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is connected with the keep by means of a long passage with lancet windows, that widen greatly inwards.It is more than one hundred feet high, and is a beautiful piece of masonry, as perfect, apparently, ason the day when it was erected, and as firm as the rock on which it stands. This tower is ascended bya staircase concealed within the substance of the walls, whose thickness is full fifteen feet towards thebase, and does not decrease more than three feet near the summit. Another aperture in them serves fora well, which thus communicates with every apartment in the tower. Most of the arches in this towerhave circular heads: the windows are square.—The walls and towers which encircle the keep are of muchlater date; the principal gate-way is pointed. Immediately on entering, is seen the very ancient chapel,dedicated to St. Priscus, or, as he is called in French , St. Prix. The east end with three circular-headedwindows, retains its original lines: the masonry is firm and good. Fantastic corbels surround the summitof the lateral walls. Within, a semi-circular arch resting upon short pillars with sculptured capitals,divides the choir from the nave. In other respects the building has been much altered.—Henry v. repaired it in 1418, and it has been since dilapidated and restored. A pile of buildings beyond, whollymodern in the exterior, is now inhabited as a seminary or college. There are some circular archeswithin, which shew that these buildings belonged to the original structure.—Altogether the castle is anoble rain. Though the keep is destitute of the enrichments of Norwich or Castle-Rising, it possesses animpressive character of strength, which is much increased by the extraordinary freshness of the masonry.The fosses of the castle are planted with lofty trees, which shade and intermingle with the towers andramparts; and on every side they groupe themselves with picturesque beauty. It is said that themunicipality intend to restore Talbot’s tower and the keep, by replacing the demolished battlements; butI should hope that no other repairs may take place, except such as may be necessary for the preservationof the edifice; and I do not think it needs any, except the insertion of clamps in the central columns oftwo of the windows which are much shattered.”
PLATE XCI.
‘r*
INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF CREULLY.
Creully, w hose church has been here selected for publication, as a favorable specimen of genuineNorman architecture, is a small market-town of the diocese of Bayeux , situated about six miles to theeast of the city of that name, and fifteen miles north-west of Caen . It is an ancient barony, having beenhonored with that distinction by Henry i. , in favor of his natural son, the Earl of Glocester, many ofw hose descendants, according to Masseville, were still living in Normandy in the eighteenth century,and bore the name of Creully. The same author makes mention of the Lords of Creully, on more thanone occasion, in the course of his Norman history.—They are to be found in the list of the barons thataccompanied Duke Robert to the Floly Land, in 1099; and when the Genoese, in 1390, called upon theKing of France for succours against the infidels of the coast of Barbary, and the pious monarch sent anarmy to their relief, under the command of the Duke of Bourbon, the name of the Seigneur de Creullystands prominent among those who embarked upon that unfortunate expedition. Again, in 1302, theBaron of Creully held the fifth place among the nine lords from the bailiwick of Caen , who weresummoned to sit in the Norman exchequer. '
From the days of the Earl of Glocester to the breaking out of the French revolution, the barony ofCreully continued to be held by different noble families. In the early part of the eighteenth century,when Masseville published his w 7 ork, it was in the hands of the heirs of M. de Seigneley-Colbert, wholikewise possessed other considerable domains in Normandy . The last that had the title was a memberof the family of Montmorenci.—His emigration caused the estate to be confiscated, and sold as nationalproperty; but the baronial castle is now r standing, and displays, in two of its tow r ers, and in a chimney