CAS

113

CAS

An art, Dr. Henry observes, (History of Britain, vol. vi.°tj, 8vo.) so much practised as architecture was in this10t b must have been much improved. That it really^ s so, will appear from the following very brief description ofof 1 Dl03t common form and structure of a royal castle, orag taat of a great earl, baron, or prelate, in this period ; andjj l . se castles served both for residence and defence, thisdescription will serve both for an account of the domesticv a Ini litary architecture of those times, which cannot well

be separated.

■tttd 16 s ^ ua *-' on the castles of the Anglo-Norman kingsa . Aarons was most commonly on an eminence, and near; a situation on several accounts eligible. Theext 6 S * te °f Bie castle (which was frequently of greatbr j ari( l irregular figure) was surrounded by a deep andcal ] 1 1 sometimes filled with water, and sometimes dry,cafi 6 1 t ^ le f osse - Before the great gate was an outwork,hi t a ^ ar bacan, or antemural, which was a strong andfile Wa ^’ w ' f h turrets upon it, designed for the defence ofthe an< ^ ^ raw hridge. On the inside of the ditch stoodbet ' Va ^ Bie castle, about eight or ten feet thick, andeen twenty and thirty feet high, with a parapet, and aembrasures, called crennels, on the top. On this

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stor .’ a t proper distances, square towers, of two or threeth e I6S - were built, which served for lodging some ofoth k rinc ipal officers of the proprietor of the castle, and forfor tt, Purposes ; and on the inside were erected lodgingsrie common servants or retainers, granaries, storehouses,°h nec essary offices. On the top of this wall, and

th e ae flat roofs of these buildings, stood the defenders ofj r j, o Cas *-f e ) when it was besieged, and from thence dischargedof .i' Vs ’ darts, and stones, on the besiegers. The great gatef°rt'fi cast ^ e stood in the course of this wall, and was stronglyPas Sa w ’th a tower on each side, and rooms over theoft eri ® e ’ ' v b'ch was closed with thick folding-doors of oak,let a Plated with iron, and with an iron portcullis, or grate,open f rom above. Within this outward wall was a largecast! S f >ace > or court, called, in the largest and most perfecta c ], S ’ fbe outer bayle or ballium, in which stood commonlyat >othp„ , or chapel. On the inside of this outer bayle was

or chapel

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bayle ait °U) wall, gate, and towers, enclosing the innerbuilt ’ °L c ? ul 't> within which the chief tower, or keep, wasst° ri ; s , . U3 was a very large square fabric, four or five\v|,; c h ai Sb, having small windows in prodigious thick walls,T},i s ren dered the apartments within it dark and gloomy.b'U'on ^ eat lower was the palace of the prince, prelate, orCo Ust ’ ° whom the castle belonged, and the residence of theVauit s r ° r S overno r. Under ground were dismal darktimes V 0I> ^ le confinement of prisoners, which made it some-the jt r e called the dungeon. In this building, also, wasby e ' t ball, in which the owner displayed his hospitality,®nd 0 £ ai *ting his numerous friends and followers. At onel ber e \ v 16 ^ reat balls of castles, palaces, and monasteries,Call e q th * a bj ace ra ised a little above the rest of the floor,°f th e w bere the chief table stood, at which persons

^ r eat var’ 6 - St ran b dined. Though there were unquestionablyPeri 0( j Iatlons in the structure of castles and palaces in thisto bav'e h ^ le m ost perfect and magnificent of them seem°Ue ex;a e ® n constructed on the above plan. Such, to giveir otu t] 1(j P was the famous castle of Bedford, as appearsta ken ) JV “flowing account of the manner in which it was^ n gl. p 22f nr ^ bbk- a.d. 1224, from Matthew Paris , Hist.

In the « 'biie castle was taken by four assaults.

° l:| ter h a ip rSt ’ ' vas ta b en tbe barbacan; in the second, then 98 thr 0tt ! a ’ , at t be third attack, the wall by the old towerbe y posse , vn by tbe miners, where, with great danger,ss ed themselves of the inner ballia, through a chink;2 G

at the fourth assault, the miners set fire to the tower, so that j •the smoke burst out, and the tower itself was cloven to ! |that degree, as to show visibly some broad chinks; whereupon i !the enemy surrendered.” !

As Britain abounded in this period in fortified towns andcastles, much of the art of war, of course, consisted in \ '■defending and assaulting strong places; and a knowledgeof the application of them in this period may be obtainedfrom the relation of the siege of Exeter castle by king <Stephen, in the year 1136. See the Gesta Regis Stephani, 'apud Duchesn, p. 934. It is perhaps the most consummatespecimen of the military skill of that age with which we are :acquainted. And it may be enough to observe, that after i ,this siege had lasted three months, and king Stephen hadexpended upon it in machines, arms, and other things, no 1less than 15,000 marks, equal in efficacy to 150,000 pounds ;of our money, the besieged were obliged to surrender forwant of water. Henry’s Hist, of Britain , vol. vi. p. 217. :

Berkeley, which was originally founded in the reign ofStephen, is one of the best remains we are now possessed ■ ’of, of an ancient feudal castle. But the changes which almost :all these buildings have undergone in subsequent times, may ; :be judged of by those which have taken place at Berkeley.

The buildings within the inmost only of the three gates aresaid to have been the work of Henry II. when duke of j

Normandy ; while the two outermost, with all the buildings i

belonging to them, except the keep, are referred to the latter ;

end of the reign of Henry II. and to those of the second and |

third Edwards. The hall and the two chapels are of the j

latter period; and the great kitchen, adjoining to the keep, !

was of the work of Henry VII .

Among the castles which Mr. King has endeavoured to \appropriate to the early Norman period, are those of Notting-ham, Lincoln, and Clifford’s tower at York , all erected by j

the Conqueror : Archceol. vol. vi. p. 257. The remains of I

all these, he observes, fully illustrate the Norman mode of !

constructing such edifices. Tickhill, in the neighbourhoodof Doncaster, appears to have been another of these castles, 'ibid. 267; and Pontefract bespeaks a Norman design, withrude and imperfect alterations. All of these appear to have ;been erected upon artificial mounts, and nearly cover the 'whole area of the summit of the respective hills on whichthey are situated. i

Tunbridge castle, in Kent, built by Richard de Clare , iabout the time of William Rufus , is mentioned by Mr. King, jas a specimen of the later Norman structures; and he hasbeen very accurate in his description of it; ibid. 270.Gundulph, who directed the building of the Tower of Lon-don , in 1078, and the'castle at Rochester, he describes to haveintroduced a great many judicious alterations, and not onlyto have increased the security, but the magnificence of ourmilitary piles; and observes, that the castle at Rochester isa complete specimen of all that he effected. Newark , whichMr. King afterwards mentions, is an instance of a prelate’s !castle in the reign of Stephen: and the keep of Knaresborough,of the time of Henry III., completes the specimens it may beproper to mention of the irregular style of castle-buildingwhich prevailed during the interval between the NormanConquest and the middle of the thirteenth century.

To these succeeded the magnificent piles of Edward I. , jmore convenient and more stately, and containing not only !many towers, but great halls, and sometimes even religious , ihouses. The best style of military architecture in this periodwas displayed in the castles of Caernarvon, Conway, andCaerphilly; and it is singular to observe that many of ourmore ancient castles were then increased with additions inthe same sumptuous style.