MAIDEN CASTLE, DORSETSHIRE.
Old Castle Head, Manorbier, in Pembrokeshire, may be cited as a good example of a cliff castle, and
Dinas, four miles from Fishguard, affords another, where a natural crevasse has been carefully scarped in order to separate a headland from the mainland. The examples given have been taken from South Wales and the Cornish peninsula, where for obvious reasons less probability of disturbance during later periods has occurred. Ideal spots like Portland are to be found in the British Isles, but the operations of man in quarrying, building, etc. have probably destroyed all traces of defences erected by the primitive inhabitants.
Clifton Camps, three in number, lying on either side of the Avon, afford us examples of cliff castles remote from the sea. The projecting land jutting out into the loops of the winding river has in each case been protected by lines of trenches.
It can hardly be supposed that cliff castles generally were continuously occupied, because as a rule the area is limited, and could not afford sustenance for flocks and herds. Neither do they boast the possession of the indispensable well or spring in the majority of cases. Simplicity inplan is their chief feature, and generally the fosse defending them is single, rarely double, and practically never treble. They probably afforded the last resort when hard pressed by the enemy; abandoning flocks and herds and thinking only of life and limb, the refugees could make a last stand within them, and, if fortune still proved adverse, could lower themselves down the steep faces of the cliffs, and trust to the mercy of the waters.
(b) Another class of fortresses falling under the same heading are those which depended upon woods, marshes, rivers, and similar natural defences for their efficiency.
TheDyke Hillsat Dorchester, in Oxfordshire, undoubtedly formed at one time a safe haven of refuge, being almost surrounded by swamps forming a most effective defence. At the present time, however, these have disappeared owing to the general lowering of the water-level throughout England, by drainage, locks, weirs, etc., and they consequently give no indication of former efficiency. Two great fosses may be traced reaching from the Thame to the Thames, thus cutting off a piece of land and entirely defending it by means of water.
TheIsle of Avalon, near Glastonbury, is essentially a peninsula, rising from the midst of a marsh with a series of aggers and accompanying dykes carried across the isthmus.
COMB MOSS, DERBYSHIRE.
(c)Plateau Forts.—Comb Moss.One of the finest examples of this division is Comb Moss, which is situated near Chapel-en-le-Frith in the vicinity of Derby, and at about 1600 feet above the level of the sea. Its mission is so obvious that the name of "The Castle" is applied toit locally. It is roughly triangular in shape, and upon two sides precipitous slopes occur, which descend for nearly 500 feet and offer magnificent protection. The third side leads out upon a fairly level plateau, and here a double rampart and fosse has been made, completely closing the entrance with the exception of a narrow portion at the north-east side upon the very edge of the precipice, forming a most dangerous entry and consequently could be easily defended by a small number. There is an opening in the centre of the ramparts which is probably of later date, conjecturally Roman. An ancient plan shows a spring in the open space, but it does not appear at the present time. A rough wall was constructed round the edges of the precipices to confine sheep, but the original fortress was doubtless defended by a thick and massive rampart, there being no lack of material for such a protection, while the usual timber and stone breastwork would crown it.
FORTIFIED HILL-TOPS
This class of fortress is illustrated by numerous examples in the British Isles, many of which possess a very high order of merit. Class I. is generally found associated with coast line or rivers with precipitous banks; Class II. deals almost entirely with inland elevations which, while having some natural advantages in the way of steep ground or other defences of an inaccessible character, rely chiefly upon the artificial additions which have been made to the natural ones. With such a wealth of illustration it is somewhat difficult to select examples, but those described may perhaps be typical of every variety to be found in the kingdom. These camps of the plateau type were the commonest prevailing before the Norman Conquest, and for every great fortress like Cissbury, Maiden Castle,Dolebury, or Bradbury there were hundreds of smaller examples.
These latter were, as a rule, much more liable to destruction by the plough, being slightly constructed and generally at no great elevation above the mean level of the land; the farmer, ever in search of good rich earth, turned with avidity to the great banks of loose soil placed ready to hand, and hence the destruction of small camps has been excessive. The great fortresses, with their steep scarps, have defied the ploughman, and to this we may ascribe the excellent preservation they generally present.
These contour forts are undoubtedly an advance upon the earlier promontory type and show an adaptation to the requirements of advancing civilisation, pointing to coalescence and centralisation of hitherto-divided communities, the protection of a settled area, and the guarding of trade-routes. Hence they indicate the presence of larger numbers and the possession of greater wealth.
Hembury Fort, Honiton.—This is by far the most wonderful example of the class to be found in Devonshire. It stands at a height of nearly 900 feet above sea-level and encloses a space ofapproximately 8 acres in extent. Double valla, and their accompanying fosses, surround the whole camp, the crest of the inner vallum averaging from 50 to 60 feet above the bed of its fosse. To these formidable defences a third vallum has been added, surrounding it upon every side except the east where it was deemed unnecessary. It is prehistoric and probably British, but up to the present time has not been excavated.
Ham Hillin the south-east part of Somersetshire is a high mass of rock standing detached from the neighbouring hills. The wonderful trenches, too numerous to mention in detail, show a very high order of military skill in fortification, and this is the more remarkable when we discover that Neolithic man was probably answerable for their construction, although the fort has been subsequently occupied by men of the Bronze Age, and also by the Romans.
South Cadburylies five miles north of Sherborne. It is a huge and extremely formidable fortress standing at a height of over 500 feet above sea-level, and possessing no less than four lines of massive ramparts, steeply scarped, some of them even penetrating into the hard ooliticrock. There are two entrances into the large space enclosed by the ramparts, and in each case protective mounds have been erected defending them.
MAIDEN CASTLE, WEST ENTRANCE.
Maiden Castle, about two miles from Dorchester (Dorset), easily holds the premier place among the fortified camps of Great Britain, not only on account of its vast extent and the cyclopean character of its works, but also by reason of the marvellous military ingenuity displayed in its construction. Our general conception of the intellectual calibre of
PEVENSEY CASTLE, SUSSEX.
primitive man forcibly undergoes an alteration when contemplating the colossal schemes which his brain was capable of producing and his hand had the power of carryinginto effect.
MAIDEN CASTLE, EAST ENTRANCE.
The area enclosed is no less than 45 acres, while the whole fort occupies a space of 115 acres. The circumference of this vast work measures one and a half miles, and three enormous valla and fosses stretch this distance; in many places the crest of a vallum above the fosse beneath it amounts to 60 feet. But perhaps our chief admiration is evoked by the complex arrangement, by means of which the two entrances into the fort are protected. A glance at the plans illustrating these will at once show that fortified mounds and bastions of the most complicated forms are placed so as to impede the progress of stormers, and there can be no doubt that every means of protection known at thetime were interposed between them and the besieged.
Fig. 1.STOCKADE OF STONE AND RUBBLE, WITH PALISADE OF WOOD.
And here perhaps we may mention that the defences of an ancient earthwork can hardly be judged adequately at the present time without imagining the subsidiary structures which once crowned the works. These auxiliary aids cannot with certainty be described, because of the perishable character which generally signalised them, and the very meagre references which occur in the most ancient of our writers. It is generally accepted by authorities upon the subject that some stockade or other defence was invariably added to the summit of a rampart, and that this depended in character upon the nature of the country. In districts where stone was abundant, uncemented walls of large blocks were erected, generally with battering surfaces, the hollow portion between the two faces being filled up with earth or rubble as in Fig. 1. More primitive still would be the single wall with a bank of retaining earth behind it for support (Fig. 2), while more complicated would be one strengthened by a central core of masonry (Fig. 3). Remains of these walls have been found invarious places stillin situ. It is quite possible that a palisade of sharpened stakes or of wattle surmounted these stone walls, thus still further adding to their efficiency. In a "soft" country, where only earth or chalk is available, timber would naturally take the place of stone. The Gallic defences of this nature, which gave so much trouble to Caesar's legions, appear to have been made of tree-trunks lying side by side upon the ground with the second course of trunks superposed at right angles, the whole of the interstices being filled with stones and earth tightly rammed (Fig. 4). It will readily be perceived that a rampart constructed of alternate courses similar tothis, and approximately 10 feet in thickness and of considerable height, would be quite impervious to the missile weapons of the period, and indestructible by fire, even if the assailants succeeded in filling up the deep vallum below the base of the wall with combustible materials. Whether this method of the utilisation of timber for barricades was ever introduced into the British Isles for strengthening valla we have no means of ascertaining, owing to the perishable nature of the defence, but considering that the ancient Britons were of undoubted Celtic origin, we are perhaps justified in assuming it. On the other hand, a row of thick vertical planks driven deeply into the soil and placed closely together upon the summit of a rampart would prove a very formidable obstacle after surmounting 60 feet of steep escarpment under a hail of missiles. The small mounds so often placed as defences near the entrances of fortified hill-tops were clearly intended for a ring of palisades upon their summits, and isolated bastions similarly placed were doubtless treated in the same manner.
Fig. 2.SIMPLE STOCKADE OF STONE AND EARTH, RETAINED BY WOODEN STAKES.
Fig. 3.STONE STOCKADE, WITH INNER CORE OF MASONRY.
Fig. 4.WOODEN PALISADE OF TREE-TRUNKS, STRENGTHENED WITH EARTH.
There are no less than five lines of defence upon the south and south-east of Maiden Castle, and a feature of the work is the large amount of room provided upon the summits of the valla to afford accommodation for great bodies of defenders to stand and use their weapons.
Badbury Rings, four miles N.W. of Wimborne.—This may be classed among the greater hill fortresses inasmuch as it encloses a space of 18 acres and is furnished with three valla and their accompanying ditches. The scarps are in places very steep and 40 feet above the fosses. The eastern entrance is reminiscent of Maiden Castle, a bastion-like obstruction being thrown forward to obstruct ingress, while the great area of standing-room provided for the defenders may be looked upon as characteristic of west country forts as it is repeated in a number of others—Cadbury Castle, near Tiverton, and Shoulsbury on Exmoor, for examples. In the outer area a mound occurs,and ponds also have been formed within the fort. Investigations have brought Celtic antiquities to light and also proved its occupation by the Romans. It affords a magnificent prospect from the summit. In historic times it has been utilised, as inA.D.901 Æthelwald the Ætheling mustered his men there after Alfred's death, upon the occasion of a popular rising.
BADBURY RINGS, DORSET.
Cadbury Castle.—This is a good example of a contour fort crowning an isolated hill 800 feet in height. Upon three sides are formidable natural precipices, and the ramparts enclose an ovalinner space, which is approximately level. The valla are continuous except upon the south, where a scarped drop occurs of about 30 feet to the level of a wide berm, on the outside of which a gigantic rampart rises to the height of more than 20 feet above the berm.
THE BERM OF CADBURY CASTLE.
Cissbury, north of Worthing.—This great fortress was constructed by men of the Flint Age, and indubitable proofs of its occupancy by a permanent population engaged in a staple trade are afforded by the immense remains of flint chippings within its area, the product of many generations of flint-knappers. The deep and wide pits within it were dug for the purpose of obtaining flints, the raw material of their industry, and these excavations were subsequently utilised for dwelling-places. The fort is advantageously situated upon the trading route between the inhabitants of the Great Forest of Anderida, covering the Weald of Sussex, and the maritime population of the southern littoral; and this fact appealed not only to Neolithic man but also the men of the Bronze and Iron Ages, who occupied it in succession. It is a camp of the plateau type with an inner vallum rising nearly 50 feet above the fosse and 20 above the inner area. General Pitt Rivers estimated that 5000 men would be required to man theramparts effectually.
THE BEAUCHAMP TOWER, TOWER OF LONDON.
Ravensburgh Castle, Hexton, Herts.—The northern escarpment of the Chiltern Hills is marked by numerous deep ravines leading down with winding courses to the lowlands. This has the effect of leaving bold bluffs of chalk standing up between them, and upon one of these this remarkably fine hill fortress is placed. In addition to the two ravineslying at the sides it is still further isolated by a third running at right angles between the others. The castle occupies 16 acres of the western half of this plateau, and possesses double ramparts on three sides and triple on the north. The section AB shows the steep descent into the ravine upon the south side, and DE indicates the same, while clearly showing the three lines of defence formed by the two ditches. The scarps are remarkable for their clean and smooth surfaces, the chalk presenting the appearance of having been cut with a hugeknife. The entrances into the defence lie at nearly 500 feet above the sea-level.
RAVENSBURGH CASTLE, HEXTON, HERTS.
One of the most prominent examples of the class isMam Tor, a great hill rising to a height of 1700 feet above sea-level, and dominating Castleton and Edale, Derbyshire. Upon the summit of this eminence is a remarkable earthwork enclosing about 16 acres of land, round which the original rampart must have been nearly three-quarters of a mile in length. Natural defences of a very marked character are upon two sides of the triangular enclosure, consisting of steep slopes which descend for a considerable distance. Upon the summit of these slopes two formidable ramparts with an accompanying fosse have been constructed, thus adding still further to an almost unassailable position. The agricultural inhabitants of the district often term it "The Shivering Mountain" from the many little avalanches of shale which are dislodged from its sides. Upon the northern part the natural defences are not so apparent, as the ridge of an adjoining hill approaches at that point. An entrance to the Fort occurs there at the present time, as shown in the plan, but not in its primitive condition. The only method of entering was bymeans of the narrow passage shown at the S.W., defended by a fortified mound at its inner mouth, which in turn was defended by a larger mound lying to the N.W. A small spring of water still rises within the enclosure and escapes through the N.W. break. The interior has not been levelled, and a central spine of rock traverses it from north to south. Undoubtedly Mam Tor furnishes us with one of the finest examples of a fortified hilltop to be found in England.
MAM TOR, DERBYSHIRE.
The following are a few instances of artificial defences which, although they stand upon higher ground than the surrounding land, are less dependent upon their elevated position.
Ambresbury Banks, Essex.—These banks are situated in Epping Forest, at the side of the road between Epping and London. They are of British origin, as has been definitely proved by excavations carried out by General Pitt Rivers and the Essex Field Club, thus definitely disproving the assertion previously prevailing of their supposed Roman origin. The outline approaches a square form, and this probably gave rise to the supposition. Only a few pieces of crude pottery and some flint chippings came to light during the excavations. A feature,however, was disclosed in the fosse, the lower part of which was originally of an angular section; in it a depth of silt approximating to 7 feet had accumulated. The scarp was inclined at an angle of 45°, and the counterscarp probably rose at almost the same angle; the width of the fosse was over 20 feet, and the depth above half that measurement.
HUNSBURY, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
Hunsbury, Northamptonshire.—This earthwork is about one and a half miles from Northampton, and may be cited as an example which falls naturally into this subdivision, inasmuch as the hill upon which it stands possesses such an easy slope that it does not tend to help to any marked extent the formidable defences upon the summit. These lie nearly 200 feet above the river Nen, and 370 feet above sea-level. It is a small enclosure, the single fosse of which is well preserved with the exception of a portion upon the north, which has been quarried for iron-stone,much in demand in that district. The defences were undoubtedly of great power originally, but have been much degraded; the interior of the camp has been ploughed, and the earthworks planted with trees. The original opening is that lying to the S.E. The name upon the Ordnance Survey is "Danes Camp," though upon what authority is not apparent. Camps of a very similar nature may be found at Ring Hill in Essex, and Badbury in Berks, while WhelpleyHill in Buckinghamshire is almost an exact replica.
YARNBURY, WILTS.
Yarnburylies about three miles to the west of Winterbourne Stoke in Wiltshire and is allocated to this division, being one of the largest and best of its kind. The area enclosed is about 20 acres, encircled by three valla and two or three ditches. The inner rampart rises at times to over 50 feet above the fosse. There are a number of entrances, but only those to the east and west are original, each being defended with outworks, the eastern gate by bastions similar to those at Maiden Castle andBadbury Rings.
CORFE CASTLE, DORSETSHIRE.
SIMPLE ARTIFICIAL ENCLOSURES
(a)The Romano-British Period, 54B.C.-A.D.410
The earthworks under consideration are those which, rectangular or otherwise, were constructed during the historic period commencing with the Roman subjugation of Great Britain, and ending a few years before the Norman Conquest. It may be termed the Romano-British-Saxon Period. It was the incipient era of castellation proper in the British Isles, distinct from pure earthworks, inasmuch as during the Roman period massive defences of masonry supplanted the earlier uncemented walls and wooden palisading.
At the first invasion of Caesar, 55B.C., we read of no towns being assaulted, but in the next, 54B.C., the greatoppidumof Cassivelaunus was taken by storm after the passage of the Thames.This capital, Verulamium (adjacent to the modern St. Albans), was a large oval enclosure defended upon three sides by a deep fosse and vallum, in one place doubled, and upon the other by an impassable marsh. The city was attacked in two places and captured. In A.D. 43 the final subjugation of England took place, and the vallum at Verulamium was crowned by the Romans with a massive wall of masonry, great portions of which still remain, supplanting the former wooden obstructions.
That which occurred at Verulamium happened also in numerous other places, Silchester for example, the Romans thus adapting an efficient earthwork to suit their own requirements. Where, however, pre-existing works did not occur, the walls, ramparts, and fosses were invariably constructed round a rectangular area such as may be seen at Chester. The enclosed streets crossed each other at right angles, and this feature is a marked one in Verulamium, although, as stated, the defences do not conform to the rectangular shape. Isolated earthworks constructed during the Roman Period are always more or less square.
MELANDRA, DERBYSHIRE.
Melandrais a Roman earthwork in a goodstate of preservation near Glossop in Derbyshire. It is almost square, and consists of a simple vallum and external fosse. There are four openings caused by two main roads which intersected at the centre of the earthwork. It affords an example of the prevailing structure of Roman Camps, which are numerous in those parts of the British Isles which owned the sway of the conquerors. The many camps, for example, upon the Watling Street all exhibit the samegeneral plan, based upon the formation of the Roman legion.
Richborough Castle, near Sandwich in Kent, may be cited as a veritable example of a Roman castle built in Britain, and is almost the only one remaining at the present day that preserves in any marked degree its original salient points. It is conjectured to have been erected in the time of the Emperor Severus, its mission being to protect the southern mouth of the great waterway which then separated the island of Thanet from the mainland, a similar office being performed by Reculvers at the northern entry. Three sides of the rectangle are still protected by the massive masonry walls which the Romans knew so well how to build; the fourth, or eastern side, where flowed the river Stour, possesses no visible defence, as it has been undermined and overthrown by the river-current. The northern boundary is 440 feet long, and the western 460. The walls, which vary in height from 12 to 30 feet, are about 12 feet thick and batter towards the top; they are beautifully faced with squared stone in horizontal courses similar to those seen at Segontium, the Roman station at Carnarvon; the core is composed ofboulders from the neighbouring beach, embedded in mortar with courses of the usual Roman bonding tiles. In the centre of the area stood a temple and other buildings; the foundations of some of these are still in evidence. Whether the external walls were strengthened by the addition of square or circular towers of masonry, as at Porchester and Silchester, has not as yet been definitely determined.
SECTION OF THE CITY DEFENCES OF VERULAMIUM (NEAR ST. ALBANS).
A common device in Roman castrametation was the berm or platform outside the surrounding wall, but immediately beneath it; in an attack upon the fortifications the assailants would be exposed to a plunging fire of missiles from the ramparts while descending the steep counterscarp of the ditch, to a raking discharge when ascending the slope of the scarp, and be entirely devoid of cover when crossing the berm, which was generally about 20 feet wide. Another advantage of the berm was that it placed theengines of the besiegers on the remote side of the ditch at a greater distance from the walls, and thereby lessened the effect of the missiles discharged from them. To still further modify the results of the latter upon the wall it was customary to bank up the earth upon the inner face to form a ramp, and this also lessened the effects of the rams of the besiegers. These features are shown in the foregoing diagrammatic section of the walls of Verulamium.
(b)The Saxon Period, c. 410-1066
Concerning the defensive works erected in the British Isles during the Saxon Period there is more indefiniteness prevailing at the time of writing than there is with regard to any period antecedent or consequent to it. This may be attributed to two causes, the first being the unsatisfactory use of the wordburhin Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, and the second the effects produced during the past half-century by writers wrongly attributing the remains of early Norman castellation to the period preceding it, following upon a misunderstanding of the word above mentioned. This has had the result of rendering the major portion ofthe works produced upon the subject of castellation during the latter half of the nineteenth century unreliable and obsolete so far as the Saxon and Roman periods are concerned, while at the same time producing a marked hesitancy among experts to definitely attribute any work to the first of the periods without systematic excavation of the site.
In O.E. the wordburhin its nominative form signifies a fort or stronghold and is generally translated as "borough," while in its dative formbyrigit is commonly used to indicate what its modern representative "bury" conveys. But Anglo-Saxon writers did not use the two words strictly, and thus hesitancy and confusion have been produced. It is now being generally accepted that the usual form of burh or borough was that of a rectangular enclosure surrounded by a rampart and an external ditch, the area being of any dimensions up to 20 or 30 acres or more. This arrangement is probably exemplified in the earthworks at Wallingford.
It is obvious that the inherent weakness in this very elementary system of defence lies in the inability to adequately man all the ramparts at once because of their great extent; thedefenders probably relied upon the promptness with which they could meet a threatened attack at any particular point. The Anglo-Saxons at a very early period recognised the advisability of forming fortified positions in the island, and carried out the system so entirely that practically every isolated house, farm, or group of buildings was enclosed by its rampart and ditch. Even at the present day we become aware of this fact from the scores of "burys" and "boroughs" with which the surface of our land abounds. The burh was thus a comparatively slight affair when compared with earthworks which had preceded it.
But undoubtedly the great centres of defensive strength lay in those towns which the Romans had formerly fortified, and the inclusion of their masonry walls in the borough boundary immensely augmented their efficiency, as is exemplified at York, Lincoln, and Chester. Around villages and farmsteads the defences probably consisted of a ditch, a vallum surmounted by a turf wall, a palisading of thick stakes, or even a hedge. That the latter was a mode of defence in the earlier part of the Saxon Period is proved by an insertion in the Old English Chronicle under the year 547—where Ida ofNorthumbria is said to have builtBebban burh,i.e.Bamborough,—that it was first enclosed with a hedge, and subsequently with a stone wall. Illuminations in Saxon MSS. representing fortified towns invariably depict stone walls with battlements; but, again, it may be that these are Roman, and crenellated walls are extremely ancient, being represented upon the Nineveh marbles. In the illustration from the Caedmon MS. given here true battlements are depicted by the Saxon artist, while a similar attempt has also been made in Harl. MS. 603—a battlemented parapet being evidently intended.
BATTLEMENTED PARAPET SHOWN IN CAEDMON'S PARAPHRASE; MS. IN BODLEIAN LIBRARY.
BATTLEMENTS SHOWN IN HARL. MS. 603. (An Anglo-Saxon MS. of the Psalms.)
Ida "wrought a burh" at Taunton (before 721), and Alfred built many burhs against theDanes. His son, Edward the Elder, and Ethelfleda, the Lady of the Mercians, were yet more energetic in raising these defences. To Edward the burh at Witham, now unfortunately in process of demolition, and also that at Maldon are attributed, while Ethelfleda was responsible for those at Stafford and Tamworth in 913, and at Warwick in 914. In the absence of rebutting evidence we are undoubtedly justified in assuming that these burhs were simply replicas of the conjectured method of fortification pursued by the Saxons; the belief is strengthened by the remains at Maldon and Witham, where wide rectangular enclosures are found surrounded by earthen ramparts and external fosses.
A difficulty, however, arises when we consider the two burhs erected at Nottingham. No rectangular enclosures have been discovered there, and it seems probable that the word simply signifies that two forts were erected to protect the bridge which passed over the Trent at this point, similar perhaps to the mounds of earth at Bakewell and Towcester, which are supposed to date from the same period.
The genius of the Saxons appears to have been adapted to field warfare rather than to theconstruction or maintenance of strong military stations, for we find that when defeated they took refuge in natural fastnesses rather than in fortresses; the woods and marshes of Somerset, for example, protected Alfred from the pursuit by the Danes, and the last stand of these people against the Normans occurred in the fens and marshes about Ely. There is no account extant of a protracted resistance afforded by a Saxon fortress; that of London against the Danes may be attributed to the massive Roman walls there.
It is unsatisfactory to be compelled to wander thus in the realms of conjecture, but it is probable that the kinds of defence varied in different places, since at Worcester Edward surrounded an ancient borough with a wall of stone. An oblique light, however, is thrown upon the subject by the presence in England of a few undoubted examples of fortifications erected at definite dates by another northern race,i.e.the Danes, who might be expected to fortify themselves somewhat similarly to the Saxons.
THE DANISH BURH AT GANNOCK'S CASTLE, NEAR TEMPSFORD.
These marauders built burhs at Reading, Quatford on the Severn, and Benfleet, but by far the best now remaining are those at Willington and Tempsford on the river Ouse. At Willingtonthe Danes proposed to establish their winter quarters in 921, and an extensive burh was thrown up for the purpose. It consisted of a large enclosure with inner and outer wards, high ramparts, and three wide ditches filled with water from the river. The most striking features, perhaps, were the two large harbours within the fortifications, designed to protect the Danishgalleys. The Saxon king Edward, however, carried the place by assault and burnt the fleet. The discomfited Danes, much lessened in numbers, retreated up the river, and near the junction of the Ivel with the main stream threw up a smaller burh which now bears the name of Gannock's Castle, near Tempsford. The fort is an oblong area enclosed within a single fosse, and, what is very significant in face of later developments, a mound of earth stands within it near a corner, where the only entrance to the fort is found. Probably this mound was protected by palisades the same as the rampart, but Edward, flushed by his former success, stormed the burh and captured it with terrible loss to the routed garrison.
PEVENSEY CASTLE.
Pevensey.—Pevensey Castle is associated with the earliest history of Britain. Upon its site stood the Roman Camp of Anderida, oval in shape, and obviously adapted to surface configuration. It is the reputed site of the landing of Caesar. The British occupied it when the Romans left, and here occurred the great massacre by the South Saxons under Ella in 477. In 1066 William I. landed at Pevensey and erected one of his portable wooden castles, probablywithin the Roman Camp. The Castle came to his half-brother Robert, Earl of Mortaign, who considerably strengthened the existing remains. The supposition that he erected a Motte and Bailey castle seems to be negatived by recent investigations. The Castle was held by Bishop Odo against the forces of Rufus for six weeks in 1088, but was surrendered, Odo promising to give up Rochester, which promise he subsequently violated. King Stephen besieged it in person in the war with the Empress Maud, when it was defended by Gilbert, Earl of Clare, and only surrendered through famine. It came to the Crown during the thirteenth century, and John of Gaunt appointed the Pelham family to be castellans. In 1399, Sir John of that name, an adherent of Bolingbroke, was absent when the Castle was besieged by the king's forces, but his wife, the Lady Jane, conducted an historical defence with such gallantry that theassailants retired. Pevensey appears to have been used as a State prison, and within it many notable persons have been incarcerated, including Edward Duke of York, James I. of Scotland, and Joan of Navarre, second queen of Henry IV.
A large proportion of the Roman wall surrounding the oval site is still in excellent preservation; it is strengthened by fifteen drum towers of great solidity. The height ranges between 20 and 30 feet, and upon the summits may still be perceived some of the strengthening Norman masonry. The inner castle is a remarkable feature of the enclosure; it is supposed to have been erected at the end of the thirteenth century, and one of the towers dates from the time of Edward II. It forms an irregular pentagon, each angle being strengthened by a massive drum tower; two semicircular towers flank the entrance, of which one only remains in good condition. The masonry of the drawbridge is still to be seen, and the entrance passage with portcullis grooves and meurtrière openings are in good condition. The great Roman wall has been utilised to form portions of the eastern and southern sides, but this suffered in the time of Elizabeth, when a part of it was blown up by gunpowder.
THE MOTTE AND BAILEY CASTLE,c.1066-c.1100
As is well known to students of English history the Norman influence began to prevail in this country some time anterior to 1066. The court of Edward the Confessor owned a fairly large proportion of Normans, the sympathies of that monarch being strongly in their favour. They obtained from him grants of estates in return for feudal duties, and, the Welsh being at that time a source of annoyance, some of the land so allocated was situated on theborderland.
THE TOWER OF LONDON.
So far as is known, the earliest castle to be erected by a Norman in that locality was built by Richard Fitz-Scrob,c.1050.Richard's Castle, as it is termed, stands in the northern part of Herefordshire; a second example was thrown up at Hereford, and a third at the southern entrance to the Golden Valley. If we may trust contemporarydocuments a similar work was erected about the same time at Clavering Castle in Essex by a Saxon native of the county, Swegen the Sheriff, and also, probably, the castle at Dover, which appears to have been in existence prior to the Battle of Hastings. Of this little group of pre-Conquest castles the strongest was conjecturally that at Hereford, erected in 1055 by Harold, Earl of the West Saxons, consisting of a Motte and Bailey similar to the rest, but only a small portion of the bailey remains at the present time, as the mound has been removed and the ditch filled up.
As regards the construction of a castle of the Motte and Bailey type, it was commenced by the excavation of a deep ditch enclosing, as a rule, a circular space. There are a few exceptions which approximate to the oval, and the oblong form is not unknown. The whole of the ballast excavated was thrown up inside the ring until a high mound, flattened at the top, and with sides as steep as the "angle of repose" of the excavated material would allow, had been formed. The last portions of the superincumbent earth thrown up were consolidated by ramming. Around the edge of the area upon the summit ofthe mound a breastwork of timber was placed, either of thick vertical planks driven deeply into the soil and firmly strengthened behind, or of timber and stone as previously described in connection with fortified hill-tops (Chap. II.).
Upon the summit and occupying the centre, as a rule, a wooden castle was erected known as the "bretasche," and varying in size and accommodation according to the available space. We may safely infer that the height of the bretasche was not less than two stories, and this, added to the elevation of the mound which occasionally reached to 60 feet, would afford a coign of vantage for a view over the whole area below. Upon the outer edge of the fosse a vallum occurs in many examples, thus still further adding to the depth of the defence and giving increased height to the counterscarp; it also afforded a means for erecting a palisading of stakes if advisable. To afford ingress and egress to the fort a narrow flying bridge of wood was erected reaching from the top of the mound to the outer edge of the fosse.