Mediæval Military Architecture in England, Volume 1 (of 2)Clark, George Thomas
History
Mediæval Military Architecture in England, Volume 1 (of 2)
Clark, George Thomas
Architecture -- England; Architecture, Medieval; Military architecture
Its gatehouse occupied the south-west angle of this ward, and was
built on the edge of the cliff. The remains of it are very scanty. The
curtain between it and Mortham Tower seems to have been a mere parapet,
cresting the cliff.
The curved curtain connecting the gatehouse with the keep, and covering
the two landward faces of the ward, is tolerably perfect. It is
strengthened by an exterior buttress and a small tower. This latter,
which is placed near the angle of the curtain, towards the keep,
contains a basement and upper chamber, both vaulted, though of the
latter, which was at the rampart level, only some fragments remain.
This tower is rectangular, but the angles are chamfered off. It has no
internal projection, and outside, against each of its three faces, is
applied a Decorated buttress of 2 feet 6 inches breadth, by 3 feet 6
inches projection at the base. Each is of three stages, and dies into
the wall near its summit. Between this tower and the keep is a large
buttress, apparently hollow, possibly for the pipe of a garderobe. This
also is a Decorated addition. Near it the curtain has a flat Norman
pilaster strip, but of three stages. It is 4 feet broad, and diminishes
from 18 inches to 6 inches projection. It also dies into the wall near
the top.
It is not unlikely, from the aspect of the inner ward, that this was
a fortress of the tenth century, composed of a cliff on two sides, a
ditch on the other two, and a centre more or less nearly circular, and
artificially scarped; in fact, a motte, upon which stood the original
stronghold. The outer ditches may be of the same date, but from their
figure and plan they are more likely to have been a later, probably a
Norman, addition. Their contents are thrown inward so as to form a ramp
behind the wall.
It is evident that the whole area of the castle, as it now stands, was
inclosed by the Normans, and the walls throughout and nearly all the
towers are latish in that style. Here and there, spread over the whole
_enceinte_, are remains of Norman work. The pilaster strips on the
inner curtain, the arches in the several ditches, the square tower and
gate on the north curtain, Brackenbury’s Tower, and much of the wall
towards the town are original. In the inner ward the base of Mortham
Tower, and the half-round mural tower near the north gate, are probably
Early English. The keep, the fragments of the hall, the south-east
tower of the inner ward, and most of the remains of other buildings are
evidently Decorated. The original walls were mostly of sound rubble,
with ashlar dressings. In the Decorated work ashlar was more freely
used.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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