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
Of the fifty burhs named in the chronicle, about forty-one have been
identified, and of these about twenty-nine still exist. Of this number,
twenty-two are moated mounds, mostly with base courts also moated. At
Taunton, as at Chirbury, there is reason to suppose that there was a
mound, and the works at Exeter, Rochester, Colchester, and Pevensey,
which are Roman, possibly succeeding earlier British works, have been
taken possession of and altered by the English, as is the case also
at Chester, where was, and at Pevensey, where still is, a mound. At
Rochester is a large mound, though outside the fortress. Rougemont in
Exeter is itself a natural mound, and Bamborough, from its great height
and steepness, needed neither mound nor earthwork of any kind. Of
double burhs, commanding the passage of a river, the chronicle mentions
Nottingham and those on the Lea, and others at Hertford, Bedford,
Stamford, and Buckingham. Unfortunately, none of these are perfect.
At Nottingham and on the Lea both mounds have long been removed; one
is remembered at Stamford and Buckingham, and one may still be seen
at Hertford. But the only double mounds remaining to show how, in the
tenth century, the English defended the passage of a river, are those
at York, which are not mentioned in the chronicle.
It appears then, that setting aside works that have not been
identified, or which have been destroyed before note was taken of them,
there are above a score of burhs, the date of the erection of which,
and the name of the founder, are entered in a trustworthy record, and
which are still to be seen. What then is a burh? A burh is a moated
mound with a table top, and a base court, also moated, either appended
to one side of it, or within which it stands. But the burhs, the dates
of which are on record, and which are thus described, are but a very
few of those found all over England, in the lowlands of Scotland, and
on the marches bordering on Wales, which from their precise similarity
in character to those actually identified must be assumed to be of like
date and origin, and may therefore safely be attributed to the ninth
and tenth and possibly to the eighth centuries, and to the English
people, that is to the Northern settlers generally, as distinguished
from the Britons and the Romans.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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