" id="i441"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_441.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>Nearly opposite to the window is a large and handsome fireplace. Its - flat lintel, 12 feet long, is partially composed of nine stones, - joggled together in a skilful manner, and still in place. These stones - are flanked by six others which rest upon the supports. The bar of - stone thus composed extends each way to the wall, and is supported - near each end by a cluster of three coupled columns with foliated - capitals of delicate design and execution. These form the jambs of the - fireplace, the back of which is flat, sloping backwards, and, like the - rest of the work, of ashlar. The vent is square, and ascends vertically - in the wall to the summit. The stone hood, resting on the lintel, is - plain. The whole style of this fireplace is late Norman.</p> - - <p>On the left of the entrance door, between it and the window, is a - small square-headed doorway, 2 feet broad, and no doubt intended to be - concealed by tapestry, which opens into a lobby whence an ascent of - six steps leads by a passage 10 feet long into a triangular garderobe - chamber, in the substance of the wall. The vent discharges by a flush - opening in the face of the outer wall above the base. This chamber has - an exterior loop.</p> - - <p>At the opposite side of the great chamber to the entrance door from - below, a door similar to it opens upon a lobby 3 feet 10 inches by 7 - feet 6 inches, whence rises a second staircase of thirty-four steps, - leading to the third floor. The passage is vaulted like that below, but - is only 3 feet 6 inches broad. It also winds with the wall, crossing - over the great window, and terminates in a lobby 3 feet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_442">442</span> 11 inches - broad by 5 feet 5 inches deep, lighted by a loop. The outer wall of - the staircase is 5 feet 5 inches thick, the inner wall something less, - the whole thickness being 12 feet 6 inches. The lobby opens by a - full-centred doorway 3 feet 6 inches broad, into the third floor.</p> - - <p>The third or oratory floor, has a set-off of 12 inches for the floor, - and is therefore 27 feet diameter. It is 16 feet 6 inches high. To - the south-west is a window closely resembling that below, also with - steps and side seats. There is also a fireplace above the last, rather - smaller and more delicate in its details, but of the same pattern - and construction. The lintel is composed of seven stones, joggled; - it does not extend from wall to wall, but stops, as is more usual, - just clear of the jambs. The vent runs in front of the lower one, and - joins it above. Above the lower water drain is a second, in a small - sort of piscina recess, round-headed and trefoiled with cusps, but not - chamfered.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow65" id="i442"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_442.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attr"><i>A·S·Ellis</i></div> - <div class="caption"><i>THIRD FLOOR PLAN.</i></div> - </div> - - <p>The oratory is a very remarkable feature in this floor. It occupies the - south-eastern buttress, opposite to the fireplace. A doorway of 2 feet - 6 inches opening, the only flat-topped one on this floor, very plain, - and therefore meant to be concealed, opens into a short, straight - passage leading direct into the oratory. This is in plan a hexagon, 6 - feet 4 inches broad at the west end or entrance, 6 feet at the east or - altar end, and having a length of 13 feet 6 inches contained between - four sides averaging 6 feet. Its centre or broadest part is 8 feet 8 - inches. In each of its four main angles, flanking the entrances and the - altar, is a detached or nook-shaft 6 inches diameter, with a foliated - capital. The two central angles are each occupied by a half-shaft, - from which springs a triple cross<span class="pagenum" id="Page_443">443</span> rib, of which the laterals are - plain rolls, and the central worked in a chevron pattern. The area is - thus divided into a western and an eastern half, of which the latter - is rather the smaller, and may be taken to represent the chancel. Each - division is crossed diagonally by two ribs, in section plain bold - rolls, at the intersections of which are bosses of which the stones - are big enough to form not only the boss, but about six inches of each - of its four ribs, and in one case the division between the ribs is - carved with flowers, with good effect. The bosses are carved, that to - the west with a sort of cross moline, shown in the drawing, that next - the altar with flowers. At the main angles the ribs spring from the - shafts, but the triple cross ribs spring from a sort of prolongation - of the capital and abacus of the half-shafts. The shafts flanking the - altar have capitals more ornate than the rest. The east window is a - mere loop 6 inches broad and 2 feet 6 inches high, round-headed, and - placed in a splayed recess of which the angles are replaced by a bold - roll with foliated bases. This, again, stands within a second and - shallower recess, flanked with small nook-shafts of which the capitals, - delicately carved, range with those in the flanking angles. The head - is cut in chevron pattern. Right and left are two small lights, - quatrefoiled, but splayed inwards into circular recesses, 2 feet 8 - inches diameter. Outside is a hollow moulding containing knobs or balls - scarcely seen from below. These windows have been called insertions, - but, though no doubt of a somewhat Decorated character, they have every - appearance of being original, and similar openings may be seen in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_444">444</span> the - west front, and near the summit of the very fine Early English tower - of Old Malton Church. Below each light is a trefoil-headed piscina of - 1 foot 6 inches opening by 11 inches deep, of which that in the north - wall has a minute nailhead moulding. The height to the crown of the - vault is about 14 feet, gained by stilting the arch. The altar is gone.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i442fp"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_442fp.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.—INTERIOR OF THE KEEP.<br /> - (<i>From the Window Recess on Second Floor.</i>)</div> - </div> - - <div class="figcenter illow65" id="i443fp"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_443fp.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">CONISBOROUGH CASTLE.—INTERIOR OF THE ORATORY OR CHAPEL.</div> - </div> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i443"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_443.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">CAPITALS OF CENTRE ARCH, NORTH SIDE.</div> - </div> - - <p>On the left, on entering the oratory, a small flat-topped doorway - leads into a mural vestry of irregular form, about 9 feet long by 5 - feet broad, with a splayed loop, and in the end wall a trefoil-headed - locker 2 feet broad by 1 foot 6 inches deep. The vestry is very plainly - vaulted, the arch being a lean-to against the wall of the oratory.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow70" id="i444"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_444.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><i>PLAN AT RAMPART LEVEL.</i></div> - </div> - - <p>Between the oratory door and the fireplace, to the north, a doorway - of 3 feet 4 inches opening enters a lobby 3 feet 10 inches by 7 feet, - whence a staircase of twenty-four stairs ascends, winding with the - wall, to the battlements and the fourth story. The staircase is 4 feet - broad, and vaulted with hanging ribs. The two lower staircases ascend - from east to west by the north, this ascends from west to east, also by - the north, and passes over the vestry. In the lobby is a door 1 foot 9 - inches opening, whence a bent passage 3 feet 4 inches broad, leads to - a garderobe, the seat of which rests upon an oblique or squint arch, - which springs across the hollow angle between the tower wall and one - of the buttresses, and is placed, inconveniently enough, over the loop - at the head of the first flight of stairs. Over the seat is a loop. - Garderobes so placed, over a hollow angle, are common in the Decorated - period, but there is one on the outer wall at Kenilworth, probably late - Norman.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_445">445</span></p> - - <p>The staircase from this stage ends under a sort of hood which stands in - and nearly blocks up the rampart walk, leaving a passage only 2 feet 3 - inches wide between it and the wall of the battlement. The tower wall - at the level of the rampart walk is 12 feet 6 inches thick, of which - the battlement wall occupies 2 feet, the rampart walk 8 feet, and - an inner wall 2 feet 6 inches, within which was the upper or fourth - floor. The rampart walk was thus a gallery open above, having the - battlement wall outside, and the wall of the upper floor in its rear. - The vents of the two fireplaces were connected with this inner wall, - and reached its summit by an opening 7 inches by 12 inches, divided - by a tile-stone 6 inches thick. This aperture is contained within the - base of a chimney-shaft 3 feet 9 inches by 3 feet. This shaft, like the - stair-hood, somewhat reduced the breadth of the rampart walk. The upper - part is gone. The dividing stones end about 2 feet below the rampart - level, above which the vents were combined.</p> - - <div class="figright illow47" id="i445"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_445.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>The six buttresses rose as turrets above the crest of the parapet. - That to the north-west, near the chimney-shaft, and its neighbour - westward, contain half-round recesses, round the curve of which are - short staircases, opening from the rampart walk, and which probably - ascended to small parapeted platforms, now gone. The buttress to - the south contains, as at Orford, an oven, circular, 7 feet across, - with a segmental arched door 2 feet wide. The two buttresses to the - north and north-east are occupied by two cavities, probably cisterns, - half-hexagons in plan, and 2 feet 6 inches deep below the rampart wall - level. Each would contain about 650 gallons. The remaining buttress, - that above the oratory, contains a half-hexagonal recess or alcove, the - floor of which is 9 inches above the rampart wall. It is 9 feet broad - at the opening, 5 feet broad at the end, and 8 feet 8 inches deep. It - is covered in with a round-headed vault tapering to fit the plan. The - height at the entrance is 7 feet 6 inches, and at the inner end 5 feet - 7 inches. There are no loops, but the walls of this chamber and the - adjacent parts of the parapet are pierced by a number of holes, about 6 - inches high by 5 inches broad. These have been supposed to be intended - to carry the floor spars of a bretasche or wooden gallery, though they - are small for such a purpose, and there are no holes or corbels below - for struts. Moreover, these holes are confined to the buttress over - the oratory and the adjacent walls, and are not straight (<i>see</i> - plan). They extend, it is true, over the main entrance, but had they - been intended for its defence they would probably have been placed with - the door beneath their centre instead of below one end of the line. - That is, they would have been placed in the two flanking buttresses - as well as in the bay<span class="pagenum" id="Page_446">446</span> between them. It has been suggested that these - are pigeon-holes, and no doubt, during a strict siege a good supply of - these birds might have been found useful. There are certain holes in - the keep at Rochester, that probably were so intended, and that are, or - recently were, so used.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow80" id="i446"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_446.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attr"><i>A·S·Ellis</i></div> - <div class="caption">SUGGESTED ORIGINAL APPEARANCE.</div> - </div> - - <p>The height of the parapet is 6 feet 6 inches, and the pattern of the - coping may be seen at the junction with the buttress turrets, and this - also shows that the roof was confined to the inner circle, and did - not project over the parapet. There are also traces showing that the - embrasures contained, as at Alnwick, a hanging shutter.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_447">447</span></p> - - <p>The inner circle, or chamber within the inner walls, was 27 feet - diameter, and its flooring rested upon a range of nineteen plain - corbels. Only the lower part of the wall of this chamber remains, - but the jambs of a doorway show that it was entered from the rampart - walk. The wall, and consequently the chamber, was about 7 feet high, - and upon it was a conical covering, the eaves of which must have - projected somewhat over, and discharged their water into the rampart - walk. This mode of finishing off the summit of a tower, by placing the - uppermost floor within the circuit of the rampart walk and leaving the - battlements free from the roof, is seen in its greatest completeness - at Coucy, and what is there seen illustrates what must have been the - arrangement here, at Pembroke, at Martens Tower, Chepstow, and in the - smaller and later flanking towers of Holyrood House. It is obvious that - unless the roof sprung here from a wall within the parapets, or unless - there was a timber gallery carried round outside the wall, such a - tower as this could not be defended. Its loops were intended for light - and air, not for defence; this could only have been directed from the - battlements. Hence the absurdity of covering in towers intended for - defence, or at any rate to have the appearance of being defensible, - with conical roofs springing from the outer wall.</p> - - <p>Of course the accommodations of such a tower as this of Conisborough - were not such as to suit its lords, still less their ladies, save under - the pressure or in expectation of a siege, a remark which applies to - all, save the largest, keeps. The passive strength of Conisborough, - and its rocky base, secured it against attacks even if seconded by - engineering machinery. No catapult or battering-ram would be at all - likely to shake or break it. The peril to be guarded against was a - blockade, and with this view there was a well within the tower, and - the two lower floors, it is clear, were intended for the storage - of provisions. The first floor would be the ordinary room of the - constable, or lord, and of his family or guests; the men, probably, - also sleeping there. The room above would be the ladies’ room, with - the oratory close at hand. The kitchen was above all, and there, also, - at the battlement level, would be the lodging of the small garrison, - probably of not more than ten or a dozen picked men, with a ready - communication with the ramparts.</p> - - <p>The fashion of round keep towers, quite different from the shell keeps, - came in towards the close of the Norman and during the Early English - period of architecture, when frequent communication with the East had - affected men’s military ideas. A few, such as Brunless, Tretower, - Launceston, and Orford, are found in England of that time, but in - France there are many, widely spread, and very grand examples. Philip - Augustus was a great builder of such towers. That of the Louvre, of - which the circular foundations, with the well and the sewer, were - uncovered a few years ago, was his work, and to the same period, though - late in it, 1223–30, belongs the Tower of Coucy, probably the finest - military structure ever built.</p> - - <p>Taking a general view of the Castle of Conisborough, and giving<span class="pagenum" id="Page_448">448</span> - due weight to the value of the evidence afforded by its remains, - it is clear that the excavation of the ditch, both of the hill and - the outwork, and the scarping of the former, were the original and - English works, to which an early, though not the earliest, Norman - lord added the curtain wall of the <i>enceinte</i>, and much of the - lower gatehouse. He certainly also built a hall, kitchen, and lodgings - within the inner area. The next addition of importance, the keep, was - certainly made a century later. The curtain wall was taken down to - make room for a part of it, and not only was there no bond between - the old wall and the new tower, but the junction was carelessly and - clumsily effected, as may be seen from its present condition. Probably - some later alterations were made as regards the hall and lodgings. The - wall near the entrance to the inner ward seems to have been partially - rebuilt, but subsequently to this there does not seem to have been any - addition of importance. The castle was no doubt rendered untenable - during the wars of Charles I., and time and neglect have since - completed the ruin.</p> - - <p>It is singular that so strong and so remarkable a fortress should - be but little noticed in the earlier records. Invention, indeed, in - the absence of evidence, has attempted to fasten upon it an early - history. “Conyng” has, by British antiquaries, been converted into a - Breton Conan, and Caer-Conan, thus constructed, has been mixed up with - Aurelius Ambrosius and the Kentish Hengist, who is asserted to have - here fought, been slain and buried. There is, however, no evidence - whatever connecting this place with either the Britons or Bretons, - or the Romans, or Hengist. Everything bearing upon its origin is - Saxon, but Saxon of a much later date than Hengist. Two tombstones - carved in what is generally regarded as a præconquistal style were - long seen in the churchyard, and are now placed for security in the - church—so securely placed, indeed, as to be scarcely visible. The - earliest mention of the place is probably in the testament of Wulfric - Spot, the minister of King Ethelred, and the founder, in 1004, of the - Abbey of Burton-on-Trent. By this document, printed by Dugdale in his - <cite>Monasticon</cite> [I. 266], Wulfric bequeaths to Ælfred certain lands - and fisheries of Cunuzesbury, so that about <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1000 it - belonged to that great Saxon. Mr. Hunter, whose history of Conisborough - leaves nothing to be desired, points out that this devise was really a - very ample one, for the fisheries were not those of the Don but of a - part of the Soke of Hatfield, which were of great value. In Domesday, - the lord of “Coningesboro” had twenty fisheries at Tudworth, yielding - each 1,000 eels, and long afterwards they were important enough to - be specially recorded. It seems therefore probable that, at least as - early as the year 1000, Conisborough was the head of a large estate - or Soke. The name of “Moothill field,” borne by an enclosure about - three-quarters of a mile south-east of the castle, indicates the - place of the court for the liberty or jurisdiction. The hill has been - removed. There is a Moot-hall near the church. - </p> - - <p>While the castle has retained something of its ancient name, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_449">449</span> of - the ferry over the Don at its foot has undergone translation, and is - known as Kingsferry. Who the king was who gave name to both has long - been unknown; probably he was of Northumbria. The old Soke, the growth - of centuries, received its final consolidation at the Conquest, when it - was granted by William the King to William Earl Warren. At that time - the fee was probably one extensive parish, for Conisborough seems to - have been the mother church of Barthwell, Hatfield, and Sandal, three - churches named in Domesday. Conisborough as a parish church, therefore, - thinks Mr. Hunter, can scarcely be later than Ælfred, and may be older - than even Doncaster itself. Such is the antiquity of the memories and - speculations with which this very remarkable place is associated.</p> - - <p>Immediately before the Conquest it belonged to Harold the Earl. Earl - Warren evidently took it as it stood, and seated himself in the English - “Aula” at Conisborough, having about him the twenty-eight vills which - either wholly or in part were appended to it, and which included much - of the Wapentakes of Strafordes and Siraches. These were the lands “quæ - pertinent ad Coningesberc,” and which formed the “Socæ pertinens.”</p> - - <p>The possessions of Earl Warren in England were extensive, but were - especially valuable in Sussex, Norfolk, and Yorkshire; and what - Lewes was to the former Conisborough was to the latter, and as the - Soke became an Honour the castle was its “caput.” In Earl Warren’s - foundation charter to Lewes Priory in 1078, it is provided that the - monks should find him lodgings as he went and returned from Yorkshire, - so that when he crossed from Normandy he took Lewes on his way. The - connexion between his two lordships he cemented by giving to Lewes the - church of Conisborough. Earl William was created Earl of Surrey about - 1088, and died in 1089, and among his possessions stand enumerated the - Lordship and Soke of Conisborough, with twenty-eight vills and hamlets.</p> - - <p>II. William Earl of Surrey, son and heir, supported Robert Curthose - against Henry II., and with him retired to Normandy. On being pardoned, - and his earldom of Surrey restored, he changed sides and fought for - Henry at Tinchebrai. He gave to Roche Abbey the tythe of his Hatfield - fisheries. He died 1138.</p> - - <p>III. William Earl of Surrey, his son and heir, the third earl, joined - in the mixed French, German, and English Crusade in 1145, during which, - in 1148, he fell, leaving a daughter and heiress.</p> - - <p>IV. Isabel de Warren, who married, first, William de Blois, a natural - son of King Stephen; and, secondly, Hameline Plantagenet, natural son - of Geoffry Earl of Anjou, and half-brother to Henry II.</p> - - <p>William was Earl of Boulogne and Mortaigne, and, by his wife, possibly - of Surrey. He died childless 1160.</p> - - <p>King Henry seems to have taken and held the earldoms for a while in - his own hands, but, in 1163, Isabel married Hameline Plantagenet, who - enjoyed her honours and estates and, 12 Henry II., paid scutage on - sixty knights’ fees. Hameline bore the probably<span class="pagenum" id="Page_450">450</span> Norman title of Earl - Warren, and was an active soldier in his day, a faithful servant to - Richard I., and much employed in transactions both of peace and war. - Also, though engaged occasionally in Normandy, he appears to have - passed most of his time in England, and was by no means an unlikely man - to have added the keep to his castle of Conisborough. He died 3 John, - 1201, Isabel having died in 1199. Their son succeeded. Earl Hameline - founded an endowment for a priest for the chapel of St. Philip and - James within the castle. This probably stood in the courtyard for the - use of the garrison, for, 11 Edward II., the Earl of Lancaster gave - timber from the wood of Conisborough to repair the roof of the chapel - within the castle, which therefore could not be the oratory in the - keep, which is vaulted. King John was here March 12, 1201, probably - taking advantage of the earl’s death to view the castle and possessions.</p> - - <p>V. William Plantagenet, or de Warren, son and heir of Hameline and - Isabel, who succeeded as fourth Earl of Surrey, was probably then of - age, as he had livery at the least of some of his lands, 4 John, 1202. - He held the earldom for an unusually long time, and much added to its - wealth and consequence. As a Magna Charta Baron, he behaved with great - moderation, and upon John’s death he swore allegiance to Henry. He - married, first, Maud, a daughter of the Earl of Arundel; and, secondly, - Maud, widow of Hugh Bigot, Earl of Norfolk and Earl Marshal, by a - daughter of the great William Marshal. He died 1240, 24–5 Henry III., - leaving a son, John. Maud, the earl’s widow, had livery, 30 Henry III., - of the rod and office of Earl Marshal, as elder co-heir of her brother. - She also held the custody of the castles of Conisborough and Chepstow - until her death in 1246, 32 Henry III.</p> - - <p>Their son and successor, VI. John, fifth Earl of Surrey, who succeeded - at five years old, married in 1247, being then very young, Alice le - Brun, who died 1290, half-sister of Henry III. In 1254 he paid an aid - upon sixty knights’ fees. He lacked much of the prudence of his father, - and his general character was scarcely in accord with his famous answer - to the “Quo Warranto” of Edward I., to whom, however, he was a better - subject than to his sire. He died 32 Edward I., 1304, having held the - earldom sixty-four years. He was summoned to Parliament as Earl of - Surrey and Sussex.</p> - - <p>William his son died 14 Edward I., 1286, and therefore before his - father. His son, and the successor to the earldom, was, VII. John de - Warren or Plantagenet, sixth Earl of Surrey, a posthumous child, born - 1286. When nineteen years of age, he married Joan, daughter of the Earl - of Barr, but had by her no issue. 17 Edward II. Conisborough Castle was - in the king’s hands, and 18 Edward II. he appointed the Constable. 19 - Edward II. the earl recovered his estates, but had surrendered them to - the king and his heirs, taking a re-grant for his own life. He was also - both<span class="pagenum" id="Page_451">451</span> Earl of Sussex and Earl of Strathern in Scotland. Joan Countess - of Surrey was at her castles at Sandal and Conisborough in 1314.</p> - - <p>Earl John died 1347, and his will is dated from Conisburgh Castle, - and the title of Surrey seems to have gone to Edward Earl of Arundel, - son of Alice, Earl John’s sister. Besides natural daughters, he left - two sons by Maud de Nerford, John and Thomas de Warren, to whom and - their mother he left, with the king’s permission, a very considerable - property, including Conisborough. Thomas Earl of Lancaster seems - to have obtained from Earl John some sort of forced occupation of - Conisborough, which came to an end upon his attainder, so that Earl - John recovered and died seized of it.</p> - - <p>About its descent there is some uncertainty, for Henry, the brother - and heir of Earl Thomas of Lancaster, did homage for the castle, 1 - Edward III., to which John, Earl Warren, laid claim. Earl John held it - 5 Edward III., and agreed to a grant of 65 acres of the waste lands of - the manor by the king to William de Skargill. Similar grants were made - in the five following years by the earl and confirmed by the king, with - a note that the earl’s tenure was for life only.</p> - - <p>Probably the children of Maud de Nerford found it to their interest - to allow the Crown to possess the castle, for at Earl John’s death it - was held by Edward III., who granted the castle to Edmund of Langley, - his fifth son, afterwards Duke of York, who died 1402, from whom it - descended to his son Edward, also Duke of York. He fell at Agincourt, - childless, 1415, and was succeeded by Richard, son to his brother - Richard Earl of Cambridge. He became Duke of York, and was called also - Richard of Conisborough, from his birth in the castle. Richard, who - was great-grandson of Edward III. and father of Edward IV., was slain - at Wakefield, 1460. His second wife and widow, Maud Clifford, held the - castle in dower, and lived here. She died 1464. The decay of the castle - probably dates from her death, for Edward Duke of York, who succeeded, - became Edward IV., and nothing has generally proved more fatal to an - independent historic estate than its absorption by the Crown.</p> - - <p>Conisborough remained in the Crown, and, though probably the buildings - were suffered to fall into decay, some of the offices attached to the - castle and domain were kept up. As late as 1522, Sir H. Wyatt and John - Melton were bailiffs and stewards of “the lordships of Conysborowe,” - keepers of the park, &c., and there were constables and door-wards of - the castle. Finally, James II. granted it to Carey, Earl of Dover, - from whose family it passed to that of its present owner. King, in - his “Munimenta,” has given elaborate plans, and a yet more elaborate - history of this castle, but neither can be depended upon. There is also - an excellent paper upon it in the fifth volume of the <cite>Archæological - Journal</cite> by Mr. Milward, the plans attached to which seem, however, - to be taken from King.</p> - - <p>Conisborough Castle deserves a better fate than has of late years<span class="pagenum" id="Page_452">452</span> - attended it, or than seems likely to attend it. Its position upon one - of the most celebrated of the Yorkshire streams, its grand natural - mount, and the striking character of the earthworks by which it is - defended, are quite enough to attract public attention; but in addition - it has an undoubted though obscure Saxon history, and from the Norman - Conquest it was for three centuries or more the residence of a very - powerful race of barons, the evidences of whose power and wealth are - preserved in the ruins of their fortress. By whom, or precisely when, - the present works in masonry were executed, is a question not exactly - to be decided. William de Warren, the third and last earl of the old - stock, 1138–1148, was a very likely man to have built in masonry this - his most important northern castle, and it is probable that he built - the <i>enceinte</i> wall of the inner court, and the hall and offices - now destroyed. The keep is certainly later, scarcely much earlier than - 1200, and is, therefore, probably the work of Hameline Plantagenet, - who held the earldom and the castle from about 1163 to 1201. The tower - was, no doubt, added for security only, for, though it contains state - apartments and an oratory, these were dark and inconvenient, only fit - to be inhabited during a siege. The hall and ordinary lodgings were, of - course, more spacious and placed in the court, where are still traces - of their foundations.</p> - - <p>At a still later period, possibly under Earl John, who held the earldom - from 1240 to 1304, the Norman curtain seems to have been repaired - and strengthened with round bastion turrets, small and solid, along - the southern and western faces of the inner ward. Then also the - arrangements for crossing the ditch, and defending the lower entrance, - were made more elaborate. The work of this period is of inferior - quality, and much of it has fallen down. Since this no additions of any - importance seem to have been executed.</p> - - <p>It is probable that, during the civil war and after the death of King - Charles, the curtain wall, domestic buildings, and lower gate-house - were broken down, and the keep gutted and unroofed, but since that - time, now nearly two centuries and a half, the ruins seem to have - been left untouched save by the hand of time. Such is the excellence - of the workmanship of the keep that for very many years the walls - stood unshaken. During the last quarter of a century, however, the - rains of autumn and the frosts of winter have begun to tell upon the - structure, and the top of the tower is in a shaky condition. Still, it - is not so far gone but that a few pounds judiciously laid out upon it - would save it. The upper two or three feet should be removed, stone by - stone, and replaced with water-lime or cement. The cost of this would - be very trifling indeed; but what should also be done, and what would - not by any means involve a very serious expense, is the replacement of - the roof and floors. All Yorkshire, and indeed all the Archæological - Societies in England, from the Society of Antiquaries down to the most - recent local society, must feel an interest in this subject. Probably, - if it were brought before the owner of the castle in a proper manner, - the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_453">453</span> necessary repairs would be undertaken; if not, surely it would not - be difficult to provide the means by private subscription. In any case - something should be done at once, for the top of the keep is in that - condition that every winter tells severely upon it.</p> - - <p>The plans and illustrations appended to this notice of the castle - are from actual survey by Mr. A. S. Ellis, and by him presented to - the Yorkshire Archæological Society, by whose permission they are - here reprinted. They will be found as far superior in accuracy as in - completeness of detail to any plans as yet published, and it may be - said of them, and it is no slight praise, that they are worthy of the - important fortress they are intended to illustrate.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CONWAY">CONWAY CASTLE.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE castle and town of Conway form together the most complete and the - best preserved example of mediæval military architecture in Britain. - The works are all of one date and design, apparently by one engineer, - at the command of a monarch specially skilled in the art of war, and - whose intention here was to command a very formidable pass, and to put - a curb upon the boldest, most persistent, and most dangerous of the - foes who strove to resist the consolidation of his kingdom. At Conway - are displayed all the arts of defence as understood in the thirteenth - century. The position is naturally strong, the walls are of unusual - thickness, each part of the containing curtains is flanked by frequent - towers, and the castle predominates over the whole position, commanding - and protecting the town, and forming a citadel within which, as a last - resource, a secure shelter would be afforded.</p> - - <p>Conway, the Aber-Conwy of the Welsh, stands on the left or western bank - of the river whence it derives its name, and which is commemorated by - Drayton and Spenser as rich in “precious orient pearls,” and here is - widening into an estuary. The southern front of the town is further - protected by the marshy bed of the Gyffin, which here joins the Conwy. - Town and castle cover a triangular mass of rock, of which the castle - occupies the apex projecting into the water. The curtain wall which - encircles the town is strengthened by twenty-eight towers, all but two - or three of which are half-cylinders in figure, and open from top to - bottom in the rear. They rise one stage above the curtain, which also - is unusually high. Between two of them there project upon corbels from - the curtain at the battlement level a row of twelve garderobes, showing - that sanitary arrangements were by no means neglected even in the - thirteenth century. There are three gates, each flanked by a pair of - towers, defended by double doors, portcullis, grate,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_454">454</span> and drawbridge. - One of these, Porth Uchaf, opens landward; a second, Porth-isaf, upon - a quay along the water’s edge; and a third, Porth-y-felin, opens in a - shoulder of the wall upon the river below the castle, and gave a way to - the castle mill. There is, besides, a postern, also below the castle, - and opening upon the sea-shore. Besides these defences a thick spur - wall, defended above by a double battlement, extends from the sea-front - into the sea. Formerly this was carried to low-water mark, and ended in - a small round tower, and thus effectually prevented any attempt to turn - the flank of the defences and attack the town from the sea-front. The - town walls run up to, but their rampart walk does not communicate with, - the castle, which, however, forms a part of the <i>enceinte</i>, and - has one front with its main entrance within and towards the town.</p> - - <p>It is said that the rock occupied by the castle originally extended - some way eastward into the estuary, and was, therefore, a point of - danger on that side. To remove this, the rock was quarried away and - a passage opened, which is now the main channel of the river, and is - spanned by the road and railway-bridges of Telford and Stephenson.</p> - - <p>It will be observed that Conway is not, like Gloucester and Chester, - posted on the English side of the river, as if intended for defence - only; like Chepstow, it is placed beyond the stream, and intended as a - <i>tête-du-pont</i> to cover the passage of troops across the water. - </p> - - <p>In plan, the castle is somewhat of a parallelogram, 100 yards east - and west, and with a breadth ranging from 35 yards to 40 yards. - The northern front is straight, the southern zigzag, following the - irregularities of the rock. Its general level is several feet above - the nearer parts of the town. There are eight towers, one at each - of the four angles, and two, intermediate, upon each of the long - faces. There is no gatehouse, a very unusual omission in an Edwardian - castle, but one the cause of which is here very obvious. The towers - are cylindrical, about 40 feet in diameter, but somewhat flattened and - irregular on their interior faces, to enable the rampart walk or allure - to be carried on without traversing their interior chambers. To allow - of this, bold corbels, or sometimes a projecting shelf of masonry are - applied to the internal or rearward face of the tower at the proper - level. By this means there is secured an uninterrupted walk all round - the place, communicating with, but not traversing each tower.</p> - - <p>The area is divided by a very thick cross curtain into two wards. The - outer or western is 60 yards long, and contains the great hall, the - chapel, the kitchen, and the water-tank; the eastern or inner ward, - 40 yards long, contains the smaller hall and the state apartments. At - each end the castle is covered by a small platform, at the level of - the courts within, and supported by retaining walls of considerable - height, crowned by two light parapets, each with three small half-round - bastions flanking the curtains. Each of these platforms protects and - covers an entrance. The main entrance is at the west end and from the - town, and is a very curious piece of engi<span class="pagenum" id="Page_455">455</span>neering skill. A causeway - of masonry, a viaduct, about 14 feet broad and parapeted on each - side, ascended with a very steep slope to a point 13 feet from the - gate of the barbican, where it stopped abruptly, and is still seen - rising out of the ditch, and about 20 feet high. The barbican is a - narrow rectangular space, contained between two walls, ending below - in two small round turrets which flank the outer gate, and above is - another gate opening on the end of the platform under the north-western - main tower. A very ponderous drawbridge, working on trunnions 14 - inches in diameter, dropped from the outer gate upon the pier already - mentioned. The pier was 4 feet lower than the cill of the bridge, so - as to preserve the steepness of the approach. The bridge was balanced - by a short and heavy tailpiece or counterpoise which worked in a - quadrant-shaped pit below it. The gateway had a portcullis and doors, - and within it a staircase in the side wall led to the battlements over - the gate. The upper gateway was closed by a stout door only, but was - protected by the adjacent bastion of the platform, which has a loop - towards it. The entrance thus<span class="pagenum" id="Page_456">456</span> completed was broad enough to admit - two horsemen abreast, and the steepness gave the defenders a great - advantage over the enemy. The barbican of Conway may conveniently be - illustrated by a reference to that of Brampton Brian, which contains - the same arrangements, though on a larger scale. The woodcut shows the - tower flanking the drawbridge, the outer and inner gates, and between - them the mural staircase leading up to the ramparts.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow70" id="i455"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_455.jpg" alt="" /> - </div> - - <p>The platform, to one end of which the barbican gives entrance, is about - 35 yards long by 10 yards broad, and looked down upon a formidable - ditch. In its centre, between two of the main towers, was a short lofty - curtain, and in it the main gateway. Above, a row of bold corbels, - projecting above 5 feet, included a line of machicolations, and gave - great breadth to the rampart of the curtain and great vantage to the - defenders. The gateway is acutely pointed, but quite plain, with flat - sides. Within, the portal is vaulted and portcullised, and has a broad - space in front of the grate, possibly for some kind of additional - frame. Above the portal was a portcullis chamber, also in the substance - of the wall, and the place where the grate was suspended is still seen. - This chamber was reached by a steep narrow stair from the rampart of - the curtain,—a very rare arrangement. Entering the gate on the right - is a staircase up to the ramparts, looking like a makeshift, and - possibly not original. Beyond, also on the right, is the great hall. - This, though a spacious, could never have been a handsome chamber, for - it is built on a curve, or rather on an irregular polygon, to suit - the southern curtain which forms one side of it. It is about 105 feet - long by 30 feet broad, and its floor is at the court level. Below was - a cellar of about half the breadth of the hall, the rock here cropping - up and blocking one side. To this the entrance was by a pit or trap, in - which was a doorway opening into a passage by a second doorway in the - cellar. This is lighted by loops in the curtain, and at its east end - is continued, through a partition, below the chapel. The hall is said - originally to have been of smaller size, and to have been enlarged. If - this be so, it must have been at the chapel end.</p> - - <p>The hall is lighted by four small square-headed windows towards the - field, and two larger ones towards the court. The latter are pointed - and were of two lights, with quatrefoiled heads, and a quatrefoil in - the head. The door is in the same side near its east end. There are - three fireplaces, all under hoods, with flanking piers and brackets - to receive the thrust of the flat arch. The hall was crossed by seven - large chamfered stone ribs of two members, placed very irregularly. Two - are standing, one having been lately rebuilt; the other is at the upper - end of the hall, and marks its division from the chapel. A plain corbel - below the springing of this rib shows the partition to have been of - timber, no doubt a carved brattice. The roof was open, and there were - timber principals between the stone ribs. It is difficult at first to - believe that this long irregular space, with its three unsymmetrical - fireplaces, could have been all one room, and at first it appears as - though the west end, to the second rib - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_457">457</span> with one of the fireplaces and three - windows, might have been bratticed off as a withdrawing-room; but it is - evident this was not so. Such a room would have no separate door and no - garderobe. The dais of the hall was evidently at the other end, and the - withdrawing-room was the first floor of the dungeon tower, which stands - at the back of the great fireplace, and is entered by a small door in - the jamb of one of the hall windows. This and the floor above were - readily accessible from the dais. - </p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i456"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_456.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">CONWAY CASTLE.</div> - </div> - - <p>The chapel, bratticed off at the east end of the hall, had also an open - roof, with one stone rib. It has two windows to the south and one to - the field, and at its east end is a larger, three-light window, with - a round head, and a piscina in the south jamb. The tracery is broken - away. The great kitchen has been pulled down. It was built against - the north curtain, opposite to the hall door. There remains of it a - water-trough occupying the seat of a window, and lined with cement. - Near the kitchen was a large tank quarried in the rock, lined and - cemented, for the storage of water; a culvert brought into it water - from the roofs, and leaden pipes have been traced from an exterior - spring at some distance. It has been opened to a considerable depth, 14 - feet or 15 feet, but was certainly not a well, though possibly one was - intended.</p> - - <p>The cross wall separating the two wards is of the same height and - thickness as the exterior curtains. It is pierced near its centre by - a shoulder-headed doorway, closed with a door only, and opening into - the inner ward. This door is covered by a sort of lodge on its western - face, with a loop towards the main gate.</p> - - <p>The inner ward, nearly square in plan, has the state rooms on its south - and east sides. These have basement chambers, well lighted and with - fireplaces on the ground floor, level with the court; and above these, - on the first floor, are the state apartments, with open roofs. First - of these, on the right is the smaller hall, 30 feet by 28 feet. It has - a door at its west or lower end communicating with a sort of lobby, - and so with a main tower, which probably contained the kitchen. At the - other or east end is also a door, opening into the withdrawing-room. - Towards the court is a central fireplace, between two handsome windows. - These were flat-topped, of two lights, and the upper half was filled - with Decorated tracery, now broken away. In the remaining side, towards - the field, is at one end a small window, and at the other a door - opening into a mural chamber, a garderobe. The roof was strengthened by - two stone ribs, of which one is perfect, and is not quite so plain as - those of the great hall. The withdrawing-room has a fireplace on the - north side, and was crossed by two ribs, both broken down. This room - has a mural passage in its south wall communicating with a garderobe - and large vaulted chamber, also in the wall, and so opening into - the ground floor of the south-eastern or king’s tower. Another door - opens into the queen’s chamber. This is a large and handsome room, - also on the first floor, occupying the east side of the court. Its - roof contained two ribs, both removed. At its north end are passages<span class="pagenum" id="Page_458">458</span> - into garderobes, mural chambers, and an oratory, all contained in the - north-eastern, or queen’s tower. Eleanor, the queen of Edward I., is - said to have made use of this chamber.</p> - - <p>From the queen’s chamber, at the same level, a wooden passage, a sort - of balcony, affixed to the north wall of the lesser hall, led to the - kitchen lobby and the kitchen. Lines of corbels, and doors at either - end, show the position and length of this gallery.</p> - - <p>Below the queen’s apartment a passage leads to a doorway in the - curtain, which opens upon the east platform, and was the only postern - in the castle. It is shoulder-headed and closed with a door only. - But, as at the main gate, the curtain is furnished with a line of - bold corbels, forming machicolations for the defence of the wall and - gateway. Passages open right and left in the sides of the doorway, and - carry staircases in the wall up to the first floor of the king’s and - queen’s towers.</p> - - <p>The platform upon which this postern opens is called the queen’s - bower. It is larger than the western platform. Like it, it has three - half-round turrets and a parapet, and in its north end is a doorway - from which a steep and narrow and parapeted staircase formerly - descended to the water’s edge. This staircase was removed when the - suspension-bridge was built.</p> - - <p>The towers now remain to be described. They are all of one type, and - even their details are closely alike. Each has a basement, the floor - of which is considerably above the exterior ground level, though below - that of the court within. These chambers can only have been reached by - ladders from the floors above. They are ventilated by small air-holes - high up, but the probability is that they were put to no regular use, - though they may have served for prisons.</p> - - <p>The first floor of each tower is entered from the court, and from that - level a well-staircase ascends to the second or upper floor, and so on - to the roof. Here, in the four western towers, it stops. In the four - eastern towers it is carried on, forming a small round turret, 14 or 15 - feet high above the roof. None of these floors are vaulted, all have - fireplaces in the first and second floors, and all open at the second - floor level upon the rampart walk. All also are well provided with - garderobes.</p> - - <p>The battlements of the towers remain uninjured. The parapets are about - 10 feet high, and divided into twelve merlons and as many flat-sided - plain embrasures. Each merlon is pierced by a loop, and at the base - of each, at the allure level, is a hole ending in a gurgoyle, for the - discharge of the rain water.</p> - - <p>Two of the towers are furnished with ovens, built in the old fashion, - with a flue outside and above the oven door. In the queen’s tower the - second floor has an oratory in the east wall. This is a deep and bold - recess, divided into nine bays or compartments, three on each side, - and three forming an apex. In each bay is a sedile, and above, in the - apse, are three lancet windows. The slender shafts between the bays - are vaulting shafts, and expand above in fan tracery of a Decorated - character. On each side of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_459">459</span> oratory is a small mural chamber, one - a vestry; the other, it may be, a confessional; both have small loops - into the oratory. Possibly the whole circular chamber was used as a - chapel, to which the oratory was the choir.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow72" id="i459"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_459.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><i>Conway</i></div> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_460">460</span></p> - - <p>Conway, though as strong, is a far less elegant structure than - Caernarvon. The masonry, though excellent, is rough uncoursed rubble, - and ashlar is very sparingly used. The battlements especially, as - at Harlech and Caerphilly, are very bare. They are ill-coped and - ill-finished, as though they were intended to be concealed behind a - brattice; but, as there are no corbels or places for the struts, this - cannot have been intended.</p> - - <p>The putlog holes show that round instead of square poles were used in - the construction; and here, as at Coucy and in parts of Harlech, they - are so placed as to show that the scaffolding was laid as an inclined - plane, instead of horizontally, and with ladders. This is also the case - with the walls and towers of the town.</p> - - <p>Conway Castle is retained by the Crown, but has long been let on lease. - Lady Erskine, of Cambo, the last lessee, has lately waived her tenure, - and the ruins are now held by the Corporation, and seem sufficiently - well cared for. Mr. Jones, who has had charge of the place for nearly - half a century, is a very careful and intelligent guardian, and well - acquainted with the details and history of the castle.</p> - - <p>Conway was begun in 1285. Soon after its completion, Edward I. and - Queen Eleanor spent a Christmas here in great state, when, no doubt, - the state apartments were occupied. The town was stormed in 1646 by the - Parliamentary general, Mytton, who also secured the castle.</p> - - <p>Charles II. granted it to Edward, the first Earl of Conway, to grace - and give some foundation for his title; but the earl, it is said to - annoy the neighbouring gentry, dismantled the castle, and took away the - lead, timber and ironwork, broke down the well-stairs, and in other - ways injured the structure.</p> - - <p>The appended bird’s-eye view of the town is taken from the highest - and most western point, just above Porth-Uchaf, and in full view of - Porth-y-felin, below which is the bed of the Gyffin. The position of - the castle, on its rocky promontory, resting upon the sea, is well - shown.</p> - - <p>The other view is confined to the castle as seen from the south or the - valley of the Gyffin. The four towers on the right mark the angles of - the inner ward, the two on the extreme right are the king’s tower in - front, and behind it the queen’s tower. The central and front tower is - the dungeon tower, attached to the great hall. On the left are seen the - two lines of the town wall, abutting upon the castle, and between them - the western platform with its bastions, and in the rear the main gate - with the line of machicolations above it. One of the seaward towers - shows how the rampart walk is carried round it upon a corbelled or - bracketed projection.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_461">461</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="CORFE">CORFE CASTLE, DORSET.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">CORFE Castle is one of the most noteworthy remains in Britain.</p> - - <p>The natural position is very striking, and not less so the manner in - which it has been fortified by art. It is of high antiquity, associated - from the times of the West Saxon princes to those of the Commonwealth - with marked historical events; was the palace and the prison of kings - and great nobles, and has been commanded by a long succession of - powerful Castellans.</p> - - <p>The castle crowns an isolated hill, a part of the steep chalk - ridge which, under the general name of the Purbeck Hills, with the - subordinate elevations of Knowl Hill, and Ninebarrow and Ballard Downs, - stretches twelve miles across the peninsula of Purbeck, from Warbarrow - Bay and Flowerbarrow Camp on the west, to the foreland between the bays - of Studland and Swanage on the east.</p> - - <p>To the south, or seaward, is the bold coast line marked by the - headlands of Peverel, Durlston, and St. Adhelm’s. Landward, or to the - north, is the depression occupied by Poole Harbour and its tributaries - the Frome and Trent, or Piddle—waters whose fords are commanded by - the grand earthworks at Wareham, which, placed astride upon the ridge - terminating in the junction of the two, form the frontier and key of - Purbeck, as does Corfe, its citadel.</p> - - <p>The castle ridge ranges with the Isle of Wight, and with it forms the - southern margin of the well-known chalk basin, of which Dorchester - and Beaminster mark the western limit, and Beer Regis, Salisbury, and - Winchester that on the north.</p> - - <p>The chalk at Corfe dips north at about 70°. It is hard, moderately - durable, and thickly charged with flints, which are extensively used in - the interior of the castle walls. Below the chalk, and underlying the - great gateway of the castle, is a narrow belt of the upper greensand, - below which, in succession, are the three Purbeck beds, the Portland - stone, and the Kimmeridge clay. The stone beds, here of a most durable - character, are used for the ashlar and face-work of the castle.</p> - - <p>To the north of and above the chalk are narrow and irregular beds of - plastic and London clay, succeeded by a broad expanse of the lower - Bagshot sands and clay, out of which the harbour of Poole has been - eroded, and the latter of which is worked for the purpose of commerce.</p> - - <p>A considerable fault runs along the chalk ridge close north of the - castle hill, one of a parallel series traversing that part of the - southern coast.</p> - - <p>The physical aspect of Purbeck betrays, to a practised eye, its - geological composition, and the wild rough moor and marshland about the - harbour contrast strongly with the steep but rounded outline<span class="pagenum" id="Page_462">462</span> and green - surface of the chalk, upon a summit of which stands the old Norman - keep, predominating far and wide over the landscape.</p> - - <p>The castle is naturally strong. It occupies the slope and summit of a - hill, the base of which covers about 15 acres, and which is placed in - a gap or cutting in the ridge already described, of which position its - name is said to be descriptive.</p> - - <p>South of the ridge, and close behind and covered by the castle, is the - town of Corfe, from which the castle hill rises steeply, to descend - almost vertically upon its east, west, and north sides. The northern, - or highest point, is occupied by the keep and principal buildings of - the castle.</p> - - <p>The stream called the Wicken, and its tributary, the Byle brook, each - turning a mill, flow from the south-west and south-east round either - side of the town, and, girdling the base of the castle hill, unite just - below St. Edward’s bridge to form the Corfe river, which flows into - Poole harbour. Between the town and the castle, where the two streams - approach within a furlong of each other, a deep and bold though dry - trench has been cut across the root of the peninsula, and thus forms - the great outer ditch which divides the castle from the town.</p> - - <p>The castle, in its present form, may be called concentric, but it has - been constructed, if not designed, at three principal periods, having - been originally a Saxon palace, then a Norman, and afterwards an - Edwardian fortress.</p> - - <p>It is composed of a keep standing in an inner ward, of a middle, and of - an outer ward. The survey by Ralph Treswell, in 1586, subdivides the - inner ward into two, and shows a wall across the outer ward, which has - disappeared, and was probably modern.</p> - - <p>In plan it is an irregular triangle, the walls following the crest of - the hill. The great gateway caps the southern or lowest angle; the - Buttavant Tower, the western; and the inner ward forms the obtuse, - highest, or eastern angle. The south-west, the longest front, is - concave. It extends 270 yards from the gatehouse to the Buttavant, and - its lower two-thirds is the part of the <i>enceinte</i> most jealously - defended, and upon the overthrow of which the destroyers have expended - their greatest energies. The north, or upper front, too high for - attack, measures about 200 yards, and the eastern front about the same.</p> - - <p>The area within the walls is about 3¼ acres; but, from the excessive - steepness of the ground, much of the outer and part of the middle ward - could never have been turned to account. The lower part of the outer, - the western portion of the middle, and the eastern part of the inner - ward, are the only flat spaces.</p> - - <p>The outer, by much the largest ward, is contained within the great - gatehouse, the east curtain strengthened by the Horseshoe and Plukenet - Towers, and the west curtain, upon which are four mural towers. The - steep, upper part of the ward rises to the wall of the inner, and the - wall and gatehouse of the middle ward. It is traversed by a fosse, - attributed to King John, which extends from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_463">463</span> the Plukenet Tower to the - front of the middle gatehouse, and is thence continued outside the - works down the hill-side.</p> - - <p>A permanent stone bridge, about 100 feet long by 20 feet broad, crosses - the moat, and leads up to the great gateway. It is of four arches, - springing from three solid piers, and the roadway, which has now no - parapets, is about 30 feet above the bottom of the moat. The masonry - ceases about 18 feet from the portal, and the interval, now filled - with earth, was probably spanned by a drawbridge. The arches are about - one-third of a circle, and the voussoirs in two rings, without bond, 8 - inches thick, and from 1 foot to 3 feet in length. The piers may be of - Perpendicular date, but the arches are probably due to Sir Christopher - Hatton.</p> - - <p>The outer gatehouse is composed of two drums, flanking the portal, and - produced rearward into a rectangular building, now partially destroyed. - The drums, about 20 feet diameter, are solid to the base of the upper - story, now removed, but of which the lower ends of the loops remain.</p> - - <p>The portal, 13 feet wide, enters a vaulted passage, now 26 feet, and - which may have been 36 feet long. First is the portal, now without - jambs, and beneath a segmental arch, 4 feet 11 inches broad. Then - (as shown in the accompanying section, Fig. I.) a chase, or single - machicolation, 6 inches broad. Then a second arch, 3 feet 9 inches - broad. Then a chase, 5 inches broad, and a circular groove of 9 inches - diameter and 7 inches opening, at which the passage narrows by 20 - inches, being an opening of 11 feet 4 inches. Then follows an arch of 1 - foot 6 inches breadth, and a chase of 16 inches.</p> - - <p>Next comes the gateway proper, the jambs of which, 2 feet 4 inches in - thickness, project inwards with a double chamfer, so as to reduce the - actual entrance to 8 feet.</p> - - <p>The door, the space for which shows it to have been of wood, and not - above 4 inches thick, was of two valves, the arch behind being flat - segmental, with a high springing and 4 feet of breadth, to accommodate - them when open. Two stones on each side, which probably carried the - iron loops for the hinges, have been torn out. Between them, a central - hole, 9 inches by 12 inches, carried the wooden bar. Next is an arch, - of which about 5 feet only remain, but which probably completed the - passage to its opening into the ward, and perhaps carried a portcullis - groove.</p> - - <p>Half the doorways into the lodges remain. The lodges themselves were - barrel-vaulted, and the vault in the west lodge springs from the - ordinary Norman string, composed of a flat abacus and chamfer, as - though an older gatehouse had been cased. Instances of this string, - indeed, have been pointed out by Mr. Bond in other and certainly later - parts of the castle, and of course a plain string of this character may - be of any age.</p> - - <p>The several arches composing the entrance passage show, at their - springings, about a dozen small holes, evidently to carry the centring. - Their small size indicates this to have been of iron. These holes are - usual.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_464">464</span></p> - - <div class="figcenter illow72" id="i464"> - <div class="caption">CORFE CASTLE.</div> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_464.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption left ml5 mr5">Fig. I.—Great Gatehouse: Entrance passage,—1, 2, 3, Chases.<br /> - Fig. II.—Middle Gatehouse. Entrance passage,—4, Pivot hole; 5, Chase - in vault; 6, Portcullis groove and chase; 7, Machicolation with five - apertures; 8, Bar-hole.</div> - </div> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_465">465</span></p> - - <p>In the door-jambs are cut six mortises, three on a side, the lowest 6 - inches from the ground. They are each 8½ inches long, 2 inches broad, - and 3½ inches deep. They must have been intended to hold boards, though - the shallow depth would scarce allow of their insertion. These would, - indeed, have been better suited to keep pigs in than warriors out, and - perhaps were so used in times of peace. They can scarcely be original, - but are probably earlier than the dismantling. The entrance passage - falls gently from the interior, so as to give an advantage to the - defenders in a contest.</p> - - <p>It is difficult to understand the defences of this gateway in the - absence of the upper story, from which most of them were worked. There - is at present no trace of the drawbridge in the portal, unless, indeed, - the pivot-holes on which it turned be concealed by the soil. If the - cylindrical pipe, with the opening or slot in its side, contained - a sash-weight, of what was it the counterpoise? Scarcely of the - drawbridge, for which, even if of lead, unless of inconvenient length, - the weight would be too light; and portcullis groove there is none. - The 5-inch chase exactly in front of the pipe may have contained a - portcullis, or a frame; but, if so, the absence of lateral grooves - must have left it very unsteady, except when down upon and fixed in - the cill. No doubt, a portcullis with crooked sides or ears might have - worked in this tube, but that is scarcely probable. The other chases - were, no doubt, intended for the passage of projectiles. They are, - however, mere slits across the vault, unaccompanied by lateral grooves - as when used for a portcullis, and they do not appear to have been - divided by cross <i>septa</i>, as in regular machicolations; but this - vault has been riven by an explosion, and restored in part in recent - times, so that it is difficult to pronounce upon its details.</p> - - <p>From each side of the gatehouse springs a short curtain. That to the - east, from 10 feet to 12 feet thick, and about 20 feet high, now mostly - destroyed, terminates in the Horseshoe Tower, a mere shell, about 20 - feet diameter and 20 feet high, open at the ground floor and across the - gorge, and intended to be floored and bratticed with timber, as is not - infrequent with mural towers, to prevent their being used against the - garrison. It is pierced by three loops on the ground floor. These are - mere vertical slits, 7 feet long and 1½ inch broad, splayed deeply, - and opening from recesses in the wall. The tower caps the south-east - angle of the work, and the loops are directed upon the field, and along - the two curtains. The removal of the talus outside shows this tower - to stand upon a deep and solid foundation. At the junction of the - gatehouse curtain with this tower, the former contains a mural chamber, - 6 feet broad, and roofed with five tiers of overhanging slabs.</p> - - <p>The east curtain is, for the most part, a mere wall, 8 feet to 10 feet - thick, and 10 feet to 15 feet high, exclusive of battlements, and - more or less ruined. Loops are to be seen on its exterior, directed - downwards so as to rake the scarp. Near the Horseshoe Tower was - formerly another mural chamber, called a stable, but more probably a - garderobe, and beyond this is a large arch, now walled up,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_466">466</span> which may - have been a postern, and commanded by the Plukenet Tower.</p> - - <p>This is a mere half-round mural tower, solid to the rampart height, and - of no projection within.</p> - - <p>Above the rampart it is hollowed into a chamber open behind, with three - loops, each 5 feet 6 inches long and 2 inches in the opening. In each - of the recesses, on the right, is a small cupboard for the grease or - tools needed by the archer. The tower and rampart were ascended by a - well-stair on the north or upper side. The arrangements for allowing - the archer to shoot downwards so as to rake the steep scarp are well - seen here. This tower is named from a bold and well-preserved shield - upon its outer face, charged with a bend fusilly, or five fusils - conjoined in bend, and held up by two hands which emerge from holes - in the stone. This is one of the well-known coats attributed to the - Mareschals, Earls of Pembroke; but, as this family was extinct half - a century before the date of this tower, and does not appear ever to - have been connected with the castle, Mr. Bond has shown it to be more - probable that the shield is intended to commemorate Alan Plukenet, - constable of the castle in the 54th of Henry III., and a baron in the - reign of Edward, his son, and whose arms were either a bend engrailed, - or fusilly, represented anciently much in the same way, upon a field - ermine, which fur (as Mr. Bond suggests) may have been regarded as a - tincture, the lines for expressing which were not then employed, and - the spots omitted by the carver.</p> - - <p>The curtain from this tower to the Gloriette angle of the inner ward - is constructed of much larger stones than those employed lower down. - They are as large as many of those in the Norman ashlar, but of ruder - workmanship.</p> - - <p>Returning to the gatehouse and following the west front, this commences - with a short curtain, still standing, and connected with the first - mural tower, a drum of rather above half-round projection, capping an - angle. It is solid to the rampart level, and above this open at the - gorge. Its single chamber has three loops, cruciform, and shorter, - wider, and of coarser construction than those of the Horseshoe - Tower, though still of excellent ashlar. This tower having been - riven by powder is seen to be 10 yards in solid thickness. Its base - is perforated by a rude rectangular drain, 18 inches by 12 inches, - joined by other drains of 9 inches by 9 inches, all in the solid, and - evidently descending from garderobes, one of which seems to have been - placed in the curtain close north of this tower.</p> - - <p>Next above this is the second or Well Tower, so called from a small - depression behind it, said to indicate a well. This tower resembles - the last, was, like it, solid in the base, and had one chamber on the - rampart, open at the gorge and pierced by three loops.</p> - - <p>Close south of it was a small doorway, leading either to a garderobe or - a rampart stair. Of this, one jamb is alone seen.</p> - - <p>Above the Well Tower is the third, and above the third, and also<span class="pagenum" id="Page_467">467</span> - connected with it by a short curtain, is the fourth of these mural - towers. This, however, though a tower, is of the nature of an - épaulement, or redan, and caps a projection or shoulder of the curtain. - It has but two loops, longitudinal only, one towards the field and one - raking the south wall. The former is divided into a short upper and - long lower part by a narrow plate of stone, which projects inwards like - a shelf.</p> - - <p>The curtain from this Redan Tower to the gateway of the middle ward - is probably earlier than either, and is very lofty. It traverses King - John’s fosse. It is constructed of large stones, and resembles, in some - respects, the curtain above the Plukenet Tower, at the other end of the - same fosse. Below it is solid, above it is pierced by four rude loops, - boldly splayed within, and which must have opened from a chamber, - of which the curtain was the outer wall, or possibly from a wooden - platform.</p> - - <p>The fosse, attributed to King John, which traverses the outer ward, is - about 20 feet deep, with a vertical counterscarp cut in the chalk rock. - The Plukenet Tower and adjacent curtain cross its east end, but these - stand upon a ridge of solid rock, showing that the ditch has never been - continued into the front in this direction. At its west end the case is - different. There it has been cut right into and down the slope, and the - curtain crossing and stopping it is built actually in the ditch.</p> - - <p>No doubt the present dressing of the counterscarp is due to whoever - placed artillery upon its crest. Outside it, by way of glacis, is - a level platform, 30 feet broad, known to have been defended by - artillery, and in front of which are three steps or benches. The whole - work forms a <i>fausse braie</i> at the foot of the glacis of the keep, - and a strong defence in front of the gatehouse of the middle ward. A - bridge of two arches, of the same age and fashion with that already - described, traverses this fosse, here 50 feet broad, and leads up to - the middle gateway. A profile cut in one of the gate towers shows where - the parapet abutted, which, however, was clearly not original. As in - the lower bridge, a space of about 18 feet next the portal, now filled - with earth, was evidently intended to be spanned by the drawbridge.</p> - - <p>The middle ward is also triangular. Its longer and about equal north - and south sides are capped at the acute western angle by the Buttavant - Tower, and the base is formed by the middle gatehouse and curtain, and - by the revetment wall and gate (now destroyed) of the inner ward.</p> - - <p>The gatehouse of the middle ward is a very fine structure. Like the - lower gatehouse, which it resembles in general arrangements, it is - composed of two drums flanking the entrance passage, and terminating - square in the rear.</p> - - <p>One, the north tower, rises direct from the fosse, without basement - or set-off, and is connected with a short but very thick and lofty - curtain, which ascends the steep ground to abut upon the keep. The - tower is of bold projection, but flat towards the curtain. Within<span class="pagenum" id="Page_468">468</span> is - a lodge with one cruciform loop to the front, and in rear traces of a - stair which led to the curtain, and thus by continued steps along its - ramparts to the keep.</p> - - <p>The other tower rises from the crest of the outer slope, where it - appears as a mural defence, upon the west front. Within is a small - lodge with three loops, one to the front, one on the flank towards the - field, and one, now closed up, to the rear, into the middle ward.</p> - - <p>The portal has no jambs, but is entered under a segmental arch, double - chamfered, springing direct from the flanking towers. This recedes 4 - feet 1 inch, and is succeeded by a rounded portcullis groove, 9 inches - broad by 6 inches deep, but having, while within the arch, a flat - margin of 3 inches on either side. These margins cease above the arch, - and the chase is of the breadth of the groove only.</p> - - <p>Behind the portcullis is a second arch, 2 feet 9 inches broad, - succeeded by a machicolation, 14 inches broad, and divided by four - <i>septa</i> into five square holes. These are placed immediately - before the jambs of the gate proper, where the passage is reduced by - about 1 foot 8 inches. - </p> - - <p>Behind the jambs an arch of high spring and flat segmental curve - accommodated the folding-doors, when open. These were of wood, and - the bar-hole behind them is about 11 inches square. The hinges - are gone. Behind this last arch the passage was roofed with wood, - and is now open. In the rear are parts of the groove of a second - portcullis—“altera securitas”—so that there was probably a stone face - to the back front of the gatehouse, all now destroyed. The arrangements - of this gateway as far back as the lodge are shown in the accompanying - section. See woodcut, Fig. II.</p> - - <p>In the wooden roofed space are the doors of the two lodges. The south - is square-headed, with shoulders. The north, of the same shape, is - protected by a semicircular relieving arch in the wall above. This - arch, in design and material, has a very Norman aspect, and may have - been preserved from an older work. There are no remains of battlements - on this gateway, but on its front are stone corbels, probably intended - to carry the hoarding, a feature of military architecture so well - described by M. Viollet-le-Duc.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - - <p>In the exterior portal, near the floor, and a few inches in front of - the portcullis groove, is a round hole, 5 inches across and 3 inches - deep, which seems to have carried the iron axle of the drawbridge. - Above it is another similar hole, no doubt connected with the working - of the same defence.</p> - - <p>Entering the gateway the road rises rapidly. On the right is the - exceedingly steep scarp, at the top of which is the bastion of the - keep. On the left is the curtain of the west front. Higher up the way - turns to the right, to reach the inner ward, and skirts on the left - what seems to have been a formal garden, indicated by a level <span class="pagenum" id="Page_469">469</span> plot, - some foundations of walls, and two alcoves, attributed to Sir John - I’Anson, a rector of Corfe towards the end of the last century.</p> - - <p>Westward of this the ward seems to have been used for offices, and in - part covered over. In the north curtain is a half-round mural tower - with four loops, and of one story, open at the gorge. The water-table - of a double-gable roof is seen within, and the central gutter projects - as a spout outside. Further on is a blocked-up arch, probably an early - postern, and, still further, the seat and drain of a large garderobe, - beneath an arch in the wall, 8 feet broad. Above is a plain corbel, - hollowed to receive the wall-plate of a roof, and no doubt one of a - series. The country people call it the gallows. A part of the south - curtain of this ward is the most interesting feature of the whole - structure.</p> - - <p>First, ascending from the gate, upon the left, is the curtain. Then, - upon it, a half-round mural tower with three loops, but closed, since - its construction, at the gorge by a wall, in which is a small door, - which led into a contiguous building. From this tower, westward, the - curtain is constructed of flat stones laid in a rude but distinctly - herring-bone fashion. In it are three windows and the place of a - fourth. These are round-headed, 2 feet 4 inches diameter, and 3 feet - 6 inches deep, splayed to 12 inches, when they terminate in a stone - plate, out of which is cut a loop of 6 inches opening, and a rebate for - a shutter. At present they are 3 feet 6 inches to the springing, but a - part may be buried. These apertures are closed by the exterior casing - of the wall. This wall at its west end seems to have been returned - inwards. Both this wall and these windows have been regarded as part of - the old Saxon palace, and this may well be so. They certainly appear - older than the Norman work of the keep.</p> - - <p>Westward of this old part is a walled-up doorway, with a pointed arch - springing from the usual Norman flat chamfered abacus. This looks like - transition Norman work. Outside it is masked by the facing. This door, - the base of which is buried, seems to have been a postern, although, it - must be confessed, in a most inconvenient position for such a means of - egress.</p> - - <p>The Buttavant Tower, which caps the western angle of the ward, and - is a marked object in the outline of the castle, seems to have been - an octagon of 7 feet in the side, internal measurement, and of - considerable thickness. The casing of the lower part is gone. It had - a sub-basement story, and two above this, all floored with wood. A - well-stair near the gorge leads to the summit. The curtain from hence - to the garderobe is destroyed.</p> - - <p>The inner ward occupies the summit of the hill. It also is rudely - triangular, the great bastion forming the apex to the west, the - Gloriette bastion capping the angle to the south-east, and the obtuse - angle to the north-east being formed by the curtain alone. Towards - the outer and middle wards the wall is a strong revetment of masonry, - crested by the curtain. Elsewhere the earth is only somewhat higher - within than without the curtain.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_470">470</span></p> - - <p>This ward contained two gateways, the keep, the Queen’s tower and - offices, and a well.</p> - - <p>The gateway from the middle ward abutted on the northern curtain. It - was probably a mere aperture in a wall, without a regular gatehouse, - else it could scarcely have disappeared so completely, even under the - crushing weight of the fragments of the keep.</p> - - <p>This gate opened into a small court, on the east side of which rose the - keep. A second and higher gate seems to have led into the actual ward, - and to have been placed close to the foot of the exterior staircase of - the keep. This gate is also completely gone. The survey by Treswell in - 1586 shows where it stood.</p> - - <p>The keep is a quadrangular tower, 60 feet square and 80 feet high, of - pure Norman work. The east and west faces were strengthened with five - flat pilaster strips, 5 feet 4 inches broad, 18 inches projection, and - 8 feet 4 inches apart. On the north and south faces were four similar - strips, placed at wider intervals. All rose from a common plinth, and - died into the wall a short distance below the battlement, a small - portion of which is still visible, not passing into it as at Chepstow - and elsewhere, so as to panel the face.</p> - - <p>The door of the ground floor, apparently 4 feet wide, and with very - late dressings, is at present in the west wall, here 9 feet thick, - and may possibly have been always there, although certainly not in - its present form. It was covered by the exterior stair. It is placed - nearest to the south end, between the second and third pilasters.</p> - - <p>The stair, 9 feet broad, is built against the west face of the keep, - without bond, and perhaps a later addition. Beneath it is a large - open arch, round-headed, springing from flat pilaster jambs, which, - continued above the string or cap, panel the soffit of the vault. This - arch serves as a porch to the door of the basement of the keep.</p> - - <p>The stair terminates in the staircase tower, a rectangular lean-to, - or fore-building appended to the keep, forming a vestibule to the - main entrance, and said to have carried the stairs leading to the - upper floor. It is about 19 feet by 16 feet within, and has a stone - bench against its north wall. The door from the exterior stair in - the north wall is round-headed, 6 feet 6 inches wide, opening in a - wall 6 feet thick, the other two walls being 4 feet. The keep door, - between the first and second pilasters, and therefore near the angle - of the keep, has been 6 feet broad, now enlarged to 9 feet. It has a - flat top, with a semicircular arch of relief in the wall above, not - intended to be seen. There was probably a door in the south wall of the - vestibule opening upon the great bastion, and there are traces of a - covered passage from it into the garderobe tower. This vestibule seems - certainly to be of the age of the keep, and to have been occupied by a - staircase to the principal floor.</p> - - <p>The keep was divided into two great chambers by a wall 6 feet thick. - The basement was covered, and the first story floored by ten large - whole-timber joists, the cavities for which remain in the south wall. - The first floor probably contained a chamber, 42 feet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_471">471</span> long by 28 feet - broad, and 24 feet high, which, however, must have been very dark, - since the north wall was interior, and the south without windows. Two - small doors, probably of rather later construction, open through the - south wall into the exterior gallery.</p> - - <p>Above this room, forming the third story, was another, apparently of - the same size and much more cheerful, and which may have been the - hall. A well-stair led from this upwards, in the east wall, near its - south end. The water-tables within show a ridge and valley roof, as at - Porchester, and probably there was originally nothing above this floor.</p> - - <p>The battlements, with a slight exception, are gone, but in the east and - west wall, just below the battlement line, are coupled Norman windows, - of about 3 feet opening, a pair between each pair of pilasters, thus - forming a sort of arcade, not unlike the far later ones at Swansea and - Llanphey, but much of which seems always to have been closed. It is - remarkable that a building so massive, and the walls of which are so - thick, should have been without the usual galleries and mural chambers - found in Norman keeps.</p> - - <p>Mr. Bond, who is intimately acquainted with this castle, and has - brought much critical knowledge to bear upon its details, is of opinion - that the upper part of the wall of the keep shows evidence of having - been an addition to the original structure, though at no very long - interval of time.</p> - - <p>Built against the exterior of the keep, on the south side, and - projecting into the outer ward, is another lean-to, or appended tower, - of about 30 feet in breadth and 20 feet projection. Outside it has - three pilaster strips and one on each flank, rising from a common - base. At present it reaches only to the floor of the second story of - the keep, but it seems to have been higher, and is said to have been - lowered by Sir C. Hatton. It is a garderobe tower, and contains on - each of its two floors two chambers of about 7 feet by 9 feet. The - upper are not accessible; but it is clear that a portion of the eastern - lower chambers was bratticed off, to carry the refuse from the upper. - In the western chamber is a stone arch, which may be taken to indicate - the place of this brattice. The eastern is open on one side, and was - evidently closed by a timber partition. These chambers terminate below - in two square openings, on the face of the tower, and this supports the - notion that the western as well as the eastern chamber was intended for - a garderobe.</p> - - <p>Between these chambers and the keep wall runs a vaulted gallery, into - which they open, and from which two small doors, already mentioned, - enter the first floor of the keep. Although the garderobe tower covers - only half the face of the keep, this gallery is prolonged over the - whole, being protected by a wall, looped. A door at its lower or east - end led towards the kitchen, and one at the upper end opened on the - great bastion, with access on the right to the vestibule, and on the - left to the curtain leading from the keep to the middle gatehouse. Two - water-drains from the keep cross the gallery and discharge into the - garderobes.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_472">472</span></p> - - <p>This tower, being built against and not bonded into the keep, is - evidently later, but resembles it in general style, and must have been - added within a very few years. The explosion which shattered the keep - has made evident the complete want of bond between the two buildings.</p> - - <p>East of the keep the ward is occupied by the remains of various - offices, and by the ruins of the Queen’s Hall or Tower. This, with - its contiguous buildings, was constructed upon crypts, some of which - remain. One is round-headed, with a pointed doorway; another, which - supported the Queen’s Hall, seems to have had a very slightly pointed - barrel-vault, divided by lateral narrower, but equally high, and - therefore pointed, arches, into four bays, two of which contain lancet - windows.</p> - - <p>Some of the hall windows remain. They are pointed, with drop arch - recesses, and stone side seats. The tracery is gone, but the exterior - labels remain, terminating in knobs of foliage, and the arris or angle - of each recess is occupied by a scroll-bead moulding.</p> - - <p>North of this hall and placed across it, east and west, are the remains - of what is regarded, with great probability, as the chapel. The west - door and that of the hall are placed side by side, in a vestibule or - porch, entered on the west side by a staircase.</p> - - <p>The doors are pointed, with half-round bead labels, and a scroll-bead - moulding running round the jambs and arch. Inside, the chapel door is - richer, and has in the arch a double scroll-bead, divided by a hollow, - and for the jambs the hollow has been occupied by a detached column of - Purbeck marble, which material, though much decayed, is still seen to - have formed the base and bell capital. The design, though not highly - ornate, is excellent, as is the execution. The whole of this group - appears to be early English, of the latter part of the reign of Henry - III.</p> - - <p>Close to the east of the hall, between it and the curtain, is a - depression, said to mark the well. This must have been of great - depth—probably to the level of the brook.</p> - - <p>The tower spoken of as “La Gloriette” is probably gone, but near it - is what may be called the Gloriette bastion, and what seems to be the - angular base of a tower capping the south-east angle of the ward, and - intended to cover the junction of the wall with the curtain which comes - up from the Plukenet Tower. Near to it, westward, is a mural chamber - in the curtain, which Treswell’s plan shows as a garderobe, and beyond - this an angular bastion, supposed to have been added by Lady Bankes, - who seems to have placed a gun there.</p> - - <p>The great bastion is a very peculiar work. It is of rounded outline, - formed by a very thick and high wall of revetment, which caps the - west end of the southern curtain, and projects into the middle ward. - At the siege it carried five guns, and was called the New Bulwark. - But, although it may then have been widened to carry a battery, it - was probably only an addition to the older Norman<span class="pagenum" id="Page_473">473</span> revetment wall - supporting the staircase tower. The exterior, and therefore perhaps - later, revetment has been injured at the base, and the heart of the - work is exposed. It shows very rough filling up.</p> - - <p>The south curtain of this ward is about 12 feet thick, but the north - and east, being less exposed and having no buildings to support, are - much lighter, and present nothing of the strength considered necessary - in the lower and more exposed portions of the fortress.</p> - - <p>The present condition of the building is completely to be accounted for - by the fact that Corfe Castle was “slighted” under a vote of the House - of Commons, dated 4th of March, 1645, a period at which the orders of - the Commons were not obeyed negligently.</p> - - <p>In the outer gateway the drums are blown forwards, the vault split, and - the rear of the lodges destroyed. All the upper story is removed.</p> - - <p>Eastward the curtain is broken down, but the Horseshoe Tower is not - materially injured. The rest of the curtain to the Plukenet Tower is - broken down in parts only. That tower and the curtain up to the keep - have not been dismantled, and but partially pulled down.</p> - - <p>In this outer ward the main force of the destroyers has been spent upon - the lower half of the west front, of which the curtains are lifted - forwards, and the mural towers rent and shaken, vast fragments of both - encumbering the slope. The Redan Tower has escaped, as has the curtain - which traverses King John’s fosse.</p> - - <p>The gateway of the middle ward presents a singular appearance. A mine - has been excavated beneath the outer tower, which has sunk about 10 - feet, and moved a little forward, splitting the entrance vault. This - can hardly be the effect of powder, but is more probably due to a mine - of the old sort, in which the earth was removed, and wooden props - introduced, which were afterwards pulled away or burnt.</p> - - <p>Of the Buttavant Tower about two-thirds are gone, with part of the - north curtain. The great curtain between the middle gatehouse and the - keep is unshaken, only its steps and battlements are gone. It is one of - the finest curtain walls in Britain, and almost equal to Cardiff.</p> - - <p>In the inner ward the devastation has been severe. Of the keep, all the - north and two-thirds of the adjacent west wall lie in enormous masses - on the sward, and in their fall have utterly crushed the gateways of - the ward and their adjacent curtain. The east wall is destroyed at - its two ends, but a strip of the central part remains unhurt to its - summit, a marvel of Norman masonry, and is completely shrouded in - ivy. The south wall and garderobe tower are but little injured. The - staircase tower is destroyed, all but a part of the north wall. The - broken-down walls of the keep are a sight to see, so vast is the mass - of the fragments and so firm the cohesion of the material. They lie in - the wildest confusion, and some considerable lumps have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_474">474</span> rolled down - the slope, and, bounding across road and brook, rest half buried in the - turf beyond.</p> - - <p>The Queen’s Tower and offices are destroyed, but, offering less - resistance, have been broken up more in detail, and have no doubt been - spoiled subsequently for the sake of the ashlar.</p> - - <p>The destruction probably exceeds anything known elsewhere in England. - The charges of powder, though skilfully disposed, seem to have been - larger than was actually necessary; and, certainly, the place might - have been rendered untenable with far less destruction of masonry. Even - with such mortars as were used in the days of the Commonwealth, the - castle could have been commanded from the loftier Challow Hill, close - to the east of it.</p> - - <p>A few remarks naturally arise out of the above description.</p> - - <p>The Saxon residence, of the existence of which there appears to be - evidence in the latter part of the tenth century, was no doubt also a - place of strength. It is certain that it must have occupied the highest - part of the hill, now the inner ward, and the wall remaining in the - middle ward will probably be accepted as evidence that it extended over - the area of this ward also.</p> - - <p>The Normans probably made a clear sweep of any existing buildings in - the inner ward, when they commenced the keep and its accessories, and, - a little later, the garderobe tower. These are all built of large - squared stones, with moderately open joints; thoroughly substantial, - sound work, and all the more workmanlike and effective for a certain - roughness and boldness in the finish. The ashlar, usually an indication - of late work, was here close at hand in the Purbeck quarries, and the - general absence of ornament in a royal residence, of vaulting, of - triforial galleries or mural chambers, and, with one partial exception, - of mural staircases, seem to indicate the work, if not of the - Conqueror, of his more immediate successors. The garderobe tower, not - particularly late Norman, but certainly subsequent to the keep, seems - to strengthen this conclusion.</p> - - <p>As the Norman buildings required to be included within an - <i>enceinte</i> wall, which would naturally take the crest of this part - of the hill, this would necessarily include or supersede the Saxon - wall, which, for the same reason, would have followed the same limited - outline. Probably, therefore, the curtains of the upper and middle ward - contain traces of Saxon and a great deal of Norman masonry, and this - applies also to the cross revetment wall between the inner and middle - wards, which follows a natural division in the ground. The same natural - cause would decide the position of the gates, where we now see them. - </p> - - <p>The original Norman castle has generally been supposed to have been - restricted to the two upper wards, to which, according to Mr. Bond, the - great authority for all matters connected with Corfe, King John added - the defence of a deep fosse. It is singular, however, that this fosse, - while cut right through to the western slope, should stop a little - short of the eastern face. The narrow ridge thus left could scarcely - have been intended for a passage, for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_475">475</span> gateway of the upper ward - must necessarily, from the disposition of the ground, always have - been at the western or lower end of the fosse, and, had a ridge been - left as an approach, it would certainly not have been one of almost - inaccessible steepness, much exposed to view and to attack, and not - defensible by any special work.</p> - - <p>The wall, from the Gloriette angle along the ridge, nearly to the - Plukenet Tower, has been observed to be of regular Norman work, and, - according to Mr. Bond, to show evidence of having been returned - inwards, as though it extended along the line of the later ditch. Thus - it may be, that before King John’s time the fortress occupied the - present upper and middle wards, and a strip of the lower ward along the - foot of the glacis of the keep. This is, no doubt, more probable than - that it occupied the whole of the lower ward, covering the same area - with the present works.</p> - - <p>Mr. Bond has been able, by documentary evidence, to fix the date of the - great curtain, which connects the later middle gate with the earlier - keep tower, at 1236; as with such a curtain there must have been a - tolerably strong gate, and, as the present gate is some years later, - this was no doubt Norman, though probably very late—say of the age of - the curtain traversing King John’s fosse at the lower end. Perhaps - the pointed arch with Norman springing-course, in the wall next the - Buttavant Tower, may be of the same period—say the reign of Henry II., - though the wall itself may be shown, by the evidence of records, to be - later.</p> - - <p>The lower ward, in its present state, was certainly enclosed towards - the end of the reign of Henry III., and in that of Edward I. To this - age may be attributed the outer and middle gatehouse, and the four - mural towers of the outer ward, as well as the work of the Queen’s - Tower, with its hall and chapel. The Plukenet Tower may be assigned to - the constableship of that baron, 54 Hen. III., or a little later.</p> - - <p>To this period also is to be assigned the facing of the south wall - of the middle ward. The ashlar of this age, though it has not the - grand, effective boldness of the Norman work, cannot be surpassed - for closeness of jointing and general excellence of workmanship. The - stones, from 1 foot to 2 feet long, and 8 inches wide, are coursed and - well bonded, and their angles are as fresh as when newly cut.</p> - - <p>The excessive solidity of the mural towers upon the west front is very - remarkable. Possibly this unusual strength was intended to counteract - the danger of being mined, for which the soft chalk offered great - facilities.</p> - - <hr class="page" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_476">476</span> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="COUCY">THE CASTLE OF COUCY, NEAR LAON.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">COUCY-LE-CHÂTEAU, town and castle, are built upon and completely occupy - the somewhat irregularly-shaped but level summit of a promontory of - chalk, the eastern part or root of which is connected with the high - land of the upper forest of Coucy, while towards the north and west - the termination of the platform stands out boldly and abruptly, from - 150 feet to 200 feet above the fertile valleys on either hand, whence - spring the tributary waters of the Lette, a stream which flows down - from the ancient city of Laon to reach the Oise at Manicamp.</p> - - <p>The valleys immediately below and commanded by the castle bear marks - of high and early cultivation, and no doubt contributed largely to its - support. More distant, chiefly on the eastern and northern sides, are - the immense woodland tracts of the high and low forests of Coucy, St. - Gobain, and Monceau, while to the south are those of Pinon and Mostier. - Occupying fertile spots amidst these forests were the abbeys of Nogent, - St. Nicholas, Barizy, and Prémontre, where was the burial-place of the - De Coucys, and the remains of which religious houses are interspersed - with those of the castles of St. Gobain, Folembray, Anizy, La Fère, - Pinon, and many others, showing the value attached to this tract of - country by the jealousy displayed in its defence.</p> - - <p>The etymology of Coucy has not been explained. The district in which - it stands was known as Le Mege in the sixth century, and Coucy was - probably included in that part of it granted by Clovis to St. Remi for - the archiepiscopal see of Reims, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 500. In 909 it was in - the hands of Archbishop Hervé, who, moved by the rising power of the - Norman, here first built the castle known henceforward as Coucy.</p> - - <p>Whatever may have been the particulars of this fortress, its area - must have been identical with that of the latter work, governed by - the configuration of the ground; and, whatever may have been its - construction, its position could not but endow it with strength and - importance. It became at once a place of note. Here, Hervé, Count of - Vermandois, imprisoned Charles the Simple, whom he sold to his rival - king for the county of Laon. Nevertheless, in 930, Hervé was forced to - give up Coucy to Boson, brother to Raoul, king of France. Boson was - slain before St. Quentin in 931, and, after a century of vicissitudes, - the domain, held by a mere quit-rent of the Church, was in 1037 the - signory of Alberic, the founder of the baronial name of Coucy. It is - uncertain whether Alberic was of the family of Eudo de Chartres or - that of the Counts of Vermandois. By marriage he added Amiens and its - adjacent castle of Bôves to Coucy, and is thought to have founded the - abbey of Nogent-sous-Coucy.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_477">477</span></p> - - <p>Alberic was succeeded by his son Enguerrand, Sieur de Coucy, Count of - Amiens, and Lord of Bôves. He married Ada, heiress of Letard de Roucy, - Lord of Marle, second son of Gilbert, Count of Reims, with whom he - acquired Marle and La Fère. He—or more probably his son—first assumed - the well-known armorial bearings, “Barry of 6, vaire and gules.” He - died 1116, leaving Thomas.</p> - - <p>Thomas de Marle, de Coucy, his son and successor, long in rebellion - against his father, bore a bad name for violence. He lost Amiens; but, - again by marriage, acquired Crécy-sur-Serre and Nogent. He died 1130.</p> - - <p>Enguerrand II., known as Le Sire de Coucy—this title, it is said, - denoting the lord of an allodial fief—held also Marle, Crécy, Vervins, - Pinon, and La Fère, in which latter castle he defended himself with - success against Louis le Gros and Raoul, Count of Vermandois, in 1132. - His reign was one of peace and justice.</p> - - <p>This Enguerrand is said to have slain in personal combat a ferocious - beast called a lion that infested the neighbourhood; and this tale is - no doubt the origin of the lions which were used by the family as crest - and supporters. Such tales were common in the twelfth century, only the - scene of the exploit was usually more safely laid in Palestine. This - combat was commemorated in a bas-relief over the door of the keep at - Coucy, and was probably the foundation of a singular ceremony which - only ceased at the Revolution. Thrice annually, at Easter, Pentecost, - and Christmas, the Abbot of Nogent, or his attorney, entered Coucy - by the lower gate, a whip in his hand and mounted upon a crop-eared - and docktailed bay. On his poitrel was suspended a seed-bag of white - linen filled with wheat, and in a basket certain crescent-shaped cakes - stuffed with minced veal, cooked in oil, and called rissoles, probably - the earliest mention of a dish which has descended to our own times.</p> - - <p>Behind the abbot came a red dog, also with cropped ears and tail, and - having a rissole suspended from his neck. This singular procession then - entered the castle, and at the base of the keep the abbot made the - circuit of a central and three lesser couchant lions there carved in - stone, and afterwards embraced the larger beast. This done, he offered - the cakes in homage to the lord, who distributed them to the people, - and then witnessed the record of the homage by affixing to it a special - seal, representing a mitred and crosiered abbot, having for feet the - hoofs of a buck. A representation of this ceremony in tapestry long - adorned the walls of the castle, and is thought to have been taken into - Lorraine after the marriage of a later Coucy with a daughter of that - house.</p> - - <p>Enguerrand II. died while on a crusade in Palestine about 1148; but his - body was laid in his abbey of Prémontre, near the castle, where his - effigy remained in 1682.</p> - - <p>Raoul de Coucy, son and successor, was under age at his father’s death. - He married, about 1169, Agnes of Hainault; and secondly, Alix, niece - of Louis-le-Jeune, and sister of Robert de Dreux. By this match he - connected himself with the blood royal.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_478">478</span> He accompanied Philip Augustus - to Palestine in 1188, and fell before the walls of Acre in 1191. He was - buried at Foigny, and his son by Alix was his successor.</p> - - <p>Enguerrand III., called the Great, Lord of Montmirail, Oisy, Crèvecour, - la Ferté-Ancoul, la Ferté-Gaucher, Vicomte de Meaux, and Châtelan - of Cambrai. He was the founder of the present castle, and at the - same time walled in the considerable town that had risen under the - protection of his ancestors. As he was a child at his accession, his - mother administered the signory, and conceded a charter of liberties - to the town in 1197, which he confirmed when of age. In 1200, <i>more - majorum</i>, he attacked the property of the Church of Reims. In 1210, - he joined the Count of Vermandois in the first crusade against the - Albigenses, and again in 1219 and 1226; then assisting at the siege of - Toulouse and the taking of Avignon. He distinguished himself also at - the battle of Bovines.</p> - - <p>Enguerrand, though not wanting in territorial power, exercised an - influence far beyond that due to wealth or breadth of possessions, and - which was in great measure personal. He appears to have submitted with - an ill grace to the government of Queen Blanche during the minority of - St. Louis, and is said to have even contemplated regal power. However - this may be, the consciousness of his influence, no doubt, led him to - erect the Castle of Coucy, it is thought, between 1225–1230; and it - maybe that in so doing he proposed to himself to cast into the shade - the grand tower of the Louvre, the work, a few years before, of Philip - Augustus. He is also said to have rebuilt his other castles of St. - Gobain, Assis, Marle, Folembrai, and St. Aubyn, and the Hôtel Coucy at - Paris.</p> - - <p>In 1244, he was in the confidence of St. Louis, and attended a - conference of nobles at Chinon, where he supported the plan of a - descent upon England; but while assembling his vassals for this purpose - he was flung from his horse and killed by his own sword. Of his - children by Marie de Montmirail, Raoul II., who fell in the crusade of - 1250, and Enguerrand IV., became successively Sieurs de Coucy; but both - died childless, and with the last closed the male line of these great - barons. Alix, half-sister to the last lords, married Arnoul, Count de - Guines. Enguerrand the Great had also a daughter, Mary, who in 1239 - became the second wife of Alexander II. of Scotland, and the mother of - Alexander III. Mary was a very remarkable person, and exercised the - duties of guardian to her son in difficult times in a very efficient - manner, devising and executing a vigorous policy of her own.</p> - - <p>Arnold Comte de Guines sold Guines to Philip le Hardi in 1282. Alix de - Coucy, his wife, was daughter of Enguerrand III. by Marie Dame d’Oisy, - his third wife. They had Enguerrand V. de Guines, Sire de Coucy, - &c., who lived at the court of his cousin-german, Alexander III., in - Scotland, where he married, before 1285, Christine de Baliol. He died - 1321.</p> - - <p>William, his son and heir, married Isabel, daughter of Guy de - Chatillon, Comte de St. Pol. He died 1335, and was succeeded by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_479">479</span> - Enguerrand VI., who married Catherine, daughter of Leopold, Duke of - Austria. This baron took part in the defence of his province against - Edward III., and fell at the battle of Crécy, in 1346, leaving his son - an infant.</p> - - <p>Enguerrand VII., better known in England as Ingelram de Coucy, was one - of the greatest and most powerful barons of his race and age, and, in a - warlike age, celebrated as a military leader. He commenced his public - life by a war of extermination against the insurgent Jacquerie. He was - then one of the hostages in England for King John, and there married - Isabel, daughter of Edward III., became a Knight of the Garter (39th on - the list), and in 1366 was created Earl of Bedford. The effect, perhaps - the price, of these honours was his neutrality in the war between - France and England. He claimed the duchy of Austria, and raised 60,000 - condottieri to support his rights, but in this he was unsuccessful.</p> - - <p>After the death of Edward III. he returned the insignia of the Garter - to his successor, and took part with France. Upon Du Guesclin’s death, - he was offered, and declined, the sword of Constable of France, but - became governor of Picardy. His advice to the king was to anticipate - the English attacks.</p> - - <p>His second wife was a daughter of the Duke of Lorraine. In 1382, he - composed, by fair words, the insurrection of the Maillotins, at Paris. - In Picardy he was scarcely less lenient. Doutard, one of their leaders, - he sentenced to death, but at the gallow’s foot he was pardoned, by - the custom of Picardy, because a woman from the crowd consented to - marry him,—a singular legal juxtaposition of hanging and matrimony. - Enguerrand took part in the campaign of Charles VI. against Ghent, - in which Van Artevelde was killed; and in the following year, after - putting down an insurrection at Paris, he joined the war in Flanders, - where he won the high approbation of Froissart.</p> - - <p>He then went to Italy, and fought at the battle of Arezzo, for which he - received the charge of Grand Butler of France. Shortly afterwards, he - was prominent in the military and naval preparations for a descent upon - England, and seems to have commanded a division of the fleet, and to - have been driven upon the coast of Scotland.</p> - - <p>In 1390 he took part in the African expedition, landing at Carthage. - The closing act of his life was the unsuccessful crusade against Sultan - Bajazet, upon his invasion of Hungary, and the battle of Nicopolis in - 1396, when Enguerrand was defeated and made prisoner, and so died in - 1397, aged 57, the last male of the second line of the Sires of Coucy.</p> - - <p>Upon his death, Louis Duke of Orleans obtained possession of the Coucy - estates, under cover of a purchase from the heir female. Upon the death - of Louis, in 1465, Duke Charles succeeded, and upon his accession - to the throne of France as Louis XII., in 1498, Coucy became Crown - property, and ceased to retain any individuality, or to be the seat of - an independent family. As an appanage of the Crown it was granted to - the successive families of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_480">480</span> Orleans, and was thus held by Égalité at - the Revolution. It is at present a part of the State domains, and in - consequence received a share of the consideration with which the late - Emperor regarded all public monuments, and has been most judiciously - preserved from further decay by M. Viollet-le-Duc, from whose survey - the annexed plan has been made.</p> - - <p>The castle occupies the north-western extremity of the platform, of - which the remainder is occupied by the town. Upon three sides the - natural defence is the steep hill-side, the upper 30 feet or 40 feet of - which are rendered vertical by art, and faced with masonry. The (wholly - artificial) defences of the town on the south front are a deep ditch, - extending from cliff to cliff, and dividing the town from the castle, - within which is a curtain wall, flanked at its ends by two round towers - containing vaulted chambers, and with a central gatehouse, also so - flanked.</p> - - <p>The castle is composed of a keep, an inner, and an outer ward. The - outer, about thrice the area of the inner ward, intervenes between the - inner ward and the town. Its narrow south front has been described. - Towards the north-east the hill is very steep, and the revetment wall - on this face is not reinforced by buttresses or flanking towers. On the - opposite face the ground is far less steep, and the platform projects - in a bold salient towards the south-west, the revetment of which is - strengthened by eight mural towers or bastions, some half-round and the - others rectangular. The south wall is lofty, the others were probably - mere parapets. The great gatehouse, or “Porte de Maître Odon,” is now - much broken down. The portal arch was pointed, as are two lateral - arches for the guard. The square groove of one portcullis remains. The - gatehouse seems to have been of the usual rectangular plan, having a - central portal arch and passage, and two exterior half-round flanking - towers. In this outward ward are to be traced very considerable - foundations, and here are found fragments of piers and arch stones, - and carved blocks, showing that the buildings erected as stables and - barracks for the castellan, and probably, in times of peace, for the - lord, were very considerable, and of a handsome character. Here also - are the foundations of a church, recently cleared out. They show a - single nave, with a semicircular apse, and a transept, the two arms - of which have, on their eastern sides, two smaller apses, the three - ranging nearly in a line. The building is about 100 feet long by 30 - feet broad; has a double west door, and five windows of a side, besides - three in the apse and three in each limb of the transept. From its plan - and proportions this church has been regarded as part of the original - castle, and the only part now remaining. Its actual date is, however, - probably of the eleventh century.</p> - - <p>The inner or north end of this ward abuts upon the inner ward. This - front is occupied by a broad and deep dry ditch, concave towards the - outer ward, having a walled scarp and counterscarp, and crossed at each - end by the exterior <i>enceinte</i> wall of the place.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_481">481</span></p> - - <div class="figcenter illow76" id="i481"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_481.jpg" alt="" /> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>A. Inner Ward.</li> - <li>B. Ditch.</li> - <li>C. Tower.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>D. Ditch and Chemise.</li> - <li>E. Cellars, Hall, and Chapel.</li> - <li>F. Entrance.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33"> - <li>G. Outer Ward.</li> - <li>H. Old Chapel.</li> - </ul> - - <div class="caption">COUCY CASTLE, FRANCE.—<i>Plan.</i></div> - </div> - - <p>The inner ward, or castle proper, is four-sided. The east face, of - 130 yards, and north face, of 60 yards, are both straight, and set at - right angles. The east front, of 70 yards, is set at an obtuse angle to - the north, but is also straight. Thus breadth is given to the - <span class="pagenum" id="Page_482">482</span> south - front, which is 130 yards. This front is also straight, but about - five-sevenths of its central part is occupied by the convexity of the - great tower and its chemise, which are placed upon the line of the - curtain. - </p> - - <p>The east, west, and north fronts are towards the field, and are formed - by facing the scarped rock with masonry, so that they stand 30 feet - to 40 feet high to the level of the terre-plein, above which rises - the curtain-wall. The south front is covered by the ditch already - described, which is segmental in plan, with vertical sides. Near - its east end this ditch is expanded from 60 feet to 90 feet, and - was there traversed by a long drawbridge, which rested upon three - detached rectangular piers, of which the inner one was the largest, and - contained two lateral places of arms, and no doubt carried a tower. - This bridge led up to the main gate. It is now replaced by a causeway.</p> - - <p>At the four angles of the ward are four equal drum towers, 60 feet in - diameter, and 105 feet high from the exterior base. They are remarkable - for their size and boldness, being engaged only by one-fifth of their - circumference. These towers rise from the rock, and contain two domed - stages below the terre-plein level. These are entered by a circular - hole or eye in the centre of each vault. The terre-plein level of each - is a hexagonal chamber, vaulted, having five recesses, of which four - are pierced as loops. The entrance is in the gorge, with two lateral - passages, one leading to a garderobe and one to a well-stair, ascending - to the summit.</p> - - <p>The chamber above is similar, but the loops are placed between instead - of over those below; and thus the towers have been preserved from those - vertical fissures so common when a series of loops or windows occur, as - they usually do, in one vertical line. By this arrangement, also, the - scope of the archers defending the tower is much increased, every point - within arrow range being exposed to fire. There are three floors above - the ground-level, or five in all. All are vaulted. A line of corbels - at the present summit shows that they were originally defended by a - bretasche.</p> - - <p>Nearly in the centre of the east face was a small half-round bastion - with flat sides, 30 feet in diameter and about 20 feet projection.</p> - - <p>Standing in the court, no part of the curtain is visible. Along the - central 180 feet of the east front is a range of buildings, called - offices, about 30 feet deep, and having three well-staircases, serving - the first and second floor, now destroyed. At the south end the space - between the curtain and the tower chemise, about 60 feet by 80 feet, is - occupied by three aisles of vaulting, each of three bays. The centre - of these is the main entrance, or continued portal arch. The lateral - bays are for warders and soldiery in charge of the gate. There were two - stories above this, now destroyed.</p> - - <p>Along the north front was originally a vaulted arcade, 45 feet broad, - composed of four bays. To this has been added, in front, an arcade - of three arches, open towards the court, and upon the plat<span class="pagenum" id="Page_483">483</span>form thus - gained have been constructed a terrace and a range of state rooms, of - which the principal is the ladies’ hall, or <i>Salle des Preuses</i>, - so named from the medallions of nine celebrated women which adorned - the great chimney piece. In the exterior was a sort of oriel boudoir, - and large windows towards the field. Above this was another story, - to construct which the curtain was raised. These buildings were the - addition of the Duke of Orleans. A large well-stair, also an addition, - led from the court to these apartments.</p> - - <p>The west side also has a high curtain, against which is constructed a - magnificent chamber, 45 feet broad by 470 feet long, down the centre - of which stands a line of ten columns, dividing the space into eleven - vaulted and groined bays, of which the northern pair are cut off as a - private cellar. On the east side of this chamber are four doors, two - near the centre opening into the crypt of the chapel, one south of - this, probably the main entrance, and one near the south end, opening - into what appear to have been the kitchens, and which lie between this - splendid range of magazines and the great tower. Connected with the - kitchens are three courts, and a staircase descending to the cellars.</p> - - <p>Below the chamber is another of equal size excavated in the chalk, as a - cellar, probably about the finest and most spacious ever constructed.</p> - - <p>Above, on the first floor, or third stage, was the great hall of the - castle, called, from its nine effigies of heroes, <i>La Salle des - Preux</i>. It had a wooden roof, two large fireplaces, and a large - window at the south end, below which a small door opened upon a light - wooden bridge, which dropped upon the curtain of the outer ward, just - above the postern.</p> - - <p>The chapel was a rectangular building, 60 feet east and west, by 36 - feet north and south. It projected from the hall into the court. It - was composed of two parallel aisles, vaulted, each in four bays. Its - south-east angle was engaged with the chemise of the great tower. Its - south-west angle was free, and had two buttresses set on at right - angles. This chapel is now destroyed to its foundations. It opened from - the great hall.</p> - - <p>The keep, or great tower, is the boast of Coucy, and deservedly so, - being one of the finest towers in the world, and no doubt the largest - and most complete single military building.</p> - - <p>It is a plain tower, perfectly cylindrical, of excellent ashlar - workmanship, 100 feet diameter at base and summit, and 200 feet high. - It rises out of a paved moat, the base being about 12 feet below the - level of the terre-plein, and is entered by a drawbridge from the - level, all below being solid.</p> - - <p>Including the basement, the tower contains three stories. The ground - floor, on the level of the terre-plein, is entered by a drawbridge laid - across the ditch, and which, when raised, covered a small square-headed - portal, under a pointed arch, the entrance to a passage directly - piercing the wall. The passage has an interior machicolation and a - portcullis, both worked from a small chamber<span class="pagenum" id="Page_484">484</span> in the wall above, which - also received the chains of the bridge. Within the portcullis was a - stout door barred within, and, on the left and right, passages, one - to a mural garderobe with an exterior loop, the other leading to a - well-stair, which served the upper rooms and led to the ramparts.</p> - - <p>The entrance passage leads direct into a duodecagonal chamber of - about 60 feet diameter, having a recess in each floor for stores, one - occupied by the entrance, one by a large well, now about 90 feet deep - and formerly 200 feet, and one by a chimney.</p> - - <p>Each pier is faced by a column, from which springs a rib, the twelve - meeting in the centre at an eye, and supporting the vault. Each - vaulting cell has a pointed gable, of which two are pierced for light.</p> - - <p>The first floor is of the same figure and diameter, and vaulted in a - similar manner. One of its recesses is closed by a fireplace with an - oven behind it; one gives passage to a very narrow postern, the plank - bridge from which drops upon the rampart of the chemise wall, and three - are pierced by small windows. One of these window recesses is entered - laterally by a small passage from the adjacent recess. This is of - fifteenth-century work, made when the recess was walled up to serve as - a separate chamber. Another recess has also a lateral passage, entering - a small mural garderobe, looped from the outside. In one recess are two - windows, one above the other.</p> - - <p>The second floor, resembling the other in plan and diameter at its - floor level, has a different arrangement at a height of 12 feet. Here - the piers cease, and behind, between them and the outer shell of wall, - is a gallery, entered by the regular well-stair, but each of the eleven - other compartments of which forms a box like that of a theatre, looking - down upon the central pit or floor. Two of these boxes are occupied by - the detached flues of the two chimneys from below, and two are lighted - by windows, which, with the central eye, form the whole and very - insufficient light. In this chamber, the next below the battlements, - the commander could collect and address a very numerous garrison.</p> - - <p>The third floor, that of the ramparts, and open above, is contained - within a thick and lofty parapet wall about 10 feet high, and pierced - by twenty-four lancet arches and as many intermediate loops. Above - these the wall is surmounted by a grand coping, which overhangs both - ways about thrice the thickness of the wall, and then slopes upwards - into a ridge. It was upon this ridge that were laid the roofing rafters - of the bretasche gallery, which enclosed the wall inside and outside. - The former was merely as a counterpoise. The latter was of two stories, - and rested its main struts upon a line of forty-eight grand corbels, - which remain on the exterior face of the wall at the rampart level. The - flues appeared above the roof, and three large and highly-crocketed - pinnacles were placed astride on the crest of the wall. The stone vault - of the upper chamber was covered with lead, with occasional gutter - openings outwards.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_485">485</span></p> - - <p>Nothing can be grander than the conception of this tower, nothing - more complete than the execution of its details. All is gigantesque, - as though for a race above the ordinary stature of man, and the walls - within were overlaid with a fine cement, and painted with care. The - design of the sculpture is bold and masculine, as becomes a military - building; but all is in excellent taste, and admirably executed.</p> - - <p>The walls of the keep are tied with chain-courses of timber, laid in - mortar, in the centre of the work, as was the custom in France in the - twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The timber is exposed below some of - the loops. In the upper floors were embedded radiating ties, also of - wood.</p> - - <p>Two lines of square putlog-holes are seen on the exterior of the - keep. They ascend in a spiral, or a right-handed screw, and indicate - the manner in which the building was constructed. Horizontal beams, - projecting from the upper row, carried the inclined plane or roadway up - which the materials were dragged, and these were supported by struts, - the feet of which rested in the lower row.</p> - - <p>There remains to be described only the chemise, or work designed to - cover the base of the keep from the operations of the miner. It has - been seen that the base of the keep was solid, and that it stood in a - paved fosse, about 20 feet broad, with vertical sides. The exterior - side, or counterscarp, of this fosse was a wall, about 8 feet thick, - which divided it from the main exterior ditch of the ward, and rose to - the level of the first floor of the keep, say 30 feet. The ordinary - ascent to its rampart walk was by a stair within the wall, commencing - on the right near the keep entrance. It was also reached from the - first floor of the keep by a slight bridge, such as was employed at - Rochester, and probably in one or two places in the Tower of London. - There was also an access from the other end of the wall, from the rooms - over the great gateway.</p> - - <p>Outside of and at the base of the salient half of this wall was built - against it, at the level of the bottom of the exterior ditch, a - covered way or gallery, intended to act as a countermine, and still - more completely to frustrate attempts against the keep. The gallery is - entered from either end, and in its centre rises a sort of buttress - against the wall, in which was contained a wooden stair, by which the - people on the rampart could communicate with those in the gallery. In - the gallery also was a well, for the use of the kitchens, and in the - substance of the wall a garderobe.</p> - - <p>From the bottom of the keep ditch issued a postern, defended by gate, - portcullis, and machicolation, the two latter connected with a small - chamber in the wall; from this a wooden bridge led, in the ditch, to a - postern in the west and outer wall of the outer ward.</p> - - <p>The castle and town, being of one date and from one design, may - be regarded as representing a thirteenth-century fortress of the - first class, and of the strongest character, in which the internal - arrangements, though palatial, were made completely subordinate to the - military character and security of the place. The great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_486">486</span> feature of the - castle is the keep, which commands the whole, in every part, and from - its size and strength could be held with confidence after all the other - defences had been taken.</p> - - <p>The additions of the fifteenth century, consisting of state-rooms, a - hall, and various upper stories, intended for the state and attendants - of a court, though not extending to the keep, in some degree injure the - military character of the place, and take off from the predominating - grandeur of that great central feature. These, however, have for the - most part fallen away, and what remains is chiefly original work, so - that the appearance of the keep and inner ward is in many respects as - they were designed by the great baron, who contemned any title less - than king, and was content with the severe simplicity of that of “Sire - de Coucy.”</p> - - <p>The castle in 1652 fell into the hands of Mazarin, who employed - Metezeau, son of him who threw up the famous dyke at Rochelle, to - render it indefensible. The engineer blew the chemise wall outwards - into the ditch, and exploded a heavy charge of powder in each of the - towers. The effect of this upon the keep was to clear out the vaulted - stages, and to leave the cylinder like the tube of a vast cannon. Thus, - with one or two vertical fissures, it stood till our day; but now these - have been closed with great care and judgment, and the cylinder has - been hooped with iron, in a manner that is scarcely to be observed, and - will preserve it indefinitely.</p> - - <p>Those who wish to understand the details of this most curious place, - and to acquire a complete and comprehensive view of it as a military - work, would do well to read the masterly exposition of M. Le Duc, sold - upon the spot, and given also in his “Dictionnaire,” under the articles - of “Château” and “Donjon.”</p> - - <p>The town is also worth a visit. It contains a good church, and its - southern gatehouse is a very massive structure. The portal is very - narrow, about 9 feet, acutely pointed, and it opens between two drum - towers of one-third projection, and of about 100 feet diameter and - 60 feet high. The short curtain between them, occupied below by the - gateway, above is convex in plan, and supports two bold brackets, upon - which lies a stout beam, a part of the original bretasche, and a rare, - if not a solitary, instance of a part of such a structure remaining in - place.</p> - - <p>The drawbridge is replaced by a causeway, but at the base of the - gateway are two large square holes, nearly where the axle of the bridge - would rest, but closely resembling drains, which they can scarcely be. - There are no marks of external defences, save the bretasche. Probably - the bridge, when up, acted as a gate. Within the passage, on each - side, is a large lateral loop, then two portcullises, and between them - a large machicolation. Within the second grate is a gate, and within - this the passage is vaulted for about 16 feet. Then follows an open - space, of which the roof was of timber, and then a vault. The inner end - of the passage is injured, and repaired. Above, over the portal, is a - fireplace of enormous size.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_487">487</span></p> - - <p>This gatehouse is placed in the middle of the curtain which covers - the very narrow south-east front of the town. On each side of the - gate-towers is a curtain of about 100 feet long, and beyond this a pair - of drum mural towers, of half projection. The loops of these towers, - like every detail in Coucy, are on a grand scale. Though mere slots, - they are 10 feet high, and in three tiers. In front of the wall is a - fosse of unusual breadth, wholly artificial, and which, like that of - the castle, is dug across the peninsula, from one lateral valley to the - other.</p> - - <hr class="chap" /> - <div class="chapter"> - <h2 class="nobreak" id="COYTY">COYTY CASTLE, GLAMORGAN.</h2> - </div> - - <p class="drop-cap">THE lordship of Coyty is regarded by the Welsh as an Honour of high - antiquity, the estate and seat of a royal lineage, and the inheritance - of one of the sons of Jestyn, the last native lord of Morganwg. It - is divided into the lesser lordships of Coyty Anglia and Wallia, and - it formed one of the “members” of the county under the Norman lords. - Being a member, and not in the body of the shire, it is not included - in the thirty-six and three-fifths knights’ fees which paid military - service to Cardiff Castle; but it was, nevertheless, held under the - lord of Glamorgan, and the castle, manor, and members of Coyty appear - accordingly in inquisitions of the Earls of Gloucester and their - successors in the reigns of Edward I., II., and III. In the 24th Henry - VI., for some probably temporary reason, only the castle and a fourth - part of the manor are returned in the chief lord’s schedule.</p> - - <p>Coyty was granted by Fitzhamon to Sir Pagan, or Payne de Turberville, a - knight, who probably held Bere-Turberville and other lands in Dorset, - and the manor and castle of Crickhowel in Monmouthshire. Unlike most of - the sites of the Norman castles in Glamorgan, Coyty was evidently an - earlier place of strength, and its circular and raised area, and its - circumscribing moat, much resemble the earthworks so common in England - and upon the Welsh marches, and usually attributed to the English of - the eighth and ninth centuries. Of this position Sir Pagan judiciously - availed himself when he received from Fitzhamon Coyty as his share of - the spoil. Probably he found some sort of strong house existing, which - he and his immediate successors found it convenient to occupy; for, - though the extant masonry cannot be attributed to his age, it is of - a date too near to it to have allowed of the decay of a substantial - Norman structure. Sir Pagan is reputed to have married Sybil, heiress - of the old Welsh lords of Coyty, and thus to have added a title - respected by the natives to that acquired by his sword.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_488">488</span> Certain it is - that the Turbervilles much inclined to the Welsh side in the frequent - disputes between them and the over-lords.</p> - - <p>Sir Pagan died, and was followed by his son, Sir Simon, who died - childless; and he by his brother, Sir Gilbert, who was father of a - second Sir Pagan, who was father of a second Sir Gilbert, who married - Maud, daughter of Morgan Gam, lord of Avan, a descendant, and probably - the representative, of Jestyn. Gilbert, who was in possession in 1207, - may well have been the real constructor of the castle. This view is - supported by the evidence of the actual building, the oldest parts of - which may be early English, but certainly are not Norman.</p> - - <p>The castle is composed of a circular enclosure or inner ward, about 48 - yards in diameter; to the north-western side of which is appended a - rectangular court, 68 yards long by 43 yards broad, forming the outer - ward, and probably an addition. The whole castle is surrounded by a - ditch, which varies in breadth from 90 to 100 feet, and in depth from - 20 feet to 60 feet. It is far deeper and broader where it protects the - circular than where it is continued round the outer ward. It shallows - towards the north-west, and at that end is scarcely perceptible. It is - probable that the original circular castle was surrounded completely by - the ditch, and that this was in part filled up when the outer ward was - added. This could be ascertained by probing the ground.</p> - - <p>The circular or inner ward is much higher, either naturally or - artificially, than the exterior ground. It is enclosed within a strong - and lofty curtain-wall, 8 feet thick, upon which are two gatehouses - and a drum-tower, and against it the hall, chapel, and other domestic - buildings. The interior is an open, irregular, but on the whole - four-sided court, about 60 yards in the side.</p> - - <p>The <i>principal gatehouse</i> is to the east, and opens upon - the churchyard, which forms the counterscarp of the ditch. It is - quadrangular, 20 feet broad by 24 feet deep, of which 16 feet project - beyond the curtain. A passage cut through a low bank of earth thrown - up outside the ditch led from the churchyard towards the portal. A - causeway now occupies the place of the drawbridge, the chains for - lifting which passed through two holes seen in the spandrels of the - gateway. The entrance is 6 feet broad, beneath a pointed arch set in - a square-headed recess, intended to house the bridge when lifted. The - first defence was a portcullis, the groove of which is large, and - intended for a wooden grate, and behind it was a door. The passage was - covered in by a plain vault. On the right is a well-stair ascending to - the roof; on the left, a sort of lodge, the two windows of which look - into the court. The inner archway has fallen, as has the vault.</p> - - <p>The gatehouse had two upper floors, each 20 feet by 10 feet. The first, - the portcullis chamber, has a window at each end, and two in each side. - In the south wall is a fireplace. From this chamber a mural stair leads - to the rampart of the south curtain. That of the north curtain is - reached from the well-staircase. The second floor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_489">489</span> of - the gatehouse has a window in each face. The floor of this room and the - roof were of timber, and are gone. The gatehouse is probably of the - reign of Richard II. The windows are Tudor insertions.</p> - - <div class="figcenter illow100" id="i488"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_488.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="attl">Wyman & Sons. Gᵗ Queen Sᵗ London.</div> - <div class="clear"> - <ul class="small col33 mt1"> - <li>A. Inner Ward.</li> - <li>B. Outer Ward.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33 mt1"> - <li>C, C. Gatehouses.</li> - <li>D. Keep.</li> - </ul> - <ul class="small col33 mt1"> - <li>E. Round Tower.</li> - <li>F. Hall.</li> - </ul> - <div class="caption">COYTY CASTLE.—GROUND PLAN.</div> - </div> - </div> - - <p>The <i>northern gatehouse</i>, that between the outer and inner wards, - is destroyed; but the foundations show a passage 9 feet broad by 33 - feet deep, which seems to have traversed a mass of buildings 84 feet - broad by 30 feet to 40 feet deep. Of this, the part to the west of the - portal, was a nearly rectangular building, 30 feet by 22 feet, having - an entrance from the passage, and in its south wall a mural staircase. - East of the portal is a much larger building still in part standing, - and which seems to have been the keep.</p> - - <p>The <i>keep</i> is nearly rectangular, 37 feet by 40 feet, having at - its eastern end a projection into the ditch, 18 feet by 24 feet. This - projection contained in its basement a plain vault, 15 feet by 9 feet, - with two loops; and a culvert, probably a garderobe, has its vent - below a recess in the north wall. This recess was probably a prison. - The basement of the keep is occupied by a chamber, 28 feet by 22 feet, - at the ground level, and vaulted in eight cells, the ribs forming - which spring to and from a central eight-sided pier. The arches are - pointed. There are two loops in this chamber, and three doors,—one from - the court, set in a square-headed recess; a second into the vaulted - accessory chamber; and a third to a postern opening into the ditch, and - by a mural stair to the chamber above.</p> - - <p>The first floor also is composed of two chambers, both vaulted, and the - ribs of the large chamber spring from an octagonal pier resting upon - that below. There was a second, and a third story roofed with timber. - The fireplaces were in the north wall, and the windows in the north and - east walls, and of moderate size and Tudor pattern. This tower seems of - early Decorated date. A part of it has recently fallen.</p> - - <p>The <i>round tower</i> is altogether a very curious and a very unusual - structure. It is placed on the south-west front of the inner ward. - It is 18 feet diameter, but projects into the ditch 22 feet, being - connected with the curtain by a neck of wall 14 feet broad. It is - lofty, having a basement and three upper floors. The basement is a huge - vaulted receptacle for sewage, with an outlet to the south. The two - upper floors are alike in dimensions and use, being 9 feet by 7 feet, - and lighted by narrow loops, three on each floor. They are vaulted, and - contain garderobes, with shafts into the vault below. The third story - had a flat wooden roof, now gone. A well-stair led to the battlements. - Laterally, the upper part of this tower is widened by a pair of cheeks - resting on a row of corbels, so as to give greater space within. On the - east side of this tower, at its base and junction with the curtain, is - a postern of 3 feet opening, from which a vaulted staircase ascended - to the domestic buildings. This door is protected by a mass of masonry - filling up the hollow angles above it, and machicolated at its summit. - This part of the castle seems of the age of Henry III.</p> - - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_490">490</span></p> - - <p>The whole southern side of the court, from gatehouse to gatehouse, is - occupied by the remains of the domestic buildings. The hall seems to - have had a vaulted basement, 26 feet by 19 feet in plan, with plain - ribs springing from two piers, and to have been on the first floor, - with windows in the curtain. A long chamber east of the hall, with a - long east window, seems to represent the chapel, also on the first - floor. In this quarter some excavations made by the late Lord Dunraven - have shown the stairs leading to the postern, and some vaulted cellars, - and probably the kitchen. All these buildings are of an early Decorated - character, and have been much altered in the Tudor period.</p> - - <p>The curtain-wall, from the keep to the great gatehouse, is about 20 - feet high, and is of the age of the gatehouse, and later than the wall - elsewhere. Near the gatehouse it is 20 feet thick. Part of its parapet, - 6 feet, and rear wall, 5 feet high, remain. The former is bracketed out - on corbels, most of which are removed newels from an older well-stair. - This part of the curtain is reached from the gatehouse, and has no - communication with the keep. Of the same date with this curtain is - the wall on the other side of the gatehouse, southwards for about 16 - yards, when there is a junction with the older wall. This part of the - curtain is polygonal outside, and curved within, and externally about - 40 feet high. Beyond, or northward of the round tower, the height of - the curtain is 60 feet, and it is pierced with windows belonging to - the hall and other apartments. There remains also, on the wall, a - lofty chimney. Towards the junction of this curtain with the wall of - the outer ward it is connected with a sort of gallery, looped towards - the field, and intended for the defence of the hollow angle where the - three walls meet. The dividing wall between the inner and outer ward is - nearly destroyed, and does not seem to have been strong.</p> - - <p>The well is in the open court, 4 feet diameter, circular, and rudely - walled.</p> - - <p>The outer ward does not present any very noteworthy features. Its - south wall is low, and pierced with windows, as of lodgings. The north - wall is strongly buttressed outside. There was an outer gateway in the - western wall, now broken down. It seems to have been a mere opening in - the wall, without a gatehouse, but flanked by a pair of buttresses. The - walls of this ward are about 20 feet high. The northern front of the - outer ward, being naturally weak, has been protected by a double ditch, - the contents of which are thrown outwards, and form banks. The ditches - are dry. In a field to the north-east are some banks and ditches which - may have been thrown up when the castle was attacked.</p> - - <p>The castle has little to boast of either in material or workmanship. It - is mainly built of lias rubble, but the round tower is of sandstone. - The mortar generally is of inferior quality, and there is but - little ashlar. The roofs were covered with slabs of fissile sand or - tile-stone. The southern curtain is probably the oldest part of the - castle. It is composed of large boulder or popple-stones, neces<span class="pagenum" id="Page_491">491</span>sarily - with very open joints. In it are two small trefoil-headed windows of - early English or early Decorated date, which appear to be original. - They open from the vaulted chamber beneath the hall. The angles of the - curtain are quoined with Sutton stone. The castle, built probably in - the early English and Decorated periods, seems to have been thoroughly - restored and repaired late in the Perpendicular period. It is fast - going to decay, and large portions of it have fallen since 1832. It - is the property of the Earl of Dunraven; but the ditch belongs to Mr. - Nicholl, of Merthyr Mawr, and was planted by his grandfather, the - eminent judge.</p> - - <div class="center mt10 mb10">END OF VOL. I.</div> - - <hr class="tb" /> - <div class="center small">WYMAN AND SONS, PRINTERS, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C.</div> - - <div class="footnotes mt10 mb10"> - <div class="footheader">FOOTNOTES:</div> - - <div class="footnote"> - <a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> “By writ of May 30, 1225, the king orders Godescall de - Maghelines to enjoin all persons who have fortalices (<i>motas</i>) in - the valley of Montgomery, to strengthen the same with wooden turrets - (<i>bretaschiis</i>) for their own security and the defence of these - parts.”—<i>Eyton’s Antiquities of Shropshire</i>, xi., p. 134. - </div> - - <div class="footnote"> - <a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Dr. Simpson, whose opinion on such a subject carries great - weight, attributes this keep to the reign of Stephen, the end of the - Norman period. - </div> - - <div class="footnote"> - <a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> The tower at Warwick is 105 feet high and 38 feet - diameter; a polygon of twelve sides, with five vaulted stories. - </div> - - <div class="footnote"> - <a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> “Dictionnaire de l’Architecture,” tom. vi. “Hourd.” - </div> - </div> - - <div class="transnote"> - <div class="large center mb2"><b>Transcriber’s Notes:</b></div> - <ul class="spaced"> - <li>Redundant title and printer information pages have been removed.</li> - <li>Blank pages have been removed.</li> - <li>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.</li> - </ul> - </div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEDIÆVAL MILITARY ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND ***</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>This file should be named 64187-h.htm or 64187-h.zip</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/1/8/64187/</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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