Chapter I: 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