The other inmates of the monastery also received pensions. The debts owed by the brethren at the Dissolution include such items as:-- "To John Mille, Recorder of Southampton, for wine and ale had of him, _L_24, 2_s._ 8_d._ William Hawland, of Poole, merchant, for wine, fish, and beer had of him, _L_8, 13_s._ 2_d._ Guillelmus, tailor, of Christchurch, as appeareth by his bill, 26_s._ Roger Thomas, of Southampton, for a pair of organs, _L_4." Heron Court was the Prior's country house, while Somerford and St. Austin's, near Lymington, were granges and lodges belonging to the foundation. On leaving the Priory a visit should be paid to the ruins of the old Norman Castle, perched on the top of a high mound that commands the town on every side, and the Priory as well. Only fragments of the walls remain of the keep erected here by Richard de Redvers, who died in 1137, although the castle continued to be held by his descendants until it was granted by Edward III to William de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, who was appointed Constable, an office he held until 1405. During the tenure by the de Redvers the resident bailiff regulated the tolls, markets, and fairs at his pleasure, and he also fixed the amount of the duties to be levied on merchandise. It was not until the reign of the third Edward that the burgesses were relieved from these uncertain and arbitrary exactions. [Illustration: PLACE MILL, CHRISTCHURCH Place Mill was formerly called "The Old Priory Mill" and is mentioned in the Domesday Survey] The east and west walls of the keep remain, ten feet in thickness and about thirty feet in height. The artificial mound on which they are raised is well over twenty feet high. The masonry of the walls is exceedingly rough and solid, for in the days when they were erected men built for shelter and protection, and not with the idea of providing themselves with beautiful houses to live in. The keep was made a certain height, not as a crowning feature in the landscape, but so that from its top the warder could see for many miles the glitter of a lance, or the dust raised by a troop of horsemen. One of the greatest charms of the rough, solid walls of a Norman castle is that they are so honest and straightforward, and tell their story so plainly. Looking over the town from the Castle mound we realize that Christchurch could correctly be denominated a "moated town", inasmuch as its two rivers encircle it in a loving embrace. Being so cut off by Nature with waterways as to be almost an island, it was obviously a strong position for defence, and a lovely site for a monastery.