Chapter III: Part 3

The castle still retains many of the features and some of the buildings described in the poem. The ditch which cut off the fortress from the cathedral is, it is true, filled up, and the pasture ward to the east is built over and obscured, but the south gate, though rebuilt, stands on the old site, and is still the main entrance; and the wall on the right on entering still extends towards the keep. The keep itself is a late work; but the mound upon which it stands is a part of the original fortress, and the masonry is laid on the old lines, and in outline the tower no doubt represents pretty clearly the work of Flambard. A strong wall still connects the keep with the lodgings of the castle, and forms the front towards the river. The chapel also remains but little altered, and the walls and arches of the dormitory are original. The well is still seen in the open court, and is, or was recently, in use. Notwithstanding various repairs, rebuildings, and additions, there can be but little doubt that the Castle of Durham resembles in its general aspect the fortress of the Conqueror and of Flambard; nor is there in England any more remarkable example of a Norman castle of the shell-keep type. The publication of the description of it by Laurence possesses, therefore, a peculiar charm; and this must be the excuse for the following attempt at its translation. The poem is here and there very obscure, and occasionally scratches Priscian’s head; and it may be that I have misapprehended one or two lines in the original:—

DESCRIPTIO ARCIS DUNELMENSIS, “LAUR. DUNELM.,” I.L., 367.

Arx in eo regina sedens sublime minatur,
Quodque videt totum judicat esse suum.
Murus et a porta tumulo surgente severus
Surgit, et exsurgens arcis amœna petit.
Arx autem tenues condensa resurgit in auras,
Intus sive foris fortis et apta satis.
Intus enim cubitis tribus altius area surgit,
Area de solido facta fidelis humo.
Desuper hanc solidata domus sublimior arce
Eminet insigni tota decore nitens.
Postibus inniti bis cernitur ipsa duobus,
Postem quippe potens angulus omnis habet.
Cingitur et pulchra paries sibi quilibet ala,
Omnis et in muro desinit ala fero.
At pons emergens ad propugnacula promptos
Et scandi faciles præbet ab æde gradus.
Cumque venitur eo via lata cacumina muri
Ambit, et arcis ita sæpe meatur apex.
Arx vero formam prætendit amœna rotundam,
Arte, nitore, statu, fortis, amœna, placens.
Hinc in castellum pons despicit, atque recursus
Huc et eo faciles pons adhibere solet:
Largus enim gradibus spatiatur ubique minutis,
Nec se præcipitat sed procul ima petit.
At prope murus eum descendit ab arce reflectens
In zephyrum faciem flumen ad usque suam.
Cujus ab āēra largo sinuamine ripa
Se referens arvum grande recurvus obit.
Obditus et siccis aquilonis hiatibus arcem
Exsurgens repetit fortis ubique feram.
Nec sterilis vacat aede locus quem circinat alti
Ambitus hic muri; tecta decora tenet.
Consita porticibus duo magna palatia præfert
In quibus artifices ars satis ipsa probat,
Fulget et hic senis suffulta capella columnis,
Non spatiosa nimis, sed speciosa satis.
Hic thalami thalamis sociantur, et aedibus aedes,
Et datur officio quælibet apta suo.
Hic vestes, ibi vasa nitent, hic arma coruscant,
Hic (_sic_) æra latent, hic caro, panis ibi.
Hic fruges, ibi vina jacent, hic potus avenæ,
Hic et habet propriam munda farina domum.
Cumque sic hinc domus atque domus jungantur, et aedes
Ædibus, inde tamen pars ibi nulla vacat.
Castelli medium vacat æde, sed exhibet altum
Ille locus puteum sufficientis aquæ.

Queen-like the castle sits sublime, and frowns
O’er all she sees, and deems the whole her own.
Straight from the gate the gloomy wall ascends
The mound, and thus the stately keep attains.
A close-built citadel, piercing the clear air,
Outside and inside strong, well fitted to its use.
Its base, of heaped-up earth three cubits raised,
Solid and firm, the floor does thus support;
On which firm base the supereminent keep
Rises, unrivalled in its glittering sheen.
On twice two timbers stayed, are seen to rest
The buildings there, for each main angle one:
While round each half circumference are wings,
Each ending in a formidable wall.
Springing from these a bridge, by easy steps,
To the high battlements an access forms,
Where the broad wall all round gives ample path,
And thus the summit of the keep is gained.
Stately that keep! a circle in its form,
Splendid and strong by art, and by position fair.
Thence, downward to the castle, leads the bridge,
And offers easy access to and fro;
For broad its path with many a shallow step,
The base attaining by a gradual slope.
Hard by, the wall, thrown backwards from the keep,
Faces the west towards th’ encircling stream,
On whose high bank continued, it enfolds
With a bold sweep an ample pasture there;
From parching northern blasts protected thus,
And so curves round to the stern keep again.
Nor does the space within the wall embraced
Stand without buildings: such there are, and good.
Two porches to two palaces belong,
Of which the work to th’ artist brings no shame.
Here, too, a chapel fair six columns boasts,
Nor large, nor small, but fitted to its needs.
Here beds lie near to beds, and halls to halls,
Each for its province suitably disposed:
Robes here, bright vessels there, here glittering arms,
Here bread, there flesh, and tempting coin concealed,
And corn and wine laid down, and barley beer,
And the clear flour here finds its proper bin.
Thus on one side house joins to house, and hall
To hall. The other too is occupied.
The court alone is free, and there is seen
The well, full deep, with water well supplied.

EATON-SOCON CASTLE, BEDFORDSHIRE.

The Ouse, rising in the shires of Northampton and Bucks, and finally falling at King’s Lynn into the head of the Wash, flows deep and sluggish past Bedford, St. Neots, and Huntingdon, intersecting broad tracts of low and level land, now fertile meadow, but formerly almost impassable swamp, opposing great difficulties to the march of an invading force, especially if advancing from the eastern coast. At Eaton-Socon, between Bedford and Huntingdon, and a little above the town of St. Neots, the Ouse impinges upon the rising ground to the west, upon which stand Eaton Church and Village, and which afforded facilities for the construction of a large and lofty earthwork.

This earthwork, known as the Castle Hill, is placed upon the west or left bank of the river, about 30 yards from its present brink, and a furlong or so from the fine parish church. It is possible that when the earthwork was first formed, the course of the stream lay at the foot of the banks. At present there is a large mill upon the river, a few yards above the castle, the leat of which is reunited to its parent stream opposite to the south-eastern edge of the fortress.

The appended sketch shows the general plan of the place. It is, roughly speaking, a triangle, the east side, of 160 yards, resting upon the river, and the north side, of 140 yards, projecting from it at a right angle. The third side, or hypothenuse, is convex and irregular; measured upon the curve, it is in length about 220 yards. The area, complete, is about 3½ acres.

The work is composed of three parts—an Inner, Northern, and Outer ward. The inner and north wards lie side by side upon the river, separated by a cross ditch. The two are contained within another ditch, which communicated at each end with the river. Beyond this, covering the south-western front, is the outer ward, and beyond this again the outer ditch, which commences at the south-east corner in the mill leat, covers the south-western front, and at the north-western angle sweeps round to join the ditch already mentioned, and thus, through it, to communicate with the river at the north-east corner of the work.

The _Inner Ward_ is about 45 yards north and south, or along the river front, by 54 yards east and west. Its figure is a rectangle, with the angles so rounded off that its aspect is almost as much that of a circle as of a square. Towards the river is a steep slope of about 20 feet. On the other sides a similar slope falls towards the ditch. On the crest of the slope on these three inland sides is a bank of earth about 8 feet to 12 feet high, especially strong at the north-west corner. The entrance was at the south-east corner. The inner area or platform of the ward is about 15 feet above the level of the exterior soil. On this platform, about 8 yards from the north-east corner, is a low circular mound about 5 feet high and 40 feet diameter upon its table-top. It may have been somewhat higher. It has no ditch of its own. The ditch of this ward is from 40 feet to 50 feet broad, and still contains water.

North of this is the _North Ward_, above 35 yards north and south, by 80 yards east and west. This also has a ditch about 40 feet broad, on the west and north fronts. From the inner ward it is separated by the cross ditch common to the two, and towards the river is a steep slope about 20 feet high. Besides these defences, the slope on the west and north is crested by a steep bank of earth, and towards the south, or inner ward, is one somewhat slighter.

The _Outer Ward_ is in figure long and curved. Its breadth ranges from 29 yards at the north end down to 22 yards near the south-east end, beyond which it terminates upon the mill leat in a point. This ward is separated from the other two by a common ditch, which communicates with the cross ditch, and thus at three points, directly or indirectly, with the river. The south-eastern end opens at the junction of the leat with the river. The leat covers this end of the ward, and from the leat springs the outer ditch, from 40 feet to 50 feet broad, which covers the outer front of the ward, and at its northern end, sweeping round by a sharp angle, is continued till it joins the north ditch, of which it thus forms a part. The entrance was at the south-east corner, where a modern causeway crosses this outer ditch. The road thence skirts the edge of the outer ward, along the margin of the leat, and thence, by a second causeway, crosses the inner ditch, and, ascending the slope, gains the inner ward. No doubt these causeways represent drawbridges. It does not appear how the inner and north wards communicated. The bridge between the latter and the outer ward was probably at the south-west corner of the northern. The ditches are in parts reduced in depth, and evidently were originally fed from the river. There is not a trace of masonry, but depressions in the bank of the north ward seem to indicate towers at its north-east and north-west angles. It is convenient to use the term angle, but the lines are more or less curved and irregular, and are largely rounded where they meet. The plan has, in fact, nothing of the squareness of a Roman work, and the rounding of the angles is quite different. It is probable that the tendency to sharpness in its outline is due to the walls and towers of the work in masonry, which, though now gone, is reported to have been at one time present.

Eaton, or Eiton, appears in Domesday as held _in capite_ by the Bishop of Bayeux, but there is no mention of a castle either then or at any later time. The Beauchamps, its later lords, do not there appear as Bedfordshire landowners. In the “Liber Niger,” however, about 1165, Simon de Beauchamp held a barony, under which Hugh de Beauchamp held one knight’s fee.

This Hugh was of Eaton. He was the eldest son of Oliver, a cadet of Milo de Beauchamp, of Bedford. Oliver and Hugh were founders of Bismead Priory, in Eaton parish. Hugh was a considerable baron. He was Custos of Rhuddlan Castle 3 Henry II., and, 22 Henry II., one of those who conveyed Henry’s daughter to Palermo, on her marriage with the King of Sicily. He was slain in Palestine, 33 Henry II., and succeeded by Roger, his brother, and he by a third brother, William, whose son John inherited, and, 6 Henry III., was seized of the family manors of Eaton and Sandy. His son was William, living 42 Henry III., father of Ralph, summoned as Lord Beauchamp of Eaton, and who died 21 Edward I., holding one fee in Sandy and Eaton, no doubt that held by Hugh, his ancestor. He held Eaton _in capite_, “per baroniam.” His son, Roger de Beauchamp, of Eaton, was the last summoned. He was aged 21 at his father’s death, and his descendants have not been followed up.

44 Edward III., John de Goldington and Jocosa his wife, John Hemmyngford and others, were seized of a third part of Eaton juxta St. Neots, and half of Sandy. 1 Henry IV., Sandy was held by Katherine, wife of Sir Thomas Engayne; and 1 Edward IV., Lord Zouch had Eaton. Long after the extinction of the barons, the barony remained, and Wyboldeston Manor was held of it by Sir John de Greystock. In the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, Eaton was held by the Lords Vaux of Harrowden, who sold it in 1624. They were cadets of Vaux of Gillsland, and are said to have inherited Eaton from the Beauchamps.

Although the manor of Eaton is not unfrequently mentioned in the records, we never hear of the Castle, nor is the addition of “Socon” ever used. Leland writes of “Eiton a good village in interiore ripa” [of the Ouse] ... “where be seen vestigia castelli between the church and the ripe, and almost hard on the ripe.... The ruins of Eiton Castle long to Lord Vaux.” In Leland’s loose language these terms may apply to the earthworks only. It is, however, probable, from present appearances, and from the place having for six descents been the chief, if not the only seat, of barons of the realm, that there was a castle, and Speed, writing a little later, names Woodhill, Tempsford, Eaton, and Ampthill, as the castles of Bedfordshire. It is possible that a very moderate excavation would lay bare the foundations, though no doubt, building materials being scarce in these parts, those who dismantled the castle would make a clean sweep of the masonry.

The position is a very strong one, and the earthworks much resemble those of Huntingdon, and are probably of the same age. The mill is no doubt a very old one, though this does not apply to the present structure.

THE CASTLE OF EWIAS HAROLD, HEREFORDSHIRE.

The “Castellaria Aluredi Ewias” of Domesday was a tract, the particulars of which are not known, but which no doubt lay among those lines of hill and valley which converge like the fingers of a hand upon the Worm and the Monnow, between the Golden Valley and the Black Mountain, and form the south-western portion of the county of Hereford. The actual castle, “Castellum Ewias,” stands about six miles within the border, and about three miles outside or west of the presumed line of Offa’s Dyke at this point. The country is hilly, but fertile, well worth the defence, for which it affords many natural advantages. The immediate position is chosen with great skill, though it required an immense application of human labour to make it an almost impregnable fortress against the fierce and active hordes of Welshmen whose alienated patrimony it was intended to grasp. While the Mound of Builth remains an evidence of English rule, that of Ewias can scarcely be regarded as the advanced post, the “Castle Dangerous” upon the British territory; but it must nevertheless at all times have been a post of very great danger, and have borne, with Kilpeck, the brunt of the ordinary and frequent attacks of the men of South and West Wales upon Hereford.

In selecting the position advantage was taken of a tongue of high land, broad towards the west and north, but which came rapidly to a narrow and almost abrupt termination in a point about 300 feet above and within the junction of the two adjacent streams. Of these the larger flows along the northern front of the position, and the smaller down a deep valley along its southern front. The two meet a few score yards below the high ground; and upon the left or further bank of the larger stream, and a short distance above the junction, is the church, and attached to it the village, to which the castle and its English lord have given the distinguishing name.

It was decided to convert the point or eastern end of the high ground into the proposed strong place, and to form thus, in the northern fashion, an isolated mound. With this intent a broad and deep ditch was cut across the ridge, curved so as to embrace about one-half of the future elevation. At its north end the ditch was carried straight down the hill-side towards the brook. At its south end it came to rather a sharp conclusion, running out upon a natural bank and slope. Here, however, it was in some sort resumed at a lower level, and ended in a shallow ditch at the southern or principal entrance to the castle. The part thus isolated by the ditch formed the circular base of a mound of about 120 yards diameter and about 30 feet high. This the addition of the soil from the ditch raised to about 70 feet, and thus gave it, in the military sense, a command over the adjacent part of the original ridge. On its opposite, or eastern side, the mound does not descend at once towards the junction of the waters, but at its foot is a broad semicircular platform, which covers its east, north-east, and south-east fronts, and from the outer or convex edge of which descends a steep slope towards the water, which slope is again succeeded by inclinations of a far more gentle character, not included in the military works.

A fair general idea of this stronghold may be given by supposing a circular platform of 200 yards diameter to be bordered on the east and adjacent sides by a steep natural slope falling from its edge, and on the west and adjacent sides by a steep artificial slope falling to its edge. Then on the western margin is placed a conical table mound, 60 feet or 70 feet high, and about 120 yards diameter at the base, which necessarily converts the western slope into the further side or counterscarp of a ditch, and reduces the eastern side to an open crescent-shaped platform. Such is the original plan of the Castle of Ewias, and such its present appearance after the complete removal of the masonry which for about 600 years adorned or encumbered its earthworks.

The top of the mound is oval, about 34 yards north and south by 40 yards east and west. Upon it has stood a shell-keep, either circular or many-sided, about 30 yards diameter. Although no masonry remains, the outline of the keep is plainly indicated by the trench which has been dug while the foundations were being grubbed up. The keep seems from this to have stood, not in the centre, but nearer the eastern margin of the mound, probably to allow room for a couple of exterior towers, or perhaps a gatehouse, which seems to have stood where now are some circular pits. Towers would be well placed on this the weakest side, so as to give a still greater command over the approach along the high ground. There is no trace of any regular ascent to the keep,—no mark of an original winding path up the mound, that now in use being evidently very modern. The side is so steep that no wheeled carriage could ascend it, and scarcely any heavily-laden horse. Probably the way up lay by a direct flight of steps, as at Hawarden and Carisbrook.

There is no trace of a well. The material of the keep was evidently a hard schistose bed of the old red sandstone, fragments of which are seen in the excavations.

The outer ward or crescent-shaped platform, below and west of the keep, runs out to a point towards the southern end, but to the north or north-west it is stopped at a breadth of about 42 yards by the prolongation of the keep ditch. The breadth of the ward at its greatest is about 60 yards. Along the north-west front it is strengthened by large earth-banks thrown up from the contiguous ditch, but elsewhere the natural slope of from 30 feet to 40 feet, steeply scarped, needed neither ditch nor bank. This ward had a curtain wall along its outer edge, of which the foundation diggings remain open. The north-west end was continued up the mound, and probably the circuit on the opposite side was completed in a similar way, so as to make the mound and keep, as at Tamworth and Durham, a part of the general _enceinte_. A group of excavations shows that this ward contained a considerable number of domestic buildings placed in its north-eastern and eastern part, near to the curtain wall. At the foot of the mound to the north is a sort of notch in the line of bank, possibly indicating a postern. The main approach evidently rose gradually from the village bridge, and skirted the foot of the eastern slope of the outer ward nearly to its south end, where it turned inwards and entered that ward by a roadway or slight cutting.

There is no trace of masonry to be seen within or about the castle _enceinte_; the material seems to have been in request as building-stone, and to have been everywhere collected and even grubbed up with most covetous care. There is a limekiln on the south side, near the line of the entrance, no doubt built of the materials of the castle, and a sort of house, now a shed, between it and the brook, but the material shows no mark of the tool and no old mortar.

There are some mounds between the castle and the brooks, possibly thrown up on the occasion of some attack by the enemy. On the other or high side there are no outworks nor any indications either of attack or defence.

There are no remains of the priory save what are included within the parish church. This is a good-sized building, recently repaired or restored, and in excellent order. It is composed of a tower, nave, south porch, and chancel. The nave has been so completely restored that little of old work is to be seen in its walls or roof. It is probably in substance of Decorated date, judging from the buttresses on the south side. The porch is new. The chancel has in the north wall a sepulchral recess, of Decorated pattern, covering the original recumbent figure of a female with her hands in prayer, holding what looks like a covered cup. In the south wall are two lancet windows of one light, under pointed recesses, and between them a late Decorated window of two lights, trefoiled, with a plain four-sided opening in the head. The whole is in a round-headed recess. The arch into the nave is new.

The tower is the best part of the church. It is of large size, square, and short for its size, probably having had another story. It rests upon a bold plinth, about 5 feet 6 inches high, at the top of which is a bold half-round cordon, with a band. The south-west angle is covered by the pilaster buttresses, of 8 feet 6 inches breadth, and a foot projection, which die into the tower, near the present summit. In this angle is a well-stair. In the south side is an unusually large door, of 8 feet opening, with high lancet arch. In the centre of the flat jamb on each side is a half-column, 2 feet diameter, with a water-bearing moulding, and a sort of bell-cap, with several bands of moulding above it. The arch is plainly chamfered, and the cordon of the tower is carried round it as a hood. Above this is a clumsy window of two lancet lights under a pointed head, very plain. Above this again is a small broad window, with a trefoiled head, and above all an early English window of three lights, with three-quarter shafts before each mullion, with bell-caps. In the nooks of each jamb are two similar shafts, seven in all. The head is a drop-pointed arch, plainly chamfered. There is a window similar to this in the north wall. The church contains nothing earlier than this mixture of the early English with the Decorated style. The masonry of the castle was probably, from its plan, of a late Norman, or transitional date. The earthworks are of the regular Herefordshire type; attributable to the English of the early part of the tenth century. They resemble generally, in the presence of a mound, those of Kilpeck and Builth, Caerleon and Cardiff, of Brecon, Abergavenny, and many places in this county or district. No doubt this and the similar works were thrown up when the early Saxon inroads were made into Wales, and were the strongholds of the invading chiefs.

Ewias Harold certainly does not bear the name of its founder, and that founder was probably as completely forgotten in the eleventh century as now.

There are two places called Ewias in Herefordshire, distinguished by the names of their eleventh-century owners, as Ewias Lacy and Ewias Harold. Both are mentioned in Domesday, and both as the seats of a castelry, a sort of Honour or superior lordship attached to the castle. Under the lands of the church of Hereford, we are told that “in the manors of Dodelegie and Stane are ten hydes, all waste save one in Dodelegie. Of the nine, one part is ‘in castellaria Aluredi Ewias,’ and the other in the King’s enclosed land.”

Another entry explains that Alured was Alured de Merleberge or of Marleborough, a great tenant in chief, especially in Wiltshire. We read, “Alured de M. holds the castle of Ewias of William the King. For that king conceded to him the lands which William the Earl [Fitzosbern of Hereford] had given to him. Who refortified [_refirmaverit_] this castle.” Of it held seven knights, whose Christian names are given, besides other persons. The castle was then valued at £10. Agnes, the daughter of Alured, married Turstan of Wigmore.

How or when Alured gave up the castle does not appear; but in 1100 it was held by a certain Harold, also a large tenant in Domesday, though not in Herefordshire. He is called “Heraldus filius comitis Radulphi,” and as such held Sudeley, in Gloucestershire. Earl Ralph, called the Timid, was the Earl of Hereford who was beaten by the Welsh and English forces in 1055, when his son was a mere child. Ralph was a considerable man by descent, being great-grandson of Æthelred and great-nephew to the Confessor. Harold probably obtained some of his father’s possessions when he came of age, and Ewias may have been part of them. He and his descendants were liberal donors to St. Peter’s, Gloucester, in its behalf founding the Priory near the Castle of Ewias.

The names and order of Harold’s sons are preserved in the Gloucester Cartulary, and they correct Dugdale and all other authorities. They were Robert, Roger, John (to whom his father gave Sudeley, and whose issue were barons), Alexander, and William. Robert de Ewias, the eldest, is described in the “Gesta Stephani” as “vir stemmatis ingenuissimi.” According to the “Liber Niger,” he held _in capite_ upwards of forty-seven fees, the mesne tenants of which were twenty knights. Dugdale mentions only twenty-two fees, and confounds him with a second Robert, his son, also Lord of Ewias. The elder Robert had by his wife Sybilla, Robert, and Richard de Ewias, who left a daughter and heiress, Sybilla, who married Philip Spenser, and left issue.

Robert de Ewias, the third owner of the castle, and the second baron, married Petronilla. He was living 1194–6. He also left a Sybilla, daughter and heiress of Ewias. She married, first, Robert de Tregoz; second, William de Newmarch, whom she married during her father’s lifetime, in the reign of Richard I. He was living 11 John. Third, Roger de Clifford, probably the second brother of William de Clifford. From this match spring the Earls of Cumberland. Newmarch had no children. Sybilla was dead 20 Henry III., and was followed by her son, Robert de Tregoz, slain at Evesham 1265. He was father of John and Henry, father of a line of barons who ended about 1405.

John de Tregoz died 1300, leaving two co-heirs, Clarice and Sybil. Clarice, who died 29 Edward I., married Roger la Warre, and had John, aged 23, in 1300; and Sybil married Sir William de Grandison, ancestor in the female line of the St. Johns, Viscounts Grandison. In the partition, John la Warre had the “body of the castle,” of which, 4 Edward III., he enfeoffed John de Cleydon. He died 21 Edward III. John, his eldest son, died before him, and as early as 12 Edward III. he had enfeoffed his grandson, Roger la Warre, and Elizabeth his wife, with Ewias Castle and Manor.

Roger la Warre died 44 Edward III., seized of Ewias Harold, and was succeeded by John, his son. 13 Richard II., Sir John de Montacute, sen., is seized of Ewias Harold, and three Wiltshire fees in the Honour of Ewias, and Teffont-Ewias, in Wiltshire, besides other Ewias lands in Herefordshire. 18 Richard II., these same lands were held by Margaret, wife of Sir John Montacute, Bart.; and 10 Henry IV., by Thomas de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury.

The nature of this alienation is obscure; for, in the midst of it, 22 Richard II., Sir John de la Warre and Elizabeth his wife are seized of the Castle of Ewias Harold. However, there seems to have been an actual and permanent alienation to the Montacutes; for, 7 Henry VI., Thomas, Earl of Salisbury, has Ewias Harold. Thence it passed to the Beauchamps, of whom Joan, widow of Sir William Beauchamp, of Bergavenny, had the castle, vill, and lordship in 14 Henry VI.; and, finally, the Beauchamp heir, Edward Nevile, Lord Abergavenny, died seized of the castle, &c., in Herefordshire, and of Teffont-Ewias, in Wiltshire.

THE CASTLE OF EXETER.

The Castle of Exeter is not only a fortress of high antiquity, but is in many respects peculiar. It occupies the northern angle of the city, forming a part of its _enceinte_, and it crowns the summit of a natural knoll formed by an upburst of Plutonic rock, of a red colour, whence it derived its Norman appellation of Rougemont. The knoll rises steeply on the north-east and north-west from a deep valley, but on the other two sides the slope, though still considerable, is more gradual. The sides of the knoll have been scarped, and at the foot of its upper part a deep and broad ditch has been excavated, beyond which, to the north, a second scarp descends to the bottom of the valley. Towards the south, where the ground allowed of and required it, there was a second and outer ditch. The contents of the inner ditch were carried upwards and inwards to form a high bank round the original summit of the knoll, the central part of which was thus converted into a pit, and became the inner, and indeed the only, ward of the castle. In figure this ward, taken at the level of the circumscribing bank, is something between a square and a circle. Probably its outline was governed by the natural figure of the ground, and such angles as it now has are due to later modifications of the works.

Originally then, the fortress was a hill camp, composed of a bank about 30 feet high, cresting the edge of the knoll, and outside scarped down about 60 to 80 feet deep to the bottom of a broad ditch, which again was reinforced on the less steep side by a second ditch. The main ditch towards the north-east and north-west has been filled up and converted into a broad public walk and garden, but the outer or second scarp still remains, and descends to the valley now occupied by the station of the London and South-Western Railway. Towards the south-east and south the ditch remains unaltered, and is a very fine example of an ancient earthwork. Towards the east it seems to have been filled up.

The camp thus described is probably older than the city, and was an ordinary earthwork, constructed in the usual fashion of the Britons, with one main ditch, reinforced with parts of others where needed. The main entrance was probably always on the south-eastern face, where the ground is less steep than elsewhere. Here, no doubt, a cut traversed the bank, and the ditches were crossed by narrow causeways, as at Old Sarum and elsewhere. These original works were probably British, and were no doubt occupied and slightly modified by the Romans. When the city, if such there was, of Caerwisc, was founded by the Britons, they probably made it an appendage to the south side of the camp, on the site of the present city, the spot being indicated by nature for such a purpose. The city occupies an oblong, elevated platform, contained between the Exe on the south-west, and its tributary streams, with their valleys, on the north-west and south-east, and connected with the higher and distant ground to the north-east by a long narrow isthmus, pierced recently by the tunnel of the London and South-Western Railway.

The Isca Damnoniorum of the Romans was certainly this enclosure, though, no doubt, they gave their _enceinte_ more of a rectangular figure than it afterwards maintained, and laid out the cruciform roads which are occupied by the two main streets of the present city. The camp was their citadel, and they would, of course, continue the defences of the city up its faces, so as to make it a part of the general _enceinte_. The Saxons, on their arrival, no doubt contented themselves with these previous arrangements, and made the best of them against the Danes in 876 and 894. Rather later Æthelstan walled in the city and the castle, and, amidst the varieties of ancient masonry still to be traced round the town, Mr. Freeman thinks it just possible that some of this great king’s work may be seen. These were the walls which enabled the citizens to hold at bay Swend of Denmark in 1001, when he threw up the earthworks at Penhow to the north of the city, and won a victory in the open field. When the Norman Conqueror appeared before Exeter in 1068, he approached from the north-east, and summoned the city at the east gate, just below the castle. Æthelstan’s walls were then in good order, and it was in them that the breach was effected. Probably, however, neither the city walls nor the defences of the castle were up to the Norman standard, for Baldwin of Okehampton was left in command with the usual instructions to build a castle, as the Normans understood that formidable structure. How long Baldwin contented himself with repairing the existing defences, and in what order he replaced them, is unknown, but enough Norman work remains to show the general plan upon which he or his immediate successor proceeded. A strong retaining wall was built against the face of the upper bank. This wall rested, and does still rest, upon the natural edge of the hill, and it supports, as a revetment, the made ground behind it, being about 30 feet high, and having carried a parapet of about 4 feet more. Probably this wall was carried on slowly, the old outer defences being tenable.

The earliest masonry now seen, earlier probably than the wall, is the gatehouse, which may safely be attributed to the latter part of the eleventh century. At the western angle, where the city wall joined the castle, was built a rectangular tower, the base of which still remains, and it is said at the north angle was a similar tower, the two thus flanking the north-west face. The wall had a high base or plinth, battering somewhat, and carrying the superstructure, which is vertical. There remain upon it two half-round solid bastions; one at the north end of the south-west face has three flat pilasters rising from the plinth, and is evidently pure Norman; the other, near the centre of the north-east face, is similar in pattern, but the pilasters are rather narrower and chamfered, and probably very late, or transition Norman. Most of the wall is rubble, but a portion of the north-eastern front, near the site of the castle chapel, is composed of good blocks of ashlar, possibly of the age of Richard II. The bank and wall have been removed in the centre of the north-west front, to make room for the Sessions House, an ungainly structure, ugly anywhere, but here especially out of place. The chapel stood in the court, near the western corner.

The gatehouse is decidedly original, and a good example of a rude Norman gatehouse. It is about 30 feet square, with walls 6 feet thick. At each end is a full-centred archway, of 12 feet opening, very plain, having a square rib 2 feet broad, with deep recesses or “nooks” of 2 feet on each side. The southern capital of the inner archway shows traces of Norman carving. There was no portcullis, each portal having doors; the space between the portals was covered with timber. On each of the two outer sides are two broad flat pilasters. The superstructure is lofty, and seems to have contained two stories. Above each portal are two windows, of 2 feet 6 inches opening, divided by a space of about 2 feet. The jambs are square, with a plain Norman cap or abacus. The present covering of each is formed of two inclined stones or lintels, which may be original, but are more probably late insertions. Above each pair is a larger single window. The inner portal opens at the level of the court. Outside, the ground is about 10 feet below that level. No doubt there was a drawbridge falling upon a detached pier, whence a causeway, probably with one or two bridges, crossed the ditches and carried the approach. The _enceinte_ wall abuts against the gateway flush with its inner face, so that it has a projection outward of about 24 feet, flanking the adjacent curtain. In later days, probably during the time of Richard II., two buttresses, or rather pilasters, 4 feet broad by 5 feet deep, have been built against the inner face, one on each side of the portal; and at the other end are a similar pair, but of 14 feet projection. These latter, at the battlement level, outside, are connected by a flat segmental arch; and the sort of barbican, or forebuilding thus formed contained the drawbridge, covered the gateway, and above had a flat roof, where archers could be posted to protect the approach. The old entrance is walled up, and pierced with two loops, which look early, but can scarcely be so. In the east side of the gatehouse a small doorway, in the Decorated style, has been pierced, possibly as a postern, for any lodge connected with it would have been outside the castle. The present entrance is, and for very many years has been, close west of, and outside the main gatehouse. This evidently was due to a wish to preserve the gatehouse, but to avoid the inconvenience of entering at so high a level. Probably when the new entrance was made the ditch at this point was filled up, all but a narrow gut, across which fell the drawbridge shown in the later drawings of the castle. When this was dispensed with the whole was made smooth, and Castle Street took its present aspect.

There is no evidence as to what buildings, save the chapel, were contained within the court of the castle. There must of necessity have been a hall, kitchen, lodgings, stabling, and barracks; and probably most of these buildings stood near or on the site of the Sessions House, where there seems to have been a postern gate. There is no evidence of a keep, nor, at so great a height, was any needed. Rectangular keeps, though found at Corfe, Sherborne, and Taunton, were not common in the west. A shell-keep, as at Trematon, Launceston, Dunster, Restormel, or Truro, would, in such a position, have been the usual structure; but the previous earthworks had converted the only site for a shell-keep into a pit so deep that it would have been commanded from the ramparts. Probably the Normans regarded the whole court as a shell-keep.

Whether the city walls were built concurrently with the castle is unknown. Probably they were, for the water-gate, removed in 1815, had certainly a Norman arch, as had, though later, and in the transition style, Broad Gate, of which also Lysons gives a view. These walls crossed the ditches, and abutted upon that of the castle. That from the east gate, seen in the Club Garden, has been rebuilt; but the north-west wall is very perfect, and though the buttresses on its outside are of Decorated date, as were most of the gates of the city, the substance of the wall is original, and very strong. In its base, where it crosses the ditch, it contains a hollow place, much enlarged, and said to have been a dungeon, which is absurd. It probably was a culvert or sluice-gate, to allow the ditch to be drained and cleared out, for though these ditches could scarcely have permanently contained water, a wet season would have converted them into a pond.

FILLONGLEY CASTLE, CO. WARWICK.

THE CASTLE YARD.

The scanty remains of this, the seat of the family of Hastings before they rose to their earldom of Pembroke, and now known as Castle Yard, are placed about a quarter of a mile south of Fillongley Church upon a small triangle of land formed by the beds and junction of two brooks which flow down from the south and the south-east to meet and form the point of the triangle to the north.

In the space thus protected towards the north, west, and east, was constructed a rudely oval shell of masonry about 50 feet east and west by 80 feet north and south, traces of which are seen in five masses of stone rubble-work, of which four are overthrown and a fifth remains in its proper place. A light ridge connects these detached masses, and indicates the line of the curtain of which they formed a part. The fragment standing in its place seems to have been connected with a curved recess, or, perhaps, a well-stair, but the others have been overthrown by gunpowder. The whole was on a small scale, and there are no visible traces of towers or gatehouse. The earth and rubbish heaped up in the interior of the area may cover foundations, and, no doubt, a light excavation here would disclose the plan of the whole structure and the place of the entrance, which, probably, was towards the east.

Outside the walled area the ground falls slightly, and there are traces at about 30 yards’ distance, towards the south, of a ditch and internal bank protecting this, by nature, the weakest side. The valley towards the east is occupied by one of the brooks which flows a few feet only from and below the wall. There is no trace of any second or outer circle of masonry, so that probably the castle was composed of a single ring wall, possibly set with turrets, but if so, of no great size.

The whole castle must have been a very inconsiderable place, though from the steepness of the little valleys between which it stands, and the marshy character of the ground watered by the brooks, it evidently possessed much passive strength, and if garrisoned by determined men, could have held out for some time.

Fillongley is unnoticed in any record older than the Conqueror’s Survey. We learn from Domesday that “Filungelei” contained two hides of land, of which one half-hide belonged to the Bishop of Coutances, and was held by Lewin; a second by the monks of Coventry; a third by a certain Alsi, who held it from before the Conquest; and a fourth by Robert le Despenser, which, though of less value, contained the church. Alsi may have resided upon the Castle hill. The half-hide held by the monks is identified with Old Fillongley, on the western side of the parish, and was held of them in the reign of Henry III. by Gerard de Alspath, whose name is preserved in Alspath Hall, in the south-west quarter of the parish. He held it as a fourth part of a knight’s fee. A part of this holding passed in some way from the ownership of the monks, who, in the time of Edward III., held in it one-eighth of a fee of Lord Hastings. Part of Le Despenser’s share passed to the Marmions, and thence, it would seem, to the Earls of Leicester, one of whom probably enfeoffed of it either Walter or Hugh de Hastings, one of the earlier members of that family, who long continued to hold it of the Marmions and Le Despensers. Thus the family of Hastings were of Fillongley in the reign of Henry I., and it speedily became their chief residence in Warwickshire, and the nucleus of a considerable estate. John de Hastings, 29 Edward I., had a license to crenellate “manerium suum et villam de ... Filungeleye,” though the castle is probably considerably older. With the church was the advowson which, in the reign of Edward III., Lawrence Hastings, Earl of Pembroke, sold to Clinton, Earl of Huntingdon. Fillongley, though it appears in the inquisitions of the Hastings family, is not mentioned as a castle, being, in fact, too inconsiderable to be claimed by the Crown, and so entered upon the public records, but it seems to have remained the chief, if not the only, residence of the family, until Henry de Hastings, in the reign of Henry III., married Joan de Cantelupe, who became a very great heiress, so that John, their son, the recipient of the above license, inheriting the castle of Abergavenny, resided there, as did occasionally his descendants. On the death of the last Hastings, Earl of Pembroke, Fillongley passed with much of his property to the Beauchamps, and so to the Nevilles, who held it when Dugdale wrote his very valuable history.

Wyman & Sons, Gᵗ. Queen Sᵗ. London.]

Fillongley Church contains no monuments of the Hastings family, who buried at Polesworth and with the Grey Friars at Coventry.

FONMON CASTLE, GLAMORGAN.

Fonmon Castle was, no doubt, built by Sir John de St. John soon after the conquest of Glamorgan; and part of the present building is original.

The castle rises from the western edge of a narrow and deep ravine, which conveys a streamlet from Fonmon village into the Kenson.

On its north front, but at some little distance from the castle, a similar steep bank slopes down direct to the Kenson, which there traverses a meadow, in earlier days probably an impassable morass. On its west and south sides the castle stands on table land, and was covered, no doubt, by a moat and outer wall. The keep, a rectangular building 45 feet high, and 25 feet north and south, by 43 feet east and west, including its walls, which are 5 feet thick, appears to be late Norman, and may be presumed to be Sir John de St. John’s work. Additions, probably of early English and early Decorated date, enclose it on the north, east, and partially on the south sides; on the latter forming a considerable wing, a part of which is a square tower which caps the south-east angle, and is a principal feature in the general view of the building. Two bow towers of the same date project from the east front. The principal additions on the north are of the seventeenth century, and were erected without reference to defence.

The outworks, with the exception of one tower which stands alone on the south-eastern front, about 140 yards from the castle, long since have given way to stabling, barns, and formal terraced gardens, most of which have in their turn disappeared. The remaining tower seems to have been the south-eastern termination of the defences of the outer court.

The St. Johns resided, more or less, at Fonmon until towards the fourteenth century, when, by intermarriage with the heiresses of Paveley, Pawlet, and, finally, of Beauchamp of Bletsoe, they became powerful English lords, and removed their head-quarters into Bedfordshire. Fonmon was probably left to the care of a bailiff, though some cadets of the family settled at Highlight, and there remained after the sale of the property to Colonel Jones, about 1655. Since that period it has been regularly inhabited by the Jones family, as it now is by their descendant and representative, Robert Oliver Jones, Esq.

The castle contains portraits of Cromwell and Ireton, and a fine one of Mr Robert Jones, grandfather of the present proprietor, by Reynolds.

FOTHERINGAY CASTLE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.

The masonry of this castle has been entirely removed, but the original moated mound and earth-banks remain, and the lines of the masonry may be traced by the trenches dug when the foundations were grubbed up. The mound stands on the left bank of the river Nene, and of the buildings the principal, disposed nearly east and west, was very evidently the great hall in which Mary of Scotland was tried and executed.

There is in “Ellis’s Letters” (First Series, Vol. II.) a draught plan, in Burghley’s hand, of the hall as it was ordered to be prepared for the trial.

The “great chamber” was 23 yards long with the window, and 7 yards broad. The length without the window was 21 yards. The window, therefore, was probably a bay or oriel, of 6 feet projection within. The draught plan was sent down with the figures blank to be filled in by special measurement.

At the upper, probably the eastern, end, and in front of the window, was a chair for the Queen of England. Against the wall on her left, a bench for thirteen barons; on her right, leaving space for passage between it and the wall, was a bench for twelve earls. Across the hall, 13 yards from the upper (east) end, and 8 yards from the lower end, was a bar, extending on the barons’ side nearly to the wall, but on the earls’ leaving space for passage. Within, close to the bar and opposite Elizabeth’s seat, was a chair for Mary.

The points of the compass are not marked upon the plan, but it is clear, from the disposition of the passage, that the door was on that or the north side, and most probably near to its west end. The door of a castle-hall would never have opened towards the defences of the place, but into the inner court.

The block for the execution was placed at the upper end of the hall; probably, therefore, where Elizabeth’s chair had stood during the trial.

The fireplace in which, after the execution, the block and bloody drapery were burned, probably was placed in the centre of the south wall.

Possibly, during a season of drought, some local antiquary may succeed in establishing the actual position of the door, the bay window, and the fireplace.

GROSMONT CASTLE, MONMOUTHSHIRE.

Grosmont is one of five strong places disposed along the right or south-west bank of the Munnow river, the others being, below it, Skenfrith, and above it Oldcastle, Longtown, and the fortified house of Perthir; Monmouth Castle, and the town beneath its protection, occupied the junction of the Munnow with the Wye. These are some of the fortified buildings scattered broadcast over the Welsh marshes, and especially abundant in the county of Monmouth, and the remains of which, always picturesque, are often tolerably perfect.

In the rear of these castles on the Munnow were those of Brecknock, Tretower, Crickhowell, and Abergavenny, upon the Upper Usk; and over the whole of that country there is scarce a hill-top or point of vantage which is not occupied by some defensive earthwork, showing the importance attached to it by each of the several races, Celt, Roman, Saxon, and Norman, who in turn either attacked or defended this devoted soil.

Grosmont, about four miles above Skenfrith and five below Oldcastle, is placed, like the former fortress, upon the high concavity of a sharp bend of the river, about a hundred yards from its margin. Very near to it is the fine old cross church, which, having shared in the prosperity of the castle, has escaped its decay, and still remains in tolerable repair, although requiring a few subtractions and restorations at the hand of a judicious architect.