Chap. VIII.

BRITAIN.

409

Ragland, Barnard, Richmond, Pontefract, Ludlow, Goodrich, Caernarvon, ConwayChepstow, Caerphilly , and others, might be enumerated, all of which had accommodationwithin the circuit of their walls to lodge a considerable body of men.

It is not possible in the present work to do more than select one or two examples, asillustrations of this highly interesting subject; but from measurements, the keep ofConingsburgh and gateway of Saltwood Castle have been selected, as exhibiting in theirarrangement and construction the chief and peculiar features belonging to castles of thatdate.

Coningsburgh Castle , Yorkshire , is a fine example of a fortress at a very early period ofour history; and when the sketches of the keep were made, it was, as far as the masonryis concerned, in a perfect condition. It is an evidence that the engineers then understoodthe setting out of geometrical forms, and the arrangements necessary for the weapons ofattack and defence then made use of: Vauban himself could not have contrived a towercapable of greater resistance.

Fig. 408. PLAN. F1HST STORY.

In the time of Edward the Confessor, Arundel Castle is said to have existed, andDomesday Book enumerates forty-nine, after which the Normans laid the foundations ofmany, and that at Coningsburgh is supposed to have been erected by \V. dc Warreinabout 1070.

SECOND STORY

THIRD STORY.

A Norman fortress was a considerable engineering work ; a deep ditch was generally cut,the earth taken out and carried within the circuit, to form in some convenient situation amound, on the summit of which was built a keep or lofty tower, containing several storiesappropriated to different purposes.

In the wall on the inner edge of the ditch was an entrance gateway, before which was